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The Fortunes of Video Game Moguls

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The video game industry has become an entertainment titan with budgets comparable to Hollywood blockbusters being funnelled into AAA releases and new ways to play.

From those that made gaming more accessible and affordable to the entrepreneurs who made it possible to make money live streaming and even those just in it for the cash, several incredibly savvy individuals have made a name for themselves in an increasingly saturated market.

Like them or loath them – you can find out more about the biggest gaming moguls below:

Video Game Moguls
Video Game Moguls by ABC FINANCE LTD.

 

Ausretrogamer is Six Years Old

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Ausretrogamer launched six years ago today! We’re not doing a whole lot to celebrate, unless eating cupcakes and doughnuts counts as a celebration – but we didn’t want to let the day pass without some sort of acknowledgement. It would be an understatement to say that the retro gaming scene is a tad different today than when we launched in January 2012. Back then there was no NES or SNES Classic Minis nor was there a PAX event in Australia.

The retro gaming community has grown in leaps and bounds with its momentum showing no slowdown – long may it continue to be this way. In fact, if we can blow our own horn for a moment, we’ve set new traffic records on ausretrogamer in 2017 – and we have all of you awesome peeps to thank for that!

We at ausretrogamer are not planning on stopping anytime soon. Your enthusiasm and excitement for retro gaming and its limitless possibilities is what keeps us motivated to keep on going. Who knows what the next six years will bring, but rest assured, we will keep doing what we do as long as you keep reading and engaging with us on social media. Thanks heaps!

 

Price Evolution: is Nintendo Switch following the pricing trend from the past?

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Article provided by Cuponation Australia. Prices quoted are in US Dollars

Cuponation Australia, a specialist in savings, delved into some market research to see how the prices of videogame consoles has changed through the last 30 years. The data includes prices from the launch of the first Nintendo video console in 1985 till their latest console release, the Nintendo Switch (March 2017). To see the evolution of prices, the research considered the inflation rate from the corresponding year of release.

Gaming has become cheaper by 24% (on average) over the last 30 years
The result shows that nowadays consumers are paying 24% less than 30 years ago. The price trend shows that each brand had lowered their prices since the launch of the first videogame console. It seems that Sega became 32% cheaper by their last console, Playstation cut their prices by 15%, Xbox and Nintendo by 25% and 29% respectively. The first videogame console produced by Nintendo, the NES, would cost $420USD nowadays which is already more than what you would pay for the Nintendo Switch. We obviously would not know the impact of inflation to the cost of the Nintendo Switch in future years.

Nintendo remains consistent in its pricing policy
The launch prices of Nintendo systems have remained relatively stable over the last 30+ years, with the exception being this year. The Nintendo Classic Mini from 2016 was not taken into consideration as it was not a next gen console. In relation to consoles from Xbox, PlayStation and Sega, consumers would notice some significant jumps in pricing over the decades – the launch of Sega’s Saturn in 1995, would cost $629.29USD in today’s money and the PlayStation 3, launched in 2007, would cost $578USD today.

The top 3 closest competitors in terms of price to Nintendo Switch ($299USD):
1) Xbox One S, launched in 2016 with inflation price of $299USD
2) Nintendo 64, launched in 2005 with inflated price of $298USD
3) Sega Dreamcast, launched in 1999 with inflated price of $288.11USD

source: Cuponation Australia

 

Conquered: EB Expo 2016

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ebexpo16_titleAs the old saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. This year’s EB Expo has come and gone, and yep, we had fun, lots of it!

A highlight for us was being invited by our Weird and Retro friends to assist in their awesome Retro Gaming section in the Freeplay City area. With 64 classic gaming systems to play, EB Expo attendees were not short on getting their nostalgia fix! From the ultra-rare Philips CD-I development kit, to the Commodore, Sega, Nintendo, NEC, Samsung and Atari wares, there was plenty to reminisce about.

While in the main hall, we got to sit on the Iron Throne, gawked at Optimus Prime, bumped into awesome cosplayers, played on PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox’s latest gear and shopped at EB Games’ massive Mega-Store! No need for more words, we’ll just leave some of our photos from EB Expo 2016 to speak for themselves…

With the sun shining, it was time for EB Expo 2016!
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First stop, Hall 6 and straight to the Weird and Retro Freeplay classic gaming area
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Time for a Hewson classic! Go Pogo!
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The new generation enjoying some old generation gaming!
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Whoa, a Jaguar in the wild!
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Attendees wowing at the 16-bit computing wonders!
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Freeplay City Mario Kart 64 4P Showdown!
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More 4P shenanigans on the Nintendo GameCube!
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Whoa, a rare beast – the Philips CD-i dev kit!
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Which classic system to play first?
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Difficult decision: go straight for Hotel Mario or play Transylvania on the Apple IIe?
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We weren’t aware that Deadpool was on the C64. And is that Stunt Car Racer on the Amiga? Whoa!
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The decision of what to play on next just keep getting harder!
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Doing the math on the Jaguars!
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The dark side of Sega. Oh wait, look at that beautiful Atari ST!
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Busted! Weird and Retro’s Serby blowing bubbles all the way to his own PS4 Pro!
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What’s this, an Atari sign and some old wares? Time to shop!
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Cosplay heroes!
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Time to hit the Great (Main) Hall Of EB Expo 2016
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Aha, a chill session may be in order!
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The Iron Throne rules this hall!
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Anyone want a test drive?
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Hang on, we want a test drive in Optimus Prime!
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Hulk Smash!
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Lego Xbox!
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Lego Kong Ride and some sweet Poke Balls!
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A work of Lego art!
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We found Pikachu! Quickly, where are our Poke Balls?
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Shop till you drop at the EB Games Mega-Store!
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The temptation is strong in these ones!
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Stocking up on a few goodies *wink*
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We’ve hit the motherload of retrogaming goodies!
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Surely we can squeeze this beauty in our checked luggage…
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Scarily beautiful!
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Bumped into the famous Nintendo brothers…
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Mind blowingly cool!
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Of course we had to go here too!
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Woohoo, just dance!
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Jump on the tractor!
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Gonna grab a seat at Nintendo-land
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Let’s all play! Got lots of streetpasses here *winks*
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The Nintendo posing podiums!
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Another posing podium!
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Heading over to Xbox
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Forza Horizon 3 was quite popular!
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Dr. Curlytek conquered the VeloDrone!
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Waiting their turn patiently for some VR
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Aha, there they are! 
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The unmissable PlayStation exhibit!
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Wowing the masses with PlayStation VR
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Dare to enter!
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Driveclub VR = WOWSER!
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A well deserved award!
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All  good things must come to an end. Till the next EB Expo…
ebexpo16_packup

