The Pop-Culture E-Zine
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed during the Tech Games Fest event (TGF 2020) by our good friend Andrew Owen from Cause and Effect Gamers – Andrew is also the co-ordinator of TGF.
We talk all things retro gaming, our involvement with PAX Aus, the lure of pinball, toys – especially Masters Of The Universe, and of course, movies we love to watch!
Grab some popcorn and enjoy 🙂
source: Cause and Effect Gamers
I can’t believe that we (myself and Ms. ausretrogamer) have never appeared together on a podcast! Well, I am here to tell you that we finally made our debut together in guest speaking on episode 275 of the Vertical Hold podcast!
The topic of discussion was how we were passing the time and keeping our sanity in this worldwide pandemic. We delve into the midst of nostalgia and discuss all things gaming, from retro and modern, pinball, arcade, board games to the Commodore 64, SNES, RetroPie and Nintendo’s Wii! Oh yeah, Double Dragon and Zelda came up in conversation too 😉
Thank you to Alex Kidman and Adam Turner for having us on their brilliant weekly Vertical Hold podcast, we had a blast!
Being invited to guest appear (or should that be speak?) on a podcast is always humbling, very cool and a bit nerve-racking. It is exceptionally cool when invited by two of our good friends, Alex Kidman and Adam Turner to come on their Vertical Hold: Behind The Tech News podcast.
Episode 254 of Vertical Hold goes all retro in the modern era, from revived Nintendo and Sega classic mini consoles, huge arcade control decks from Capcom that hook up to your TV, to questionable emulation and some iffy jailbreaking – this episode has it all!
Thanks again to Alex and Adam for having us on their podcast – we make a great triple AAA* team!
*Triple AAA team = Alex, Adam and Alex 😉
Title image source: Fordham IPLJ
Slider image source: Vertical Hold
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Eric Chung, President and CEO of exA-Arcadia (EXA) has declared in his recent interview with Shmup’Em-All that their new arcade conversion kit system, exA-Arcadia, will be this generations’ NEOGEO. With a pedigree of SNK’s NEOGEO MVS arcade system, exA-Arcadia has some big shoes to fill. Eric’s statement does indeed seem bold, but he is confident that their innovative kit system will revolutionise and revitalise arcade gaming for developers and operators alike, giving them an easy to use system (to develop games) at a cost effective price point.
The exA-Arcadia System with four game cartridges as shown at JAEPO 2019
source: eXa-Arcadia via Twitter
So what does exA-Arcadia bring to the table for the operator? As already stated, this is an arcade conversion kit system, just like the NEOGEO MVS was back in the 90s, so its main aim for operators is to provide modern arcade content at a budget friendly price. This is all achieved by its clever hardware design, based on a secure Windows PC platform, which is more powerful than the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles, which can hold up to four games (delivered in cartridge format about the size of the old CPS3 cartridges). The best part is that exA-Arcadia is JAMMA and JVS (JAMMA Video Standard) compatible, allowing it to be used inside almost any existing operable arcade cabinets. It is also compatible with both 16:9 LCD and traditional 4:3 CRT monitors. exA-Arcadia claims that their vertically oriented games can be played in horizontal mode, so operators don’t need more vertically oriented monitors in all of their cabinets to play EXA format games.
exA-Arcadia stand with sample games at JAEPO 2019
source: exA-Arcadia via Twitter
The attraction of exA-Arcadia is realised even further (for operators), as once the system is purchased, it is fully owned by the operator, meaning that there is no requirement for internet connectivity to access gaming content, nor is there a need to share revenue with the manufacturer or distributor – more money left in the pocket of the operator. For operators that want to offer their customers an online experience, exA-Arcadia has a feature that integrates with streaming services like Twitch. Together with a smartphone app and card system, the exA-Arcadia’s feature set can provide operators a deeper insight into their customer interactions, which helps in building loyalty and decision making on what is popular, ensuring that customers keep coming back.
With its Windows PC based architecture, the EXA system is open to both traditional (big name) developers as well as the smaller independent ones. The initial release of ten games that were showcased at California Extreme (CAX) and Stunfest in late 2018, clearly shows that the current focus is on shoot’em up (shmups) games, however there are currently fifty games in the development pipeline that represent a variety of gaming genres, like fighting, sports, classic retro style platformers and four player games to balance out the EXA line-up.
