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The Ultimate Airbnb Experience: The Tiny House with a Pool and Retro Arcade!

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We definitely need a holiday! Who doesn’t like holidays, right? Well, we may have just found the perfect place to stay for our next getaway via Airbnb! This proves that tiny can be awesome!

If the photos of this tiny house with the great arcade and pool don’t convince you why it’s a cool place to stay at, then perhaps the write up may sway you:

“Our goal is to offer guests a unique opportunity to experience life in a “Tiny House” and to re-live some of their childhood in our retro arcade (all 45 games on free-play!). The atmosphere we’ve tried to create is “fun & different”. We want AirBnB’ers from ages 6 – 106 to relax, have fun and feel at home here. We’d love to have you come back to visit again & maybe even tell your friends about us too!? We’ll do everything in our power to make sure your stay is awesome, just like you expect it to be.”

Rightio, we have dibs on this tiny place next summer 😉

image source: Airbnb

 



LEGO: The Amazing Pinball Machine

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Remember Vladimir van Hoek’s playable Lord Of The Rings pinball machine made from Lego? Well, not to be outdone, The Brothers Brick’s Bre Burns has created the ultimate playable space themed Lego pinball machine!

Boasting some 15,000 bricks, this Lego built Benny’s Spaceship Adventure pinball machine has to be seen and heard to be believed! The level of detail that Bre has undertaken is simply breathtaking. Using LEGO’s Mindstorms NXT programmable bricks, Bre has ensured that this masterpiece gives you aural pleasure while also keeping score, just like a real pinball machine. Find out more about the technical details and build process here.

image source: The Brothers Brick

While we are all collectively picking up our jaws of the floor, watch the video of Bre’s brilliant pinball machine and be in awe of the loving detail of her masterpiece. AMAZING STUFF!


source: The Brother Brick

 

Evolution Of The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory

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This post has been a long time coming!

Not content with the home office acting as our games room, Ms. ausretrogamer came up with the idea to transform the garage into a fun factory – a place where all of our retro gear would be setup to be played and enjoyed.

Once the overall design was pitched, it took a while for me to come around to convert the garage into a gaming space. The garage was basically going to provide an idyllic setting for all of our computers, consoles, arcade and pinball machines in the one space so that they could be enjoyed by anyone at anytime – no more fetching stuff out of cupboards and wiring them up to be used!

With the garage already sporting painted walls and ceiling, the next step was to make it secure from the elements – we didn’t want dust to come in and damage the delicate old school gear. Once the garage was secure and weather tight, the interior design was kicked off by Ms. ausretrogamer. Her eye for detail and use of space was second to none! I must admit, I had trouble picturing how the whole thing would look like, but I should not have had any doubt. Ms. ausretrogamer’s vision for the room was exactly what both of us had wanted, I just didn’t know it till I saw it done!

The games room, now called the ‘ausretrogamer fun factory‘ started taking shape once we relocated the computers, consoles and the Dreamcast kiosk on one side, the cupboards holding the precious software on the opposite side and the larger items (pinball and arcade machines) utilising the rear of the room. Every inch of the room was used to its fullest extent – no waste of space in this fun factory!

The ausretrogamer fun factory has evolved over the last few years, with old items making way for newer old items, with the overall design and function remaining true – which is an ideal space for friends and family to get together and have fun!

All great ideas start with a mess!

Starting the building process

Starting to take shape

Getting the console area setup using a Data Centre grade power-strip!

Testing 1, 2, 3 – we have POWER!

Getting the artwork setup

A comfy chair is a prerequisite!

Fun Factory MK I – console area

Fun Factory MK I – panoramic view

Fun Factory MK I – the pinball and arcade machines area

Fun Factory as it is TODAY! There have been quite a few moves and changes!

Fun Factory – the current pinball and arcade area. Fun times ahead!

If you intend on using any of the photos from our Ausretrogamer Fun Factory, please credit them back to this article – thank you.

 

King Of The World: SNK’s NEOGEO Mini Revealed

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The worst kept secret in gaming has finally been confirmed!

The NEOGEO mini, the video game console that celebrates the 40th Anniversary of SNK’s brand has been revealed!The system will include 40 legendary and awesome NEOGEO titles!

The NEOGEO mini is a video game console, which will include 40 nostalgic titles from the NEOGEO system, which made its debut in 1990.

Rest of the world NEOGEO mini version

The NEOGEO mini will feature a 3.5 inch display, meaning the games can be enjoyed without the need to connect it to a TV or monitor! The size of the NEOGEO mini means it fits perfectly in the palm of your hand – just like the Atari Lynx does *wink*

The NEOGEO mini will be available in two different designs, one for the Asian market and the other one for overseas markets. With its design in black, white and red, the Japanese version of the NEOGEO mini will faithfully reproduce the original NEOGEO arcade cabinets that were introduced in Japan in 1990. The overseas version will be a simple and modern design in black, white and blue.

The Japanese NEOGEO mini version

SNK hasn’t released any more details, so we are keeping our peepers peeled to find out when these will be released and the confirmed games list!

So what do you think? We actually love the look of both units. Which one do you like?

