AUSRETROGAMER

Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine

You are here: Home / Archives for gamer

gamer

Analogue Pocket – Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

By

Analogue Pocket – is the best thing since sliced bread!

It may have taken 11 months from ordering to receiving the Analogue Pocket, and let us tell you all, it has totally been worth the wait!

With multiple handhelds on the market that emulate classic systems from yesteryear, we honestly didn’t know what we were missing out on till the Analogue Pocket arrived! The FPGA (OpenFPGA) based system is like playing on the original hardware, and this is where the Pocket shines – rising well above the myriad of handhelds on the market which use software emulation to play our beloved old video games. Comparing FPGA to software emulation is like comparing a Formula 1 race car to a Totoya Camry racing at Monaco – both will get you to the finish line, but one will get you there far far quicker (and in style).

By now you would have worked out that we are fans of our new gadget from Analogue. Yeah, the wait was excruciating at times, but we are glad we hung in there, as this has now become our choice for handheld gaming. We were very impressed with the quality and premium feel of the Pocket (and it’s packaging), being on par with Apple Inc. – yep, it’s that good!

The Analogue Pocket looks and feels like a premium piece of electronics – which it is, but it’s components are what makes it impressive. The Pocket is designed around a 3.5”, 615 ppi, LCD, which is a first-in-class. With a 1600 x 1440 resolution, the Pocket has 10x the resolution of an original Game Boy. The display is even made from Gorilla® Glass, with pro level colour accuracy, dynamic range, and brightness. We’d argue that the Analogue Pocket is the best piece of handheld hardware to play video games, bar none.

But wait, there is more to this amazing piece of kit! Not only does this Analogue product play games,  it’s for making music too! The Pocket has a digital audio workstation built in called Nanoloop. It’s a synthesizer and a sequencer. Designed for music creation and live performance. Shape, stretch and morph sounds. Capture music or play and sculpt live – you too can be a chiptune maestro! You can also connect the Pocket to your Mac, PC or other hardware with MIDI & Sync cables.

Remember how we said to wait as there is more? Well, there is more to this device, that’s what makes it impressive. If you like to tinker in game development, then you’d be pleased to know that you can bring your gaming ideas to reality with zero programming knowledge with GB Studio! GB Studio is an easy-to-use drag and drop retro game creator, allowing you to generate proprietary .pocket files and then run them off your SD card.

The Dock is a must-get accessory for the Analogue Pocket!

The pièce de résistance of the Pocket is that it’s designed for FPGA development. Analogue added a second dedicated FPGA just for developers to develop and port their own cores. With access to Analogue’s proprietary hardware and scalers, it opens up the platform for developers to create amazing feats on the system.

At the time of writing, there have been quite a few cores created specifically for the Pocket, from classic gaming consoles like the Atari 2600/7800 and the Odyssey 2, to the Master System, NES, SNES, Mega Drive and everything in between. Getting these cores and setting them up has never been easier – we used RetroDriven’s Pocket Updater to do all the fiddly stuff like finding the right cores, downloading and configuring them. If you are a masochist, you can go and find the individual cores and set them up, or you could make things easier for yourself by bookmarking the OpenFPGA Cores Inventory site.

Welcome to the family

Setting up the cores on the Pocket is a cinch with RetroDriven’s Pocket Updater tool

The flexibility, power and premium componentry is what sets the Analogue Pocket apart from other handheld systems. The fact that it is FPGA based is a total game changer – pun fully intended. With a thriving development community, we are starting to see what this machine is capable of. The future does look quite bright for the Pocket, and that’s us saying that while we await our PC-Engine, Neo Geo Pocket and Atari Lynx adapters to arrive! Coupled with the Dock, the Analogue Pocket is truly the best thing since sliced bread in the video gaming world.

