The Pop-Culture E-Zine
This post may be a bit off topic, but it’s still quite useful. Let’s face it, we all have batteries of some kind in our devices. The below graphic provides useful information and tips on how to maximise the life of your batteries.
How to maximize battery life [Infographic] by the team at budgetbatteries
This week marks more than just the release of the PS4. Mark down November 12 in your diary. If you like grey matter challenging puzzlers with a quirky premise, then Meatballphobia is your perfect tonic.
Featuring 50 brain-teasing levels of increasing difficulty, Meatballphobia focuses on relaxed problem solving instead of competition. You can play the game at your own leisure — there are no locked levels, no high-scores to beat and no timer. If you get stuck on a level, don’t stress, just go ahead and pick another stage. You can always return to that pesky level that had you in a spin.
Even though Meatballphobia plays like a modern game, its pedigree is from the 8-bit era; from the CGA palette, pixelated sprites, to the engaging chiptune soundtrack — it’s all carefully crafted to take you back in time.
Meatballphobia (Windows/Linux) will be available via Desura on November 12 (PDT) for $2.99USD. The Android version is available on Google Play and Amazon for $1.50USD.
For a lot of gamers, November 15 2013 cannot come fast enough. My primary gaming may be on vintage systems, but hey, even I get excited when I see trailers like this one from Sony. Greatness surely awaits.
source: PlayStation
Want to go on an arcade nostalgia trip? If Tim Nicholls raises £10,000 (Ed: he has now! Woohoo!) on his Kickstarter campaign, the dream will definitely become a reality.
There have been quite a few Kickstarter projects that have piqued my interest and this one has definitely done more than that. Being an avid arcade junkie, this book will be choc-full of memories from the golden age of arcade gaming.
Check out the kickstarter campaign for Artcade. Will you back this?
source: Kickstarter
There is quite a bit of buzz around for Land of ZOM. This indie game (from Netikan Productions) has been in development for over three years. It’s anticipation is killing us non-partially deceased human beings.
Before you start complaining, this game will be free! One particular cool trait of Land of ZOM is its mixed platform world experience – “We believe that all players should be entitled to exactly the same experience, no matter what device they choose to use” – so regardless of your platform, the experience will be identical whether you are playing the game on Android, iOS, Windows, Linux or OS X! The development of this free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game will be closely watched.
Got any plans this coming weekend? Careful how you respond, as there is only one answer – you will be at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo [PRGE]!
The PRGE is on from October 5 to 6 at the Oregon Convention Centre. With its sister expo in Seattle, these are the premier retro gaming events that you need to attend. There are many highlights that have been announced for PRGE, but I am most excited about AtariAge debuting several homebrew games for the Atari 2600 and 7800!
If attending the expo wasn’t enough, if you buy your ticket(s) before October 1, you can win your very own Atari Asteroids Deluxe cocktail-style arcade machine. Go on, get going!
source: RadiumZ1
It is always a pleasure meeting up and chatting with like minded and passionate retro gamers. One retro gamer in particular is so passionate and down to earth, he is like a magnet for other retroholics. The retro gaming magnet I speak of is none other than Aleks Svetislav (aka: Serblander or Serby), one half of the great Weird and Retro (WaR) team. I have caught up with Serby a few times during the year and it never ceases to amaze me at the things they get up to – from hunting arcade machines across the country, to running retro club days and their awesome television show segment on New Game Plus on channel 31, to name a few.
In the recent past, WaR have been involved in events bringing retro gaming to the masses. Their events caught the eye of EB Games Australia which has lead to the WaR team being invited to participate in this years EB Games Expo (October 4 – 6). We caught up with Serby to get the lowdown on all things EB Games Expo and Weird and Retro.
For those that have been living on the moon and have not heard of Weird and Retro, this is what the lovely folks at EB Games have said about them:
“Weird And Retro are Australia’s premier retro gaming gurus. Watch them on TV or game with them in person at their numerous community events. Weird and Retro are keeping the pixelated past alive by bringing weird and retro to all generations!”
Now, on with grilling Serby!
AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: Hey Serby, take us through the details of how your involvement with the EB Games Expo came about?
Aleks Svetislav [Serby]: It all started on Twitter. Earlier this year, our good friend Susie (@SiouxsieKate on Twitter) mentioned us to the community manager of EB Games Australia (EB) answering her call for any retro collectors in Melbourne to help out with retro consoles for their EB GameAThon; a 25 hour livestream to raise money for the Starlight Foundation. I followed up, they agreed, we gave a presentation, the crowd (and EB directors watching) loved it, and the rest as they say, is retro gaming history.
ARG: Who came up with the awesome idea of a ‘Retro Gamer Garden’ theme for the Expo?
Serby: The Retro Gamer Garden theme was put forward to me at our first business meeting with EB by Kelsey Gamble. I loved it (as well as the complimentary lamb business lunch)! While we worked together on it in terms of adding extra themes and features, the credit for this awesome theme goes to EB Games!
ARG: Did you have any other ideas apart from the Garden theme?
Serby: Once I heard of their Retro Gamer Garden idea, I was sold. There was no need to explore any other themes. We were all excited about the garden theme and were on the same page, so it was full steam ahead. What we did do was add to the theme – for example, I came up with the idea to have a ‘gaming pond’ where you could play retro fishing games on a fishing controller while sitting in the comfort of a fold-out camping chair (ARG: You are so clever Serby!). Bringing a VHS player to watch old school cult classics while playing the movie tie-in games, as well as some other features that we hope you will get to see next year.
![Andrew Owen [Monash University] at the War exhibit at the Computer Games Boot Camp 2013](https://i0.wp.com/www.ausretrogamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Aleks_1.jpg?resize=550%2C413)
Serby: We are very experienced with gaming events, expos, red carpet events and crowds. What we aim to achieve with the Retro Gamer Garden is the same as with all our other events: to make people aware of and excited about the rich history and great fun that retro gaming has to offer. This is not only for the bearded merchants of reminiscence from ye old times, but for all the younger generations who may not have been exposed to or have had a chance to enjoy gaming on actual retro hardware.
ARG: How will the retro systems be sourced? Are you bringing your own? If so, which ones? How are you going to cart this precious cargo? Will there be any arcade machines?
Serby: One of the reasons that Weird And Retro was chosen to run the retro event for EB Games Expo (apart from all of our event experience and good working relationship with EB) is that we can supply and run all the retro games and systems needed for the event. As such, EB offered to fly us to the expo and back and have all our retro ‘luggage’ transported by their transport company. However, due to the uber rare and expensive nature of our collection, we did not want to take any chances with couriers damaging our rarities. So, we offered to drive a hire truck to Sydney and back ourselves. This way, we not only ensure that everything will get all the TLC that it needs, but we just scored another ‘paid for’ Retro Road Trip! Oh, and there may also be an arcade machine or gaming kiosk coming with us too.
ARG: Will you be running competitions during the expo? If so, which games, what format and most importantly, what are the prizes?
Serby: As with all of our events, we will be running some WaR comps (not to be confused with ‘war camps’). Like at all of our larger events, we aim to have our regular 10-player Saturn Bomberman tournament; running on a projector in front of a large audience. We will have to see if space and facilities will permit this. Back by popular demand will be C64anabalt: the recent cartridge release from the ever awesome RGCD. This C64 release is based on the popular Canabalt game. As far as prizes go, isn’t seeing and playing with your favourite retro gamers from the television screen in real life prize enough? (winks).
ARG: If PAX Aus is anything to go by, I reckon your area will be extremely popular! Do you have helpers on hand? If not, can I sneak into your luggage.
Serby: (Laughs), thanks for the offer Alex, but EB security already have an ‘AusRetroGamer Wanted’ poster (ARG: I have been exposed!) at all entry points so smuggling yourself through them would be tougher than squeezing anything past a cavity search by the TSA (laughs). Apart from the ‘faces’ of Weird And Retro (Serby & Kano), we will almost have the full contingent of ‘WaRiors’ coming along and helping out: Pedro (aka: RetroGamerRival), Jamie, Stacey Borg, and returning to EB from our previous EB GameAThon venture: Jerry (aka: @icemanfx). ARG: No love for ausretrogamer hey. This changes everything Serby (wink).
