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Meet Analogue Pocket: The Game Boy, Atari Lynx, Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket Color Killer

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Oh wow, we hope you are sitting down for this! Let us introduce you to Analogue Pocket™

If you know about or have any of Analogue’s consoles, like the Mega Sg, Nt Mini or Super Nt, you know that their Pocket handheld will be one special and amazing gaming unit.

First and foremost, the Analogue Pocket is not another handheld that will just play ROMs! No sirree, this multi-video-game-system portable handheld will be able to play over 2,700 Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game cartridges. So don’t throw out or sell those carts, because the Pocket will be able to play them all! Oh yeah, the Analogue Pocket will also have a digital audio workstation (called Nanoloop) with a built-in synthesizer and sequencer – a tribute to portable gaming!

But wait, there is more! As if this thing wasn’t already mouthwatering enough, the Pocket will also have cartridge adaptors in the future for you to play other handheld systems’ carts, like the Sega Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx and others! There will also be a special dock (future release) allowing you to output your games to a TV and charge the console at the same time – you’ll also be able to use Bluetooth or wired controllers when the Pocket is docked.

Engineered with two Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), the Analogue Pocket will allow developers to create and port their own work to the handheld. Basically, once the Analogue Pocket is in the hands of users, it’s going to get even better! Wow, when we hear FPGA (no emulation!), we know this thing is going to blow everything away in the handheld market!

The Analogue Pocket is slated for a 2020 release at a cost of US$199.00. To say we want one would be the biggest understatement ever!

Analogue Pocket Tech Specs:

  • FPGA-based system (two FPGAs inside)
  • Compatible with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game cartridges (Using special adaptors, you’ll also be able to play Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear and SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color titles on the machine in the future)
  • 3.5″ LTPS LCD. 1600×1440 resolution. 615ppi
  • Rechargeable lithium ion battery
  • All buttons mappable
  • Stereo Speakers
  • microSD
  • USB-C charging
  • 3.5mm headphone output
  • Original Game Boy-style link plug

image source: Analogue

 

The Complete History of Sega World

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Ah, Sega World Sydney – wish we had visited! Image source: Sega World Sydney Memoriam

If there is one regret we have, it’s that we didn’t get to visit Sega World in Darling Harbour (Sydney) before it was closed down.

The next best thing was to find Badnik Mechanic’s awesome video on the history of Sega World. Sega had planned to revolutionise arcades forever with their new arcade / theme park concept. Unfortunately Sega failed, but the story of Sega World’s creation needed to be told.

Sit back for the next quarter of an hour and take in some 1990s Sega goodness – you may learn something new too!


source: Badnik Mechanic

 

Oz Comic-Con Sydney 2019 Highlights

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We were lucky enough to attend Oz Comic Con 2019 in Sydney and take in all the amazing sights and sounds! There were plenty of regular favourites and a few newcomers that shows just how much conventions are growing in popularity. Another very welcome addition we noticed was the increasingly family friendly nature these cons are becoming, with a scribble wall and colouring corners for kids!

There was a strong presence from the ESL (eSports League Australia) which is always good to see and they had live competitions running all weekend. The Southern Cross Garrison of the 501st Imperial Legion was also out in force, bringing some impressive cosplay from both sides of the force including Stormtroopers, Wookiees and Tauntauns! 

The artists corner was buzzing with activity, allowing upcoming artists to show off their skills and sell some of their merchandise. Lots of booths filled to the brim with pop culture goodies spread themselves throughout both the halls. We were also lucky enough to stumble onto some retro goodies that included figures, vehicles and playsets from Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and Masters of the Universe. 

Just in case you missed out on all the fun we brought you some highlights!

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

 

 

 

LEGO Ideas: Banjo-Kazooie and the Planet Express Ship

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We are hooked at trawling the LEGO Ideas site and finding wonderful creations, just like this Banjo-Kazooie action figure and the Planet Express delivery ship from Futurama.

