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The Sony HB-F5 MSX2 Computer – The Gaming System That Came Before the PlayStation

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On a recent hunt for retro gaming systems we came across the Sony HB-F5, Sony’s first MSX2 based computer gaming system that was released in Japan in 1985.

There were two HB-F5 variants that were released – grey and back. Both of these colour variants are quite rare and difficult to find in working condition (and with working game carts).

These aren’t cheap, but if you are after this oddity, there is one currently available (at the time of publishing) on Facebook Marketplace for $1,050 – and you thought the PlayStation 5 was expensive!

PS: Don’t mistake that RGB21 output for SCART – they look similar, but the pinouts have differing designations!

image source: Facebook Marketplace



BBC Archive: Imagine Software – 1983

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Cast your mind back to 1983, when Imagine Software were the pop stars of video games development!

Now this is a blast from the past! Imagine Software, the video games development superstars from Liverpool were going gangbusters when this video was aired on the BBC almost forty years ago on October 23, 1983. Who didn’t love Green Beret, Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh and Hyper Sports to name just a few.

We all know what followed – the high-profile demise of Imagine a year later in 1984 – but for now, let’s just cast our minds back 40 years and enjoy this vid!


source: BBC Archive



Suzanne Ciani’s Unpublished Atari Ad Jingle In New Video!

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It is great being in touch with your childhood heroes, like Atari’s Howard Scott Warshaw.

Howard recently posted on his Facebook account about a video featuring the unpublished Atari ad jingle by Suzanne Ciani in stunning 3D animation. In case you didn’t know, Suzanne was the amazing electronic music composer that created the iconic soundtrack for Bally’s Xenon pinball machine!

This reimagined video featuring Suzanne’s jingle was created by the amazing and talented Philippe Lafortune of Retro Gamers Hub & The Geek Connoisseur fame.



Book Review – Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups

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If there ever was a book made for us, then Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups is it! As massive fans of side-scrolling beat’em ups (Ed: Double Dragon and Final Fight are still two of our all time faves), this book screamed for us to read it!

Relishing each turn of the page and soaking in all that beat’em up content found in this book, the adrenaline rush we felt was off the charts.

Back in the late 80s going to the local arcade involved checking out the latest and greatest beat’em up games. When the first 2-player co-op beat’em up, Double Dragon, showed up at our local arcade in 1987, we were smitten. We pumped so many 20c pieces in that machine (each credit was 40c), the coin box must have been quite heavy when taking them to the bank! Double Dragon felt fresh, with an amazing array of weapons to use on baddies (we loved swinging the baseball bat!), plus the punching, kicking, backward elbowing and our fave, the knee to the head, all felt visceral at the time.

It was a pleasant surprise to read my hero, Yoshihisa Kishimoto’s foreword! For those that don’t know, Yoshihisa-san was the original creator of Double Dragon – he was only 26 years old when he created the groundbreaking game. Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups is one heavy tome, so you’d be forgiven to think that it could also double up as a weapon in real life! Of course we jest about the weapon part, but we are dead serious about the weight of the book.

Packed with delicious beat’em up content (there are over 450 pages!), Go Straight covers all the major eras of the beat’em up genre, including the golden age from the mid 80s to the early 90s. Each decade from the 1980s onwards, has its own section, documenting all the games that were released during that period. The book documents every beat’em up that has ever graced a video game system (arcade and console) from 1980 all the way up to 2021 – that’s over 200 games!

There has been no stone left unturned in Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups. Dave Cook and the team at Bitmap Books has created a tome for all fans of beat’em ups, and if you aren’t a fan of this genre, we urge you to check this book out, as it is a great guide for first timers wanting to dip their toes in playing some iconic and fun side-scrolling beat’em ups! GO and read it now!!

  • Price: $79.99 AUD / Where to buy: PixelCrib

Specifications

  • 456 pages.
  • 210mm × 297mm. Hardback.
  • Gatefold pages.
  • Spot-varnished cover.
  • Edge-to-edge high quality lithographic print.
  • Sewn binding for enduring quality and the ability to lay flat for ideal double-page image viewing.



Disclaimer: Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups book was kindly provided by PixelCrib for this review.

Aldi 80s Special Buys

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Aldi (Australia) sure knows how to cash in on the retro craze!

Starting next Wednesday (November 30), Aldi will stock some sweet 80s special buys, from retro tech to fashion and leisure items which they are calling Retro Entertainment.

