Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
If you were lucky enough to have had a Vectrex back in the day (Ed: or lucky enough to have one now!), you may have not know that there was an official owners club magazine titled, Passport.
We take a look at a few pages from the premiere issue of Passport from the summer of 1983 and see what was hot on the Vectrex, from the Light Pen and 3D Imager glasses to six of the best Vectrex games and some mailbag shenanigans.
All image source: © 2018 Chris ‘Vectrexer’ Romero via eBay
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
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
I recently walked into a hipster bar that I had never been in before. I immediately felt slightly old. Everyone there was in their early twenties; some of them didn’t look old enough to order a beer. As I made my way past the bustling, long bar, I noticed something in the back corner of the place that I hadn’t seen in a longtime.
A large group of twentysomethings were gathered around an original Pac-Man arcade machine. I hadn’t seen a Pac-Man machine since I was a little kid. It was a smack of nostalgia in a place I didn’t expect it.
Like the Rubik’s Cube or the DeLorean DMC-12, Pac-Man is an 80s icon. Seeing a vintage machine with a group of Millennials playing it, made me curious. I sat at a small booth near the Pac-Man machine and watched the young group feed the machine quarters. They were having such a blast trying to see who could reach the highest score with one quarter.
source: ausretrogamer
After a few craft beers, I wanted to try my hand at Pac-Man; but they had taken over the machine. It was entertaining watching them shriek and groan when they got devoured by a ghost. It may’ve been the first time any of them had ever played the arcade version of Pac-Man, but I still wanted my turn.
Pac-Man brings people together. From the time the game was released in arcades in October 1980, Pac-Man has been a unifier that you could play with friends. Pac-Man is cross-generational. It seems simple at first, but as you keep playing, the difficulty of each stage keeps you addicted to clear the maze.
When Pac-Man was released in 1980, movie theatre owners and movie moguls were worried that the game would hurt the film industry. Pac-Man was taking money away from Paramount and 20th Century Fox. Pac-Man’s enormous popularity was short-lived, but at its height, movie studio executives had to be worried about how long they would be competing with the bright yellow machines.
I never got to play the Pac-Man machine in that bar that night, but I enjoyed watching the twentysomethings play a game that this October will turn 38-years-old. Will there ever be another Pac-Man? I doubt it.
source: ausretrogamer
Gotta share this video that was posted by video game history guy, John Anderson. Using John’s words, this is, “A 1981 TV news report by WMAQ-TV in Chicago about the makers of Defender (Williams Electronics) and inside the Midway factory assembling Pac-Man arcade cabinets (350 a day!)”.
Ah the 80s, we definitely miss you so much!
A 1981 TV news report about the makers of Defender (Williams Electronics) and inside the Midway factory assembling Pac-Man arcade cabinets (350 a day!) from WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Via: The Museum of Classic Chicago Television. pic.twitter.com/x3fayTqlJw
— John Andersen (@JohnAndersen21) December 18, 2017
source: John Anderson via Twitter
Calling all physical game collectors! On March 30 — the one-year anniversary of Thimbleweed Park’s digital download debut — you’ll be able to pick up physical PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions courtesy of our friends at Limited Run Games.
For both PS4 and Nintendo Switch, Limited Run Games will offer a USD$34.99 standard version and a USD$64.99 collector’s edition that comes with exclusive “feelies” — just like the good old days. These releases will be region-free. Quantities will be limited and once they’re gone, they’re gone, so start saving your nickels, dimes, and arcade tokens!
You can find more details on Limited Run Games’ website: http://www.limitedrungames.com
Just in case you don’t know what all this Thimblweed Park business is about, here is the 101, but first, how it all started…
Thimbleweed Park began its life on Kickstarter, created by the co-creator of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, Ron Gilbert. Thimbleweed Park is definitely a homage to the aforementioned games, which is a pretty good thing we reckon.
Anyway, on with the Thimbleweed Park 101:
October 15, 1987 – A dead body is rotting under the bridge, but the 81 (sorry, make that 80) inhabitants of the once proud town of Thimbleweed Park have bigger concerns. The town’s founder recently died under mysterious circumstances. The hotel appears to be haunted. A giant slice of pizza roams the streets. And something sinister is going on behind the locked gate of the burned-out pillow factory at the edge of town — something that could consume us all.
Five people with nothing in common have been drawn to this weird, rundown place. They don’t know it yet, but they’re deeply connected. And they’re being watched.
By the end of a long, strange night, these questions will be answered — and you’ll understand why in a town like Thimbleweed Park, a dead body is the least of your problems.
Developer / Publisher: Terrible Toybox (based in Seattle)
Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android
image source: Thimbleweed Park
Black Mirror is back with new episodes and it’s as dark, beautiful, fascinating and sharp as ever. It’s everything a good sci-fi TV series should be, that Charlie Brooker is a genius!
