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The 2021 Christmas Gift Guide

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The silly season is upon once again! After the last couple of years we’ve had, we reckon it is time to spoil ourselves and our loved ones on some stuff that will spread the cheer.

With the millions of things out there, we thought we’d give you a hand at picking some cool geeky items in this year’s gift guide. So no matter if you are a retro or modern gamer, into emulation, pinball, a Star Wars fan or into comics, we have you covered.

Anbernic RG351V $209.99 (via Amazon)

LENOXX Bluetooth/Turntable Retro Music Centre $179 (via Catch)

The Legend Of Zelda Game & Watch $69 (via Catch)

Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat II Midway 12-in-1 Legacy Series Arcade Machine $770 (via Catch or Amazon)

Pinball : A Graphic History of the Silver Ball $31.96 (via The Book Depository)

The Best Of Archie Comics $23.14 (via The Book Depository)

LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Helmet $71.20 (via Amazon)

Pixel Frames Street Fighter II – Car Scene 9×9 inches (Big) Shadow Box Art $45.59 (via Amazon)

Game and Watch Display Stand $9.50 (via Etsy)

Exploded PS1 – Art Print Poster (A4 size) $20.00 (via Etsy)

Enhanced Wireless Controller Super Mario – Nintendo Switch $89.00 (via Amazon)

Hyperkin M07280 RetroN 77 HD Gaming Console For Atari 2600 $103.70 (via Amazon)

TheVIC20 – Full sized VIC20 with working keyboard $260.64 (via Amazon)

LEGO Super Mario Master Your Adventure Maker Set $42.87 (via Amazon)

NOTE: Prices correct at the time of publication



Awesome Pop Culture Art Works by Pappas Pärlor

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There is no shortage of awesome and talented artists in this world. The latest artist to capture our attention is Johan Karlgren, aka: Pappas Pärlor.

Johan’s creations are unique as they are refashioned framed art pieces injected with very clever pop culture themes and franchises, including popular Star Wars and video gaming characters.

Check out all Johan’s art works here. Here are our favourites:

source: Pappas Pärlor



Retrogaming Magz, Comics and Books!

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Planes, trains and automobiles? No, magazines, comics and books, the retro gaming kind!

Last weekend we tweeted a couple of teaser photos of a number of magazines in our collection and promised that we would share more. Well, here they are! Relocating this stuff is always a chore, but the amount of nostalgia we get is priceless, so it is always well worth it.

For those keen observers, you will note that there are no photos of our most favourite 80s mag, Zzap64!, but rest assured, those issues are well preserved and didn’t require relocating. We hope these images bring back great memories for you too!

All images copyright of ausretrogamer.com



The Retro Gaming Vault – September 2021

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It’s spring time! What better way to welcome the warmer weather than to delve into a deep corner of our retro gaming vault and dig up a few nostalgia inducing images from our past!

For September, we have your nostalgia covered with Neo Geo, Vectrex, PC-Engine, Commodore 64, Atari Jaguar and old school Nintendo items to name just a few! Enjoy the trip down memory lane and we’ll see you next month for more vault shenanigans!

All images are copyright of ausretrogamer



 

Classic Atari 2600 Video Games in 3D

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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

LEGO 8-Bit Trip 2 – Awesome Stop Motion Animation

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Amazing Swedish band Rymdreglage have followed up their 2009 LEGO 8-Bit Trip stop motion video (which took them 1,500 hours to make!) with an even more awesome LEGO 8-Bit Trip 2!

The Trip 2 stop motion video pays tribute to some of the most iconic video games of all time in super duper 4K resolution – it is oh sooo lovely!


source: rymdreglage



Atari VCS River Raid in MagicaVoxel Glory

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We love River Raid on the Atari VCS/2600. Heck, we love it on pretty much every other 8-bit platform.

When we saw Mauri Helme’s tweet about a gorgeous looking River Raid made with MagicaVoxel, well, we can say that it was an easy question to answer.



7 Ways Playing Retro Games Can Improve Your Overall Well Being

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When it comes to relaxing and unwinding, video games make a great choice. Whether you like online competitive multiplayer games or meditative single-player experiences, there is a massive variety of options when it comes to choosing a video game to play. In this article, we’re going to look at 7 reasons why playing retro games, in particular, can help improve your overall well-being.

1. They improve hand-eye coordination

It’s well established that video games can help improve your hand-eye coordination. Intuitively, this makes sense, as gamers need to manipulate a controller with their hands while looking up at a screen. These improvements are not insignificant either – research has shown surgeons who play video games perform better at surgeries than surgeons who don’t!