We have voted and now have our fingers and toes crossed.

image source: LEGO Ideas

 

 

Heart of Neon: A Life Inside Video Games

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You’ve either heard of Jeff Minter or you haven’t. If you have, then that means you know he creates high-octane, psychedelic retro-style shoot’em up video games, usually with a camel, llama or some other ungulate. Perhaps you don’t know Jeff, but you have played Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar, arguably Jeff’s best known game. It’s mind blowing to think that Tempest 2000 was released 25 years ago, when Jeff was already a decade plus into his game development career, which is still going strong today, with the impending release of Minotaur Arcade Vol 1 on the PlayStation 4.

A story of one game designer making video games for four decades deserves to be told. That’s the mission of Paul Docherty, a filmmaker who himself used to work as a graphics designer in the early days of video games. Paul is now making a feature documentary called HEART OF NEON, which centres around Jeff and Llamasoft. He talks about the documentary’s goals in more detail here.

Paul is currently raising funds to help put Jeff’s legend out into the world, and he’s gratefully accepting crowdfunding pledges right now!

You can follow everything about the Heart of Neon documentary on Twitter, Facebook, Twitch and Instagram.

image source: Paul Docherty – Heart of Neon

 

PAX Aus 2019 Classic Gaming Tournaments

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Hey peeps, it is that time of year that you sharpen your reflexes and get your twitchy fingers ready for the PAX Aus 2019 Classic Gaming Tourneys!

From tournaments on the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, PC-Engine, Sega Saturn, Atari Jaguar, to some Doom II FPS action on an old school MS-DOS computer and pinball, we have your nostalgia covered! Check out the PAX Aus 2019 Classic Gaming tournament schedule below and make sure you come around to the Classic Gaming Area nice and early for your chance to become a retro gaming champion!

 

The PAX Aus 2019 Classic Gaming Tournaments are brought to you by these awesome community partners: Bayside Pinball Club, Press Play On Tape Podcast, Weird And Retro and us at Ausretrogamer.

 

LEGO Ideas: Outrun and Pac-Man

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This is a call to action for all lovers of Lego and retro gaming to head to the Lego Ideas site and vote for the Lego Outrun and Lego Pac-Man Action Figure!

What are you waiting for, go and vote!

image source: Lego Ideas

 

Wild Chicago visits Williams Electronics

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This is a cool video from the early 1990s which has the TV show, Wild Chicago visiting the Williams factory. The video shows the making of The Addams Family pinball machine, which also includes a brief chat with Roger Sharpe and Steve Kordek amongst other pinball peeps at Williams. Ed Boon also makes an appearance where they show the making of Mortal Kombat!


source: Arcade Hunters

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

Review: Sega Mega Drive Mini – Welcome to the Next Level!

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Casting our mind back to November 1990, we recall walking into our local family run Home and Entertainment Centre with our hard earned money (from pushing trolleys at our part-time job) to be faced with a dilemma of what new gaming console to buy for the new decade. This decision wasn’t taken lightly, as we had been 8 and 16-bit computer gamers till that point. We remember paying $399.99 for the Sega Mega Drive (Altered Beast pack-in) that day and another $100 for Golden Axe. Let’s just say that it was the best decision we ever made. We instantly fell in love with Sega’s 16-Bit console and that love affair is still as strong as ever.

Fast forward to the present day and the excitement of bringing home a mini version of Sega’s venerable console feels just the same as it did almost 29 years ago! Cracking open the box, we found a super cute shrunken Mega Drive Mini console, about 55% the size of the original Model 1 Mega Drive, two 3-button USB controllers, one HDMI cable and one USB to Micro-B power cable.

