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Retro Gaming Culture

The Largest Playable Game and Watch Device

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Cast your mind back to November last year when we told you about Dr Tom Tilley’s awesomely cool gigantic Nintendo Game & Watch Octopus game? No? Shame on you!

If you do recall Tom’s great creation, then you will be happy to know that the folks at Guinness World Records took note and have officially recognised Tom Tilley’s mega G&W Octopus game as the “Largest playable Game and Watch device”!

Tom’s feat will feature in the Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2019 at the start of the Retro Gaming section. Well done Tominator, all of us Australians (and fellow retro gamers around the world) are very proud of this achievement.

source: Guinness World Records

 

The Pinball VS Arcade Industry Battle of the 80s and 90s

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During the boom times of the 80s and 90s, it would have been quite hard to imagine that one day the coin-operated (coin-op) pinball and arcade video games business would (almost) disappear.

With the current worldwide resurgence in pinball and old school arcade machines making a comeback in barcades, we thought we’d take a look at how prevalent pinball and arcade games were in the 80s and 90s in the biggest coin-op amusement market in the world, the good ole USA!

We delved deep into the available ‘Census of Service Industry‘ data from the US Department of Commerce, which kept record of “sources of receipts” for pinball and arcade machines in establishments across the US. What we found was quite eye-opening!

source: 1982 Census of Service Industries: Industry Series. Miscellaneous Subjects(SC82-I-5) – US Dept of Commerce

From the 1982 census data, there were 5,434 sites across the US where the general public could attend to get their fix of playing pinball and arcade games. The total US takings at these establishments was a whopping  USD$1.175 billion (for that year), with arcade machines earning the lion’s share with USD$890.4 million and pinball with $284.3 million. Remember, this was just before the video games crash of 1983. Interestingly, Pennsylvania had the highest number of establishments (268), with the split of takings between pinball (USD$34.2M) and arcade (USD$36.0M) being almost 50/50. Everywhere else, it was arcade video game machines that took more coins out of pockets.

source: 1992 Census Of Service Industries: Subject Series. Sources of Receipts or Revenue (SC92-S-4) – US Dept of Commerce

By 1992 the coin-op amusement landscape changed quite a bit. As evident by the numbers, pinball declined substantially while arcade machines broke through the magical USD$1 billion earnings barrier for that year – that is some serious amount of coins! Pinball had unfortunately slid back, earning their operators a poultry (when compared to arcade video games) USD$165M in 1992. With hindsight, pinball was going to be saved by some big name licensed machines – hello The Addams Family!

source: The Arcade Flyer Archive

As already hinted, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for pinball. According to Vending Times (which tracks the use of coin-operated games), in the mid-1990s the silver ball game had rebounded with takings of USD$912M in 1994 (that was 38% of the total coin-op market at the time) and then almost doubling to a dizzying USD$1.7 billion by 1997/8. Pinball had gone from junk to the golden goose in three short years! Before pinball operators could make it rain more coins, it was the 32-bit gaming era that sounded the death knell for not only pinball, but arcade video games too. By the end of the 1990s, the number of venues where one could play pinball and/or arcade machines dwindled dramatically. Things got acutely dire for pinball when the once mighty Williams closed up its pinball division near the end of 1999.

The beauty of hindsight is that we can assess and track the ups and downs of the pinball and arcade coin-op industry. With the current global video games industry sporting 2.6 billion gamers and takings in excess of USD$116 billion per annum, the time of amusement centres on every street corner are long gone. If pinball could tap even 0.5% of this (that’s USD$580M), then the great silver ball game will be here to stay and be enjoyed for many generations to come!

Enjoying some arcade and pinball action at Melbourne’s Invaders Amusement Centre
– circa early 80s

 

How to Win at Pac-Man

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Waka, waka, waka, wanna play Pac-Man like a champion? If you are sick of getting gobbled by Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde, then check out this ‘how to play’ vid, as it will get ya playing for hours instead of minutes!

This guide basically teaches you how to play two of Pac-Man’s maze patterns (there are three officially, but two are 99% the same as each other). So what are you waiting for, go and munch some dots like a champion.


source: stevepiers

 

Classic Tetris Aussie Championship 2018

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Hey Aussie peeps, hold onto your hats, as we have some huge exciting comp news!

After 8 years of the Classic Tetris World Championships (CTWC) in the USA, the competition is coming to Sydney, Australia! Get your diaries out and mark yourself away on Thursday October 4th! This is a huge deal folks, so get Tetris’n.

So what is this all about you ask? CTWC has teamed up with the awesome 1989 Arcade Bar & Kitchen (22 King Street, Newtown) to crown the first ever Classic Tetris Australian Champion. Players will go head-to-head (in a best out of three games) on the Nintendo Entertainment System’s Tetris, until there is only one player remaining. There are prizes to be won, beers to be enjoyed and many classic arcades to be played. It is going to be one heck of a night that welcomes all level of Tetris fanatics, from beginners to pro.

Who will hoist the first ever CTWC Australia trophy? Well, you gotta be in it to win it!

The CTWC Australia event details:

  • When: October 4, 2018 (starts at 7:00pm)
  • Where: 1989 Arcade Bar & Kitchen – 22 King Street, Newtown
  • Event/Info: Official event page on Facebook
  • Entry: $15.00 – grab your ticket here. Each ticket is one entry into the championship and comes with a drink (beer or wine)

image source: 1989 Arcade Bar & Kitchen

 

California Games 2018 – A Fictional Bad Game

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As a lot of you know, we are huge fans of Epyx’s ‘Games’ video games series, with California Games being at the top of the heap!

