Retro Gaming Culture

Thrill Of The Chase: The MOTU Holy Grail

18/12/2015 By ausretrogamer

My affinity for Masters Of The Universe has no limit! Just when I thought I grabbed my MOTU holy grail at the Toy Shack store in Las Vegas back in August, BAM, the MOTU Limited Edition Collector Series vinyl gets gazumped by The Power Of He-Man video game!

Yep, you read that right, the holy grail of my MOTU collection is not a board game nor a limited edition vinyl, it’s a (damn awesome) video game. MOTU: The Power Of He-Man video game (Intellivision) has been elusive to find complete (Ed: and at a reasonable price). This game, and its Atari 2600 counterpart, are the crown jewels of MOTU video games. The key motivator to obtain this game was my absolute affection for MOTU, and secondly, it is a pretty decent video game based on the franchise. Oh yeh, the Mattel link between the console and toy line was a nice touch too. Game on!

The Atari $50,000 World Championships Fiasco

16/12/2015 By ausretrogamer

Long before Walter Day established his Twin Galaxies scoreboard and way before eSports were created, there were video games competitions taking place all over North America, with the first tournament staged in New York City in 1980 by Atari. The First National Space Invaders Competition proved quite popular with 10,000 participants, with regional events taking place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Worth, Chicago, and New York City. The tournament had widespread print and television coverage, ensuring that the video gaming craze reached the masses.

Space Invaders competition, circa 1980–1981

Following on from the success of the Space Invaders tournament, Atari enlisted Tournament Games Inc. (TGI was a successful foosball tournament organisation) to help it establish the Atari $50,000 World Championships to be held in Chicago at the end of 1981. To say that this tournament ended up being a total disaster for all parties, including the handful of participants, would be a gross understatement.

The event was promoted as a major sporting contest which would attract 10,000 to 15,000 of the world’s best video game players to go head-to-head on a single arcade game, Centipede. Well, the event only attracted 138 players, well under the projected participation levels expected. The low participation rate was due to contestants expected to foot the bill for their own transportation, accommodation to the event, and then pay a $60 entry fee and feed their own quarters to play the tournament Centipede arcade machines – the cost being way out of reach for the typical video game player of the day! Adding insult to injury, many of the contestants were not advised that Centipede would be the only game in the Championship, many of whom were there to compete on Asteroids and other Atari arcade games (Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Warlords and Red Baron).

Sadly, there were no winners at the Atari $50,000 World Championships, not even the eventual winners, with their cheques bouncing, they left empty handed and totally jaded. The championship was an unmitigated disaster, a blight on the history of video gaming tournaments.

The Atari $50,000 World Championships farce flyer

source: The Golden Age Arcade Historian
Space Invaders competition image source: International Journal Of Communication

Eight Players, Eight Projectors And One NES

15/12/2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Researchers from the Game Technology Center at Zurich’s ETH University have created an awesome modified NES to allow panoramic output via 8 projectors and collaborative multiplayer gameplay via 8 controllers.

‘We propose a hardware and software system that transforms 8-bit side-scrolling console video games into immersive multiplayer experiences. We enhance a classic video game console with custom hardware that time-multiplexes eight gamepad inputs to automatically hand off control from one gamepad to the next… With this system, side-scrolling games unfold across the walls of the room to encircle a large party, giving the feeling that the entire party is taking place inside of the game’s world.’ – Wow!

Video source: ETH Game Technology Center on YouTube

Source: via 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

Smokin’ Hot Jazz Cover Of The Pokémon Theme

14/12/2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Scott Bradlee (of Postmodern Jukebox fame) gives us a smokin’ hot jazz cover of the Pokémon theme song, featuring Sara Niemietz on vocals – we can’t stop listening!

Video source: Scott Bradlee on YouTube

Source: 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

Video: Miyamoto On How World 1-1 Was Made

11/12/2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

In this adorable and fascinating video from Eurogamer, Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka explain (with much enthusiasm) how Super Mario Bros.World 1-1 was made.

