AUSRETROGAMER

The Pop-Culture E-Zine

You are here: Home / Archives for 1990s

1990s

Inside DMA Design (AKA: Rockstar Games) In 1996

By

From Lemmings to Larceny — DMA Design’s leap into gaming infamy started right here.

Ah, the 90s – that unmistakable era of questionable fashion choices, dial-up internet, and frosted tips! But one thing that wasn’t shocking? The creative brilliance bubbling away at DMA Design (yes, the very same studio behind Lemmings).

A recently resurfaced 1996 video shows the Dundee-based team hard at work on a brand-new project titled Grand Theft Auto. What began as a quirky top-down car game called Race’n’Chase would soon explode into one of the most iconic (and controversial) video game franchises of all time.

The footage offers a fascinating glimpse into gaming history – you can spot early builds of Liberty City, rough animations, and plenty of mid-’90s office vibes. It’s surreal seeing the team at DMA Design – later to be renamed Rockstar North, part of Rockstar Games, laying the groundwork for what would redefine open-world gaming forever.

So throw on your flannel shirt, fire up your CRT monitor, and take a nostalgic trip back to where it all began – before Grand Theft Auto became a global phenomenon, it was just a bunch of Scots tinkering with pixels and possibilities.

🎥 Watch the 1996 development video and witness gaming history in motion!


source: BBC Archive

A New Retro-Indie Fanmade Game: Mighty Final Fight Forever

By

Mighty Final Fight Forever is a fanmade beat ’em up project following on from the original Mighty Final Fight game released by Capcom in 1993

Indie developers Bouncer Games are working on a new game called Mighty Final Fight Forever, a redesigned and a complete remake of Capcom‘s 1993 release on the 8-bit NES, Mighty Final Fight.

Ausretrogamer reader, Vasek T. had the chance to play the demo version and reckons it looks “really promising”. Being huge beat’em up fans (Double Dragon and Final Fight are our fave) and judging by the gameplay teaser below, we reckon this overhaul and remake of 1993’s Mighty Final Fight is definitely right up our alley!

To say we can’t wait for this to be released would be a huge understatement.

PS: The Free Demo (Windows) version can be found here.

GoldenEra – The Film About The N64 Video Game, GoldenEye 007, Is Now Available for Pre-Order!

By

The fantastic documentary on the most awesome FPS game, GoldenEye 007, is now available for pre-order!

In case you weren’t aware of this fantastic film, GoldenEra is a celebration of a magical moment in video games history, when 3D games burst onto screens and into our imaginations. The film showcases GoldenEye 007, a game that would inspire a generation with innovative gameplay and a multiplayer mode that would change gaming forever. Who doesn’t remember their 4-player death-matches with mates on their Nintendo 64?! Ah, it was so much fun!

GoldenEra is a nostalgic celebration of one of the most important video games of all time. A game that broke all the rules and defined a generation of gamers. The story is told by academics, journalists, celebrities, fans and the game’s designers.

GoldenEra the feature length film, explores the passion, ambition and naive exuberance of the team from countryside England that produced countless hours of joy to millions of gamers around the world.

Featuring hours of content, including:

  • Art of GoldenEra
  • GoldenEye and Obsession
  • GoldenEye inspired VR
  • In Game Reenactments
  • Mick Gordon on Rare
  • Music of GoldenEra
  • The Memes
  • The N64 Hardware
  • Writing GoldenEra
  • Bringing Back GoldenEye (Feature Length GoldenEye Movie!)

You can now pre-order the GoldenEra Limited Edition “Most Deadly” Blu-ray with N64 Slip Case film right here!



Get Your DOS Gaming Fix With eXoDOS 5

By

Are you of a certain vintage that you can recall battling archaic and extremely frustrating requirements/configs to get your DOS games playing on your PC?

If you answered yes, then eXoDOS (version 5) is here to help make things a lot easier. In a nutshell, eXoDOS obtains and catalogues games to make them playable for DOS and PC Booter platforms.

The eXoDOS v5.0 games collection is vast and can be played on any modern Windows PC without the frustrating configurations we used to endure and deal with back in the 286/386/486 days!

