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Retro Gaming Culture

Pixel Perfect Atari Merchandise

October 27, 2016 By ausretrogamer

numskull_atari_titleHold on to your hats! Numskull have just launched their range of retro merchandise based on one of our favourite wooden 70s consoles – the Atari 2600! Go retro stylin’ down memory lane with your iconic Atari socks, wallet, keyring and jumper – your street cred will be 1UP’ed in no time!

Rest assured that this official Atari collection is guaranteed to impress any gamer, with the embossed detailing on the wallets and the super-precise detail of the key rings. We are even partial to the awesomely cool Atari Christmas jumper! I think we have our Christmas list sorted now.

Look boss this Christmas
numskull_atari_xmas

Keep your cash and cards safe in this 6-switch woody
numskull_atari_wallet

Pull up your socks!
numskull_atari_socks

Keys will be stylin’
numskull_atari_2600_keyring

Take control of your keys!
numskull_atari_joystick_keyring

source: Numskull

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Atari Christmas Jumper, Atari keyrings, Atari wallet, Numskull, Numskull Atari Merchandise, Retro Gaming

PAXAus 2016: Classic Gaming Tournaments

October 25, 2016 By ausretrogamer

paxaus2016_cg_tournamentAttention gamers: Sharpen your gaming skills now and prove your retro gaming worth in the Classic Gaming tournaments at PAXAus 2016. As usual, you can compete for fun or glory!

There will be head to head racing, high score challenge competitions on arcade machines, consoles, 8-bit computers and pinball tables to show off your prowess. Speaking of pinball tournaments, Saturday’s competition will be fully sanctioned by the IFPA!

We suggest you put the Classic Gaming tournament schedule in your diary right now. Are you game to compete?

paxaus_cga_tournaments_schedule_2016

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, C64, Classic Gaming Area, Classic Gaming Tournaments, PAX Aus, PAX tournaments, PAXAus, PAXAus 2016, pinball

Black Mirror Goes Retro

October 23, 2016 By ausretrogamer

blackmirror_titleBlack Mirror is back with new episodes and it’s as dark, beautiful, fascinating and sharp as ever. It’s everything a good sci-fi TV series should be, that Charlie Brooker is a genius!

Black Mirror takes aim at social media in Nosedive and Hated In the Nation, while Playtest is an Inception-like mind-bending cautionary tale about VR. They’re all fantastic, but our real favourite is the uplifting and beautiful San Junipero (episode 4). It’s simply oozing with retro goodness: music, fashion, and (most importantly) arcades from the 80s and 90s! Here are some nods to video gaming pop culture that we spotted in San Junipero as well as Playtest. Did you spot others?

Edge magazine makes a cameo in the Playtest episode, Black Mirror series 3
blackmirror_playtest2

Look closely at those shelves, you may see some retro goodies
blackmirror_playtest3

Perhaps Charlie Brooker is a fan of Edge magazine…
blackmirror_playtest4

We spot some PS3 and PS4 gaming goodies!
blackmirror_playtest1

Going back to 1987 in episode 4, San Junipero
blackmirror_sanjunipero_tvs

We’d be smiling too if we were about to play Bubble Bobble!
blackmirror_sanjunipero_87arcade

Ah, Nemesis (aka: Gradius) is there too!
blackmirror_sanjunipero_87arcade2

The golden age of arcades make it too!
blackmirror_sanjunipero_80arcade2

No way, Time Crisis!
blackmirror_sanjunipero_96arcade2

We really need to visit Tucker’s!
blackmirror_sanjunipero_2002arcade

Image source: Black Mirror on Netflix

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: !Arcade!, 00s, 80s, 90s, Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, Playtest, retrogaming, San Junipero, Social Media, VR

Keeping the Ball Alive: 30 Years of Stern Pinball

October 21, 2016 By ausretrogamer

keepingtheballalive_header

STOP THE PRESS! If you have been looking for a coffee table art book with an inside look at the world’s largest pinball manufacturer, then this Stern Pinball Inc. and PaperFlock collaborative Kickstarter is for you!

Presenting Keeping the Ball Alive: 30 Years of Stern Pinball, a commemorative coffee table art book that will give fans an inside look at the history, design, production, and manufacturing of pinball machines, as well as the people behind them! The 200-page coffee table book will feature over 160 photo pages, colour foldouts, and artwork from thirty years of games. Alongside the photos and artwork will be interviews with important game designers like John Trudeau, Steve Ritchie, George Gomez, John Borg, and many more!

The Book!
keepingtheballalive_book

To make it even sweeter, fans/backers will get a chance to become part of the books production through PaperFlock’s unique crowd collaboration process. Content will be crafted with input from the projects forum on PaperFlock.com. This gives fans a real sense of ownership in the project. With unprecedented access provided by Stern, there surely will become a highly sort after pinball tome.

