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GAME OVER: Brisbane’s Beloved 1UP Arcade Set to Close

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Retro Arcade Gaming Fans Prepare to Farewell 1UP Arcade

Sad news for retro gaming fans: Brisbane’s iconic 1UP Arcade, the largest dedicated retro arcade in the southern hemisphere, is preparing to shut its doors.

The announcement came earlier this year, when founder and owner Stephen Holmes shared a heartfelt post on Facebook on February 28th, detailing the arcade’s incredible journey — from its humble beginnings to its rise as a community hub, and the immense challenges faced throughout the pandemic and beyond. If you haven’t read Stephen’s full message, it’s well worth your time [link].

Since the news broke, the retro gaming community has been in mourning — and with good reason. Running a small business is hard enough, but operating a venue filled with hundreds of rare, fragile, and painstakingly restored arcade machines is a monumental task. It’s a true labour of love, one that Stephen and his team poured their hearts into.

The story of 1UP Arcade was even featured on the acclaimed documentary Still Standing, showcasing the passion and resilience behind the scenes. (If you haven’t watched it yet, now’s the perfect time.)

Mainstream media also took notice, with A Current Affair airing a segment about the closure on April 23rd, highlighting just how much 1UP meant to Brisbane’s cultural and entertainment landscape.


source: A Current Affair on YouTube

Our thoughts are with Stephen and everyone involved with 1UP Arcade. It’s a massive loss not just for Brisbane, but for the retro gaming world at large.

image source: 1UP Arcade (via Facebook)

Introducing Evercade Alpha – The First Evercade-Compatible Bartop Arcade

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It’s time to change the game – literally.

Attention all gamers and retro enthusiasts: the Evercade Alpha is coming later this year, and it’s going to revolutionise your home arcade experience! This sleek, bartop-sized arcade machine is the latest addition to the Evercade family and is packed with features that will transport you back to the golden age of gaming. The standout feature? Full compatibility with the extensive Evercade cartridge ecosystem.

Endless Gaming Fun with Evercade Cartridges

The Evercade Alpha doesn’t just come with a few built-in games—it opens the door to over 50 physical Evercade cartridge collections, offering a staggering 500+ games. From legendary arcade hits to home console classics and vintage home computer gems, the Evercade Alpha ensures your gaming adventures will be never-ending.

Special Pre-Order Pricing

Starting June 4th, the Evercade Alpha will be available for pre-order at a special price of £199.99 / $229.99 / €229.99, a significant discount from its regular retail price of £229.99 / $249.99 / €249.99. This offer is valid until November 2024, so act fast to secure this deal from any Evercade retailer worldwide.

Choose Your Adventure: Street Fighter or Mega Man Editions

The Evercade Alpha comes in two exciting versions, each featuring unique built-in games and officially licensed designs from the legendary Japanese publisher Capcom:

Evercade Alpha Street Fighter Arcade

Features six iconic titles from the Street Fighter™ franchise, including the never-before-released Street Fighter™ Alpha series.

– Street Fighter™ II’ Champion Edition
– Super Street Fighter™ II Turbo
– Street Fighter™ Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams
– Street Fighter™ Alpha 2
– Street Fighter™ Alpha 3
– Super Puzzle Fighter™ II Turbo

Evercade Alpha Mega Man Arcade

Boasts two arcade-exclusive games from the famous Mega Man™ franchise, alongside a selection of Capcom’s classic arcade titles.

– Mega Man™: The Power Battle
– Mega Man™ 2: The Power Fighters
– Final Fight™
– Knights of the Round™
– Carrier Air Wing™
– Strider™

Premium Features and Design

Each Evercade Alpha unit is pre-assembled and packed with top-notch features for an unparalleled gaming experience:

  • Dual Evercade Cartridge Slots: Designed to mimic a coin tray, these slots support the entire Evercade cartridge ecosystem.
  • Authentic Arcade Controls: Competition-grade controls ensure you get the response and feel of a real arcade machine.
  • High-Resolution Screen: An 8″ IPS screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio delivers sharp, vibrant visuals.
  • Light-Up Marquee: Includes three interchangeable backlit marquee panels, with more available for purchase.
  • Additional Ports and Controls: Volume control, stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, and two USB ports for external controllers.
  • Power and Connectivity: Powered by a USB-C connector, with an international mains plug included.

