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THE GAME EXPO returns in March 2024

October 30, 2023 By ausretrogamer

THE GAME EXPO (TGX) is returning after this year’s successful debut show!

The gaming events calendar is perfectly balanced between the two expo giants, TGX in March, and PAX Aus in October. If you are over your PAX Aus experience and are fretting for the next big gaming event, you are in luck, as tickets for TGX 2024 have just gone on sale!

Current TGX news is that there are a list of returning activities, including the mega popular Creator Showdown PC LAN tournament, Cosplay Cup, Artist Alley, Tabletop Gaming, Freeplay Video Gaming and an expanded Indie Games Zone to name just a few. TGX 2024 will have much more to reveal, so we’ll be keeping a keen eye on their announcements between now and March and let you know all about it – so make sure you are following us on X/Twitter and Facebook!

source: thegamexpo

The Game Expo lowdown:

WHEN: Sat 23rd & Sun 24th March 2024
WHERE: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
TICKETS: www.thegameexpo.com

Highlights from TGX 2023 to whet your appetite for the 2024 edition!

image source: The Game Expo

Custom Retro Gaming Action Figures

April 5, 2023 By ausretrogamer

Whoa, these unique action figures based on yesteryear’s gaming consoles are either awesomely cool or absolute nightmare fuel – you be the judge!

U.S. based eBay user shdurr0 has created some very quirky custom action figures based on vintage gaming systems from the 70s and 80s, just take a look them below! These may not be to the caliber of Dano Brown’s custom-made video game toys, but they are still worth a mention.

If you are inclined to take a peek and possibly grab one (or all) of these one-off creations, go and check them out.

PS: Love the ‘AGES 45 & UP‘ on some these – a nice touch indeed 😉

The Sega Master System Droid

Milton Bradley (MB) Vectrex Man (Glow In the Dark)

GCE Vectrex Man

K.C. Munckin / Magnavox Odyssey 2

Captain Atari (Glow in the dark)

image source: eBay

Sega’s 1993 Virtua Fighter gets an AI makeover

January 27, 2023 By ausretrogamer

We always thought that Sega’s polygonal 1 on 1 arcade fighter, VIRTUA FIGHTER looked awesome.

After taking off our nostalgia-tinted glasses, we can now see how lo-fi (but still cool) they look, especially after some AI shenanigans bringing each of the fighters on the roster to be life-like.

With ChatGPT being all the rage, it would seem there is another AI tool gathering steam in the form of Stable Diffusion, a text-to-image deep learning model capable of generating photo-realistic images. Clever Tech Artist, Colin Williamson put this learning model to the test by feeding it the original Virtual Fighter polygonal images from a Sega Saturn emulator into the Stable Diffusion model. The results, as you can see, are darn scary and impressive all at the same time)!

Surely Skynet is now coming for us all….

[story & image source: technabob]

Is A Stern Masters Of The Universe Pinball Machine Coming in 2023?

August 23, 2022 By ausretrogamer

Will Stern Pinball join forces with Randy Martinez to create a cornerstone title based on Masters of The Universe in 2023?

Yeah, the title may be wishful thinking, but who doesn’t like a spicy rumour – we do, as long as it becomes true!

For those of you that know us well, you’ll know that we love the old 80s Masters Of The Universe and pinball! Since the silverball bug bit us over a decade ago, we have been patiently waiting (and praying) for a pinball manufacturer to acquire this license and make our dream theme into a real pinball machine – and according to this poll, we aren’t alone!

We usually stay away from rumours, but this time we are adding fuel to the already on fire rumour mill. At last month’s California Extreme expo, the amazing artist, Randy Martinez, made a point about his love for Jaws, Seinfeld, The Big Lebowski, Star Wars, basketball and MOTU to YouTuber/Streamer, Mike Mattsson (aka: DRI374), and how us pinball peeps loving reading into the smallest of tidbits that may (or may not) be true:

“I gotta be careful in how I say this. Well, I’ll give the answer that I gave at the other pinball shows that Stern was there for. These are purely my personal tastes, I’m not confirming or denying anything.”

Further to this, at the recent 2022 San-Diego Comic-Con, Randy stated that (about his love of Star Wars, basketball and MOTU art):

“And by the way, these styles have nothing to do with pinball. This is stuff that I’ve actually worked on before. I know how people talk out there. I’m new to this but I’m learning. I know how people take stuff and run.”