ARG: Can you give us an exclusive on something about the EB Games Expo that we didn’t already know about?
Serby: For AusRetroGamer? Absolutely! Those that follow our Weird And Retro twitter exploits, you will know of our retro hunts. Well for this years EB Games Expo, we will be bringing the mother-load of our Retro Road Trip pick-ups! I am talking about none other than an original 1986 4-Player Atari Games arcade cabinet that is Gauntlet II! ARG: WHOA, I am fully gobsmacked! I hope she is guarded like Fort Knox.
ARG: Apart from the Expo, will you have time to go on a retro hunt while in Sydney?
Serby: Weird And Retro never goes to Sydney without visiting our friends and previous event sponsors: ‘Retro Games Top Ryde City’ and ‘The Gamesmen’ in Penshurst! If you want retro, then do not go there! Leave it all for us!
ARG: What is next for Weird and Retro?
Serby: WaR is breaking out on all fronts! Apart from EB Games Expo, we are already booked for the annual two day AFTERSHOCK event taking place at Monash University (Caulfield Campus) on Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 December. Events for 2014 are looking good with the 7-day Computer Games Boot Camp 2014, PAX Aus and EB Games Expo 2014. Monthly club meets (in Victoria) include: Retro Tuesday on the first Tuesday of every month; and AUG (Amiga Users Group) every third Sunday of each month. I was recently stopped at a Cash Converters (pawn store) while on a GameCube retro hunt by a mature couple who were big fans of our WaR segment on the New Game Plus TV show, which reminds me: we need to record more WaR TV segments! We have also set-up our Weird and Retro YouTube channel so watch out (no pun intended) for upcoming feature length segments, reviews, event videos and more! Our weirdandretro.com site is under construction – this is where you will find a host of retro related goodies in the not too distant future. In the meantime, if you cannot join us in person at any community event, you can follow our exploits on Facebook and Twitter. If you like to see a lot of ‘Retro Gaming Show & Tell’ then following us on twitter is highly recommended!
ARG: Hang on, did you say PAX? Are you joining us at the Classic Games Console crew?
Serby: Looks like it (winks).
ARG: Oh man, that is awesome! We will have a blast.
ARG: Finally, what is your all time favourite arcade game?
Serby: As a Highlander would say: “There can be only one!” But as Weird And Retro has two co-hosts, I will give you (my) two. My two all time favourite arcade games are Gauntlet II and Mortal Kombat II. Gauntlet II was the first game that introduced me to multi-player gaming. It was more than just 2 players at one time, which has led me to my love (and vast collection) of multi-player LAN games and consoles. As for Mortal Kombat II, I was a champion. Having played the game for five plus hours a day, every day, for almost a year, at a local Dandenong arcade (for free), I was bound to become a flawless champion! Anyone want to take on Kitana?
Well there you have it. Thank you Serby for your time and candid responses. We wish you all the best at the upcoming EB Games Expo. We are certain the Retro Gamer Garden will be quite popular. All the best in your future retro endeavors and adventures. We will definitely see each other again in the not so distant future.
It is no surprise that I love pinball! At the recent PAX Australia 2013 exposition, I had the pleasure of playing an Australian made video pinball machine. Impressed with the ingenuity of the table, I tracked down Sana Nolan from Infinity Amusements and asked him to tell us about this exciting product – from inception to the current state of play. This is Sana Nolan’s story.
source: Infinity Amusements
Pinball Evolved: Infinity Pinball Entertainment System
By: Sana Nolan
Pinball – if you are of the right vintage, that one word brings back a flood of nostalgia. For the last few years, pinball has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts thanks to incredible titles like The Pinball Arcade (Farsight Studios) and PinballFX2 (Zen Studios). Unfortunately, no matter how good the software is, nothing can replace the feel of playing on a real table. For a true pinhead, a touch screen or controller just doesn’t cut it.