Being a genuine made Sega product, everything feels high quality. You can tell that Sega took a lot of care and poured their heart and souls into crafting this sleek and miniaturised Mega Drive. We love the attention to detail, like the cartridge flaps retracting, but obviously they are there for aesthetics, so you can put away your game carts. The headphone volume slider feels the same, albeit on a smaller scale, as do the reset button and on/off switch – it all feels very familiar, which is a good thing. The 3-button controllers are identical to the ones we had in 1990, except these are USB, not D-Pin connected. On that front, it would have been great if Sega had included 6-button controllers so that we could play games like Street Fighter II right out of the box. But don’t dwell on this, as you can use the Retro-Bit® 6-button controllers on this Mini.

Once the Mega Drive Mini was fired up, we were keen to start playing one of the 42 pre-loaded games (full list of games further down). The menu we were presented with was quite easy to navigate, with an awesome catchy tune created on the YM2612 sound chip by legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage and Beyond Oasis). Knowing that the pre-loaded titles from both first-party and third-party development teams were all handled by the premier developer, M2 (SEGA AGES and SEGA 3D Classics Collection), a team renowned for high attention to detail and accuracy, we knew the games ported to the Mega Drive Mini were in good hands – the M2 team should be commended for their brilliant effort. Oh yeah, both Tetris and Darius make it in the overall games list, which means the Mega Drive Mini is the only console where you’ll be able to play these two newly published Mega Drive games – how cool is that?!

Just like in 1990, the first game we fired up was Golden Axe. The hit of nostalgia was purely intoxicating. Our muscle memory didn’t let us down, so playing the game was just as fun as it was back then. However, unlike back then, we could now save our game at any point to come back to it later – so no more pesky pausing for 24 hours and running a high power bill. The game playing experience felt authentic, even if playing on a modern television. Having said that, there are settings available to change the aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9) and for those of you that want the same visual experience from three decades ago, there is a CRT filter, which adds scan lines and adjusts the colour of the display to emulate the look and feel of a CRT television (see photos of this further below) – it’s pure magic.

Lovingly crafted from the ground up, the sleek and miniature SEGA Mega Drive Mini is for all retro gamers, especially those that have fond memories playing the original 16-bit console back in the day. Sega have truly delivered a high-quality, plug-and-play, collectable version of their awesome console. As their famous slogan once said, and it still rings true now, “To be this good takes AGES, To be this good takes SEGA.”

If you want to see the Sega Mega Drive Mini in the flesh, we will have it available in our Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus 2019. The Sega Mega Drive Mini will be released on September 19 at a retail price of AU$139.95.

The Mega Drive Mini 42 pre-loaded titles:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Ecco the Dolphin
3. Castlevania: The New Generation
4. Space Harrier 2
5. Shining Force
6. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
7. ToeJam & Earl
8. Comix Zone
9. Altered Beast
10. Gunstar Heroes
11. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
12. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
13. Thunder Force III
14. Super Fantasy Zone
15. Shinobi III
16. Streets of Rage 2
17. Earthworm Jim
18. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
19. Probotector
20. Landstalker
21. Mega Man®: The Wily Wars
22. Street Fighter II’®: Special Champion Edition
23. Ghouls ‘n Ghosts®
24. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
25. The Story of Thor
26. Golden Axe
27. Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
28. Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
29. Vectorman
30. Wonder Boy in Monster World
31. Tetris®
32. Darius
33. Road Rash II
34. Strider
35. Virtua Fighter 2
36. Alisia Dragoon
37. Kid Chameleon
38. Monster World IV
39. Eternal Champions
40. Columns
41. Dynamite Headdy
42. Light Crusader

Disclosure: The Sega Mega Drive Mini was kindly provided by Five Star Games for this review.

Sega Mega Drive 16-Bit Watch

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Don’t blame us for showing you this, it is all Since Spacies fault!

When we saw Brian’s (aka: Since Spacies) tweet about this Game Glorious Mega Drive watch, we were literally throwing money at our screens, about AUD $19.50 (to be exact).
Don’t get too excited though, Game Glorious has opened pre-sale orders for this watch (and other Mega Drive related items) which will be showcased in their booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2019 event starting this week (September 12th – 15th).

image source: game.watch.impress