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Retro Gaming Culture

Atari’s AKKA ARRH Is Finally Available

February 22, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Do The Math with Atari’s AKKA ARRH

I really really don’t like the crapola that the new Atari dishes out (or promoting anything with their name on it), however, there are a few exceptions! Their Atari 50 Anniversary compilation was vintage Atari, with great curated content. It now looks like we can add AKKA ARRH to this very small and illustrious list of titles from the new Atari.

AKKA ARRH is the latest game from legendary game designer Jeff Minter and Llamasoft! AKKA ARRH is a frenzied kaleidoscope of neon insanity with playful psychedelic landscapes, which is right up Minter’s alley, as he takes on one of the rarest arcade games of the 80s era and turned it into a tough blaster for all of us to enjoy now! .

Will you become the hero in this mind bending universe? AKKA ARRH is available on pretty much every platform for under AU$30.00: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam and the new Atari VCS!

 

image source: Atari Interactive




Filed Under: Announcements, Modern Gaming, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: AKKA ARRH, Arcade, Atari, Atari AKKA ARRH, Atari VCS, blaster, gamer, Jeff Minter, Llamasoft, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation, Retrogamer, retrogaming, Steam, Vintage, Xbox

Mega Book Collection Digital Book Is Now FREE

February 21, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Yep, you read that right! The ‘Mega Book Collection – A Visual Guide to the Sega Mega Drive’ digital book – the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis visual opus is now totally gratis!

The author, Darren Doyle (Greyfox Books) explains the reason this book has now been released for free:

We attempted to bring this book physically to everyone back in 2021 via crowdfunding but alas we were unable to do so. So going forward, we decided rather than this amazing project to be left sitting on a hard drive gathering dust forever, we made the decision to offer it for free for everyone to enjoy and because we are very nice and generous people here at Greyfox Books and love to support the Sega retro gaming scene.

In case you were wondering, the great big SEGA put the kibosh on this book being published physically. So before they kill the digital one, grab it now! And while you are at it, please consider leaving a donation via the publisher’s PayPal account.

image source: Greyfox Books




Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: A Visual Guide to the Sega Mega Drive book, Darren Doyle, digital book, Free book, gamer, Geek, Greyfox Books, Mega Drive, retrogamers, sega, Sega Enterprises, Sega Genesis, Sega Mega Drive

Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic Watch – Review

February 20, 2023 By ausretrogamer

As a homage to the rich history & the farthest human-made object in space, the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic 100ATM Diver, is a limited edition timepiece that reminds us of the value of exploration.

Ever since I could remember I’ve been fascinated by space and space travel. All I wanted to be was a NASA astronaut, but alas, that never eventuated.

My love of the cosmos hasn’t diminished over the years, if anything, it has gotten stronger, with streaming services making a myriad of astronomy based documentaries available on demand – which I consume with wild abandonment.

That unrestrained impulsiveness and enthusiasm for all things space related has now permeated other stuff I like, wristwatches! When I first gazed at the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic watch on Kickstarter, I didn’t need much convincing to put in my pledge and snag one of only 1977 watches that pay homage to the rich history and the farthest human-made object in space, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2, launched almost 46 years ago (in 1977). As Xeric offered (and still offers) nine variations of the NASA Voyager, all named after celestial bodies, my only problem was which one to choose?!

The lume is out of this solar system!

I must admit, I would have loved every singe variation of the watch, but alas, my lotto numbers never came up! I chose the ‘Ganymede’ NASA Voyager watch purely based on the fact that it represented the biggest moon in our solar system and that the metallic look reminded me of the Voyager vessel, complete with the awesome orange accents on the second, hour and minute hand – if you look closely, it does strike a resemblance to NASA’s interstellar traveler. Oh yeah, the NASA ‘worm’ logo on the dial and amazing lume (Super LumiNova) just top off a very robust diver’s watch. But wait, there is more! The caseback features an inlaid replica of “the Golden Record” cover which is found on the outside of the Voyager spacecraft, intended to communicate a story of our world to any intelligent life it could encounter in its journey – the detail is next level cool.

The watch is powered by the self-winding Seiko NH38 automatic movement. As you wear it, the rotor winds the mainspring, creating stored mechanical energy that powers the watch. The movement is housed in a robust stainless steel case complete with a tactile 120-click rotating bezel fit for divers. The watch may look hefty, but it honestly sit quite nice and comfortable on my 7″ wrist. Since this is a divers watch, it has a 1,000 metre depth rating, with an integrated helium escape valve built into the side casing, preventing a pressure differential that can occur during deep dives.