You might think that modern, fast-paced competitive games like Call of Duty or Fortnite would be a good choice for this. Still, many online games require significant time (and sometimes financial) investments to remain competitive. Meanwhile, retro games such as Battletoads or Ghosts ‘n Goblins offer a hard-as-nails challenge that you can pick up and put down at your leisure

2. They provide a distraction

Though this psychological trick isn’t unique to video games, they are a great way to take your mind off real life. Video games are arguably one of the most fantastic forms of escapism, as they are interactive. Many video games put you in the role of the hero and give you great agency in how you wish to achieve your goals. Many games allow you to create your custom characters, allowing you to escape and immerse yourself even further in the world. We love going to back to Spider Solitaire Challenge for our quick distraction fix.

3. They provide a sense of community

Online games, in particular, took off in a big way in the past year, thanks to global lockdowns that restricted social gatherings for many. Plenty of popular modern games, such as Animal Crossing, Fortnite, and Pokémon Go, have built-in social elements that help players feel connected. However, there are just as many communities built around retro games. Many of these communities have been running for years. Every popular retro game has a forum or Facebook page with a thriving, active community where you can engage with your fellow players in the online world.

Nowadays, it’s even possible to play many retro games online, such as spider solitaire online. These websites may or may not sync up to online leaderboards or other communities to allow you to play these traditionally single-player games competitively against others in a low-stress environment at your leisure.

Retro games to combat pandemic anxiety 2

4. They challenge us to try harder

Video games often provide a challenge to the player in the form of hurdles that they must overcome. These challenges can come in the form of puzzles that must be solved, daily events that need to be completed sequentially, or challenges requiring the player to master the game’s intricacies. Like Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts or Ninja Gaiden, some games even embrace this and build their game around being intentionally tricky. These challenges teach players to persist and reward endurance, valuable skills for video games and public life.

5. They help improve our vision

It might come as a surprise to some gamers who were warned that they would end up with square vision if they stared at the TV for too long. Playing video games can help improve vision for people with visual impairments! Studies have shown that people with cataracts showed improvements in their vision after playing certain video games that require quick reflexes. It’s believed that these games require an extreme amount of attention from players because they are fast-paced and require players to identify threats quickly.

6. They provide pain relief

Believe it or not, video games have been shown to provide pain relief, not in the form of a distraction or escapism, but as a mild form of literal pain relief. Playing video games can cause the brain to release endorphins, the feel-good chemicals that provide pain relief and make us feel happy. It is the same effect as what happens when people exercise. It is described as the “runner’s high.”

7. They keep your brain sharp

Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training for the Nintendo DS made a case for puzzle games helping people keep their brains active – particularly the elderly and people at risk of dementia and memory loss. However, you can choose from plenty of retro puzzle games. They all meet the same essential criteria for keeping your brain sharp. These games provide challenges in the form of memory tests, mathematical puzzles, and logic challenges. There is scientific evidence backing the premise that playing these types of games regularly helps prevent a decline in mental acuity.

Conclusion

There is a growing body of evidence that playing games can positively impact our overall well-being. It is far from being the time-waster many people once viewed. Retro games, in particular, provide a sweet spot of ease of use, fun, and challenge without being overbearing or requiring too significant a time investment to reap the rewards.



15 Atari Facts You May Not Have Known About

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Gotta love video gaming related facts! Here at ausretrogamer HQ we absolutely love digging around and finding all kinds of video game related facts, especially the more obscure and lesser known ones. Since June is ATARI month, for this new ‘Did You Know’ series, we kick things off with 15 facts about the iconic Atari, which you may or may not have known (or perhaps forgotten about)!

Was it all fun and games at Atari? I would have given an arm and a leg to had been part of this great company that brought video games to the masses. If only I was born in a different era and resided in California back in the 1970s.

There has been much written about Atari – from well known facts to myths and even fan fiction. We set the record straight on a few unknown (and well known) historical facts at the once mighty Atari.

Fact 1. First video game to have background music
To contrary belief, it wasn’t Namco’s Rally-X that first featured background music (BGM), it was beaten to the punch by Atari’s Cannon Ball – an Owen Rubin developed game. Unfortunately, the feedback was not great from location testing. Arcade operators disliked the BGM, citing it as being annoying. Sadly, the game was never mass produced.