When Penney Pixels tweeted us about their video about a Cali Games re-imagined in 2018, we had to take a look. There is no BMX, surfing, roller skating, skateboarding, frisbee or your fave brands to choose from, instead you have your YouTube sponsors aplenty and the awesome contemporary events of drone flying, self-balancing scootering, dangerous idiotic stunts, social experiment and the best event of them all, fidget spinning! This is quite hilarious as it hits very close to home!

Grab the popcorn, but be careful not to choke when you LOL!


source: Penney Pixels

 

80’s Street Party To Celebrate Barkly Square’s 35th Anniversary

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Woohoo, who doesn’t like an 80s party? If you put your hand up, then this isn’t for you! For everyone else, read on…

Barkly Square is turning 35! Barkly Square will be marking this milestone (September 7 to 9) with an 80’s themed street party celebration which will feature 80s-style workshops and cool stuff from the best decade, like arcade games, flash dancers, hula-hoops, scrunchies and even an old-school JB Hi-Fi 80s type stall to name just a few!

If you want to attend and celebrate 80’s style, then check out the full details here.

image source: Barkly Square

 

Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen Visits Melbourne

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While in Melbourne-town for the Melbourne eSports Open, author, presenter and broadcaster extraordinaire, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Benidxsen had a bit of down time to check out the many awesome pop culture sites, gaming establishments and other extremely rad geeky stuff that our great city has to offer!

As Hex says, “Luckily Melbourne is a hub of gaming and pop-culture-related activity” – it sure is! if you haven’t checked out all of these places, then you are missing out!


source: Visit Melbourne via Facebook

 

Custom-Made Video Game Toys by Dano Brown

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We have featured a couple of brilliant custom-made toy builders here before, but we reckon Dano Brown takes the mantle for the most awesome hand-crafted video game related action figures and toys. Dano Brown, you sir are unbelievably talented!

Check out some of Dano Brown’s jaw-dropping custom-made toys below and then head to his Instagram to see the rest of his brilliant creations! Oh yeah, if you wanna buy any of these one-off custom toys, head to the iam8bit store.

image source: Dano Brown via Instagram

 

Retro Gaming Festival Coming To QV Melbourne

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Woohoo, it’s Game/On at QV Melbourne from this Friday, 31 August till Sunday 23 September!

QV Melbourne welcomes the new spring season with their month long Game/On event which will feature a retro gaming world with Pacman, Donkey Kong to name just a few, gaming lounges and an Augmented Reality (AR) Scavenger Hunt, live music and lots more to get your game on!

In the QV Melbourne Retro Gaming Arcade Zone there will be all of your favourite retro video games, from Frogger, Pac-Man to Donkey Kong and Space Invaders! And guess what, it’s all FREE to be enjoyed from 11am – 7pm daily in QV Square.

image source: ms.ausretrogamer

Did you say you want competitions? Well then you are in luck! There will be plenty of Gamer vs Gamer Competitions, so grab your friends (or a few strangers) and get your game on in a Super Smash Bros. showdown in QV Square! Competitions will be held every Friday from 5pm. Heats are on the 31st August, 7th and 14th of September, with the finals taking place on Friday, 21st September. If you think you’re up for the challenge (of course you are!), then get practising and register here!

If you prefer a quest, then the Augmented Reality (AR) Scavenger Hunt is for you! Explore the QV Laneways with this exclusive and FREE AR scavenger hunt for your chance to win part of a $10,000 prize pool. Some of the great prizes up for grabs include:

– Republic Boutique gift voucher
– Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer
– $100 Bar Tab from Father’s Office
– Marshall Midi ii Bluetooth Headphones, plus more!

For more deets on the AR Scavenger Hunt, check out the T&Cs.

And for every one that just wants to immerse themselves in Game/On nostalgia, there will be a party on every Friday night from 4-7pm, with a Nintendo themed candy bar, a DJ spinning retro chiptunes and a live progressive art installation in Albert Coates Lane, painted by some of Melbourne’s most vibrant visual artists. Like we said, the best part is that it is all FREE for you to enjoy.

Oh yeah, make sure you tag @qvmelbourne and use the hashtag when you visit QV Square for Game/On between Friday 31 August and Sunday 23 September to go in the draw to win a $500 QV shopping spree.

Game On like Donkey Kong!

image source: ausretrogamer at PAX Aus

 

Game Wars: PlayStation 2 vs Xbox

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As it has always been customary, a gamer would choose one system to be loyal to and then rubbish the competition and defend their chosen system to the death, metaphorically speaking of course!

At the dawn of the 21st century, the old guard, Nintendo, took a back seat to watch the new looming console war between Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the new kid on the block, Microsoft’s Xbox. BBC Worldwide’s The Money Programme follows Sony executive Alan Welsman, frantically preparing for the vital launch in November 2000. Meanwhile in Seattle, Microsoft’s Jay Allard reveals the secrets of the X-Box, slated for an early 2001 launch. Caught up in all of this is British games designer Martin Kenright, racing against time to complete a driving game, which, he hopes, will steer him to a fortune (Ed: driving puns fully intended).

Now sit back and enjoy this doco!


source: Manufacturing Intellect: Documentaries