Caseback shot! The inlaid replica of “the Golden Record”, just like the one Voyager is carrying!

Wearing this watch is such a pleasure, thanks to the custom two-tone ribbed silicone strap – it just feels really good on the wrist without a sweat in sight. If you are clumsy, then rest assured that the 4mm thick sapphire glass (with anti-reflective coating) can withstand every day knocks.

The Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic is a special watch, not only due to its limited release (1977 pcs) but the fact that its unique design fuses and celebrates two things many of us love, space and watches. If you have the means and would like something different and something special, then I highly recommend you check out the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic watch range.




Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture, Reviews Tagged With: diver's watch, Ganymede, moon watch, Review, space watch, Watch, watch geek, watch review, watchgeek, wristwatch, Xeric, Xeric NASA, Xeric NASA Voyager, Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic, Xeric NASA Voyager watch, Xeric Watches

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game – Official Trailer

February 16, 2023 By ausretrogamer

The official trailer for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game premiered today on the leading entertainment site, IGN. Watch the trailer below now!


source: IGN

Written and directed by The Bragg Brothers (Austin and Meredith Bragg), Pinball is based on the true story of Roger Sharpe, the GQ journalist and real-life pinball wizard, who in 1976 helped overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball. The film’s all-star cast is led by Mike Faist (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf, Swamp Thing), and Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul, The Bourne Legacy).

The award-winning film will be released in select theaters and on your favorite streaming platforms, including Apple TV, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and Google Play, beginning March 17, 2023.

Get flippin’ 😉

[press release supplied by MPI Original Films]




Filed Under: Announcements, Pinball, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Bragg Brothers, Chicago, Crystal Reed, Film, Geek, GQ, Mike Faist, Movie, MPI, New York City, pinball, pinball film, pinball machine, pinball player, Pinball The Man Who Saved The Game, Roger Sharpe

Super Mario Bros. Plumbing TV Commercial – Let’s A Go!

February 14, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Got to admit it, the Super Bowl always features amazing ads, and considering the fortune they cost, they need to grab your attention immediately!

It was great to see the marketing of the Super Mario Bros movie in full swing at the Super Bowl! Not only do we have the movie coming, but there is also a plumbing website, https://www.smbplumbing.com/, complete with testimonials, careers, services offered and a phone number to call either Mario or Luigi! The cheesy ’90s smell is wafting through the internet here!

If you don’t want to watch almost 4 hours of this year’s Super Bowl to get a glimpse of the ad, here it is! WA-HOO!


source: Illumination




Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: 90s cheesiness, cheesy, Football, gamers, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, nintendo, Philadelphia Eagles, retrogamers, Super Bowl, Super Bowl 2023, Super Bowl LVII, super mario, Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros. movie, Super Mario Bros. Plumbing

Do The Math – Atari XP: 50th Anniversary Box Set

February 8, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Do The Math! Atari doing what they do best, squeezing every cent out of their IP

Goddammit Atari, just when we thought you had redeemed yourself with the amazing Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration collection, you go ahead and become the exploitative shell of a company yet again 🙁

Don’t get us wrong, the concept for the Atari XP: 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set is super cool, but the price is way too much for the majority of Atari fans, especially in the current global financial climate.

Anyway, if you have a cool USD$999.99 / AUD$1440.00 / £830.00 burning a hole in your pocket, then this collection may be right up your alley, but you better hurry, as these are limited to 100 worldwide!

Just like Pokemon, will you get them all?

PS: We always wonder what Nolan and Ted (RIP) would have thought about this ‘new’ Atari…….

We just want this Missile Command light up cart!

Will you get them all?image source: Atari Interactive, Inc




Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Atari, Atari 2600, Atari Inc, Atari Interactive, Atari VCS, Atari XP, Atari XP: 50th Anniversary Box Set, Atari XP: 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set, gamer, Missile Command, Retro, Retro Gamers, retrogaming, throwback

Dystopian Mario Kart Sketch on SNL

February 7, 2023 By ausretrogamer

If HBO could make a TV series out of The Last Of Us, then why not make one from another massive franchise, Mario Kart?

Well, the Saturday Night Live (SNL) comedy show, in conjunction with HBO and Nintendo, did exactly that, with Pedro Pascal playing Mario in a dystopian Mario Kart sketch – it’s funny and brilliant!

Check it out!