PRODUCT DETAILS:
■ Product name: NEOGEO mini
■ Number of titles: 40 titles
■ Display size: 3.5 inch
■ Size and weight: W135mm x D108mm x H162mm / 600g
■ Accessories: Power supply cable (AC adaptor will not be included)
■ Connections: HDMI terminal (Input for TV monitor), headphone terminal, 2 external controller terminals

source: SNK via Facebook

 

2018 World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

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The games in the fourth class of The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame® battled enemy starships, avoided tackles, climbed through dark tunnels, and fought off fantastical creatures to win their esteemed places in the hall.

Steve Russell’s Cold War inspired Spacewar!, Electronic Arts’ John Madden Football, Final Fantasy VII and one of the most recognisable game franchises, Tomb Raider have been inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame and emerged from a field of 12 finalists that also included Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Minecraft, and Ms. Pac-Man.

The four inductees span multiple decades, countries of origin, and gaming platforms, but all have significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general.

The 2018 inductees join other illustrious video games from years gone by like Street Fighter II (2017), Donkey Kong (2017), Grand Theft Auto III (2016), The Legend Of Zelda (2016), Super Mario Bros (2015), Tetris (2015) and Doom (2015) to name just a few.

Surely the old gaming classics that missed out this time, like Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man and Metroid will make it in the Hall of Fame at some point in the not too distant future?

Let us know what you think of this year’s inductees on Twitter or Facebook! For more details on the complete World Video Game Hall Of Fame list, go here!

image source: The Strong – Museum Of Play

 

Happy Star Wars Day: May the 4th be With You!

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We got excited with today being Friday (Ed: TGIF!), but we got even more excited when we realised it was the fourth day of May, Star Wars Day! So, May the 4th Be With You all!

To celebrate the day, we thought we’d curate a few awesome Star Wars stories we’ve published (just click on each pic!) which should get your lightsabers glowing!

 

Awesome Chiptunes: 8 Bit Weapon

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There is something about lo-tech chiptune music that gets the old aural nostalgic nerve tingling. Listening to 8 Bit Weapon’s self titled album of chipmusic certainly took us back to the heyday of computer generated music that we loved to listen to, even if the associated game was absolute crap. Music has a way of speaking to us, no matter the times we are in.

8 Bit Weapon’s album is the culmination of sound experiments that started in 2015 and ending in 2017. Created via the original Game Boy and Commodore 64 (Ed: SID forever!), the artists sought to explore the outer reaches of the Game Boy’s 8-bit CPU/4-bit sound chip, especially it’s dynamic wave channel sound manipulation capacity with the addition of the Commodore 64 SID synth bass and other sounds to round out the albums sound.

Please don’t ask us to pick a favourite track, as it is like asking to pick our favourite child – impossible! OK, if push came to shove, then we’d say Dungeon Crawler Baller is our fave track, but only just – seriously, all the tracks are ace and unique in their own way.

What Seth and Michelle (8 Bit Weapon) have created is pure awesome original and unique chiptunes that your ears will want you to play over and over. If you are into chiptunes, then this album is for you. Get it now!

Artists: 8 Bit Weapon
Album: 8 Bit Weapon (available via Bandcamp)
Cost: USD $5.00 (or more)

Michelle and Seth are 8 Bit Weapon
image source: 8 Bit Weapon

Disclosure: 8 Bit Weapon kindly provided us with the download of their album for this article.

 

Pinball: What Would Be Your Dream Theme?

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*** POLL CLOSED on May 9, 2018 ***

OK, it is time to head to Utopia where everything you want is there, including every pinball machine that doesn’t exist!

Having said that, in an ideal world like Utopia, which one of these pinball themes would you like to see made?

For the record, we would love an original Masters Of The Universe based pinball theme, with the player assuming the role of Prince Adam who has to become He-Man to free Eternia from the evil clutches of Skeletor! The playfield would be complete with Snake Mountain and Castle Grayskull interactive toys, left and right orbits and a couple of ramps to get the pinball juices flowing. Oh yeah, the artwork would have to be done by Alex Ross, with the below masterpiece as the backglass art!

source: sideshowtoy

This time around we will give you all more time to cast your very important vote – the poll will close on Wednesday, May 9! Spread the word and vote now or forever hold your peace.

We just hope Stern Pinball and/or Jersey Jack Pinball are reading this 😉

 

SEGA Space Harrier Model Sneakers

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Holy cow! These SEGA Space Harrier MODEL runners (sneakers if you are from the North) have totally blown our minds!

Just take a good hard look at these sweet-as-f* runners! To say we love the Sega Space Harrier MODEL runners would be a huge understatement! Even if you are not a Space Harrier fan (Ed: say what?), you have to admit that these are pretty damn cool. We wonder if Yu Suzuki has a pair *pondering*?

image source: Anippon

 

Retro Handheld: Burger King Game Boy Color

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This is an old one, but we thought it was still worth repeating, in case you missed it the first time around.

If you were lucky enough to have had a meal at Burger King in 2000, you may have been handed a plastic replica of the Game Boy Color which had analogue games built in.

Fast forward a decade and a half and that cute little Burger King Game Boy Colour toy with its analogue games has been DIY hacked with a Raspberry Pi Zero stuffed inside, morphing it into an awesomely cool and working Game Boy Colour emulator! Wish we were this clever.

[original story and images via Technobob]