The Pop-Culture E-Zine
One of the most iconic horizontal shoot’em ups from the 80s, Irem’s R-Type will have it’s infamous boss Dobkeratops immortalised in a poseable Figma model!
There is no release date or pricing about this unpainted bit of drool-worthiness. To say we will be keeping a close eye on this would be a gross understatement. Pew, pew, pew, we can’t wait!
image source: nlab.itmedia.com.jp
Woohoo, damn this is great news! What news are we going gaga over? We won’t keep you in suspense any longer, so read on.
That cool gaming peripherals-making company, Hori has announced that they will be making their own Classic Controllers for the Nintendo Switch. The controllers are designed after the GameCube controller and officially licensed.
Hori’s Classic GameCube-Style Controllers will come in three different styles based on Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pikachu. Oh man, this is going to be a tough decision – we love them all!
Which one will you be getting?
image source: play-asia.com
As most of you will know, we are huge fans of vector based games, especially the ones that hark back to our youth, like Atari’s Star Wars and of course, all Vectrex games!
When Mike from Vector Hat informed us of his creation, Byte Driver, our interests were immediately piqued! Byte Driver is currently being funded via Kickstarter with a very modest goal, which we reckon is very achievable!
Byte Driver isn’t just your typical vector based racing game. The game is a combination of 2D racing with an interesting game play mechanic whereby energy that your car runs on is obtained by hacking the vehicles around you. Oh yeah, while you are sapping energy for your own use, you can also hack other vehicles to bolster your weaponry! The whole package comes together quite nicely in its vector display style and synthwave soundtrack. If you want an old school tough-as-nail game, then Byte Driver will be right up your alley.
If you wanna try before you buy, there is a playable demo for Windows, Linux and OSX! If only this game was also being ported to the Vectrex – we can only hope (hint, hint!).
PS: That Byte Driver pit crew patch looks da biz!
The 2017 C64 GOTY, Galencia is now on Steam! So for those that missed out on Jason Aldred’s brilliant shmup on the C64, you are in luck, just head to Steam and buy it immediately!
If you are asking yourself, what is Galencia, then let us enlighten you – Galencia is a tribute to the great ‘stars and space’ shooters from the 1980’s, a love letter to Galaga and similar games from the golden age of arcade games.
Thanks to the awesome Jason Aldred, we have 5 x Galencia Steam keys to giveaway! All you have to do is tell us what your fave shoot’em up is on Twitter or Facebook (you must follow us and/or Like our page to be in the running).
The Galencia Steam keys giveaway will close at 4:00pm on July 31 (Australia Eastern Standard Time). Giveaway winners will be announced on August 1! So go on, what are you waiting for, hit Twitter and Facebook!
The lowdown:
Oh yeah, Galencia on Steam is enjoying a 40% launch discount, so go and get pew, pew, pewing!
PS: Jason has informed us that there is a sequel in the works, Galencia: Khaos Sphere that you can back right now on Indiegogo!
Who remembers Timezone?
Timzone was the place that first blew my mind with Mortal Kombat. It was a Sunday morning last century (crap I’m old!) when we walked into Timezone in the Capitol Centre (now called Dandenong Plaza) to see a group crowded around an arcade machine. That was the day I got instantly hooked on the digitised fighter that was the original Mortal Kombat.
As we watched the bloody challenge to completion, we were treated with a Sub-Zero Fatality! My mind was instantly blown. That led to a lot of coins fed into that machine until my fave fighter of all time arrived some time later: Mortal Kombat II – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Here I have two of the super rare Mortal Kombat II Collector Kards that I got from Timezone in Dandenong back in the day, along with a super-kool TZM (Timezone Magazine) issue No.8 (May 1994) that was kindly gifted to me by Aaron ‘blahjedi’ Clement at PAX Aus 2017.
Anyone else remember these?
– Serblander / Weird and Retro
source: Weird and Retro via Facebook
Enjoy a trip down memory lane with Dave Freeman’s hour long compilation of 1980s video game commercials from the Video Game Commercial Archive that was released on DVD in 2007.
This video is jam packed with so much nostalgia, it will make you giddy!
source: Dave Freeman
Woohoo (if you are in the UK), the UK’s first major exhibition about a video games company – launches and it’s free!