The Kickstarter campaign is live and will run for a few weeks yet. So check it out, there are plenty of pledges and rewards to tickle your pinball fancy!

Behind the scenes: Stern prototypes
keepingtheballalive_slimer_kiss

The Rewards!
keepingtheballalive_the_rewards

We had to back it!
keepingtheballalive_woohoo

source: Stern Pinball Inc. and Keeping The Ball Alive – Kickstarter

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Pinball, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: 30 years of Stern Pinball, Keeping the Ball Alive book, Keeping the Ball Alive: 30 Years of Stern, PaperFlock, pinball, Pinball Book, pinball wizard, Stern Pinball

Get Ready For Some Classic Gaming At PAX Aus 2016

October 19, 2016 By ausretrogamer

paxaus2016_primer_titleGet your nostalgic senses ready, as the PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is back, bigger and better for 2016! We say this every year, but this year is no exception – there will be games that will take you back to your younger years, and you never know, you may discover golden oldies that you may have not known or had forgotten about.

With systems like the Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Dreamcast and the NEC PC-Engine (to name just a few) to tickle your retro gaming fancy, your only problem will be, what to to play first!

If you want a trip down memory lane while at PAX Aus 2016, then make sure you come on over to the Classic Gaming area!

One fire button is all you need to play on the Commodore 64!
paxaus2016_cga_c64

Anyone up for some Alex Kidd action?
paxaus2016_cga_smsii

Shoot’em up action on the Engine that could!
paxaus2016_cga_pcengine

Let’s go make some crazy money!
paxaus2016_cga_dreamcast

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is proudly brought to you by: ausretrogamer, Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, PinballScore, Pinmem, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro and Zax Amusements.

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: !Arcade!, classic gaming, Classic Gaming Area, Old School, PAX, PAX Aus, PAX Aus 2016, PAX Australia, pinball, Retro Gaming

Double Dragon: The Complete History

October 16, 2016 By ausretrogamer

doubledragon_historyIf you have been following our exploits here or on social media, you’ll know that we are massive fans of Technos‘ brilliant 1987 beat’em up arcade game, Double Dragon.

What’s there not to like, two brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, set out to rescue Billy’s girl, Marian, from the Black Warriors gang by kicking ten-shades out of every baddie that gets in their way! This co-op game also gave the player the opportunity to grab strewn items, like a whip or baseball bat (among others) to easily dispose of the Black Warriors members.

We could go on and on about this awesome game, but we thought we’d spare you and bring your attention to Double Dragon: The Complete History by Slopes Game Room’s Daniel Ibbertson. Insert coin and enjoy!

Ah, many a coin were pumped into this machine
doubledragon_arcade

Double Dragon was converted on myriad of home systems. Let’s not talk about the C64 version *grumble*
doubledragon_history_conversion

The NES conversion was one of the better ones
doubledragon_history_nes

Even the Atari 2600 conversion was better than the C64 debacle!
doubledragon_history_a2600source: Slopes Game Room

 

Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: !Arcade!, Double Dragon, Double Dragon: The Complete History, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, Slope's Game Room, Technos, video, Video Games

Jersey Jack Pinball Announces The Future Of Pinball

October 14, 2016 By ausretrogamer

jjpinball_announcementAs we had predicted in our Pinball Expo 2016 feature, Jersey Jack Pinball have announced their newest machines, and let’s just say,  they have hit it out of the proverbial park!

Jersey Jack’s new machines will definitely be making history by being right on the bleeding edge of pinball design! First up, Pat Lawlor’s Dialed In. The legendary designer’s highly anticipated, original concept game will be the first pinball machine to feature Bluetooth® connectivity, a camera and additional player capabilities through a smartphone! The other special features of Dialed In will make your head spin, like the swivelling LCD mount, hidden trap door and the 3D interactive projected image to name just a few. Dialed In will come in two different variants, a Collector’s and Limited Editions.

The second machine announced is their Black Arrow Special Edition, named after the arrow that defeats Smaug™ in the acclaimed The Hobbit™ film trilogy. Special features include Black Arrow track mode animation, Black Ink body armour, black pinballs, gold Smaug™ character and plenty more to keep you excited. We honestly can’t wait to find out more about this one!

