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Leonard Nimoy Is Introduced to the Magnavision VH-8000 LaserDisc Player in 1981

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Ah, love seeing one of our fave Trekkies, Spock (the late Mr. Leonard Nimoy) getting in amongst it when it come to video games, even if it is quite cheesy!

A long time ago, in our own galaxy, Leonard Nimoy – the Magnavox spokesperson, is guided and introduced to the Magnavox Magnavision VH-8000 LaserDisc Player by a cheesy white rock that blinks and beeps as a means of communication in this 1981 demonstration.

The mustachioed Nimoy, his white clothing and the Star Trek inspired theme music just ooze that 1980s vibe! Say cheese!


source: Watcher3223



The Retro Gaming Vault – May 2021

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Our first retro gaming vault feature proved successful, so we thought we’d keep things going!

For this month’s images, we delved further into our vault and dug up some cool and peculiar photos of items we have in our collection and from gaming parties we have attended and ComLynxed with our friends!

We hope you keep enjoying these blasts from the past!

Will always love the PC-Engine HuCards – they are so cute and packed with awesome gaming!

Keeping our N64 in tip top shape!

Got to get our monthly C64 fix (especially some World Class Leaderboard)!

Llamatron 2112 on the Jag or…..

……Revenge of the Mutant Camels?

Love getting some action on the little Neo Geo Pocket Color

ComLynx parties are always the fun!

The Neo-Vec controller is pretty darn awesome to use on the Vectrex

The rare and obscure Noun. Tempest 3000 is just sublime!

Our favourite Commodore 64 in our collection. The Suncom Thumbstick is a brilliant little controller, especially on Wizard of Wor!

Original image copyright: ausretrogamer



Commodore Computer Sales 1977-1996

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We love these time-lapse sliding charts, so when we found this one based on sales of Commodore computers, we knew we had to share them with you all.

It is no surprise which Commodore computer ends up on top pretty much from 1982 to 1996, but the others were a bit of a surprise (which we won’t spoil).

Are you keeping up with the Commodore? 😉


source: Sven Dännart

NOTE: The creator (Sven Dännart) has advised that some of the figures are estimates, so take all of this with a grain of salt. It’s still cool though.



Star Wars:The Magic of Myth Exhibition

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It may have closed a long, long time ago in our current galaxy, but the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth museum still lives on in cyberspace!

Thanks to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth exhibition has been saved for posterity via an online tour as it was originally displayed at the NASM. Just think about this, the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth was on display at the National Air and Space Museum from October 31, 1997 to January 31, 1999 – that was a long time ago indeed and before the prequels started!

Speaking of Star Wars exhibitions, Ms. ausretrogamer and I were lucky to visit the Star Wars Costumes exhibition at the EMP Museum (now called MoPOP) in Seattle back in 2015, which we will publish our photos from that exhibition in a future post – so keep an eye out for it!



Documentary: The Making of GoldenEye 007 (N64)

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Back in 2017 there was a crowdfunded project titled Golden Era which was going to tell the story of the making of GoldenEye 007 on the N64. The project didn’t reach it’s funding goal, but thankfully onaretrotrip stepped in to offer all of us a a glimpse into the game that revolutionised first-person shooters (FPS) and defined the Nintendo 64.

So kick back and enjoy the making of one of the all-time best N64 games!


source: onaretrotip

 



Sega Scud Race Arcade Promotional Video

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We love finding these promo videos of arcade games we used to love and play at amusement centres back in the day.

The below promotional video is for Sega’s Scud Race arcade game from 1996. Scud Race (Sports Car Ultimate Drive) was also known as Sega Super GT in North America.

Oh yeah, keep an ear out on how “Sega” is pronounced in this promo video – long live See-gah!


source: Australian Pinball Museum

 

 



BBC Archives: At home with the Codemasters – 1988

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The BBC Archive is rich with gaming related content from the 80s! We wanted to share this particular video of the Darling family, better known as Codemasters, enjoying their dizzy-ing success in the video games industry. Ah, those were the times.

This originally aired on the BBC’s Breakfast Time segment on August 2, 1988!


source: BBC Archive

Rare Atari Lynx Handy Development System Documentation

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It’s amazing what you find when trawling eBay late at night!

During one of our insomnia induced evenings, we stumbled upon a rare piece of history, a listing for an Atari Lynx / Epyx Handy Specifications, Development System and Schematics document from the late 80s! Looking at the listing, it seems that this folder belonged to or came from Atari Corporation Executive Producer, Richard (Rich) Robbins, who was responsible for developing and managing products for the Atari Lynx.

We see a lot of eBay listings that purport to be rare, but this one definitely deserves that moniker, even if it is a pricey bit of history!

As with any eBay listing, they do disappear after a while, so we thought we would preserve this listing by saving the images here for posterity (click on each image to see them in their full glory).

PS: If you procure this rarity, please let us know (privately or via social media)!

Atari Lynx Handy Specs Doc

source: eBay

 

JUDGE DREDD Pinball Promo Video from 1993

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Judge Dredd PinballWho doesn’t love a 10 minute promo video for a (then) new pinball machine!

Check out Bally-Midway’s promotional video for their 1993 smash hit pinball machine, Judge Dredd. The machine was based on the comic series ‘2000 AD’, not the 1995 movie starring Sylvester Stallone.

With a rotating planet and rings, magnetic robotic arm and diamond plate playfield, this ‘SuperPin’ was darn awesome in its day (and still is)!


source: JoBlo Horror Trailers

 

The Mini Vectrex VideoSystem

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We know this is OLD news, but who doesn’t like seeing this again?

Back in late 2018, the National Videogame Museum (NVM) in Texas (USA) tracked down the much rumoured Mini Vectrex VideoSystem. Once it was found that this was a working system, the NVM secured it as part of their Vectrex archive, ensuring all could see this lost treasure on display!

GCE designed and developed the Mini Vectrex just after being purchased by Milton Bradley in 1983. The mini system was to offer a slim alternative, much like contemporary mini console revisions of video games systems from the past. Now imagine if this actually made it to retail stores……….

We definitely could never get sick of watching the Mini Vectrex in action!


source: National Videogame Museum