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The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer

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Are you like us, obsessed with the Atari 2600, Intellivision, NES, Sega Master System, 3DO, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and everything in-between? Meet the inventor whose work made them all possible – Ralph Baer, creator of the first home video game system, the ‘Brown Box’ (which became the Magnavox Odyssey)!

The Boy Who Thought Outside The Box – The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer is an awesome picture-book biography of Ralph Baer, whose family fled Nazi Germany for the US. It introduces kids (Ed: and adults!) to a great inventor and the birth of the first home video games console. Using wartime technology, Baer thought outside the box and transformed the television set into a vehicle for gaming; Baer’s invention, the Odyssey, was the precursor to the Atari VCS. Today, interactive gaming systems like the Switch, Xbox and PlayStation are descendants of Ralph’s innovative ‘Brown Box,’ making this award-winning inventor the true ‘Father of Video Games.’

The hardcover book is available via Amazon for AUD$18.99.

Ralph Baer book

 

Mega Man Pinball: A Retheme of Williams’ 1979 Flash Pinball

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Meg Man PinballHomebrew pinball machines have always fascinated us. For one, making or re-theming a real pinball machine is not for the faint of heart. The mechanical engineering, software control systems, coding rules and art that go into making your own pinball machine makes our head spin, not knowing where to start!

Mega Man Pinball

Luckily for us, there are smarter folks out there that take on projects like retheming existing pinball machines into something they love, be it a music band, movie, tv show or in this case, a video game! We came across Well Fed Games’ Mega Man pinball machine (rethemed from Williams’ Flash pinball machine from 1979), we had to share this with you all

The video below provides an overview of this retheme project, which is fascinating and darn awesome! We’d love to flip this one!


source: Well Fed Games

 

LEGO IDEAS – The Pinball Machine

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A Working Lego Pinball MachineWe don’t have to tell you how much we love the creations on Lego Ideas, especially ones that are pinball related, and this latest one is no exception!

Without waffling on too much, check out this Lego Ideas – Pinball Machine, it is so darn awesome! Created by Sebas Chilidog, this works just like a real pinball, with a ball shooter / plunger, flippers, score reel and pop bumbers just to give you that silverball fix.

You have over 400+ days left to vote for this Lego Ideas creation, so there is no sense of urgency right now, however, if you are like us, you may want to vote now before you forget to do so later down the track. Flip on peeps!

Lego Pinball Machine

Lego Pinball Machine

Lego Pinball Score Reel

Lego Pinball Pop Bumperssource: Lego Ideas The Pinball Machine

 

Monsters of Terror: The Best Wizard of Wor Clone on the Amiga!

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Everyone knows by now that we love all things Star Wars, Double Dragon, Galaga and pinball, amongst many others. However, not many know that we have another love called Wizard of Wor!

We keep going back to playing Wizard of Wor on the Commodore 64, because it’s just so jolly fun and a cracking arcade conversion. Since there was never an official Wizard of Wor game released on the Amiga, lots of peeps missed out on playing a great game (Ed: unless they kept their C64 to play it on)! But don’t fret too much, as there is a top notch clone of Wizard of Wor for the Amiga, called Monsters of Terror, created by the super talented Matthias Bock (aka: flurrycow/lazycow).

Do yourself a favour, grab this game now, as it’s darn awesome!


source: WTF Game Tracks



Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry

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Our friend and Atari developer extraordinaire, Howard Scott Warshaw, you know, he made Yars’ Revenge and E.T. amongst other notable Atari 2600 games, has released his new book, Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry, which is available right now on Kindle and Paperback.

Upon the release of his new book, Howard stated that, “I needed to put something fun and interesting into the world. Is it “The feel good book of 2020″? Nah, that’s too low a bar. This book was a labour of love, but a labour nonetheless. If you know me, you know this is a fun read. If you don’t know me, it’s still fun. I’m happy with the result and I hope you enjoy reading it”.

This book provides an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry in the US, and how it shaped the life of one of its key players. Howard’s book offers eye-opening details and insights from someone that was there during Atari’s heyday.

What are you waiting for, go and grab it!

 

The Worst DOOM Copycat

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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.

 

Castlevania: The Complete History

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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

The Mystery of the Lego Game Boy Advance SP

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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

Things Are Afoot At The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory in 2021

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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)

 

Happy Holidays and All The Very Best for 2021

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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!