Yep, we have run with it Randy! If you have no idea who Randy Martinez is (Ed: shame on you!), he is the artist that created the gorgeous art packages for Stern Pinball’s The Mandalorian and Star Wars Comic Art pinball machines (which we own) amongst his many brilliant bodies of artistic work. So it stands to reason (and a lot of wishful thinking!) that Randy is again involved with Stern in developing the art package for a Masters of The Universe cornerstone pinball machine in 2023!

Randy Martinez proudly stand with two of his pinball artwork creations! Could he be making a third art package for Stern Pinball?
image source: Randy Martinez via Instagram

Randy tells Mike (aka: DRI374) that we will see a Stern Pinball machine with his artwork very very soon – meaning: in the next 18 months!

So what would a Masters Of The Universe pinball machine be like? Well, we would like to see us able to transform from Prince Adam to He-Man by lighting up the I-H-A-V-E-T-H-E-P-O-W-E-R targets which would then kick off a He-Man Battle multiball mode. Imagine if there was something mechanical in the game that would physically transform Adam to He-Man!!! Of course Castle Grayskull would have to feature prominently too, perhaps like the interactive castle in Medieval Madness, without the need to destroy it – He-Man would have to defend the Castle! The pin would be a classic good versus evil battle, with the ultimate goal being to defeat Skeletor and his army of evil-doers before he takes over Castle Grayskull and Eternia. We have so many ideas, but there is only so much you can fit onto a pinball playfield. Coupled with Randy’s comic art style, we reckon a Stern Pinball Masters Of The Universe machine would be an absolute winner!

So let’s will this rumour to reality and hope that Stern Pinball is listening 😉

source: From the personal MOTU collection of ausretrogamer

Classic Atari 2600 Video Games in 3D

September 28, 2021 By ausretrogamer

Graphic artist Mauri Helme has quite amusingly created 3D animations of classic Atari 2600 video games, including Pitfall, River Raid, Frostbite, Keystone Kapers and the infamous E.T.

Imagine playing these on your trusty old Atari VCS/2600 😉

source: Mauri Helme

story source: laughingsquid

Oz Comic-Con is back with OCC Pop Up Shows!

February 4, 2021 By ausretrogamer

Oz Comic-Con gets back to the grassroots of pop culture with the launch of community-based OCC POP UP shows

In a year that relegated fans to virtual conventions, the team behind Oz Comic-Con are thrilled to announce the launch of their first LIVE event of 2021. OCC POP UP is a community-based event
showcasing the local pop-culture scene and is set to hit Sydney Showground on March 6th and 7th. We can assure you that masking up has never felt this good.

Since its Australian launch back in 2012, Oz Comic-Con has secured a permanent place within the hearts of fans across the country through its ongoing support of the local community. Although things may seem a little different this time around, OCC POP UP will encompass everything we have come to love and know over the years.

With a jam-packed schedule full of workshops and activities, attendees can expect appearances from local creators, comic artists, gaming and freeplay opportunities, industry talks and panels and exclusive merchandise that can’t be found anywhere else. Some of the highlights include:

Creators Live – an area dedicated to promoting Australian digital content creators such as YouTubers, streamers, podcasters, bloggers, and influencers. Whilst it’s a great chance to sell merch and network with each other, Creators Live provides a new platform amongst an ever growing community and a chance for Creators to interact with their fans;
Cosplay Active – a cosplay competition for mainstream competitors that find themselves a step above the Cosplay Parade but not quite ready for the Championships of Cosplay. Open to both solo and group performances, Cosplay Active is an opportunity to showcase crafting talents, perform a skit, and bring along the PLAY component of cosplay. And, even your pets can get involved, with the finalists of the OCC Pet Cosplay being invited to attend the Con;

Confirmed guests for the OCC POP UP include Queenie Chan (The Dreaming, Fabled Kingdom), Christopher Sequeria (Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook, The SuperAustralians ), Louie Joyce (Haphaven, Past the Last Mountain ), and JusZ Cosplay, with more announcements yet to come.

A first-of-its-kind event in Australia, OCC POP UP is truly an event for the whole family no matter what fandom you belong to. For more information about the event, guest announcements, and to purchase tickets, please go here.

EVENT DETAILS:

OCC POP UP Sydney
WHEN: March 6 – 7, 2021
WHERE: Sydney Showground, 1 Showground Road, Sydney Olympic Park

TICKET INFO:

Tickets to OCC POP UP will be sold in sessions with a limited amount of full day tickets available for each day. In full compliance with government guidelines and regulations, session times will allow for crowd management in a controlled environment. For more information about ticketing and general information regarding OCC’s COVID guidelines, please visit the Oz Comic-Con site.

