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Level Up Your Collectibles Game with Macca’s Makers

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Macca’s is dropping a limited-edition building set for McHappy Day 

Build your own Macca’s restaurant and support McHappy Day with the launch of Macca’s Makers

Ahead of McHappy Day taking place on Saturday 18 November, Macca’s is offering Aussie’s another way to help raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) with the launch of its new and exclusive collector’s item, Macca’s Makers, a 56-piece limited-edition brick building set.

Launching on Wednesday, 8 November for a limited time only, Macca’s Makers gives fans an exclusive, behind the scenes view into the world of the Golden Arches by allowing them to build their very own mini-Macca’s restaurant.

The building set is a replica of a Macca’s restaurant and features an iconic glow-in-the-dark Golden Arches pylon, crew and manager figurines, McCafé, Playland, front counter and drive-thru.

Aussies can purchase Macca’s Makers for $36.95 from their nearest McDonald’s restaurant or via McDelivery from Wednesday, 8 November, with 100% of profits being donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities in celebration of McHappy Day.

Amanda Nakad, Director of Marketing for McDonald’s Australia said: “McHappy Day has been part of our customers’ lives for the past 31 years and we continue to be blown away by their support for the fundraiser and Ronald McDonald House Charities. This year, we are excited to give fans, who love to express their passion for the brand, the opportunity to collect an iconic Macca’s item while helping to raise funds for a cause very close to our hearts. So, get ready to build your own Macca’s restaurant with Macca’s Makers, but make sure you are quick, as they are sure to sell out fast!”.

Organised by McDonald’s, McHappy Day is the largest annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities, which raises vital funds to help seriously ill and injured children and their families.

In addition to purchasing a Macca’s Makers set, Aussies can support this year’s McHappy Day fundraiser by:

  • During McHappy Time (from 18 October) – Picking up a pair of Silly Socks for $5.95, or Helping Hands for $2, $10 or $50, from their local Macca’s or via McDelivery.
  • On McHappy Day (Saturday, 18 November) – Buying a Big Mac from their local Macca’s or via McDelivery, with $2 from every Big Mac sold going directly to RMHC.
  • Making a donation online by visiting www.rmhc.org.au/give

Compatible with other brands of building bricks, Macca’s Makers is available for $36.95 from Wednesday 8 November 2023 across McDonald’s restaurants nationwide and via McDelivery, for a limited time only. All profits raised will go directly to Ronald McDonald House Charities, as part of McHappy Day 2023.

For more information visit: www.mcdonalds.com.au



Press release supplied

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Coming Soon To Netflix

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In case you miss the news in October, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft animated series is coming soon to Netflix!

We must admit, it does look good, and seldom do Netflix miss the mark. Can’t wait for this one.


source: Netflix



THE GAME EXPO returns in March 2024

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THE GAME EXPO (TGX) is returning after this year’s successful debut show!

The gaming events calendar is perfectly balanced between the two expo giants, TGX in March, and PAX Aus in October. If you are over your PAX Aus experience and are fretting for the next big gaming event, you are in luck, as tickets for TGX 2024 have just gone on sale!

Current TGX news is that there are a list of returning activities, including the mega popular Creator Showdown PC LAN tournament, Cosplay Cup, Artist Alley, Tabletop Gaming, Freeplay Video Gaming and an expanded Indie Games Zone to name just a few. TGX 2024 will have much more to reveal, so we’ll be keeping a keen eye on their announcements between now and March and let you know all about it – so make sure you are following us on X/Twitter and Facebook!


source: thegamexpo

The Game Expo lowdown:

  • WHEN: Sat 23rd & Sun 24th March 2024
  • WHERE: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
  • TICKETS: www.thegameexpo.com

Highlights from TGX 2023 to whet your appetite for the 2024 edition!

image source: The Game Expo



LIBERATION – The New Retro Space Adventure Game Is Available Now

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Unleash Chaos in Space!

Liberation is a retro space adventure inspired by the original 1984 version of Elite, and mashed up with classic UK science fiction such as The Tripods, Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who.

In this game, you pilot an elite stealth ship as you take your revenge against the evil Galactic Federation (GalFed)! Upgrade your ship with a variety of weapons and systems. Engage in high-stakes dogfights, dock with space stations and planet spaceports, and work with heroes and villains to destroy GalFed.

To make this game even sweeter, it was made in Australia (Frankston, VIC!) by Classyk Games, on Linux with Godot, using an open source stack including Blender, GIMP and InkScape. Liberation is available right now on Windows, Mac, Linux for Steam and coming soon to itch.


image source: Classyk Games



New Pinball Games To Be Revealed at Pinball Expo

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With Pinball Expo ’23 only a few days away, pinball manufacturers are clamouring to outdo each other in the new release stakes.

We already had Barrels of Fun announce their Labyrinth pinball game over the weekend (which will be playable at the expo), and now it’s Pinball Brothers’ turn with an Ellen Ripley edition of their Alien pinball machine. As Alien(s) fans, this definitely piques our interest!

This Ellen Ripley version of Alien pinball will come with new cabinet art, a loader battle translite, an updated software package (v4.0) and a bunch of extra movie scenes we have never seen in Alien Pinball before! Announcing their collaboration with modder Lior Rajwan from The Art of Pinball, this new machine will include hand-sculpted mini-screen, a hand-painted Xeno-head and a beautifully designed apron. Pinball Brothers are also planning an interactive topper which we hope they bring to the expo!

