Retro Gaming Culture

Tiny Arcade: A Retro Tiny Playable Game Cabinet

November 25, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

‘Tiny Arcade’ is an adorable arcade cabinet that fits in the palm of your hand – this is our kind of mobile gaming!

Made by Tiny Circuits, the Tiny Arcade has an analog joystick and two fire buttons, a built in speaker for playing audio, a Lithium battery, built in USB for charging (and programming), and a microSD expansion slot.

You can order your Tiny Arcade completely pre-assembled or as a DIY kit and there are plans for over twenty classic games available for free download by the start of shipping. The Kickstarter campaign has already well and truly met its target, so get your order in by 18 December 2015 if you want your own Tiny Arcade!

Games

Options: black acrylic, clear acrylic, basswood or the premium realistic 3D printed case.

Kickstarter rewards

Source: Kickstarter via Laughing Squid
Image and video source: Kickstarter

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Bluegrass Tetris Theme By Samuraiguitarist

November 23, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Canadian Guitarist/Songwriter/Samurai Steve Onotera (aka samuraiguitarist) performs a gorgeous bluegrass/rock multi-track cover of the classic ‘Theme A’ song from Tetris.

Video source: samuraiguitarist on YouTube

Source: samuraiguitarist via Laughing Squid

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Fury Fingers Films

November 22, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Australian film-makers ‘Fury Fingers Films’ make funny live action films about video games with plenty of bad-ass action and visual FX.

Fury Fingers was started by film school friends Nicholas Cleary, Andrew Shanks, Daniel Vink and David Gregan. Talented stuntman and fight choreographer Anthony Rinna is the most recent addition to the team (aka the 5th Beatle).

Making films has allowed the guys to develop and showcase their skills as visual effects artists, and become confident directing action, working with stunt / fight choreographers and parkour artists. Their next challenge is to learn about rope work and pyrotechnics (wow!). All their hard work has been worthwhile too, with big players such as Konami and Crystal Dynamics (among others) taking notice of Fury Fingers’ awesome films. Look out for their upcoming Tomb Raider fan film featuring Melbourne-based cosplayer Shiveeejam.

Watch a selection of their fantastic films below, and be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel, like their Facebook page, and follow them on Twitter to keep up to date with their latest projects because these guys are going places!

Fury Fingers Channel Trailer

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Gritty Mario World

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Sleeping With The Enemy – Metal Gear Solid Fan Film

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Day Of The Living Dead Batteries

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

The Best Of Us – The Last of Us Fan Film

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Boxhound – Metal Gear Solid Fan Film

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Looters – Elder Scrolls Fan Film

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Jon Hare’s Sociable Soccer Now Live On Kickstarter

November 20, 2015 By ausretrogamer

If you have been living on another planet and just returned to our blue marble, you may have missed the big news – Jon Hare, the coding genius who created Sensible Soccer, is back with a Kickstarter campaign to make Sociable Soccer, a worthy spiritual successor to one of the greatest footy (Ed: soccer) games of all time. With the pedigree of Sensi Soccer, you know this new game will be an absolute beauty.

Jon Hare’s Sociable Soccer will be kicking off on your PC, Steam, XBox One and Playstation 4 at the end of 2016. To say we can’t wait for this game, would be a gross understatement. Kick some goals for Sociable Soccer by backing it right now on Kickstarter!

image source: Tower Studios

Awesome Dad Re-enacts Street Fighter II Turbo Victory Poses

November 19, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Watch Los Angeles Comedian Nick Luciano’s awesome Dad re-enact all the victory poses from Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting. He has also re-enacted every taunt animation from Super Smash Bros Wii U (watch part 1 and part 2).

Source: Cheezburger

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Britsoft: An Oral History

November 17, 2015 By ausretrogamer

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the From Bedrooms To Billions documentary film – I called it the video gaming film of the year for 2014. It is also no secret that I am a fan of Read-Only Memory’s sublime Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works book. When these two worlds of film and publishing collide, you get Britsoft: An Oral History.

The Britsoft: An Oral History book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions – it uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and the birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64. Edited by former Edge magazine editor, Alex Wiltshire, and its striking page layouts designed by London-based studio Julia, Britsoft: An Oral History oozes premium quality.

With its rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, its high attention to detail, premium paper and design layout, this book will not disappoint. If you want a great companion publication to go with one of the best documentary films of 2014, then look no further, Britsoft: An Oral History should be at the top of your shopping list.

Vital Stats:
Title: Britsoft: An Oral History
Price: £30.00 (plus shipping)
Size: 160mm x 230mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 422
Specials: Lay-flat binding and multiple paper stocks

Rarely seen archive images – Work hard, play even harder!

Original illustrations of cult hardware of the era

Oh man, the colours, they are so vivid!

I spot Space Harrier!

Interviews with 35 people who shaped the modern videogames industry

Multiple paper stock is strikingly beautiful

A cup of tea? How British

Oo’er, 16-bits of awesomeness!

image source: Read-Only Memory

Oculus Arcade on Gear VR

November 15, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

What does everyone want to do with the latest cutting edge gaming technology? Play classic games, of course! Here is the Oculus ‘Arcade’ Gear VR app which lets you play over 20 classic titles from Sega, Namco, and Midway. James Halliday would approve!