Fans of video games can find out what goes into making a hit that attracts four million players at an exhibition in Coventry.
Entitled Rare: From 8-bit to Xbox One, this is the first ever exhibition dedicated to a video games company, tracking the 33-year life of Twycross-based Rare. It runs alongside Play: An Exploration of Toys, Games & Fun, a broader celebration of the history of play which features more than 200 items. Both will be running at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum until September 23.
Rare gives visitors the chance to try their hand at some of the company’s international gaming hits – such as Donkey Kong Country – and also find out more about the planning and creation of a new video game.
Further to that, there is also an opportunity to discover what it takes to work in an industry which is proving to be a major success story for the region. James Thomas, Lead Engineer at Rare, said the exhibition provided the perfect platform for the company to raise its profile in the local area and highlight how gaming is the latest form of play.
He said: “The company has been operating for more than 30 years and is a great success story for the area and for the industry. It began as an independent gaming business – set up by the Stamper brothers – creating and selling games for the ZX Spectrum.
“Rare, which was later bought by Nintendo and, subsequently, Microsoft, has produced some ground-breaking games over the years such as GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Piñata.
“Our latest release, Sea of Thieves, has attracted more than four million players to date and has more than 200 people working on the game. “So this is a great time to be able to share our story with people from the area because this is a really positive period for gaming in the region.
“I think many people see a distinction between traditional play and gaming but my view is that this is just the next generation and, more and more, games are becoming social activities when friends play together rather than in isolation. “It is cementing ‘real life’ friendships rather than detracting from them which, again, isn’t something that is always appreciated or understood.
“The fact that Play is running at the Herbert meant this is a great opportunity to showcase Rare and its games, to show people what goes into making a global hit and, also, to give them an insight into careers in the industry.”
The Play and Rare exhibitions are kindly supported by Rare and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Francis Ranford, Cultural and Creative Director of Culture Coventry, said it had been a positive start to the exhibition.
Francis said: “The partnership with Rare has been incredibly positive for the Herbert and has added another exciting dimension to the exhibition. This collaboration has enabled us to showcase aspects of play which we would have otherwise been unable to and will ensure more visitors can relate and connect with the exhibition.
“We’ve had fantastic feedback so far and are looking forward to welcoming many more visitors over the course of the summer.”
To potentially feature in the exhibition, you can donate photos of your own toys to the Virtual Museum by using #playattheherbert on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
source: Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
Stop what you are doing right now! Grab yourself a bite and a coffee, settle into your most comfy chair and read this tale, the very detailed tale of Nintendo’s GameCube.
A long time ago, in a gal…. Oh wait, wrong story! This story is long and detailed, so make sure you give yourself a lot of time to read every word, as it is well damn worth it. The retro gaming history buffs will absolutely love this, from the delay of the GameCube launch, designing the GCN, motion controls with Gyro-Pods and the pressure to create the perfect controller, to cultivating relationships with third-party developers and publishers, the decline of the GameCube and the end of their longtime partnership with Rare, this story has everything, warts and all!
Are you comfortable yet? If you are, settle in and enjoy Emily Rogers’ story of Nintendo’s GameCube.
image source: Dromble.com
Talk about an awesomely impressive retro hardware hack!
What do you get when you grab a Tomy Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard, Sega’s awesome OutRun arcade game and a very very clever hardware hacking peep named Matt Brailsford? You get a hack to outdo all other hacks – the Tomy Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard OutRun Arcade!
Rather than regurgitating the meticulous steps Matt took to create this awesome piece, read his epic blog post right now! Wish we could make this!
source: Circuitbeard
image source: Circuitbeard.co.uk
We know we said no more backing of Kickstarter campaigns, but when Read-Only Memory are involved, we make an exception. If you need convincing as to why they are one of the best gaming-related book publishers, then check out the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, Britsoft: An Oral History and The Bitmap Brothers: Universe to name just a few.
The latest Read-Only Memory tome ‘Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History‘ has definitely excited us and tickled our nostalgic fancy. This will be a book of pop-up sculptures of SEGA’s greatest arcade cabinets: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run! If this doesn’t excite you, then we have no idea what will. One thing is for certain, the quality and content will be top notch!
Check out the Kickstarter campaign now and make sure you get a piece of this awesome Sega arcade history!
image source: SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History