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History

Micro Men: Clive Sinclair vs Chris Curry

31/05/2015 By ausretrogamer

MicroMen_movie_titleIf you are tired of the same old documentary style films about the history of the British home computer industry, then Micro Men (2009) might be right up your alley. Micro Men tells the story of legendary inventor Sir Clive Sinclair battling it out with ex-employee Chris Curry, founder of Acorn Computers, for dominance in the fledgling computer market. The rivalry comes to a head when the BBC announce their Computer Literacy Project, with the stated aim of putting a micro in every school in Britain. When Acorn wins the contract, Sinclair is furious, and determines to outsell the BBC Micro with his ZX Spectrum computer. What transpires grips you like a vice for the duration of the film, only letting go once the credits roll some one hour and twenty minutes later.  

Alexander Armstrong plays Sir Clive to a tee, and Martin Freeman is perfectly cast as Chris Curry, Clive’s eventual nemesis. Scottish Director, Saul Metzstein truly captures the fervor of the British home computer rush of the late 70s and early 80s. If you were a fan of British home computing, or a computing historian, then do yourself a favour and watch Micro Men – it will be the best 80 minutes you’ve watched about the battle between Sinclair and Acorn Computers.

Now, if only someone would make a film adaptation of Brian Bagnall’s Commodore: A Company on Edge book!


video source: gimpymoo
material source: BBC

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Acorn, BBC Micro, Chris Curry, Clive Sinclair, Micro Men, Movie, retro computing, Sir Clive Sinclair, Spectrum, ZX81

The Wizard Files

25/05/2015 By ausretrogamer

Wizards_HDRWhat’s up with wizards in video games – why do they wear those hooded robes and why must they have long white beards? Well, most of them do. I guess I would have to be into sorcery stuff to know such things *wink*.

My first interaction with a wizard in a video game was in Wizard of Wor. The evil wizard was one scary dude – with his face hidden under his blue hood, he would move swiftly about the dungeons, taunting you to shoot him. The satisfaction when you got him was overwhelming, but the disappointment was just as intense if he escaped. Damn wizard!

Wizards have featured in many video games, some were good and others were evil. Some wizards were even awesome characters you could select – just like Merlin in Gauntlet! Here are a few famous (or infamous) wizards that you may have played as or against, in a video game. Who were your favourites?

 Wizard_Merlin Wizard: Merlin

Game: Gauntlet

Comment: “Wizard needs food – badly!” – Merlin was always a popular character choice in Gauntlet.

 Wizard_wizball Wizard: Wiz

Game: Wizball 

Comment: Not your conventional wizard, but Wiz was most definitely dabbling in wizardry. Wiz even had a feline companion, Nifta!

 Wizard_Wor Wizard: Wizard of Wor

Game: Wizard of Wor

Comment: The titular evil wizard that lurks in the dungeon and taunts you to shoot him before he escapes through the side exits, is one shifty dude.

 Wizards_Chaos Wizard: Wizard 1

Game: Chaos: The Battle of Wizards

Comment: Wizard 1 battles it out till the death. Last wizard standing, wins!

 Wizard_Axil Wizard: Axil The Able

Game: Heavy On The Magick

Comment: The neophyte wizard Axil has a few magic tricks up his generously big sleeves. Those goblins, vampires and wyverns don’t stand a chance.

 Wizards_TheWizard Wizard: The Wizard

Game: Atic Atac

Comment: Do you want to swing an axe, a sword or cast awesome spells? That’s easy, casting spells is always damn cool.

 Wizards_Sabreman Wizard: Sabreman

Game: Pentagram

Comment: Your typical wizard with a pointy hat, beard and dapper robe, sets out on a quest to resurrect a mystical pentagram. Oooooooooo!

 Wizard_Sorcery Wizard: Sorcerer

Game: Sorcery

Comment: Travel from your home in Stonehenge to free the enslaved and save your three wizard mates from the Necromancer. It is all up to the Sorcerer!

 

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Atic Atac, Axil The Able, Merlin, Pentagram, retrogaming, Sorcery, Wizard of Wor, Wizards, Wizards in video games, Wizball

2015 World Video Game Hall of Fame Finalists

08/05/2015 By ausretrogamer

HallOfFame-TITLEJust in case you have been hiding in a cave for the last week or two, we thought we would take this opportunity to bring you up to speed on the 15 electronic games finalists to be inducted into The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame. The inductees will be formally recognised in a ceremony at The Strong museum in downtown Rochester, New York, on June 4.

