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Cosplay Championships to debut at PAX Aus 2022

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Leading into PAX Aus 2022 this October, we thought we’d let you all know about the Cosplay Central Crown Championships, which will debut at PAX Aus 2022.

The Australian leg of the championships is a stepping stone for cosplayers who will be given the chance to take to the stage and show off their craftsmanship – with the chance to take to the global stage at C2E2 for the finals.

The judges for the event are Henchwench, WhereIsDanielle, and Scrap Shop Props – just a few of the greats from our region.

You can enter The Cosplay Central Crown Championship here. Entries close 11:59pm AEDT, September 5th, 2022.

source: PAX Aus 2018 Cosplay Highlights



Pinball Expo ’22 is Celebrating its 38th Year!

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Oh how we wish we could go to this year’s Pinball Expo! We’ll be watching from afar. But, if you are one of those lucky folks that will be attending, Pinball Expo’s Rob Berk reckons this will be the biggest and best yet…..

Playing Magic Girl (the broken one!) at Flipout 2018! Beautiful to look at, but that’s about it!

MAGIC GIRL IS BACK!

After seven years in the making, the elusive Magic Girl pinball game is finally complete! The storied history of this machine can be traced back to 2015 when its first designs were being formulated. Through a troubled development cycle only 19 machines were ever built… but none of them were truly complete and had many missing components. But, through the hard work of American Pinball and an intrepid team of builders in the Netherlands, Magic Girl has finally been restored and the first ever fully-functional Magic Girl pinball machine will be unveiled on U.S. soil at Pinball Expo 2022!

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR

Pinball Expo 2022 will also be hosting the first ever Pinball Expo World Cup Tournament! Players from around the world are signing up to compete, with tournament attendees on board from the U.S., Spain, and the Netherlands – and we’re looking for more! With guest speakers also hailing from Australia, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, Pinball Expo’s global influence has never been greater!

…BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

ENTERRIUM is opening its doors to Pinball Expo 2022 attendees to enjoy pinball, games, food, and fun! Come on down and catch up with old friends and meet new ones too at this upscale restaurant, bar, and arcade in Schaumburg, Illinois! The entire facility will be open with all pinball machines, arcade machines, bowlers, and more available to play at no charge!

And finally, the Vendor Hall this year will have longer show hours and will be packed with great manufacturers including Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, Chicago Gaming, Pinball Adventures, American Pinball, Spooky Pinball, and – all the way from Sweden – Pinball Brothers who will be there to show off their latest games : Alien and Queen! And we’re working with even more manufacturers to have their latest creations on display!

…BUT WAIT, THERE’S EVEN MORE!

For the first time ever Jersey Jack Pinball will be hosting a tour of its pinball facility! Check the website for more details!

Pinball Expo is truly an “Everything for Everybody” show and you’re guaranteed to have a pinball experience to remember in 2022!

Visit www.PinballExpo.com for more information about the event and to book your rooms today!

Thank you,

Rob Berk
Pinball Expo Chairman

image source: Better.net

story source: IFPA



A Video Game or Pinball Machine Based On Miller’s ‘Furiosa’?

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

This summer, legendary director George Miller, at 77-years-old, has been working on “Furiosa,” his fifth film that takes place in the “Mad Max” movie universe.

Will we get a pinball machine or an epic video game when the film is released in 2024? When Miller’s masterpiece “Mad Max: Fury Road” was release in 2015, a video game was released along with the hit film. Was Avalanche Studio’s “Mad Max” any good? I found parts of the game fun, but other parts extremely boring. The graphics were amazing, and the driving gameplay was the game’s highlight. What’s not fun about vehicular combat, “Mad Max” style?

I watched “Mad Max: Fury Road” again the other night, and as I was watching it, I asked myself, “How the hell did George Miller not win the Academy Award for Best Director for this iconic film?” It’s easily one of the most visually stunning motion pictures I’ve ever seen. There’s really not that much story; the film is a big chase, and then, a chase back from where they just came from.

image sources: Flickering Myth – Cinema Solace on Twitter – Films Newsfeed

Charlize Theron’s performance as Imperator Furiosa was phenomenal. Anya Taylor-Joy will play a younger Furiosa in the 2024 film. I’m okay with the casting change, because Anya Taylor-Joy has been terrific in so many recent films and the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit.” I hope Charlize has a cameo; or perhaps the Oscar winning actress narrates the film?

George Miller is one of the greatest filmmakers who’s ever peered through a viewfinder and yelled “Action!’” When I was little, I must’ve watched “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior,” an action film that influenced a generation, five times in a row when I first watched it. “The Road Warrior” and “Fury Road” are masterpieces. You can say the same for 1995’s “Babe” and his segment of 1983’s “The Twilight Zone; The Movie,” “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” “Nightmare” is a remake of an episode of the original “The Twilight Zone” series, written by the great Richard Matheson. Playing the frightened passenger, John Lithgow gets the slight edge over William Shatner in acting. The segment in which a gremlin is on the wing of a commercial airliner during a thunderstorm, is still terrifying and suspenseful.

One of Miller’s great gifts as a director: he always knows where to put the camera when the tension is palpable. There are shots from “The Road Warrior” that I still don’t know how he captured. His signature chase sequences seem chaotic, but Miller has meticulously crafted them so well using storyboards and models, they become beautiful, choreographed anarchy.

If we get a pinball machine out of Miller’s “Furiosa,” I’ll be satisfied, but a video game…Miller will surely create an immersive world to play in.

The Homebrew Mad Max pinball machine is awesome. A commercial Furiosa pinball machine would be even better!



Monopoly Theme Park Coming To Melbourne

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The developers of the popular Monopoly theme park in Hong Kong, Derek Lo and Stephen Lo, are hoping to capitalise on the popularity of the board game by opening a second Monopoly themed park called Monopoly Dreams, in Melbourne, with all the trimmings of the iconic board game, like passing GO, going to jail, Community Chest and as well as Chance!

The $20 million dollar Melbourne location will be modelled on the original site and will be a considerable 1,650 square metre Monopoly themed indoor park inside Melbourne Central.

There will be a total of 15 attractions across the expansive space, split into two sections where guests will be able to win real prizes. Guests will also be able to win money to spend in the on-site café and retail store.

There’s no set date as to when Monopoly Dreams Melbourne will open, though it’s likely to be later in 2022.

image source: Monopoly Dreams



Retro Gaming Inspired Bathrooms

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With Casa Ausretrogamer going through some renovations at the moment, it has dawned on us just how difficult design decisions are, from paint colour, flooring, to what tiles to use in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.

Speaking of tiling, perhaps we should take some inspiration from this lot!

image source: Pinterest

image source: houzz



Funny Japanese Stuff Without Context

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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



RACV asks, is this Australia’s Best Nintendo Collection?

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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



FIFA Football Stays the Same

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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



No Excellent Planet of the Apes Video Game

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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.



Melbourne International Games Week & PAX Aus Are Back!

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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.