• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Shop

AUSRETROGAMER

The Pop-Culture E-Zine

  • Announcements
  • History
  • Retro Exploring
  • Retro Gaming Culture
  • Reviews
  • Modern Gaming
  • Podcasts
  • Pinball
You are here: Home / Archives for Retro Gaming Culture

Retro Gaming Culture

The Worst DOOM Copycat

January 15, 2021 By ausretrogamer

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

There were a lot of “Doom” copycats after the game’s enormous success; “Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge” is probably the most unusual rip-off. There are moments while playing it where I’m not sure what my objective is or if there even is an objective.

Clips from the “Pumpkinhead” sequel are spliced into the game. The movie is bad, so the clips are jarring and clunky. The movie might be slightly better than the game, but neither are worth a second glance in a bargain bin at a store. The game doesn’t seem to have any purpose than to collect “Tantanik Crystals” that allow you to play the movie and then the player can grab items from the clips. Sound exciting? It’s not. The first-person view is like seeing through the Predator’s eyes, the visuals are so murky and dark red.

Doom Clonesource: old-games.com

The game is as twisted as the terrible film. “Bloodwings” doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s hard to follow, like so many cheap horror films. I enjoyed the first “Pumpkinhead” film, which was released in 1988. The first film, starring Lance Henriksen, is predictable at times and the plot is rather basic. Stan Winston directed “Pumpkinhead”; I always thought the evil creature in Winston’s film looked like the “Alien” franchise Xenomorph. Winston did win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for James Cameron’s masterpiece “Aliens” two years before he directed “Pumpkinhead.”

The “Pumpkinhead” film is corny, but it’s a fun, watchable corny. Henriksen slightly overacts when he is connected to the killer beast, but he makes it as believable as possible. Henriksen is one of those actors that you believe in every role. He brings a dramatic weight to “Pumpkinhead.” He’s a big reason why I liked Winston’s movie. The film has a great first act that pulls you in. There is nothing about the sequel or the “Bloodwings” game that is engaging.

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Adrian Carmack, Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge, David Cutler, DC Cutler, Doom, DOOM wad, id software, John Carmack, John Romero, Kevin Cloud, Old School, PC gaming, Pumpkinhead, Quake, retrogaming, Tom Hall, Video Games, ZeniMax Media

Castlevania: The Complete History

January 12, 2021 By ausretrogamer

We are huge fans of Daniel Ibbertson’s (aka: Slope’s Game Room) history vids, just like his recent full-length documentary based on the history of one of the biggest game franchises of all time, CASTLEVANIA.

The Castlevania games series is one of the most expensive and well-loved retro gaming collections ever released. In this doco, Daniel not only talks about its history, but also showcases some of the rarest games in the series.

So chuck your headphones on, put your feet up and immerse yourself all things Castlevania.


source: Slope’s Game Room

Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Castlevania, Castlevania the complete history, Classic Games, Daniel Ibbertson, gaming history, Konami, old school gaming, Retro, Retro Game, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, retrogame, retrogaming, Slope's Game Room, Video Games

The Mystery of the Lego Game Boy Advance SP

January 11, 2021 By ausretrogamer

image source: Sleepy Ursaring

When our Twitter friend, Brad, informed us of a mysterious find in our hometown of Melbourne, we thought we’d let you all know!

The mysterious find by YouTuber, Sleepy Ursaring, is a huge 10 kilogram Lego Game Boy Advance SP replica that looks absolutely awesome with a level of detail that is simply amazing. Could it be a retail store display or was it made for a Lego Ideas project? Who knows? All we know is that the inscription on the back of the replica states that it was ‘Made in Windsor’ by ‘KT+IW ’04’.

We wish we had the answer, but we don’t! We had a chat with Sleep Ursaring on Twitter, and were advised that this find was part of a retro gaming haul, with all contents at the property up for the taking – now that is darn awesome! If anyone knows more about this Lego Game Boy Advance SP creation, please hit us up via Twitter or Facebook (or email, if you are that way inclined).


source: Sleep Ursaring

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, GBA, GBA SP, Lego, Lego Game Boy Advance SP, Lego GBA SP, Nintendo Australia, Nintendo Game Boy, oldschool, Retro Gaming, retrogaming

Things Are Afoot At The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory in 2021

January 5, 2021 By ausretrogamer

With having a lot of time at home in 2020, we had been thinking about changing things up in the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory!

Things are afoot with designing the new space, which will see new additions, things being moved around and unfortunately, stuff that will go to a new home. We are quite excited with the next chapter of our games room, so we’ll be sure to share our journey throughout 2021 of the new and improved Ausretrogamer Fun Factory.

For now, you can have a read how the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory has evolved over the years.

Taking one last look at the current Ausretrogamer Fun Factory (click to enlarge)

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Amiga, ausretrogamer fun factory, ausretrogamer games room, ausretrogamer pinball, Bally Astrocade, C64, classic gaming, Commodore CDTV, Dreamcast kiosk, Fun Factory, Games Room, Mega Drive, N64, Neo Geo, Neo Geo MVS, NES, oldschool, Retro Gamer, retrogaming, SNES, tbt, throwback, Vintage

Happy Holidays and All The Very Best for 2021

December 24, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Wow, it has been a year that most of us would probably rather forget. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a better, safer and healthier year for everyone!

From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all an awesome Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, boardgames or otherwise!

Be merry and we’ll see you all in 2021!