Expand Your Gaming Library

One of the most exciting features of the Evercade Alpha is its dual Evercade cartridge slots. This means you’re not limited to the pre-installed games. You can expand your game library with any physical Evercade cartridge collection, encompassing games from five decades of gaming history. Whether you prefer indie games, classic Japanese titles, or hidden gems, the Evercade Alpha has something for everyone.

Instant Access to Over 500 Games

With Evercade cartridges, there are no downloads, no setup, and no fuss—just plug in and play! Enjoy a seamless gaming experience with physical cartridges that include a box and manual, just like the good old days. Plus, your save games are supported across all Evercade devices.

Don’t miss out on the chance to bring the arcade experience home with Evercade Alpha. Pre-order now and get ready to dive into a world of classic gaming fun!

Arcade Cabinets Chiseled from Marble That Michaelangelo Would Be Proud Of

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Michaelangelo’s David VS Harow’s Arcadia!

With engineered stone becoming illegal (it’s about time!) in Australia, we are glad to see that marble is (potentially) still being used in a variety of new ways!

These arcade machines chiseled out of marble give Michaelangelo’s David sculpture a run for its money – they are absolute masterpieces!

Before we get ahead ourselves we have to come clean, these are AI renders, however for a cool US$100,000, artist Harold Sangouard (aka Harow) can chisel you a custom-made arcade cabinet from Calacatta marble.

We definitely don’t need marble in the kitchen, but our Fun Factory can do with a marble arcade machine sculpture 😉

image source: Arcadia – Harow



Arcade Machine Coin Slot: Insert Coin To Play Anything

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Now this one hits right in the nostalgia bit of our retro heart! We pumped countless coins into arcade and pinball machines, back when they were 60c per play, but then quickly become $1 and $2 gold coins per play! Ah, those were the days.

If you want to relive the experience (at home or in the office) of seeing a coin slot and coin return, then TAMA-KYU’s arcade machine coin slots will be right up your alley!

We would love to grab these 4 different coin slots (priced ¥300 YEN / $3.20 AUD each) and stick them on our microwave oven, fridge, TV and of course, our gaming console(s)!

Cha-ching!

image and story source: technabob(via PR Times JP)



CES 2020 Unveiled – Cool Retro Tech You’ll Want To Play With

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Before the big CES 2020 event kicks off, the CES Unveiled event showcases the latest products and trends leading up to the main event.

Three products caught our attention from Arcade1Up, iiRcade and My Arcade which we thought we’d share with you all below.

We can’t wait to find out more about these hot items, so stay tuned!

1. Arcade1Up 3/4 Scale Digital Pinball Machines

Arcade1Up has teamed up with our friends at Zen Studios to bring you a couple of pretty awesome three-quarter size pinball machines which include titles from Bally/Williams and other yet to be announced, big names in the pinball space! We love both the Star Wars and Attack From Mars machines and can’t wait to hear more about them.

image source: northvibe via pinside

2. iiRcade – The Ultimate Home Arcade

This new ultimate home arcade, iiRcade, with online capabilities, enables gamers to legally download and play their favourite officially licensed arcade games – no more shady arcade ROM sites! Gamers who want to enjoy their favourite retro arcade games or play modern games in the arcade environment can now have the full arcade experience in their homes, either in a full size stand-up or bartop guise, it is up to you. With iiRcade, gamers can select and purchase a game they want on iiRcade’s app store, which is then automatically downloaded and installed on their iiRcade machine.

image source: iiRcade

3. My Arcade Super Retro Champ Console

The Super Retro Champ console is the successor to My Arcade’s award-winning Retro Champ and enables retro gamers to enjoy their SNES, Super Famicom, and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges from a single console. The Super Retro Champ features a 7-inch screen and a built-in rechargeable battery that offers up to 5 hours of play time. Retro gamers can play the Super Retro Champ in handheld mode or use the 2 included wireless gamepads to play in tabletop and TV mode. An HDMI® output allows users to enjoy their classic games from the comfort of their couch.

image source: Games Press

 

It’s On Like Lego Donkey Kong!