This platform is really cool, with awesome features like CD audio and 3dfx support. To play any game in the library, you just click on the title, and that’s it! Oh yeah, there is also a cool physical big box version too! Go on, go and have some DOS gaming fun.



A Rare 1990 ATARI STe Computer Promo Film

By

If you were in the market for an Atari STE and were stumped on how to use, then this 28 minute promo film from 1990 may help!

The cheese factor is off the scale in this video, but we couldn’t look away, as there were some things we actually learned or were reminded of that we had forgotten about our 16-bit Atari!

Watch it, as you may learn something new too (or at least rejog your memory) 😉


source: Computer History Archives Project



Sean’s Amazing Retro Video Game Art and Arcade Model Builds

By

We have many talented friends around the world. One local multi-talented friend, Sean Tagg (aka:  ) is not only an accomplished Donkey Kong player, but he is also an arcade restorer, OutRun expert and an amazing artist (amongst many other talents)!

Out of all of Sean’s accomplishments and creations, it is his meticulous artistic skill and flair that always captures our attention and astounds us with each of his amazing creations. Sean’s artwork (like on his Shinobi runners) and model builds of iconic video games are simply stunning to say the least. If you don’t believe us, check out the video below!

source: Sean Tagg – Arcade Modeller

Want to see more of Sean’s amazing Arcade Model builds? If you said yes (as you should have), then go to his Arcade Modeller site right now!



History of The Addams Family Pinball Machine

By

Ask anyone that played pinball in the early 1990s to name their favourite machine, we reckon The Addams Family will be right at the top of the list.

Without a doubt, The Addams Family pinball machine is one of the greatest machines of all time. Not only was it the best-selling solid state pinball machine of all time (selling over 20,000 units worldwide) TAF, as it is affectionately known, is still beloved by many and enjoyed some 30+ years after its release. This Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar designed pinball machine is an absolute masterpiece.

Enjoy this cool history about The Addams Family pinball machine!


source: Kevin Carrington



Ausretrogamer Is 10 Years Old!

By

Who would have thought that when we first started ausretrogamer.com in January 2012 that 10 years later we would still be here! Time certainly flies when you are having fun.

Today marks a major milestone for us at ausretrogamer as we have reached the magical decade mark! When starting our site and social media channels in 2012, we honestly didn’t have any expectations that we would still be around in 2022 – but we are glad that we are!

We have been pleasantly surprised over the years to find so many like-minded people who enjoy playing and talking about all the stuff we love, from obscure video games from the 1970s to those schoolyard-type discussions on which 8-bit computer was best (we all know it was the Commodore 64!).

Ausretrogamer has also allowed us to meet a lot of you in real life, either at events like PAX Aus or local pinball competitions or computing club events – which have been a priceless experience. We are humbled to call all of you our good friends. Nostalgia is a powerful force that binds us all – long may it continue!

To all the awesome folks that have contributed and to those that are still contributing content and everyone that engages with us, thank you very much – you all rock our world!

Looking forward to another decade full of retro gaming (and pinball) goodness! 😉



History: The Birth of the Internet Archive

By

25 years ago, the entire World Wide Web was only 2.5 terabytes in size. Most connections were dial-up, important records were stored on tape, and a young engineer named Brewster Kahle was working on a revolutionary project—a way to archive the growing Internet.

Filmed by Marc Weber for the Web History Project, this video showcases the Internet Archive’s very first web crawl in 1996. In 2001, the project was made accessible to the public through the Wayback Machine. Today, the Internet Archive is home to more than 588 billion web pages, as well as 28 million books and texts, 14 million audio items, and 580,000 software titles, making us one of the world’s largest digital libraries.

As the Internet Archive approaches their 25th anniversary, let’s take a look at the hardware and high hopes that drove the project from the very beginning—and hear from the man whose vision made it all possible – press play here!

story source: Internet Archive



Sega Scud Race Arcade Promotional Video

By

We love finding these promo videos of arcade games we used to love and play at amusement centres back in the day.

The below promotional video is for Sega’s Scud Race arcade game from 1996. Scud Race (Sports Car Ultimate Drive) was also known as Sega Super GT in North America.

Oh yeah, keep an ear out on how “Sega” is pronounced in this promo video – long live See-gah!


source: Australian Pinball Museum