Black Mirror takes aim at social media in Nosedive and Hated In the Nation, while Playtest is an Inception-like mind-bending cautionary tale about VR. They’re all fantastic, but our real favourite is the uplifting and beautiful San Junipero (episode 4). It’s simply oozing with retro goodness: music, fashion, and (most importantly) arcades from the 80s and 90s! Here are some nods to video gaming pop culture that we spotted in San Junipero as well as Playtest. Did you spot others?
Edge magazine makes a cameo in the Playtest episode, Black Mirror series 3
Look closely at those shelves, you may see some retro goodies
Perhaps Charlie Brooker is a fan of Edge magazine…
We spot some PS3 and PS4 gaming goodies!
Going back to 1987 in episode 4, San Junipero
We’d be smiling too if we were about to play Bubble Bobble!
Ah, Nemesis (aka: Gradius) is there too!
The golden age of arcades make it too!
No way, Time Crisis!
We really need to visit Tucker’s!
Image source: Black Mirror on Netflix
Deadline have reported Steven Spielberg is set to direct the film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s sci-fi bestseller Ready Player One (Random House Crown, 2011). If you haven’t read the book yet, check out diaf23’s review here.
Ready Player One is expected to follow Spielberg’s The BFG. Interestingly, this will be his first film with Warner Bros. since A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001.
Apparently the two biggest hurdles will be acquiring the rights to the myriads of pop culture references and finding the technology to bring Ready Player One’s virtual world to life. It will be very interesting to see which references do and do not end up in the movie.
With The BFG due for release in 2016, you still have plenty of time to read (or re-familiarise yourself with) the book – so get reading!
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Ms. ausretrogamer
Editor and Researcher at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.
Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter
When I first began playing video games in the early 80s, arcade games were the pinnacle of the gaming experience – they had huge cabinets, great graphics, booming sound, and if you were good enough (or had lots of 20 cent coins), gameplay that would keep you coming back.
Being a nostalgist, I was recently reminiscing about arcade games I played at the local darkened arcade parlour, the corner milk bar and also the fish and chips shop near my school. With a smile on my face, I compiled a number of screenshots of arcade games that kept me mesmerised in the 1980s. I hope these bring back great memories for you, as they have for me. Enjoy and remember, “Winners Don’t Use Drugs!”.
My favourite beat’em up of all time. Nothing beats the kneeing to the head and wrapping a baseball bat around a the Black Warriors head!
Save Ronnie and grab some burgers and coke! We are bad dudes fighting the dragon ninja!
Still my go-to vertical shoot’em up! Plenty of 20c coins were spent on Galaga!
The little yellow dot muncher never let me down
The droning sound of this most awesomest of dungeon-maze crawlers is still sublime
Wrestling was huge in the mid 80s, and Wrestle War was a laugh!
Saving the kidnapped Madonna, one kick at a time!
Who could forget this aerial dogfighting classic from Yu Suzuki!
Another Yu Suzuki classic!
The game that ushered in the Golden Age of Arcades
The helicopter cockpit version of Thunder Blade was simply awesome!
The ninja craze was huge in the 80s. Everyone wanted to throw shurikens like Joe!
My beat’em up love began with Kung Fu Master
It was either Salamander or R-Type. I chose Irem’s blaster!
Yu Suzuki’s Out Run will always be associated with coolness!
Ikari Warriors – guerrilla warfare with a mate
Heavy Barrel – just like Ikari Warriors, but with a rotary stick to shoot baddies in 8-directions!
Another Sega classic. This was as close as I got to riding a motocross bike in the 80s
The seminal Nintendo classic will always be on my favourites list
The timeless Taito platform beauty – I love you Bub and Bob
A bomb disposal hero in leotards = perfect!
4P dungeon exploring never got any better than this!
Tempest – the vector splendour!
Going to Flashbacks on Swanston Street was always about Discs of Tron
Special agent action via Elevator Action
I wasn’t much of a skateboarder, but I was pretty good on 720 Degrees!
The ultimate single-screen blaster!
There was something about Moon Patrol that I can’t even explain now!
What would any 80s arcade list be without TMNT. Cowabunga!
Double Dragon started the 2P co-op beat’em up genre, Final Fight took it to another level!
source: various – supplied on request
Lock up your cat, put the kids to bed and then settle in for some nostalgic TV fun! MyDecadeTV honours the pop culture memories of bygone decades – the 70s, 80s and 90s in particular. Basically, each decade has a TV channel (site) to simulate the vintage experience of channel-surfing on a TV from a particular era.
If you haven’t checked this out yet, I have no idea what you are waiting for – bookmark the sites immediately and get surfing on this awesome wave of nostalgia!
If you do enjoy MyDecadeTV, please show your support by giving a donation. It is worth every cent.
image source: MyDecadeTV
From Real Genius, War Games and Weird Science, to TRON, Spies Like Us and Cloak & Dagger, how many other 80s movies can you spot from this montage of computer hacking in films?
The team at Found Item Clothing have done a stellar job in collating and presenting the silliest, best and iconic hacking scenes from the big screen. Oh the nostalgia!
Source: FoundItemClothing