Visitors enjoying the exA-Arcadia offerings at CAX 2018
exA-Arcadia presence at California Extreme (CAX 2018)
source: Tanoshimasu via Twitter
Eric Chung is confident that their exA-Arcadia platform can overcome stiff competition from systems provided by the giants in the industry, namely Sega’s ALL.NET and Taito’s NESiCAxLive. Eric claims that exA-Arcadia’s attraction is its lower entry cost (prices have yet to be confirmed as at writing of this article) and the fact that they will not force revenue sharing on coin drops. The overall cost will most likely be even lower than the others (Sega and Taito) as there is no equipment required, like network routers and servers, and no monthly fee to access the manufacturer’s network.
There is no doubt that exA-Arcadia has captured the attention of the amusement industry and developers alike. We will definitely be keeping a close eye on developments, as the potential of what it promises will surely result in shaking things up in the industry.
Aka To Blue Type-R at Stunfest
source: Shmup’Em-All via Twitter
*This feature first appeared in the February 2019 issue of the NAMOA ‘The Collector’ trade magazine.
Contra, Gryzor or Probotector. No matter what name you know this classic Konami run and gun game by, you will definitely remember it as one tough mother of a game! Konami had an instant hit on their hands when they released the arcade machine on this day [February 20] in 1987. Happy 30th anniversary Contra, you irresistible force!
For those that have been away from Earth since early 1987, here is the lowdown on Contra:
Midnight, September 12 2631. The Marines catch sight of a small-sized meteorite that is fast approaching Earth. The meteorite plummets 20km north-east of New Zealand, at the Gal Mosquito Archipelago. The command keep watch of the meteorite.
Two years later, in December 2633, an intruder known as the Red Falcon is occupying the Gal Mosquito Archipelago and is planning the fall of mankind. Command orders confidential investigations at the enemy’s front base. The marine post orders for two “Contra” soldiers, Private First Class Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer and Private First Class Lance “Scorpion” Bean on a mission. The mission being: penetrate the insides of the enemy, destroy the front base and the entire centre of operation.
Engage in the deadliest game show with Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Nitro Ball!
Flying Tiger Entertainment’s Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Nitro Ball (aka: Gun Ball), is the exciting arena-style shooter by Data East™ that was originally released in 1992.
Nitro Ball features Gary, an Ex-Navy Sergeant and Harry, an Ex-Police Officer who battle their way through a futuristic game show that takes place on vertical pinball worlds. In fact, each arena includes bumpers, buffers, rails and even pinball holes.
There are five different stages with unique enemies and bosses including: Strange Football, Combat Field, Ghost Town, Aliens World and Space Station. Each stage also features a short challenge to destroy a certain number of enemies in a given amount of time.
While the main goal is to annihilate as many goons as possible, players also rack up points to win various items. Nitro Ball is a fast and furious action-packed game filled with dangerous weapons, power-ups and bosses that make gameplay fun and exciting, especially with friends.
Nitro Ball is zooming to the Nintendo Switch™ eShop in North America on August 16, 2018. Pre-orders (in North America) are available right now. Oh yeah, it is coming soon to selected European territories too – so stay tuned!
Features:
image source: Flying Tiger Entertainment
Cor blimey, what a phenomenal week it has been for the ausretrogamer crew!
Not only did we feature in two articles in issue 266 of Hyper Magazine, but our very own ‘Wizard Of Aus‘, Alex Boz was also interviewed by the team at Player Attack!
Hip hip hooray for retro gaming!
Retro Gaming: A Link To The Past interview @ Player Attack
Social Hardware and Digging Up The Past, To Preserve The Future feature articles from issue 266 of Hyper Magazine
Our very own, Alex Boz, hits the airwaves in a LIVE interview with Nic Healey from radio station 2SER (107.3). Nic and Alex chat about PAX Aus, the love and allure of retro gaming, cutting out John Laws from the Commodore 64 Family Pack box and much, much more!
If you have a spare 6 minutes and 44 seconds, take a listen here!
After doing a number of podcast interviews, it was quite refreshing to have been invited on Richard Moss’ Ludiphilia podcast. Ludiphilia weaves the subject matter into a fascinating, heartwarming and a compelling story about play, the people and all other things in-between!
We have to give credit to Richard for doing an amazing job in the scripting, editing and the narrative of this podcast – we were blown away by the final result. Take a listen *smiley*
It is not every day you get an email from a world renowned Editorial Director, especially one as big as Damien McFerran of Nintendo Life.
When Damien got in contact with me to be interviewed in the Nintendo Life ‘Ninterview’ segment, I jumped at the chance.
You can read the full interview (I mean, Ninterview) at Nintendo Life