Pat Lawlor and Jersey Jack’s Jack Guarnieri proudly show-off Dialed In
jjpinball_pat_jack

The Dialed In playfield looks very inviting!
jjpinball_dialedin_playfield

Oh that RGB lighting is gorgeous!
jjpinball_rgb

Who you gonna call? Jersey Jack Pinball!
jjpinball_mobileconn

Do as Bob says, visit him when flashing!
jjpinball_multiball

Get your smartphones ready, pinball wizards!
jjpinball_dialedin_colled

Holy black pinballs!
jjpinball_black_arrowsesource: Jersey Jack Pinball

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Pinball, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Black Arrow Special Edition, Dialed In, Jersey Jack, Jersey Jack Pinball, Pat Lawlor, pinball, Pinball Expo, Pinball Expo 2016

He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe Live Action Intro

October 12, 2016 By ausretrogamer

heman_live_actionIf you haven’t guessed, we are HUGE fans of CineFix videos. Be it their 8-Bit Cinema or their Homemade Movies series, the team sure know how to grab our attention with their awesomely cool films.

For this homemade video, CineFix have gone all the way back to our all-time favourite action figure toy line and cartoon, Masters Of The Universe (MOTU). The live-action remake of the MOTU cartoon intro is absolutely hilarious and spot on! The CineFix team have also made a ‘side-by-side comparison’ and a ‘behind the scenes’ videos! They definitely nailed the MOTU trifecta!

For now, put your nostalgia tinted glasses on and enjoy these brilliant vids!

He-Man Live Action Intro

source: CineFix

Side by Side Comparison

source: CineFix

Behind the Scenes

source: CineFix

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: CineFix, Filmation cartoon, He Man, He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe, He-Man Live Action Intro, Homemade Movies, Masters Of The Universe, MOTU

Pinball Expo 2016

October 10, 2016 By ausretrogamer

pinballexpo_2016Pinball Expo 2016 is almost upon us! the 32nd Pinball Expo will take place from October 12 to 16 at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois. The expo will be jam-packed with new pinball machine reveals. Being the biggest Pinball Expo to date, expect the major pinball industry players to showcase their latest (and future) wares.

Here is what you can expect from the big boys (if you are one of the lucky attendees):

American Pinball:

The newest kid on the pinball block will showcase their first game, Houdini Master Mystery.

americanpinball_houdini

Dutch Pinball:

The diverse Dutch group of pinball maestros will have their much anticipated The Big Lebowski machine on display.

dutchpinball_thebiglebowski

Heighway Pinball:

The UK pinball manufacturer will finally reveal Alien.

heighwaypinball_alien

Jersey Jack Pinball:

The crew that brought us the brilliant The Wizard Of Oz and The Hobbit machines have been busy tinkering on their much anticipated 3rd machine, designed by the veteran pinball designer, Pat Lawlor.

pinballexpo_jerseryjack

Multimorphic:

The company behind the P3 Pinball Platform will show their latest version of the Lexy Lighspeed machine. They will also have the mini games from the Texas Pinball Festival from earlier in the year.

multimorphic_p3_lexylightspeed

Planetary Pinball / Chicago Gaming:

With their extremely popular Medieval Madness Remake still high in demand, the Californian based company is teaming up with Chicago Gaming yet again for their second title! All be revealed at Pinball Expo.

pinballexpo_mmr

Spooky Pinball:

The Wisconsin pinball makers will be busy showing their Rob Zombie Spookshow International, Domino’s Spectacular Pinball Adventure and possibly news on future titles!

spookypinball_robzombie

spookypinballdominos

Stern Pinball Inc:

Last but not least, the biggest pinball manufacturer of them all, Stern Pinball, will be revealing their Batman 66 machine. This will be Stern’s first game utilising a full colour LCD replacing the dot-matrix display. The game will feature a second smaller LCD on the playfield as well. The Batman 66 design team will be headed by George Gomez, with Lyman Sheats taking care of programming and artwork featuring Christopher Franchi’s impressions. The game will borrow heavily from the Batman The Dark Knight (2008) playfield, including the crane, but the left side of the playfield will be totally redesigned.

The other Stern pinball machine to be featured at Pinball Expo will be the Pabst “Can Crusher”.

stern_batman66

stern-batman-66-pinball-full

stern-pabst-can-crusher

image source: multiple – supplied

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Pinball, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: 32nd Pinball Expo, events, expo, flipper, pinball, Pinball Expo, Pinball Expo 2016, Retro Gaming, tilt

Conquered: EB Expo 2016

October 7, 2016 By ausretrogamer

ebexpo16_titleAs the old saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. This year’s EB Expo has come and gone, and yep, we had fun, lots of it!

A highlight for us was being invited by our Weird and Retro friends to assist in their awesome Retro Gaming section in the Freeplay City area. With 64 classic gaming systems to play, EB Expo attendees were not short on getting their nostalgia fix! From the ultra-rare Philips CD-I development kit, to the Commodore, Sega, Nintendo, NEC, Samsung and Atari wares, there was plenty to reminisce about.

