The Pop-Culture E-Zine
It has been a dream of ours to visit Japan since we can remember – one day we will visit this great land!
For now, we will just look at these funny and weird images that showcase the beautiful uniqueness of Japan. For those that want more, check out the Facebook page, Japanese Stuff Without Context
Here are some of our faves, but you can see more here!
image source: boredpanda
Who would have thought RACV were into retro gaming?!
To our astonishment, we stumbled upon a great article in their bi-monthly magazine, RoyalAuto, where they ask the most pertinent question, does Sam Crowther have Australia’s best Nintendo collection? To find out, go and read all about Sam’s impressive and vast collection here.
story and image source: RACV RoyalAuto
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Some video game franchises are so iconic, like the changing seasons, there will always be a new one. FIFA Soccer, or FIFA Football, depending on what country you’re in, is one of those franchises; but lately it feels like the popular game has become complacent and somewhat stale.
EA Sport’s FIFA Soccer 2006 is one of my favorite sports games. When it was released almost two decades ago; I couldn’t wait to get out of class and play a match, before I would work on my homework. On the weekends, I would play FIFA so much that I would lose track of time and realize it was suddenly Sunday. I found it difficult to put down my controller and turn off the addictive game.
The glorious EA Sports FIFA 2006!
FIFA 2006 doesn’t seem that much different than FIFA ’22. There haven’t been many radical changes to the franchise in years. Perhaps that’s why FIFA is the bestselling sports franchise, generating more than $20 billion in sales over the last twenty years. FIFA is such a popular game because gamers who love the franchise don’t particularly like big changes to the familiar gameplay and graphics. In all fairness, EA Sports’ Madden hasn’t changed that much in the last decade either.
The last EA Sports FIFA will be the ’23 edition
I like watching the PS4 Tournament Open Series. I get more enjoyment watching FIFA tournaments online than I do other EA Sports games on the market. Madden tournaments are fun to watch on television, but they’re on all the time. FIFA tournaments are less frequent, which makes them more entertaining and pleasurable when I happen to find one.
FIFA ’28 (or EA FC by then) will likely look a lot like FIFA ’22. The sports franchise is a gaming institution that’ll still be going strong decades from now. The players will change, but the game modes and graphics will not change dramatically.
It was recently announced that FIFA and EA Sports will end their successful partnership. The game will not change because of the breakup, most of the world’s popular clubs and players will still be playable because of separate licensing deals.
image source: clutchpoints
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
The “Planet of the Apes” films are up there with my absolute favourite movie franchise. The Matt Reeves films are masterpieces. Reeves has this little movie out in theatres called “The Batman.” You may have heard of it.
The first “Planet of the Apes” film, released in 1968, starring Charlton Heston, is easily one of the top five, greatest science fiction films ever made. The movies makeup, created by the legendary artist John Chambers, is still revolutionary. And the 1968 film has one of the greatest endings in film history. The final shot and line by Heston is still chilling.
image source: Steam
When it comes to video games, unlike the exceptional films, there is only one moderately entertaining “Planet of the Apes” game, and it’s The Imaginati Studios’ “Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier.” Released on Playstation 4 in 2017, “Last Frontier” had amazing graphics and single and multiplayer interactive action. The game was released quietly and disappeared with little fanfare. “Planet of the Apes,” the 2001 action-adventure video game, was the first game in the franchise. It was released as a tie-in to the 2001 film, directed by Tim Burton. The game was as mediocre as the over produced film.
It feels like the “Planet of the Apes” property is being underused now. It’s a large world for games, television shows, and films. Disney now owns the successful franchise, and Disney has so much on their plate now with Star Wars and Marvel. However, they’re big enough to focus on a “Planet of the Apes” project and balance all the other entertainment plates they have spinning; and I left out Pixar.
I have a pitch for a “Planet of the Apes” film: It takes place shortly after the event of “War of the Planet of the Apes.” After a large aerial dogfight in the Pacific Ocean, a veteran APE soldier is stranded on a remote island atoll. He soon discovers a MAN, a crusty fighter pilot who has crashed his plane. Not communicating verbally, the two enemies initially provoke each other and refuse to cooperate. But when they begin to face famine, dehydration, and exhaustion, they are forced to put aside their differences and depend on one another for survival.
I want another “Planet of the Apes” film. And hopefully it can produce a great video game. The world created by author Pierre Boulle is a fascinating, rich one.
After 2 years of virtual events, 2022 is shaping up to have two massive events back in-person!
The Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW-22) (Oct 1 – 9) and PAX Aus 2022 (Oct 7 – 9) events are back! Save the dates, book in your annual leave, get a sitter and get ready to be back catching up with likeminded peeps at these (industry and public) events.
We are mindful that it has been a while since these events were held in person, so there may be some anxiety, but please be easy on yourself and only attend if you are sure and feel comfortable in mixing in large crowds, especially after these last couple of years.
Check out these amazing tabletop arcade cabinets created by Hidecade!
According to Hidecade, the Xevious tabletop arcade is complete with a vertical screen and a JAMMA harness – which is totally mind-blowing! Oh how we wish these were for sale 😉
source: Arcade Cabinets on ameblo.jp
We received the following message from a friend on behalf of Jim (from SBOR – Sinclair Book of Remembrance) so we thought we would share with you all as we think it is a great idea for the community to share their memories of Sinclair’s computers and also remembering Sir Clive Sinclair.
The Sinclair Book of Remembrance (SBOR) is a project dedicated to the memory of Sir Clive Sinclair who sadly passed away on the 16th September 2021.
Moved as I was, SBOR has been a personal labour of love, to do something in honour of “Uncle Clive”. It is not a business project. It’s completely free and non-monetised.
The objective is to create a unique digital monument, composed of our shared Sinclair memories encoded together so that the final product represents each and every one of us.
For those thinking this is an NFT thing – it is definitely not! It is an opportunity for each of us to share a memory, and together create a unique dedication to Sir Clive.
I am asking that each of us contribute a Sinclair memory, by simply sending an email with your story (with up to 4 image attachments). By sending your email to [email protected] it will trigger the system to automatically create an entry to the SBOR site – for example: https://sbor.uk/m/1?code=41ce. You will receive a reply containing the link to your contribution, which I would urge you to share far and wide!
At a pre-determined date, say the 1-year anniversary of Sir Clive’s passing, all of the entries will be combined and encoded into a single unique value. This will be unique in the universe and will represent all of our combined memories of what Sinclair meant to us and something we can all share in.
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Marketing is best when It’s simple. A trailer for a video game is supposed to get gamers excited to play something new and create a buzz. The trailer for Insomniac Games’ “Wolverine” at the PlayStation Showcase 2021, checked all those boxes. It’s titillating and you want to see the gameplay immediately.
“Wolverine” is one of the greatest game trailer announcements ever. The trailer begins with a slow camera pan on a destroyed bar where bloody men are scattered all around; some are conscious, some are not. One beat up man’s lifeless body is sprawled out across a pool table. You see a man in a cowboy hat, sitting at the bar, having a drink. His fists are extremely bloody and bruised. When an injured man starts walking up behind the mysterious patron at the bar with a knife, three steel claws shoot out of the patron’s wrist. And then the trailer slam cuts to black.
The trailer is like the trailer for 2017’s “Logan”, Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Logan/Wolverine. The trailer for the game is much shorter than the films, but they’re similar in the phenomenal music they use. James Carr’s “The Dark End of the Street” sets an incredible mood, just like Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt” did for the iconic film’s trailer.
source: PlayStation
Marvel’s “Spider-Man 2” was what I was most anticipating seeing during PlayStation Showcase 2021. But that was until they showed Insomniac’s “Wolverine.” The trailer has been viewed 3.7 million times on YouTube. Will we see Sabertooth, Omega Red, or even Deadpool? A PS5 game with Logan and Deadpool would satisfy so many Marvel fans who have wanted to see them together for years. And “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” doesn’t count. Fans want to see the current Deadpool, of the 20th Century Fox films, which are now owned by Disney, with Logan in some way, even if it’s just a game.
Some online think “Wolverine” could be Insomniac Games’ masterpiece. I hope the gameplay is solid. I think Insomniac will get this right.
Vectrex Tournament: Vector War XI (30th Oct – 6th Nov 2021)
Eleven years ago, a well known peep in the retro scene, Rob Maerz, started the Vector War. The Vector War is an annual Vectrex game tournament where Vectrex players all over the world compete. For this year, Vector War XI (VW11) runs for one week, from October 30 till November 6 2021.
The Vector War is for all player skills levels, from beginners to super expert players. In the Vector War you participate and compete with others. This is also a great opportunity to play the Vectrex games more extensively and get to know new games (and other peeps!).
For more information on the Vector War XI games list, competition rules and prizes, head over here and get ready! Good luck Vectrexians!
Thanks to RetroTuesday and Angela for making us aware of this Vectrex tournament!
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