Over the last few years, enthusiasts around the world have solved this problem by building video pinball cabinets, otherwise known as “Hyperpin” or “Pin MAME”. These were real cabinets, with real buttons and a real plunger with 3 LCD screens to emulate the playfield, back glass and dot matrix display – and all the joy of the real thing without any of the maintenance headaches.
During the past 18 months, a work colleague of ours was building a video pinball cabinet, slowly working on it in his spare time. To celebrate its “play ready completion” he decided to show it off at PAX Australia 2013. Although I had been following the project for months, this was the first time I could get my hands on it and realize its incredible potential.
Everyone that played the cabinet at PAX Australia had two questions: “How does it work?” and “Where can I get one?” The first question was simple – with lots of time, research, motivation and (most importantly) electronics skills, anyone could potentially build their own cabinet, as dozens of people around the world have done. The second question was a bit trickier. When you build something out of love, you quickly stop keeping track of the component costs, let alone the hours of labour!
The problem with most enthusiast projects is that they often start with restoring an original pinball cabinet and the rest of the time spent on setting up the PC and MAME software. However, you cannot spend six months building a retail product which would see you get sued at the end of it!
This is where the journey of Infinity Amusements comes into the story. With the PAX Australia inspiration fresh in our minds, my wife Jennifer and I proceeded to work out all the necessary components, finding suppliers and working out the cost of the units to ensure their feasibility. Luckily, the numbers added up and the Infinity Pinball Entertainment System was born.
Microsoft invited us to show off the enthusiast cabinet from PAX Australia at their TechEd 2013 event on the Gold Coast. This event allowed us to test the waters by showcasing a “proof of concept” unit to Australia’s IT industry. With less than six weeks to the event, we completed our website and crowd-funding campaign. This was achieved with little sleep, but we knew it would pay dividends.
The showcasing at TechEd taught us an important lesson – we needed to have prototypes of our final retail machines. Everyone that played the cabinet at PAX Australia and TechEd 2013 had an absolute blast, but the machine suffered from major heat issues and various technical problems. To ensure confidence in our products, we had to demonstrate that these problems had been resolved. That was one week ago!
Since TechEd, we have been quite busy sourcing the required hardware to construct our first prototype. Thanks to the generosity of the Pinball Spare Parts Australia team, we also had a Williams cabinet to assist in getting the finalised measurements. In the last few days, we have also procured a 3D printer. This 3D printer will be critical to produce components as well as being an invaluable tool during the rapid prototyping stage.
Both Jennifer and I are geeks – half the fun of this project is the opportunity to play with different types of technologies. We find all sorts of excuses to play with new toys – I just wish I had more time to play PinballFX2!
It has been a fantastic journey and we look forward to demonstrating our retail prototypes within the next few weeks. You can follow our endeavours via the development diaries section on our website and our Instagram feed. We will also have the ausretrogamer team play test our prototypes – very exciting times!
Infinity Amusements is 100% Australian owned and we use Australian made components wherever possible. You can find out more, or contribute towards the project at IndieGoGo.
Sony has unveiled their latest PS Vita model and the new addition to their hardware family, the PS Vita TV. I think i just heard Microsoft quaking in their boots.
Sony PS Vita
Features:
Sony PS Vita TV
Features:
Does this Sony announcement excite you? I am not much of a PS Vita fan (I still use my Nintendo DS and Sony PSP), but the PS Vita TV does get me quite excited!
Well, well, well, what do we have here then – a slab of Nintendo with quite the clever moniker, the 2DS! There seems to be a lot of buzz surrounding Nintendo’s imminent handheld system; it’s either love it or hate it.
I must admit, my first impressions were quite negative. However, being aware that Nintendo is a brand I have trusted for over 30 years, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Once released, I’ll have a play in-store and see if it suits me or not. At the end of the day, if I don’t like it, I won’t buy it. For those that already have a 3DS/XL, just turn off the 3D and you have yourself a 2DS (Ed: drawing a long bow there!).
If you are interested to know, the Australian release date will be on the same day as the US, October 12. Be prepared to pay a little more than our US cousins; the suggested retail price will be $149.95.
image and video source: Nintendo