So what kind of stuff will Aldi have up for grabs on November 30? We are glad you asked! Take a gander at these:

Our picks are the retro skateboard, Stack Hat, the micro arcades and that hot boombox! Better get that DeLorean ready to head back to the 80s!


source: Aldi – YouTube



Sounds Of The 80s

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Do you miss the sound of a rotary phone or crack opening a VHS tape you rented from Blockbuster?

Well, sit down, relax and crank up the volume to take in the best 44 seconds that your ears will hear today.


source: UNILAD Tech



By The Power Of Grayskull: Passing the Sword!

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Celebrating its 40th year of existence, the Masters of the Universe has brought a lot of happiness to generations of peeps, including us Gen X’ers.

For those of us with young kids, we need to pass the baton (Power Sword) to the next generation to ensure MOTU lives on for years to come!


source: Masters Of The Universe via Facebook



Celebrating 40 Years of Masters Of The Universe

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We have posted a fair bit about Masters of the Universe lately, so we thought why not do it again! Well, the MOTU franchise is celebrating its 40th year, so there’s that too!

Following the official Masters Of The Universe social channels (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram) has been a trip down nostalgia lane for us folks who had (still have) their original MOTU action figures and accessories.

Some of the posts that the MOTU social media team shares are funny and cool, but it’s the stop-motion posts that grab our attention – just like this latest one (created by Stuntpuppets), where Beast Man takes on He-Man (after beating down Man-At-Arms) in a one-on-one Beast-Brawl!


source: MOTU on Facebook



40 Years Of Masters Of The Universe

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40 Years of MOTU

We still remember the day when we visited Treasureway (defunct now) store in 1982 and seeing He-Man and Skeletor on the shelf for the first time – we were immediately drawn to the action figures and the MOTU universe in general. It would seem that Mattel knew exactly how to market these muscle-bound toys to kids. We begged to get one and after some incessant begging, we were told that we could choose one that day. It was a tough choice, but our very first MOTU action figure was He-Man! Our second one was Zodac, closely followed by Stratos. We didn’t get Skeletor till well after.


source: Masters Of The Universe on Facebook

Over the course of the early to mid 80s, we had a modest collection of MOTU action figures, so when we finally got Castle Grayskull for Christmas in 1984, we felt like we had completed our MOTU journey. Upon hearing that there was going to be a cartoon based on Masters Of The Universe, we couldn’t contain our excitement. The cartoon couldn’t come fast enough! Saturday mornings on the couch with the doona (duvet to our UK friends) over us, watching He-Man battle Skeletor and his evil minions was a perfect way to start our weekend!

40 years on and Treasureway may no longer exists, but we still have our collection of original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures – long live MOTU!

Some of our original MOTU collection



‘Stranger Things’ Video Game Moment

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

First off, I’ll try not to spoil anything. (Ed: WARNING – proceed with caution if you have not watched ST4 as yet!)

I didn’t start watching “Stranger Things” until this year’s season. Season four of the popular Netflix series has been enthralling and masterfully plotted.

I never thought I would like the people of Hawkins, Indiana, but they grew on me rather quickly. I watched the fourth episode of the season, titled “Chapter Four: Dear Billy,” and the greatness of the storytelling and the final, video game-like ending, made me realize that the show wasn’t just some nostalgic, kid show. It was much more than that.

Max is my favorite character on “Stranger Things.” Why, I’m not sure? Maybe because she reminds me a little of myself when I was young, and, like Max, I was always optimistically curious about life. Sadie Sink plays Max superbly. Her journey through the fourth season of the hit series is the most captivating storyline. So much so that the Kate Bush song “Running Up That Hill,” released in 1985, has made its way to the top of the current music charts. In the fourth chapter, the song is used brilliantly in the scene that reminded me of a video game. The song is a part of the dramatic scene where Max makes her escape from Vecna, the primary villain. The song is used as a key diegetic piece that works magnificently.

When Max breaks free of Vecna, she is running along a rocky ground through the demonic dreamscape. I got video game vibes when Max is running between falling rocks and debris to get to her friends who are using Bush’s song to get her back to the real world, in a graveyard. Her run made me think of hundreds of video games that I’ve played over the course of my life. She was on a mission to get back to her friends, and the nail-biting scene is shot beautifully. It conjured up visions of a video game hero dodging obstacles to reach a safe place or new level. Everything about it works.

Max’s sprint to her friends and “Running Up That Hill” made for an extraordinarily calculated action sequence that will resonate with fans of the series for years.

image source: Rotten Tomatoes