Which games made the cut? Surely there wouldn’t be too many surprises when you scan the below list of inaugural inductees. We reckon there should have been some Yu Suzuki arcade classics in the hall of fame, but we are sure they will make the next induction. So, which other iconic game(s) do you think should have made this initial World Video Game Hall of Fame list?

Oregon Trail (1971)
HallofFame_oregon_trail

Pong (1972)
HallofFame_Pong

Space Invaders (1978)
HallofFame_SpaceInvaders

Pac-Man (1980)
HallofFame_Pac-Man

Tetris (1984)
HallofFame_tetris

Super Mario Bros. (1985)
HallofFame_SuperMario

The Legend Of Zelda (1986)
HallofFame_zelda

Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
HallofFame_Sonic

Doom (1993)
HallofFame_doom

FIFA Soccer (1993)
HallofFame_FIFA

Pokémon (1996)
HallofFame_pokemon

The Sims (2000)
HallofFame_Sims

World Of Warcraft (2004)
HallOfFame_wow

Angry Birds (2009)
HallofFame_angry_birds

Minecraft (2009)
HallofFame_minecraft

source: The Strong – National Museum Of Play

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Doom, pong, Retro Gaming, Space Invaders, super mario, tetris, The Strong, video game hall of fame, Video Games

Top 5 Games Charts: March 1998

03/05/2015 By ausretrogamer

top5gamescharts_title_march98While some of us were bopping to the Spice Girls‘ “Who Do You Think You Are” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, others were busying themselves playing some absolute classic games on their console of choice.

1998 saw many top quality games, and judging by the top 5 games for each system, you would have been hard pressed not to have found a game you liked to play. The Playstation hit its straps with brilliant titles featuring Lara Croft (Tomb Raider 2) and that ultra cool marsupial, Crash Bandicoot, getting a second outing.

The timing was also right with the release of a football game coinciding with the FIFA World Cup taking place in France that year, while Sega wasn’t going to be outdone by an official license with their release, Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 for the Saturn.

What were your favourite games in March 1998?

PSX_150x150 1) Tomb Raider 2 (Eidos)
2) FIFA 98: The Road To The World Cup (Electronic Arts)
3) TOCA Touring Car (Codemasters)
4) Crash Bandicoot 2 (Sony)
5) Cool Boarders 2 (Sony)

 

1) Sonic R (Sega)
2) Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (Sega)
3) Resident Evil (Capcom)
4) TOCA Touring Car (Codemasters)
5) Sonic Jam (Sega)

 

PC_150x150 1) FIFA 98: The Road To The World Cup (Electronic Arts)
2) Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo)
3) Goldeneye 007 (Nintendo)
4) Super Mario 64 (Nintendo)
5) Lylat Wars (Nintendo)

 

 

Filed Under: History Tagged With: March 1998, Nintendo 64, Playstation, retrogaming, Saturn, top 5 charts, top 5 games chart

Remembering the Sega Genesis Nomad

09/04/2015 By ausretrogamer

Nomad_1Handheld gaming is still popular as it’s ever been. The ability to play console quality games, especially retro games, on the mini-computer in my pocket, is totally insane. I can grind through dungeons in Final Fantasy; or zoom across Sonic’s digital landscape collecting enough rings for a chance at the bonus stage in order to get those elusive chaos emeralds in the Hedgehog’s Mega Drive/Genesis classic.

Playing these games on my smartphone got me thinking about portable gaming. When I was younger, I used to spend countless hours on my Nintendo Game Boy and later, my Sega handhelds. Nowadays, I love my Nintendo 3DS, PSP and the PS Vita, but I look back to my favourite handhelds of the past, and the one that sticks out most in my mind, is the Sega Genesis Nomad.

Nomad_2

This thing was a portable Sega Genesis system that nearly played every game cartridge that I had. There were only a couple that wouldn’t work, but this was long before you could download a software patch to fix such a problem. For those unfamiliar with the Nomad, this thing was a pocket sized Sega Genesis – as long as you had large pockets, it could go with you anywhere! Oh yeah, and as long as you had a handy supply of AA batteries (the unit was powered by six AA batteries). The battery pack that attached to the back of the machine was quite bulky. The batteries drained rather quickly, so, unless you had a part-time job to keep buying them, they were quite difficult to obtain. This wasn’t much of a deterrent, as you could play Sonic and Mortal Kombat on the go!