HBO’s adapting another iconic game pic.twitter.com/YtsIswwSBb

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 5, 2023




Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Bowser, dystopian mario kart, Funny, gaming, HBO Mario Kart, Mario Kart, nintendo, Pedro Pascal, Princess Peach, Saturday Night Live, Sketch Comedy, SNL, SNL Mario Kart, The Last of Us

Playing ‘The Last of Us’ Again

February 6, 2023 By David Cutler

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

After watching the HBO smash hit “The Last of Us,” I think I’ll go back and play the original game again. The popular series tells the story of a smuggler and a teenage girl in a zombie-infested world.

When I first played “The Last of Us” when it was released in 2013, I thought the action-adventure, survival horror game was captivating and enjoyable, but I wasn’t into it that much. I played it like crazy for about a week, and then I moved on to something else. I did start a new job around the time I bought the epic game, so that might’ve contributed to me losing interest.

The HBO series has an incredible production budget, and it unquestionably shows. You are in the series’ post-apocalyptic 2023. The attention to detail is impeccable. It’s been almost ten years since I’ve played the game; breaking the game out again after watching the show sounds fun.

The show has done an amazing job creating the look of the blind infected, the “clicker” zombies, from the video game. I can see several award nominations for the series on the horizon. They are even scarier in the television series. In Episode 2, when Joel fought with one of the “clickers,” the choreography was taken directly from the massively successful game.

“The Last of Us” television show has knocked it out of the park since its debut on HBO. I thought the zombie genre was sort of getting stale, but “The Last of Us” feels like a fresh spin on the genre. The cinematography of the first three episodes has been visually flawless.

According to the industry website gamesindustry.biz, the television series is drawing in new “The Last of Us” game players, too. After the show’s release, sales jumped in the United Kingdom. Sony has already sold 37 million “The Last of Us” themed video games since the release of the original.

With only a small sample of three episodes, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a Season 2, in 2024 or ’25. By then, time allowing, I can be caught up on playing some of the franchise. It’s a rich world that the developers of “The Last of Us” series have created for new, different mediums.




Filed Under: Modern Gaming, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: David Cutler, DC Cutler, fungi, gamer, gamers, gaming, HBO, HBO The Last Of Us, Last of Us, Pedro Pascal, Playstation, PlayStation 4, PS3, PS4, The Last of Us, The Last of Us game, The Last of US TV show, tv show, videogame, Zombies

‘Tomb Raider’ Film in the Works at Amazon Studios!

January 30, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Some exciting news for Lara Croft Fans!

As reported exclusively in The Hollywood Reporter;

the retail giant and streamer has teamed with Dmitri M. Johnson’s dj2 Entertainment for a massive rights deal to make a Tomb Raider feature film, in addition to the newly announced TV series from Phoebe Waller-Bridge and at least one video game in the Lara Croft franchise.

Fusing all three elements of Tomb Raider across film, TV and video games is a smart business decision in creating a huge franchise which will hit the mark with millions across the globe. This is very cool news for Tomb Raider/Lara Croft fans (like Ms. ausretrogamer)!

We’ll keep across this news and report when we find out more.

[story source: The Hollywood Reporter / image source: Crystal Dynamics]




Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, dj2 Entertainment, gamers, Geeks, Lara Croft, Movie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, The Hollywood Reporter, Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider film, Tomb Raider TV Series, Tomb Raider video game

Sega’s 1993 Virtua Fighter gets an AI makeover

January 27, 2023 By ausretrogamer

We always thought that Sega’s polygonal 1 on 1 arcade fighter, VIRTUA FIGHTER looked awesome.

After taking off our nostalgia-tinted glasses, we can now see how lo-fi  (but still cool) they look, especially after some AI shenanigans bringing each of the fighters on the roster to be life-like.

With ChatGPT being all the rage, it would seem there is another AI tool gathering steam in the form of Stable Diffusion, a text-to-image deep learning model capable of generating photo-realistic images. Clever Tech Artist, Colin Williamson put this learning model to the test by feeding it the original Virtual Fighter polygonal images from a Sega Saturn emulator into the Stable Diffusion model. The results, as you can see, are darn scary and impressive all at the same time)!

Surely Skynet is now coming for us all….

[story & image source: technabob]




Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: AI, Arcade, arcade fighter, Art, artist, Colin Williamson, gamers, Geek, Learning Model, polygon, Retro Gamer, retrogaming, sega, Sega Saturn, Stable Diffusion, Virtua Fighter, Virtual Fighter gets AI

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