Tech Specs – Pocket:

  • Compatible with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game cartridges (and Game Gear, PC-Engine, Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket via separate adapters)
  • 3.5″ LCD. 1600×1440 resolution. 615ppi
  • 360° display rotation (tate mode)
  • Variable refresh display
  • Rechargeable lithium ion 4300mAh battery (6-10 hour gameplay time & 10+ hour sleep time)
  • All buttons mappable/reconfigurable
  • Stereo speakers
  • micro SD card slot
  • USB-C charging
  • Original-style link port (woohoo, link action!)
  • 3.5mm headphone output

Tech Specs – Dock:

  • 1080p HDMI output
  • Bluetooth and 2.4g support for wireless controllers
  • 2 USB inputs for wired controllers
  • Up to 4 player support (4p Bluetooth, 2p 2.4g, 2p wired USB)
  • DAC compatibility (coming soon)
  • Power Dock on from controller



5 Terabytes Of Old School Gaming

By

If you are pressed for time or don’t really want to muck around with setting up emulators to play old video games, this post is for you!

Emulators have come a long way with their (relative) ease of setup and use, however, they still have a number of quirks that need tweaking to their configuration to get them humming properly. There is also the question of storage and having your local workstation polluted with a mass of different emulators.

Having setup multiple emulators on our Windows PC, we know how time consuming they can be to setup properly. Once they are setup, you then realise the precious storage they have consumed. The solution would have been to leave the myriad of emulators on our PC, but move all the backed up games to an external drive – again, more time sunk in setting up, than playing our fave retro games! So what is the answer?

Let us introduce you to the plug and play Hyper Base Mix 5TB external drive, with perfectly configured emulators and absolutely packed to the brim with pre-installed games – almost the entire 5 terabyte drive is full! So if you have a Windows PC, it’s as easy as plug the drive into a spare USB port, and then fire up your desired emulator.

The pre-configured emulators include LaunchBox, RetroBat and Playnite, arguably the best emulators/front-ends currently available. What, no RetroArch? Nope, not needed at all, as RetroBat (and LaunchBox) do the job admirably. Wish we had bought this drive earlier, as it would have saved us a lot of time (and headaches).

The details:

  • Product: Hyper Base Mix 5TB HDD
  • Price: AU$277.37 (as at publication date)

Packed full!

What should we play first……

RetroBat it is! And then straight to the Neo Geo MVS!

54,055 games on RetroBat! Surely we’ll find a few we’ll want to play…

Testing out a few arcade classics

The lovely LaunchBox – great for games from the 5th generation and onwards!

Playnite is a great platform to consolidate all of your fave PC games!



My Retro TVs – Channel-surfing the 80’s

By

Channel-surfing the 1980’s📺

Teleporting to the 80s TV decade in 3, 2, 1……. My 80’s TV is your one stop shop for everything that you loved on TV from the best decade of the 20th century!

But wait, there is more! For those that are yearning for TV shows from the preceding decades (50’s, 60’s and 70’s), then you are catered for as well! For the younglings amongst us, there is a ton of 90’s and 00’s TV show content to sink your teeth into.

We love the depiction of the different CRT TVs (and also fonts), depending on the decade chosen – a very cool feature! A huge thanks to the creator, Joey Cato, for this nostalgia inducing My Retro TV portal!

So, what are you watching first?

source: My Retro TVs



A One Of A Kind Nintendo Switch TV Unit

By

More FB Marketplace trawling has resulted in finding a cool and unique item – a homemade Nintendo Switch decorative TV Unit. , which suits (up to) a 50″ LCD TV screen.

This one of a kind TV unit suits a 50″ flat screen TV, so if you have the room and the right size TV, and are a huge Ninty Switch fan, then this Switch TV Unit may be for you!

Check it out here to get in touch with the seller.

PS: The seller seems to also be able to make a similar unit for your particular TV dimensions!

image source: Facebook Marketplace listing



Yearning For Some Slot Car Action

By

It’s very dangerous to go trawling online when you are predisposed to nostalgia.