Video source: Road to VR on YouTube

Games available:

Bandai Namco
Pacman (1980)
Galaga (1981)

Midway
APB (1987)
Defender (1981)
Joust (1982)
Gauntlet (1985)
Gauntlet II (1986)
Rampage (1986)
Root Beer Tapper (1983)
Spy Hunter (1983)

Sega
Altered Beast (1988)
Golden Axe (1989)
Phantasy Star II (1989)
Shinobi III (1993)
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Sonic Spinball (1993)
Streets of Rage (1991)
Streets of Rage 2 (1992)
Virtua Fighter 2 (1994)
Ecco the Dolphin (1992)

Source (including images): Road to VR

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Cinemaware Retro: Defender of the Crown – Extended Collectors Cut

November 13, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Oh how I miss the days of big boxed games. I remember walking into our local entertainment store and making a beeline to the games section to check out what was new. I loved picking up boxed games off the shelf and checking out their beautiful cover art. I would then turn the box over to check out the graphics and read the blurb. Ah, those were the days.

Alas, the good folks at Cinemaware Retro must have heard me! I had to rub my eyes to ensure this wasn’t a figment of my imagination – check out their classic big box Defender of the Crown – Extended Collectors Cut game! The different versions of the game will run on your PC and MAC, but best of all, the game will also run on your Amiga and CD32 (Ed: C64 folks don’t fret, there are disk-files of the classic game to create your own C64 disks!)! To say I am excited about all this would be a gross understatement. If you are (or were) a fan of Cinemaware’s games (Ed: there will be lots of you out there!), then this game would be right up your alley – better be quick, as there will only be a limited run of 500 units!

Cinemaware should be applauded for taking this initiative (check out their remastered Wings Amiga edition too!). If this succeeds, then hopefully Cinemaware will make other classic big box games from their awesome back catalogue! If this doesn’t tickle your nostalgic senses, then nothing will.

image source: Cinemaware Retro

First Impressions: Stern’s Game Of Thrones Pro Pinball Table

November 12, 2015 By ausretrogamer

At the recent PAXAus, we were lucky enough to have two Game Of Thrones Pro Edition pinball machines placed in our Classic Gaming area (Ed: thanks to Scott Kellett and AMD). Having played the table and then watched other pinball wizards battling against ‘House Targaryen’ for a huge multi-billion score, we can safely say that we were quite impressed with Stern’s latest table.

Designed by legendary pinball guru Steve Ritchie, the Game Of Thrones Pro table is made for fast, furious and rewarding action (Ed: as a good pinball table should be!). The Pro table comes with great (superspeed) ramps and toys, like the battering ram sliding bash target and the Sword of Multiball to name just a few. As per tradition, there are electric gates (for those start bonuses to rack up your points) and three pop bumpers with LED lighting to get your hearts racing. Oh yeah, Sandor Clegane (aka: ‘The Hound’) lends his voice to narrate the action!

The aim of Game Of Thrones is to win the war for the Iron Throne. This is done by selecting one of six Houses of Westeros (Stark, Lannister, Greyjoy, Baratheon, Martell, Tyrell) to fight for. House Targaryen cannot be selected – you’ll face Daenerys, her army and her dragons in the last battle. Once you select your House, your goal is to conquer all other Houses standing in your way to the Iron Throne.

Every flip of the silver metal ball feels accurate. The ball remains true when hit, which makes aiming at targets that whole lot easier and very satisfying – perhaps being a fan of the HBO TV show helps here too! The layout of the Pro table draws you into play and the gameplay is so rewarding that you don’t even feel cheated by a lost ball. The two ramps are at perfect angles so that balls do not drain if you haven’t flipped hard enough to complete the shot. Even the Dragon Kickback is forgiving with the ball firing back at the right flipper – good for us middle-aged people with slower reactions! There is something second-nature-ish to playing this table, almost like your hands are an extension of this wonderful world of Fire and Ice!

Watching people play then return to the back of the line to play again was a resounding endorsement for Stern’s latest offering – this machine is an absolute winner! The table will please novice and pro pinball wizards alike – it has plenty of challenges no matter your experience. For all those pinball fence-sitters, do yourself a favour and drop a gold coin in the Game Of Thrones pinball machine, you won’t regret it! Game Of Thrones has translated perfectly to the realm of pinball. Get flippin’!

Game Of Thrones Pro ready for action!

Beautiful side art

Learn the rules!

The playfield (with glass removed!)

The Westeros Families

Swinging the Sword Of Mutliball!

Cash in your multipliers at the Iron Bank

Keep your wits about you – this dragon kicks back hard!

The ultimate goal – sitting on the Iron Throne

Weird and Retro’s Aleks ‘Serblander’ Svetislav gets flippin’ on GoT

Stacey ‘Dr Curlytek’ Borg shows us all how it is done

For more details on the Game Of Thrones pinball machines (Pro, Premium and Limited Edition), go to the Stern site. If you want to get head start on your friends when battling it out on the Game Of Thrones Pro machine, grab the strategy guide right now!

Sean Tagg: The PAX Aus King Of Kong

November 10, 2015 By ausretrogamer

There was no doubt that the Classic Gaming area was popular at this year’s PAX Aus event. One of the more popular attractions were the competitions, especially the high score challenge on the original Donkey Kong arcade machine (Ed: a big thanks to Greg Pell for sharing his awesome machine with us all!).

The PAX Aus patrons swarmed to the Donkey Kong machine like moths to a flame. High scores were racked up while players took control of ‘Jumpman’ to hurdle over barrels in the attempt to save Pauline from the evil clutches of the great anthropomorphic gorilla.

With great poise and precision four-way control, Sean Tagg showed the masses how to go about saving Pauline. While Billy Mitchell was declared the King Of Kong all those years ago, it was Sean Tagg’s high score of 103,900 (on Sunday) which saw him crowned as the PAX Aus King Of Kong! Well done Sean!

Sean Tagg barrel jumps and then hammers his way up to the top!