Nomad_4

Luckily, there was an adapter that made it possible to plug directly into mains power and even the cigarette lighter in your parents car – and with the headphone jack, you could be gaming without bothering the passengers. You could literally take it anywhere with the vast library of Genesis games – you were never short on playing awesome titles. The Nomad even had interfaces to connect to a regular TV, just like a home console, and also a second player controller connection for some 2P action!

Nomad_3

There were some attempts at bringing home console games to the portable realm, with NEC having a similar unit (Ed: the TurboExpress), but with Sega, you had their extensive library of games to draw from which the others could never compete with (Ed: except for NEC’s PC Engine GT). Sega had a massive hardware push through the 90’s, which ultimately didn’t work out for that side of their business. But it sure was a lot of fun while it lasted, and their Nomad was truly a remarkable device.

It pains me to this day to think that I traded it when the Playstation 2 hit the shelves and I just had to have one. I learned my lesson at that point and I have never traded away any of my old consoles since; portable or otherwise.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Selby_logoMatt Thames
Blogger and Brand Manager at Selby Acoustics.

 

 

 

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Mega Drive, Nomad, retrogaming, sega, Sega Genesis, Sega Genesis Nomad

Made In Australia: SNES Games

31/03/2015 By ausretrogamer

AussieMade_MainTItleWith the NES and Mega Drive getting their Made In Australia once-over, we thought we would complete the trilogy by documenting the video games that were made Down Under for Nintendo’s 16-bit powerhouse, the Super Nintendo!

Looking at the SNES games developed in Australia, it is great to see so many chart topping titles in the list, from the awesome Super Smash TV, to MechWarrior and the cyberpunk-fantasy action role-playing game, Shadowrun.

The SNES was blessed with great titles and I am proud to say that Australian made games were counted amongst them. Which Australian made SNES game did you like?

Super Smash TV (1991)
SNES_SuperSmashTV

Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball (1992)
SNES_CalRipkin

George Foreman’s K.O. Boxing (1992)
SNES_GeorgeF
NBA All Star Challenge (1992)
SNES_NBA



Super High Impact (1993)
SNES_Super_High_Impact

MechWarrior (1993)
SNES_MechWarrior

Shadowrun (1993)
SNES_Shadowrun

Choplifter III: Rescue Survive (1994)
SNES_ChoplifterIII

WCW Superbrawl Wrestling (1994)
SNES_WCW Super Brawl Wrestling

Radical Rex (1994)
SNES_RadicalRex

Super Solitaire (1994)
SNES_SuperSola

Super International Cricket (1994)
SNES_SuperIntCricket

True Lies (1994)
SNES_TrueLies

Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1995)
SNES_Wildcast

image sources: destructoid, giantbomb, gamefaqs, rfgeneration, mobygames, wikimedia commons & retrogamingaus




Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Aussie Made, Made In Australia, Nintendo Games made in Australia, retrogaming, SNES, super nintendo

A Brief History Of Pinball

23/03/2015 By ausretrogamer

If you ever wanted a quick reference guide on the history of pinball, then you have come to the right place. Those Silver Oak Casino guys aren’t just about online gambling, they also create awesome and informative infographics, like picking the right video games and indulging you in a brief history of pinball. Check it out, you may learn something.

Pinball_Historysource: Silver Oak Casino

Filed Under: History, Pinball Tagged With: Bally, Data East, pinball, Pinball 2000, Pinball History, retrogaming, sega, Stern Pinball, Williams

Made In Australia: Mega Drive Games

18/03/2015 By ausretrogamer

AussieMade_MainTItle

Following on from our look at Aussie made NES games, the Made In Australia series dives straight into the 16-bit era this time around, starting with Sega’s Mega Drive. The Mega Drive was an instant hit for Sega – it had a headstart on Nintendo’s 16-bit offering and it never looked back.

With a pedigree in arcade gaming, Sega’s 16-bit machine wasn’t short on awesome arcade conversions. Who could forget their first play on Golden Axe? It was like (Ed: almost) having the arcade machine in your bedroom! With sleek looks and a plethora of crtically acclaimed games, the Mega Drive went from strength to strength and smashed all kinds of sales records across the globe. Australian coders also jumped on the 16-bit development bandwagon (Ed: especially Beam Software!) and created a handful of Mega Drive games – some more well known than others. Do you remember playing any of these?