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, arcade xmas, Christmas, Dreamcast, Dreamcast Xmas Tree, Happy New Year, Kirby Xmas Tree, pinball, Pinball Christmas, pinball xmas, Retro Gaming, Retro Gaming Xmas, retrogaming, retrogaming xmas, Santa, Santa Pinball, Star Wars, Wishing You All An Awesome Xmas, Xmas

The New Yorker Interview with Shigeru Miyamoto

December 22, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Simon Parkin’s The New Yorker interview with Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto is an interesting, insightful and wide-ranging, reflective conversation. Seldom do we hear or read anything so candid or beyond Shigeru’s amazing creations in his four decade long career with the Big N.

So kick back and read Simon’s refreshing interview with Miyamoto-san, as he speaks openly about his video games design philosophy, being the boss, guns in video games, his kids love of Sega (Ed: what?!) and the new Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Japan.

image source: The New Yorker

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Link, nintendo, Retro, Retro Gaming, Retrogamer, retrogaming, Shigeru Miyamoto, Shigeru Miyamoto interview, Simon Parkin, SNES, super mario, Super Mario Bros, Super Nintendo World, The New Yorker, Zelda

Mini Star Wars Arcade Cab – The Force Is Strong With This One

December 21, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Stop the press! What the heck is this dark side of the force creation? We LOVE it!

This mini arcade based on Atari’s seminal Star Wars arcade game was faithfully recreated by Astrodob, using a Raspberry Pi and MAME. Well Astrodob, where do we send our Jedi Bank cheque to?


source: Astrodob

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, Astrodob, Atari Star Wars, awesome creation, diy, homebrew, Mini Atari Star Wars arcade, Mini Star Wars Arcade, Mini Star Wars Arcade Cab, oldschool, Retro, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, Star Wars Arcade, tbt, throwback

The Star Wars Lego Christmas Special

December 17, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉

Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.

May the X-mas Force be with you!

source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, arcade xmas, Christmas, darth vader, Dreamcast Xmas Tree, Happy New Year, Kirby Xmas Tree, Lego, LEGO Ideas, Lego Star Wars, pinball, Pinball Christmas, pinball xmas, Retro Gaming, Retro Gaming Xmas, retrogaming, retrogaming xmas, Santa, Santa Pinball, Star Wars, Star Wars Lego, TIE Fighter, Wishing You All An Awesome Xmas, Xmas, Xwing

Last Minute Retro Gaming Inspired Xmas Gifts

December 15, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Last week we published our Christmas Gift Guide, which we hope that it helped finding that special pressie for that special someone, including yourself.

Well, since then, we have found even more cool retro gaming inspired gifts that are currently on special (30% OFF!), which means it’s a win, win for everyone! So if you need some last minute gifts for your geeky friends or family (or for yourself), then check out these:

Micro Arcade games $17.49 (30% OFF)

Tiny Arcade games up to 30% OFF

Pac-Man Icon Lamp $13.99 (30% OFF)

TMNT Virtual Pinball $17.49 (30% OFF)

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, Atari, Christmas, Christmas 2020, Christmas retro gifts, Dig Dug, Galaga, Galaxian, geek gifts, Micro Arcade, Missile Command, Pac-Man, pinball, pong, Q Bert, QBert, Retro, retrogames, Space Invaders, tbt, throwback, Tiny Arcade, TMNT, TMNT Pinball, Xmas gifts

New Bucket List Entry: Super Nintendo World

December 14, 2020 By ausretrogamer

We have clearly been under a rock and missed the news that Nintendo had developed their theme park, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Japan.

As massive fans of theme parks, and yeah, Nintendo, this news was obviously right up our alley! With what has transpired this year, the opening of this cool ‘World’ has now been pushed out to Spring (our Autumn) in 2021! Oh yeah, not to be outdone, there will be a Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Hollywood too!

With a lot of travel restrictions around (rightfully so!), for now we’ll just sit here and admire Super Nintendo World from afar (and drool over our keyboard).

Who else is putting Super Nintendo World on their bucket list? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to let us know.


source: Mainichi newspaper

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Nintendo Theme Park, Nintendo World, Retrogamer, retrogaming, SNES, Super Nintendo Theme Park, Super Nintendo World, Super Nintendo World - Universal Studios Hollywood, Super Nintendo World - Universal Studios LA, Super Nintendo World Theme Park, Super Nintendo World Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 49
  • Page 50
  • Page 51
  • Page 52
  • Page 53
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 168
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

FacebookInstagramYoutTubeTumblrFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on MastodonFollow Us on BlueskyFollow Us on Threads

Search

Shout Us A Coffee!

Recent Posts

  • Ping Pong + Space Invaders = Bit.Pong
  • Yippee Ki‑Yay! The Ultimate Die Hard Pinball Machine Is Real
  • A Wall of Retro Memories – Curated by the One and Only Ms. Ausretrogamer!
  • Voice Acting in the ‘Arkham Trilogy’
  • ROGUEish Brings Dungeon-Delving Delight to the Commodore 64

Ad

Footer

© 2012 – 2025 – ausretrogamer (The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine). All rights reserved. Where appropriate, all trademarks and copyrighted materials remain property of their respective owners.

Terms & Conditions | Disclaimer

Advertise | About | Contact | Links

Please see our Privacy Policy for details on how we treat your personal information.

Support This Site

If you like what we do, you can shout us a coffee on Ko-fi :-)

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in