There are some things that we may have long forgotten, but when you see them, they instantly trigger that fuzzy nostalgic feeling. Once such “thing” is slot car racing! As kids, we loved playing on our friend’s Scalextric F1 set – pushing that plunger and watching our car whizzing around was so much fun.

We had always wanted our own slot car racing set, but alas, money wasn’t growing on trees back then, so we had to make do with playing once in a while on our friend’s set.

So how does all this have anything to do about trawling online? Well, while doom scrolling through that marketplace that shall remain nameless, we stumbled upon a cool Carrera Digital 132 slot car set. The fact that the seller created the huge track (2,500mm x 1,300mm) by combining 2 tracks and then added the scenery, makes this even more desirable for nostalgia freaks like us!

Now, to find a spare 1.9K Aussie dollaroos………

image source: Facebook Marketplace



Super Mario Beatbox Remix by SO-SO

By

An awesome and totally mind blowing Super Mario Bros. Beatbox Remix by SO-SO

There is no way this medley isn’t enhanced with instruments, but alas, it is a 100% beatbox and vocal performance by World Beatbox Champion, SO-SO!

The versatility, skills and styles used by SO-SO are absolutely mind blowing to say the least – just press play and listen to the beatbox maestro.

The songs covered by SO-SO in this amazing medley are: Super Mario Bros (UK Garage Remix), Underground (HIPHOP Remix), Mario Circuit (Trance Remix), Luigi’s Mansion (Midtempo Bass Remix), Jungle Level (Reggaeton Remix), Water Land (Future Bass Remix), and Super Star (Drum’n’bass Remix).

We are honestly still in disbelief of this performance, it’s amazing!


source: SO-SO via YouTube



Power Up At The UK’s Science Museum

By

160 consoles. Five decades. Game on!

The UK’s Science Museum has a new interactive gallery, POWER UP, which is on right now in London’s South Kensington district.

Immerse yourself in a hands-on gaming experience, featuring the very best video games and consoles from the past 50 years!

Back in the early 1970s, Pong, a simple tennis-themed game, took the world by storm as one of the first commercially successful arcade games. From there, the gaming industry continued to grow, introducing us to iconic titles such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong.


source: Science Museum

From its humble beginnings with Pong to the immersive VR worlds of today, gaming has been an integral part of our lives. It has evolved, adapted, and thrived, capturing the hearts of both the young and the young at heart. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer, a nostalgic enthusiast, or a casual player looking for some fun, the gaming world has something extraordinary to offer you.

Day and annual passes for POWER UP are available now. Book your tickets here.

source: © Jody Kingzett, Science Museum Group

source: © Science Museum Group



Review: TAITO’s Ray’z Arcade Chronology – Nintendo Switch

By

Pew, pew, pew, we review Taito’s Ray’z Arcade Chronology on the Nintendo Switch

When it comes to shoot’em ups (shmups), we can’t get enough of them – the more the merrier! Luckily for us, ININ Games has delivered a delicious serving of shmup action on the Switch, or have they?

Ray’z Arcade Chronology for the Nintendo Switch delivers a nostalgic blast from the past, presenting three superb shoot ’em up classics (plus 2 x HD remasters), each with its own unique charm and engaging gameplay mechanics. Published by Taito for the Switch and PlayStation 4, this European release by ININ Games is a fine package, showcasing the expertise of seasoned gaming port-masters, M2. However, the presence of multiple editions and some missing features leave the overall experience feeling slightly incomplete.

The lineup includes three revered arcade titles: RayForce (also known as Layer Section and Galactic Attack), RayStorm, and RayCrisis. RayForce, a 2D pixel-drawn masterpiece from 1994, captivates players with contiguous stages and an outstanding Zuntata soundtrack. The gameplay, operating on two planes of battle, encourages strategic scoring through lock-on chains, delivering an immersive and satisfying experience. The presentation is top-notch, and M2’s Gadgets enhance the user interface, allowing players to customize the display to their liking.