While in the main hall, we got to sit on the Iron Throne, gawked at Optimus Prime, bumped into awesome cosplayers, played on PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox’s latest gear and shopped at EB Games’ massive Mega-Store! No need for more words, we’ll just leave some of our photos from EB Expo 2016 to speak for themselves…

With the sun shining, it was time for EB Expo 2016!
ebexpo16_welcome

First stop, Hall 6 and straight to the Weird and Retro Freeplay classic gaming area
ebexpo16_retro_packed

Time for a Hewson classic! Go Pogo!
ebexpo16_retro_nebulus

The new generation enjoying some old generation gaming!
ebexpo16_freeplay3

Whoa, a Jaguar in the wild!
ebexpo16_jag

Attendees wowing at the 16-bit computing wonders!
ebexpo16_freeplay4

Freeplay City Mario Kart 64 4P Showdown!
ebexpo16_freeplay_mk64

More 4P shenanigans on the Nintendo GameCube!
ebexpo16_freeplay1

Whoa, a rare beast – the Philips CD-i dev kit!
ebexpo16_cdi_dev

Which classic system to play first?
ebexpo16_retro

Difficult decision: go straight for Hotel Mario or play Transylvania on the Apple IIe?
ebexpo16_retro1

We weren’t aware that Deadpool was on the C64. And is that Stunt Car Racer on the Amiga? Whoa!
ebexpo16_retro4

The decision of what to play on next just keep getting harder!
ebexpo16_retro2

Doing the math on the Jaguars!
ebexpo16_freeplay2

The dark side of Sega. Oh wait, look at that beautiful Atari ST!
ebexpo16_retro3

Busted! Weird and Retro’s Serby blowing bubbles all the way to his own PS4 Pro!
ebexpo_serbywins

What’s this, an Atari sign and some old wares? Time to shop!
ebexpo16_atari

Cosplay heroes!
ebexpo16_cosplay1

Time to hit the Great (Main) Hall Of EB Expo 2016
ebexpo16_popculturemerch

Aha, a chill session may be in order!
ebexpo16_chill

The Iron Throne rules this hall!
ebexpo16_ironthrone

Anyone want a test drive?
ebexpo16_forza3_car

Hang on, we want a test drive in Optimus Prime!
ebexpo16_optimus

Hulk Smash!
ebexpo16_hulksmash

Lego Xbox!
ebexpo16_xboxlego

Lego Kong Ride and some sweet Poke Balls!
ebexpo16_kingkong

A work of Lego art!
ebexpo16_legopokemon

We found Pikachu! Quickly, where are our Poke Balls?
ebexpo16_pikachu

Shop till you drop at the EB Games Mega-Store!
ebexpo16_eb_megastore

The temptation is strong in these ones!
ebexpo16_darth_mmh7

Stocking up on a few goodies *wink*
ebexpo16_ninty_gear

We’ve hit the motherload of retrogaming goodies!
ebexpo16_retro_store

Surely we can squeeze this beauty in our checked luggage…
ebexpo16_c16

Scarily beautiful!
ebexpo16_alien

Bumped into the famous Nintendo brothers…
ebexpo16_marioluigi

Mind blowingly cool!
ebexpo16_cosplay2

Of course we had to go here too!
ebexpo16_pokemonalpha

Woohoo, just dance!
ebexpo16_justdance

Jump on the tractor!
ebexpo16_farm

Gonna grab a seat at Nintendo-land
ebexpo16_nintendo

Let’s all play! Got lots of streetpasses here *winks*
ebexpo16_nintendo_stand

The Nintendo posing podiums!
ebexpo16_nintendo_posingpodiums

Another posing podium!
ebexpo16_southpark

Heading over to Xbox
ebexpo16_xbox

Forza Horizon 3 was quite popular!
ebexpo16_forza3

Dr. Curlytek conquered the VeloDrone!
ebexpo16_velodrone

Waiting their turn patiently for some VR
ebexpo16_vr_kids

Aha, there they are! 
ebexpo16_ubisoft

The unmissable PlayStation exhibit!
ebexpo16_ps

Wowing the masses with PlayStation VR
ebexpo16_psvr_1

Dare to enter!
ebexpo16_resievil

Driveclub VR = WOWSER!
ebexpo16_driveclubvr

A well deserved award!
ebexpo16_psvr

All  good things must come to an end. Till the next EB Expo…
ebexpo16_packup

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Cosplay, EB Expo, EB Expo 2016, EBExpo, events, Freeplay, gaming, nintendo, Playstation, retrogaming, Ubisoft, Video Games, Weird and Retro, Xbox

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