Alien Pinball – The Ellen Ripley Version

The Ellen Ripley Edition’s In-game Extras

Not to be outdone, Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) will also announce Steve Ritchie’s next pinball machine on October 19 (US time), which is rumoured to be an Elton John music themed pin. We aren’t the biggest Elton John fans, but with Steve designing this one with a higher BoM (bill of materials), you can bet it will be an amazingly flowy (and possibly brutal) game, packed with cool mechs and toys – well, that’s the hope.

The Master of Flow – Steve Ritchie. JJP will showcase his latest game at Pinball Expo

Will it be Elton John? We’ll see on October 19 (US time)!

Oh how we wish we could be at Chicago this week to experience and play these new machines – if someone could fly us out to Chi-town, we’d be forever in their debt 😉



GoldenEra – The Film About The N64 Video Game, GoldenEye 007, Is Now Available for Pre-Order!

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The fantastic documentary on the most awesome FPS game, GoldenEye 007, is now available for pre-order!

In case you weren’t aware of this fantastic film, GoldenEra is a celebration of a magical moment in video games history, when 3D games burst onto screens and into our imaginations. The film showcases GoldenEye 007, a game that would inspire a generation with innovative gameplay and a multiplayer mode that would change gaming forever. Who doesn’t remember their 4-player death-matches with mates on their Nintendo 64?! Ah, it was so much fun!

GoldenEra is a nostalgic celebration of one of the most important video games of all time. A game that broke all the rules and defined a generation of gamers. The story is told by academics, journalists, celebrities, fans and the game’s designers.

GoldenEra the feature length film, explores the passion, ambition and naive exuberance of the team from countryside England that produced countless hours of joy to millions of gamers around the world.

Featuring hours of content, including:

  • Art of GoldenEra
  • GoldenEye and Obsession
  • GoldenEye inspired VR
  • In Game Reenactments
  • Mick Gordon on Rare
  • Music of GoldenEra
  • The Memes
  • The N64 Hardware
  • Writing GoldenEra
  • Bringing Back GoldenEye (Feature Length GoldenEye Movie!)

You can now pre-order the GoldenEra Limited Edition “Most Deadly” Blu-ray with N64 Slip Case film right here!



PAX Aus 2023 – But Wait, There Is More!

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With only a few more sleeps till PAX Aus 2023 kicks-off this Friday, there are more exciting and enticing news coming out from Australia’s premier gaming and pop culture event!

PLAION is proud to announce the Atari 2600+ – a modern day faithful recreation of the pioneering console that first appeared in 1977.

The new Atari 2600+ system will be on display at PAX Aus this week in the Classic Gaming area. The Atari 2600+ is launching worldwide on 17th November 2023 and available to pre-order for $189.95.

Nintendo has revealed more of their PAX plans – Not only will PAX visitors be able to experience Super Mario Bros. Wonder ahead of release, they will also be able to play Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask, Detective Pikachu Returns and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Nintendo Switch.

Detective Pikachu Returns is launching on the first day of PAX, Friday 6th October. Also available to play on the Nintendo stand will be  an unreleased game from Square Enix – STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R. See all the Nintendo PAX news here.

image source: Rocketcomms



LEGO Halloween: Brick Or Treat!

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What better way to celebrate Halloween than to build some spooky Lego sets!

To help us all celebrate Halloween, LEGO have been kind enough to provide build instructions on creating spooky stuff, like vampires, pumpkins and even your own shadow puppets!

To get you started, here are a few:

  • Build a ghost and/or a bat (instructions)
  • Build a pumpkin (instructions)
  • Build a vampire (instructions)

Grab the rest from the LEGO site right now, then grab all your spare bricks and get constructing! What a treat, thanks LEGO.

image / story source: LEGO



Chironex Studios’ GRIST Game Seeks To Recapture The PC Gaming Experience From The 1980s

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We are now even more hyped for PAX Aus 2023! If you are asking why, then let us tell you……

Growing up in the 80s, our first encounter with a desktop PC was a chunky beige box with a green monochrome CRT monitor. The keys were as loud as the disk-drive accessing the sectors on the 5.25″ floppy, and without any GUI, we had to explore this (what now seems archaic) machine through trial and error using commands that were quite foreign to us at the time. Like any kid back then, we found games to play on these old school computers, which got us hooked. Bathed in the green glow we explored different worlds, made tough decisions, and became different characters – it unleashed our imagination.

Well, an independent Australian game developer, Chironex Studios is seeking to recapture those early days of PC gaming with their new game, Grist!

GRIST is a digital boardgame-slash-rpg about surviving as a Starship Commander in a universe where the secrets of faster-than-light-travel have been lost to time and conflict. Voyage across the galaxy sending out your crew on missions, recovering artifacts of the pre-collapse civilisation, and pushing back the terrors that lurk in the dark between worlds. All the while deciding which parts of your humanity you will keep, and which will be traded for one more year of life among the stars.

GRIST combines vintage ascii terminal style graphics with a synthwave soundtrack for an iconic ascii-wave aesthetic. Gameplay features include a unique positioning based combat system, multiple-choice events with long-tail outcomes, strategic hand-optimization, and a variety of different scenarios to test your abilities.

Currently in development by Chironex Studios, GRIST is planned for an Early Access release in late 2023, so add it to your Steam wishlist right now! And if you are going to PAX Aus in a few weeks, then make sure you head to Booth 16 in the Indie area (Expo Hall) to speak to the developer and check out GRIST!

image source: Chironex Studios