Get Your Mugshot in Chase H.Q. and Help NHS Charities

April 12, 2020 By ausretrogamer

The talented Bill Harbison, veteran Ocean/Imagine Software pixel artist, who worked on titles like, Chase HQ, Batman The Movie and Jurassic Park is doing something really cool for charity!

Bill is supporting the NHS Charities COVID-19 Urgent Appeal via his Fiverr page where you supply him an image of yourself that he then takes to create a mugshot to be added to his old ZX Spectrum game, Chase H.Q. How awesomely cool is that? If you are keen to be featured in the ZX Speccy Chase H.Q. game and also help out a great charity, then hit Bill’s Fiverr page now!

We’ll update this post and share our screenshot once Bill weaves his magic and sends through the finished image. We can’t wait!

UPDATE: Guess what peeps?! Bill was super quick with his pixel wizardry and delivered our screenshot waaaay ahead of the due date! So here it is, our Ed, Alex Boz, in full pixel art (Chase H.Q. mugshot) glory! 🙂

Oz Comic-Con Sydney 2019 Highlights

October 1, 2019 By Mat Panek

We were lucky enough to attend Oz Comic Con 2019 in Sydney and take in all the amazing sights and sounds! There were plenty of regular favourites and a few newcomers that shows just how much conventions are growing in popularity. Another very welcome addition we noticed was the increasingly family friendly nature these cons are becoming, with a scribble wall and colouring corners for kids!

There was a strong presence from the ESL (eSports League Australia) which is always good to see and they had live competitions running all weekend. The Southern Cross Garrison of the 501st Imperial Legion was also out in force, bringing some impressive cosplay from both sides of the force including Stormtroopers, Wookiees and Tauntauns!

The artists corner was buzzing with activity, allowing upcoming artists to show off their skills and sell some of their merchandise. Lots of booths filled to the brim with pop culture goodies spread themselves throughout both the halls. We were also lucky enough to stumble onto some retro goodies that included figures, vehicles and playsets from Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and Masters of the Universe.

Just in case you missed out on all the fun we brought you some highlights!

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

Video Game Posters To Drool Over

November 15, 2018 By ausretrogamer

We got to say, we absolutely love the collection of video game posters by artist, Rhett Whittington on DeviantArt!

As huge Double Dragon fans, we were admiring Rhett’s poster of our fave beat’em up game which then lead us down the rabbit hole of checking out the rest of Rhett’s cool gaming posters – and wow, we definitely weren’t disappointed!

Here are a few we absolutely love, but you can check out the rest of Rhett’s video games posters on his DeviantArt page.

Oh yeh, let us know your fave poster(s) on Twitter or Facebook!

image source: whittingtonrhett via DeviantArt

A Welcome Invasion: 8-Bit Street Art By ‘Invader’

May 1, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

French artist ‘Invader’ identifies himself as an ULA or an ‘unidentified living artist’ – he always uses his pseudonym and appears behind a mask. Invader has been working on an awesome, enormous, ongoing street art project, code named ‘Space Invaders‘, since 1998.

‘Space Invaders’ is about liberating art from museums and bringing our 8-bit friends into the real world. Invader creates 8-bit images with tiles and installs them on on walls in cities around the World (currently 3096 works in 64 cities)! In his own words: ‘Each of these unique pieces become the fragment of a monumental installation.’

The project is brilliantly chronicled on the fantastic interactive map on the ‘Space Invaders’ website.

As well as city walls and bridges, there are mosaics installed 2362 meters above ground in the village of Anzère in Switzerland, on a series of underwater sculptures in Cancun Bay in Mexico (installed with the help of sculptor Jason deCaires), and even on the International Space Station!

Anzère, Switzerland

Cancun Bay, Mexico

International Space Station, Space

Each piece is given a score of 10 to 100 and every city has an overall score which is the sum of all the Space Invaders on its walls.

Melbourne, Australia
(See this map for some of Melbourne’s Space Invader locations)

Vienna, Austria

Côte d’Azur, France

Miami, USA

Bangkok, Thailand

Tokyo, Japan

London, UK

NYC, USA

Paris, France

Take a look around your own city, you may find some unexpected friends!

Source: Space Invaders

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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.