Fact 2. Space Duel was the first multicolour vector game
Another contradiction in video gaming folklore – Tempest was not the first multicolour vector game. That gong belongs to Space Duel – another Owen Rubin game. To rub salt into the wounds, Owen Rubin’s colour vector generator code was used by Dave Theurer in Tempest. Owen never received any credit for his effort.

Fact 3. Missile Command was going to be called Armageddon 
Atari had designs and cabinet prototypes created for Armageddon, later to be renamed by Gene Lipkin as Missile Command.

Fact 4. The Last Starfighter
In 1984, when Atari was being carved up and sold, two games in development based on the film, The Last Starfighter were redone to become Star Raiders II and Solaris.

Fact 5. The naming of Yars’ Revenge 
Howard Scott Warshaw (from E.T. fame) named his game Yars’ Revenge after Ray Kassar (Ray spelled backwards). The ‘Razak’ solar system was also based on Ray’s surname, with the letters ‘ss’ replaced with a ‘z’ and the surname spelled backwards. Very clever indeed!

Fact 6. Championship Soccer / Pele’s Soccer
Championship Soccer, aka: Pele’s Soccer was the first video game to license a sports personality, the lovable Brazilian soccer maestro, Pele!

Fact 7. The Atari and Nintendo deal
Atari was in talks with Nintendo in regards to their Family Computer (Famicom). The deal would be for Nintendo to design the printed circuit boards and engineer all the electronics, while Atari would design the console case and packaging. Basically, Atari would be selling Nintendo’s product for them in the USA and the rest of the world under the Atari brand. Imagine if this deal had gone through.

Fact 8. Naming the Atari 7800
After the Atari 5200 debacle, the marketing department at Atari would not dictate the functions or features of the new Atari 7800. However, they did come up with the product name by adding 2600 to 5200. Absolute genius (Ed: stop being sarcastic!).

Fact 9. Burying Atari
Atari could only wish they could bury the E.T. myths. When the decision was made to close the El Paso (Texas) plant, truckloads of unused and faulty stock was being ferried to the Alamogordo, New Mexico city dump. The deal was to dump the goods and steamroll them. As the media got wind of this, it was made out as if Atari was trying to “cover up” and they became the media whipping boy with the video gaming woes of the early 80s.

Fact 10. Cloak & Dagger
At the end of 1983, Atari was manufacturing upgrade kits to turn rival Williams’ Robotron:2084, Defender, Stargate and Joust cabinets into a new Atari game called Cloak & Dagger. Cloak & Dagger (originally titled Agent X) was designed to plug directly into the existing power supply in these games. Indeed, this was very cloak and dagger like of Atari. By the way, the movie of the same name was a gloried Atari advertisement.

Fact 11. Clandestine sale to Philips 
Without the knowledge of James (Jim) Morgan at Atari, Warner Bros. management (Manny Gerard and Rob Newman) were surveying Atari at the request of Steve Ross (Warner Bros head-honcho). The staking out of Atari was to take visual inventory and current status of projects for a possible sale to the Dutch electronics giant, Philips. There were a series of talks between Steve Ross and Wisse Dekker (Philips CEO), but in the end, after being burned by the Magnavox Odyssey, Philips chose to walk away from the deal.

Fact 12. First Nintendo, then the Amiga Hi-Toro
It seems that Atari had a knack of getting itself into some wheeling and dealing, but ultimately, choosing to opt out of certain deals. After the Nintendo deal fell through, Atari struck a gentleman’s agreement with the Amiga Corporation in early 1984. The ‘Letter Of Intent’ between Atari and Amiga had Atari advancing $500,000 to  the cash strapped Amiga Corporation so that they could continue developing the ‘Lorraine’ chipset. Atari was never interested in acquiring Amiga, they just wanted to get their hands on the chipset that Jay Miner and Joe Decuir had created. The chipset was going to be used in Atari’s arcade machines, consoles and home computers. Dave Morse’s intention was always to find a buyer for his fledgling and struggling Amiga Corporation. This is where Commodore stepped in and the rest, as they say, is history. Hindsight is always 20/20!

Fact 13. Shedding Atarians
The gravy train at Atari was coming to a screeching halt. Under James Morgan’s NATCO (New Atari Company) cost saving plan, Atari’s ranks shrivelled from 7,800 employees in January 1983, to an astounding 1,500 by the end of May 1984.