RayStorm, Taito’s 1996 sequel, blends 2D action with 3D polygon visuals, creating a cinematic space battle with breathtaking aesthetics. Offering multiple ships with unique properties, RayStorm challenges players to anticipate incoming attacks and utilize the regenerating special attack with precision. The soundtrack consistently impresses, complementing the awe-inspiring visuals and intense gameplay. Although slightly more challenging than RayForce, RayStorm remains a thrilling experience, worth every moment spent mining for a one-credit clear.

RayCrisis, serving as a prequel to the first game, takes a more eccentric narrative approach while maintaining straightforward shoot ’em up gameplay. The vertical 2D plane with 3D graphics sets the stage for nuanced scoring mechanics, beyond mere lock-on chaining. The Encroachment system adds depth to the gameplay, offering a form of rank that keeps players engaged in strategic decision-making. RayCrisis stands out as the most involving of the three titles, boasting a wealth of content and scoring potential.

M2’s work on these arcade ports is commendable, delivering accurate and polished adaptations of the original games. The HD upscaling adds visual splendor to these classics, and the minimal lag ensures a smooth and responsive gameplay experience. The ‘no burn-in’ screen option is a thoughtful touch for players seeking a more authentic feel on older tech.

While the Ray’z Arcade Chronology offers a strong selection of arcade shoot ’em ups, the review points out some areas of disappointment. The fragmented release strategy and the omission of R-Gear leave collectors and fans puzzled about which edition to choose. Additionally, the absence of bonuses such as art galleries and historical tidbits dampens the overall package’s appeal, and the lack of training modes and slow/rewind features feels like a missed opportunity to enhance the gaming experience.

Ray’z Arcade Chronology is a solid compilation of classic shoot ’em ups, remastered with care and attention by M2. Fans of the genre will find plenty to enjoy in the nostalgic gameplay, captivating visuals, and fantastic soundtracks. However, the absence of certain features and the confusion caused by multiple editions prevent it from being the ultimate package. Nevertheless, for enthusiasts seeking an authentic arcade experience on the Nintendo Switch, Ray’z Arcade Chronology is a worthy addition to their gaming library.



Disclaimer: Ray’z Arcade Chronology Switch review code was kindly provided by PR Hound.

Introducing The AVI-8 X Capcom 1942 Flyboy Automatic LE Watches

By

Pew pew pew, watch out for the new AVI-8 x Capcom 1942 Flyboys!

For anyone that has been following us for a while, you’ll know that we also love watches, especially the ones that reference classic arcade games!

Trawling through one of our fave watch sites, AVI-8, we noticed their latest watch, the AVI-8 X Capcom 1942 Flyboy Automatic Limited Edition (300 per colour variant) will be available this coming Friday, July 28 (US time). So mark your calendars or better yet, sign up to get notified as soon as these watches go live. We bet they won’t last long!

How awesome are these watches?! The fact that they are mechanical (instead of digital) and have a military aviation styling, they fit the 1942 arcade game aesthetic perfectly! Oh yeah, they are both automatics (self-winding), so no need to worry about batteries on these Flyboys. The nostalgia that these two timepieces induce is off the charts.

To say we are jonesing for the AVI-8 X Capcom 1942 Flyboy Automatic Limited Edition watches (we’d love both!), would be a gross understatement! C’mon July 28!

image source: AVI-8 Timepieces



Super Mario Question Block Nintendo Switch Game Case

By

3D Printed Super Mario question block Nintendo Switch Cart Case

Now this is pretty darn cool, thanks to Kickass3DPrints! Why is it cool you ask, well, Kickass3DPrints has made their Super Mario Question Block Ninty Switch game case STL files free to download from Cults3d.

So download the files (~ 532KB), hit up your favourite 3D printing provider and get this awesome game cube* made!

* pun fully intended 😉


source: Kickass3DPrints