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This Lego Donkey Kong arcade machine by Aussie Lego building sensation, Kale Frost (aka: Frostbricks), could easily be an awesome Lego Ideas entrant! If it were, we would vote the heck out of it (and so would all of you). We shall pray to the Lego gods that we’ll see this kit on a toy shelf one day! Absolutely love the level of detail Frostbricks has gone to on this one-of-a-kind Lego production.

Oh yeah, if you want to check out other brilliant Lego (Brick Built Creations) by Frostbricks hit Kale’s site and Instagram right now! You can thank us later 😉

source: Frostbricks site and Instagram

 

Quarter Arcades Galaga ¼ Scale Arcade Replica

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Whoa, seemingly out of nowhere we get the biggest surprise (so far) of 2019 – The latest Numskull Designs Quarter Arcades GALAGA ¼ scale arcade replica machine is coming to Australia!

We were totally blown away with their Pac-Man ¼ scale machine (which we got to play at PAX Aus 2018), so to say we can’t wait to play their Galaga machine would be a gross understatement.

The new Galaga ¼ scale arcade machine is currently available for pre-order (AU$278) via EB Games Australia!

Who is in? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook.

image source: EB Games Australia

Nintendork Gets Nostalgic At Hersheypark

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By: Nintendork

It’s one of those things you never thought about when growing up – that these huge and heavy arcade machines would one day disappear and the amusement centres housing them would become extinct.

I always thought that arcade machines would be here to stay and that they would remain popular as ever with everyone. How wrong was I? Luckily for me, Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania is the big exception. Hersheypark could have gotten rid of their old arcade cabinets long ago but they decided to keep them and maintain them in working order. I love having my physical console games from when I was little and in this instance it is great to see these big arcade games remaining exactly the same as when I was a child, making them that extra bit special. To know that I put quarters in their Double Dragon machine when I was 12 and am playing the exact same game right now and doing the same thing beating up baddies means the world to me.

Hersheypark is the perfect destination for a hit of gaming nostalgia. Enjoy the pics!

 

SKYCURSER Is Coming Soon To Shoot Up Your Arcade

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Who says that the arcade is dead? If you are sick of seeing redemption machines at your local amusement centre, then perhaps the new horizontal shoot’em up, SKYCURSER will draw you back for some good old fashion blasting!

Griffin Aerotech’s SKYCURSER takes players through some gorgeously drawn worlds in which they must battle mutant hordes to save the planet. SKYCURSER has a total of four missions with a reward scoring system that keeps things quite competitive.

The game runs on a platform called Airframe and its creators have also promised free game updates. A year ago, the Griffin Aerotech team expressed hopes that the open-source nature of Airframe would attract other independent designers to create games for arcade cabinets and controls. This means that operators could potentially swap several games on the same Airframe using only a USB stick, which brings back memories of swapping those good old Neo Geo MVS cartridges.

There’s a Pro (USD$700) and Deluxe (USD$1,200) version of the kitted game, each coming with necessary software and hardware while the Deluxe has additional conversion art. The game is also available in a dedicated arcade cabinet ready to hit the floor (USD$3,499). Conversion kits are expected to ship by June 2017. For information on purchasing the game in a dedicated cabinet, click here.

The arcade industry needs more of these good old fashioned arcade games, like SKYCURSER, to draw back the 80s and 90s kids (now adults) into arcade centres for them to have fun while introducing their own children to the kind of games they played at their age many moons ago.

image source: Griffin Aerotech

 

The World’s Largest Arcade Machine

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No, these pictures have not been photoshopped, this is Jason Camberis from Chicago and his Guinness World Record winning arcade machine. This World’s largest arcade machine measures an amazing 4.41 m tall, 1.93 m wide and 1.06 m deep!

He made the giant machine to recreate the experience of playing video games as a child. Jason and his arcade machine appear in the Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition. Check out the whole story in the video below.

giant arcade machine a

giant arcade machine b


Video source: Guinness World Records on YouTube

Source: Guinness World Records via Geekologie

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer 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