Fact 14. Atari MindLink – Bionic Breakout
Atari was always at the forefront of product development. Atari’s MindLink product was a headband controller that controlled game play by the player just looking at the TV screen and ‘thinking’ about moving an object. There was no extra sensory perception going on here, the MindLink controller would  read the resistance of the muscles in the player’s forehead and interpret them into the appropriate joystick or fire button signals. Was it ahead of its time, it sure was. The market did not take the product seriously so Atari chose not to pursue production of the MindLink.

Fact 15. I, Robot – The last Atari, Inc. Coin-op 
The final coin-operated game under the Atari, Inc. banner was I, Robot (1984). Created by Dave Theurer and Rusty Dawe, I, Robot was the first commercial arcade game to feature filled 3D polygonal graphics. Sadly, only 750 machines were produced, with even less being sold. If you have one in your possession, hold onto it, it is worth a small fortune!

With a vast amount of information out there on Atari, we cross referenced facts, myths and misinformation with the definitive book, Atari Inc. – Business Is Fun by Curt Vendel and Marty Goldberg. If you weren’t aware, Curt Vendel is an Atari historian (since the mid 1980s) and has the largest Atari collection in the world. Curt has collected vast amounts of Atari paperwork and other memorabilia over the last few decades. His intimate knowledge of Atari is second to none.

image sources: various



Atari returns with the new Atari VCS on June 10

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’80s video gaming icon Atari targets the living room with the Atari VCS — a completely modern gaming and video computer system!

Bluemouth Interactive today announced 10 June as the Australia/New Zealand retail on sale date for the Atari VCS, Atari’s modern video computer system that blends the best of PCs and consoles. The Atari VCS is the company’s first new hardware product in 25 years, which retails for AU$849.95 / NZ$899.95 and is currently available for preorder from JB Hi-Fi, EB Games, Catch.com.au, The Gamesmen, and Mighty Ape for NZ residents.

“We’re so excited to bring this reimagined ’80s icon back in a completely modern way to everyone’s living rooms with the Atari VCS,” said Bluemouth Co-Founder and Managing Director David Provan. “The system brings a hit of nostalgia to fans with its classic arcade titles, but also complete versatility to play newer games and stream all in the same place.”

“June 10th is a day that eager Atari fans have been waiting for. The Atari VCS has been well-received by our early-adopter community and we are thrilled that more people will have an opportunity to enjoy Atari’s Video Computer System in their homes.” said Michael Arzt, COO of Atari VCS and Connected Devices.

“We appreciate the strong support of Bluemouth and their retail partners, including EB Games, JB HiFi, The Gamesmen, Amazon Australia and Catch.com.au during this exciting launch.”

The Atari VCS offers something for every gamer, starting with over a dozen titles from popular independent game developers — including Boulder Dash Deluxe, Danger Scavenger, Guntech, Jetboard Joust, Sir Lovelot, Something Ate My Alien, Tailgunner, Atari’s Missile Command: Recharged, and more — with new titles to launch on the Atari VCS store through the year. The Atari VCS also comes preinstalled with the Atari VCS Vault, an exclusive collection of over 100 arcade and Atari 2600 classics, fully optimised for use with the Wireless Classic Joystick, with its rumble and LED light effects that give retro favourites new life.

To coincide with the launch of Atari in Australia and New Zealand, Antstream Arcade is launching for Australian gamers, giving players access to a massive library of classic arcade games. Dubbed as the Netflix of retro games, Antstream opens up a catalogue of over a thousand carefully curated games to choose from, providing Atari users in Australia an expansive gaming experience. Antstream is currently live in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

The Atari VCS includes Chrome as its built-in browser, allowing full access to Google’s Workspace apps for productivity use such as checking emails and social media, catching up on work, or streaming content. The Atari VCS’s unique PC Mode is compatible with Linux, Windows and Chrome OS operating systems, among others, making the system a versatile two-in-one device. The Atari VCS is compatible with most PC peripherals including keyboards, mice and game controllers to create a flexible home game system.

The Atari VCS PC/console hybrid is designed as a multimedia PC and home game system to delight a whole new generation of gamers and creators. The Atari VCS is powered by an AMD Raven Ridge 2 APU and Ryzen GPU and comes equipped with 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 32GB hard drive with the option to customise and upgrade both RAM and storage. Atari VCS All-In system bundles also include a Wireless Classic Joystick and the all-new Wireless Modern Controller designed for both retro gameplay and the latest PC game titles.

For more information on the Atari VCS, visit atarivcs.com.

Source: Media Release (including images) supplied