NBA All Star Challenge (1991) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_NBAAllStarChallenge
George Foreman’s K.O. Boxing (1992) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_George_Foreman-s_KO_Boxing_-_1992_-_Flying_Edge



Blades of Vengeance (1993) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_Blades

Tom & Jerry: Frantic Antics (1993) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_Tom_and_Jerry_Frantic_Antics

Radical Rex (1994) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_radical-rex
True Lies (1994) – Beam Software
AussieMade_MD_TrueLies
Australian Rugby League (1995) – Dreamtime Interactive (in conjunction with I-Space Interactive)
AussueMade-MD_AusRules

image source: Moby Games, Games Database, retro gaming australia

In the next Made In Australia feature, we will look at Super Nintendo games that were made down under. Till then, play hard and have fun!




Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Aussie Made, Made In Australia, Mega Drive, retrogaming, sega, Sega Genesis, Sega Mega Drive, Video Games made in Australia

Vintage Pokémon

05/03/2015 By ausretrogamer

Damn it, I totally missed it! On February 27, those pesky pocket monsters, oops, I mean Pokémon, celebrated their 19th anniversary! Wow, how time flies when you are hunting wild Pokémon.

Instead of hurling a Poké Ball around here (Ed: you have no idea, do you?), we thought we would share some awesome rustic Pokémon ads created by the talented Mexican artist, Chuz0r.

pokemon5

Pokemon1

Pokemon2

Pokemon3

Pokemon4

Pokemon6

Pokemon7source: Buzzfeed

Filed Under: History Tagged With: History, nintendo, Pokemon, retrogaming, video gaming history

Made In Australia: NES Games

04/03/2015 By ausretrogamer

AussieMade_MainTItle

In the early days of the video games industry it seemed like all game development was being done out of bedrooms across the UK and Europe. The North Americans were also pumping out games from their hive in Sunnyvale. It is a little known fact that Australia also made major contributions to game development in those early days. Australian pioneers like Alfred Milgrom (co-founder of Melbourne House and Beam Software) were designing and producing games like Hungry Horace and The Hobbit. Melbourne House‘s other major release,  Way Of The Exploding Fist, went on to become a massive hit on every 8-bit micro back in the mid 1980s. After Australia II won the America’s Cup in 1983, Armchair Entertainment cashed in on the craze by creating the sailing sim, Arnie’s America’s Cup Challenge. The game was bundled in the Commodore 64 Family Pack that was released to coincide with the 1987 America’s Cup event in Fremantle.

But what of the 8 and 16-bit consoles you know and love, like the NES, SNES and the Mega Drive? Did Australia produce any games on these world dominant systems? Of course they did. Australian talent continued to churn out classic games that went on to become major hits on their respective platforms.

In this maiden Made In Australia voyage, we will reflect on the games that Australians produced for Nintendo‘s world beating 8-bit console, the NES! I bet you will be surprised.

720° (1989)
720_degrees_NES

Bad Street Brawler (1989)
BadStreetBrawler_NES

Defender of the Crown (1989)
DefenderOfTheCrown_NES

Airwolf (1989)
Airwolf_NES

Road Runner (1989)
RoadRunner__NES

The Last Ninja (1990)
LastNinja_NES

RoadBlasters (1990)
Roadblasters__NES

Smash TV (1990)
SmashTV_NES

Aussie Rules Footy (1991)
AussieRules_NES

Star Wars (1991)
StarWarsNESPAL

But wait, there were more Aussie made NES games, like: Back to the Future (1989), The Three Stooges (1989), Battle Chess (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Back to the Future Part II & III (1990), Bigfoot (1990), Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum (1990), Fisher-Price: Perfect Fit (1990), Fisher-Price: I Can Remember (1990), The Punisher (1990), Rocket Ranger (1990), Bo Jackson Baseball (1991), Family Feud (1991), George Foreman’s K.O. Boxing (1992), International Cricket (1992), Nightshade (1992), Power Punch 2 (1992), Mickey’s Safari in Letter Land (1993) and Mickey’s Adventures in Number Land (1994).

In the next Made In Australia feature, we will reflect on the Mega Drive games that were Aussie made! You will be surprised to learn the number of hit games that Aussies had their hand in! Till next time, game on!

image sources: Moby Games, Tomorrow’s Heroes, GameFAQs, retro gaming australia

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Arnie, Arnie Armchair, Aussie Made, Beam Software, Made In Australia, Melbourne House, NES, nintendo, Retrocomputing, retrogaming

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