Video source: Eurogamer on YouTube

Source: Eurogamer 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

Scott ‘Skooota’ Kellett On Pinball At PAX Aus 2015

10/12/2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Check out Episode 167 of New Games Plus (a TV show about videogames, culture, anime, movies and more which airs on community channels around Australia and New Zealand) for an interview with the awesome Scott ‘Skooota’ Kellett about how he organised the very popular pinball section of the Classic Gaming Area at PAX Aus 2015. Skip to 12:18 for the start of the interview – great work Skooota!

Video source: New Games Plus on YouTube

Source: New Games Plus

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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

Contra: 7″ Bill and Lance Action Figures

09/12/2015 By ausretrogamer

Oh my gawd! Just in time for Christmas, well, they aren’t available just as yet, but anyway, where were we? Oh yeh, those awesome people at NECA (creators of cool toys and collectibles!) have announced that they will release (April 2016) a special edition 2-pack action figure tribute set of fan favourite Contra video game characters, Bill ‘Mad Dog’ Rizer and Lance ‘Scorpion’ Bean!

For those of you that don’t know, Contra was also known as Gryzor and Probotector. Anyway, this Bill and Lance 2-pack action figure set will be the first appearance of non-movie-based characters in the NECA series, which will pay homage to Konami’s 8-bit glory days. Standing approximately 7” tall, the figures have all new head sculpts and “pixelated” paint deco. The set includes custom-designed weapons based on the classic game; detachable blast effects for the weapons; and that infamous power-up capsule with a clear support stand for “floating” effect.

For those collectors among you that will not open their packaging, a special window box package will be used to recreate the look of the classic game cartridge – which will look damn fine on your shelf!

April 2016 can not come fast enough! Here are a few more pics to whet your insatiable appetite:

image source: NECA

Casio Game and Watch Time

07/12/2015 By ausretrogamer

If you thought that Nelsonic and Nintendo were the only ones making games on digital watches, then think again! Casio wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines and watch (Ed: pun intended!) Nintendo reap the benefit of this new gaming phenomenon.

With their pedigree in making fine time pieces, it was natural for Casio to jump in on the whole games-on-watches craze in the early 1980s. These games were mainly a left-right (two button) affair, but boy, they were so cool to have (Ed: If you were lucky enough to have one). Remember, this was all before we started killing time playing games on our smartphones. Some things never change.

If you were one of the unlucky ones (Ed: just like us!) to not have experienced Casio’s game watches, then here is a sample of their finest gaming pieces:

Aero Batics (GA-7)

Super Slalomer (GS-2)

Football (GS-12)

Space Hero (GH-17)

Space Warrior (GS-16)

Zoomnzap (GZ-1)

Champion Racer (GR-15)

Super Windsurfing (GS-20)

Egg Panic (GE-6)

Moon Fight Robot (GR-3)

Scramble Fighter (GF-2)

Car Race (GD-8)

Game-10

Soccer (GS-11)

Hustle Monira (GM-5)

Golf (GG-9)
image source: supplied

Video: Why Do We Think Video Games Are Just For Boys?

05/12/2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Why do we think video games are just for boys? Adam Conover from College Humor’s ‘Adam Ruins Everything‘ explains in this amusing and informative video.

Video source: CollegeHumor on YouTube

Source: via 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

Pinball Heaven: A Tour Of The Stern Pinball Factory

04/12/2015 By ausretrogamer

Hey peeps, prepare to be absolutely gobsmacked! John’s Arcade together with Greg from Arcade Impossible, go on an exclusive access-all-areas tour of the new Stern Pinball Inc. factory in Elk Grove, IL.

This already awesome tour is made even more awesomer by having the famed pinball designer, George Gomez, as the personal tour guide – it doesn’t get any better than that! Whether you are a pinball fan or not, you will appreciate the behind-the-scenes of how pinball machines are made and distributed around the world. Grab the pop-corn as this great feature runs for 1:37:56 (to be exact), settle in and enjoy!

source: John’s Arcade Game Reviews & Tech

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