Las Vegas Shenanigans: The Fun Dungeon At Excalibur

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LV_Shenanigans_FunDungeon_HDRIn this last of our Las Vegas Shenanigans feature series, we hit the Fun Dungeon at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino! If you thought that The Big Apple Coaster & Arcade looked awesome, wait till you see how much fun we had at the Fun Dungeon! Well, what are you waiting for, take a look down below! Viva Las Vegas!

The upside down Atari sign is pointing down! Let’s go!
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Oh no, not this guy! Nah, we don’t wanna know our fortunes!
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Ello, ello, ello, what do we have here then……Golden Oldies!
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Right-io, let’s fight then!
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Woohoo, silver-ball action!
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Where to go next? Aha, perhaps to a galaxy far, far away?
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The menacing T-Rex looks enticing!
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What’s this red bubble thing then……..
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Should we challenge this dude? Nah, we don’t wanna embarrass him 😉
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Oh man, so many choices – to fight or go off-road driving?
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No punching on this ice skating rink!
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Big rig drivin coming up!
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Ms ausretrogamer tries her hand at flying! Land that plane!
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Some snow action too!
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Rushing off to San Fran, baby!
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Love being a (crazy) taxi driver!FunDungeon16

Shoot! Dodge!
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Where play saves the day? Indeed it does!
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Found another Atari arcade machine in the desert!
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Batwoman, oops, we mean Ms ausretrogamer shows Batman how it’s done!
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All this play has made us work up a massive hunger (and thirst)! 
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Las Vegas Shenanigans: The Big Apple Coaster & Arcade

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Vegas_Shenanigans_NYNY_HDRWhat happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Pfft, if that were the case then we would not have told you about our exploits at Toy Shack and A Gamer’s Paradise while in Sin City. What we haven’t told you about (yet), is our arcade and pinball shenanigans at the resort casinos, like the The Big Apple Coaster & Arcade in New York New York.

Rather than write about this experience infinitum, we’ll let our photos tell the story. What we will say is that The Big Apple Coaster & Arcade is damn awesome! It has that Coney Island (seaside) amusement feel, which makes the experience even more authentic. To top it off, there is a roller coaster whizzing around on the top of the resort for that ultimate adrenaline rush! Enjoy the ride!

All stairs lead to The Big Apple Coaster & Arcade at New York New York!
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We have reached amusement nirvana!
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Locked and Loaded!
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Time to have some flippin fun!
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What to play first?
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Ms ausretrogamer chooses wisely!
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While Metallica is in use, AC/DC gets a workout by yours truly
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What should we play next? Oo, gun games!
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Gonna hunt us some dinosaurs!
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From one Jurassic Park to another!
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Whoa, Max Flight – VR 2002 style!
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Ms ausretrogamer tries out some old school Virtual Reality!
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Ticket Track? Ahhh, why not….
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Oo’er, very glowy!
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Raw Thrills? Count us in!
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Some NITRO action coming up!
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Decisions, decisions! Let’s Go Jungle then!
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All roads lead back to pinball!
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When in Vegas, you gotta check out The Wizard Of Oz: 75th Anniversary pinnie!
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There is no way I’ll be dragged off this pinball machine!
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Alright, we need our adrenaline rush! Let’s ride the Manhattan Express!
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Gotta grab a feed before we get back into more gaming!
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In the next of our Las Vegas Shenanigans series, we’ll feature the Fun Dungeon at Excalibur!

 

The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas

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Xmas_Gifts_HDR“On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me”, No, no, no! There will be no ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ singing here, thank you. With Christmas just around the corner, we thought we would ease the gift buying burden by giving you ‘The Twelve Gift Ideas For Christmas’ to help you get something special for your really cool geeky / nerdy partner.

Forget about going out to the local shopping centre and battling for a car park only to get frustrated when you can’t find anything suitable. We are here to make this Christmas shopping period a pleasant experience from the comfort of your own home and one where your partner will thank you for the awesome gift (Ed: don’t you mean gifts!)!

Enough chatter, as promised, here are The Twelve Gifts of Christmas!

Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One – Just in time for the Force Awakens!
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If they are Zelda fans, then this 2.5″ 8-Bit Link Action Figure will tickle their fancy
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But if they are a Donkey Kong kinda guy or gal, then they’ll go ape over this!
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Secure their DS / 3DS with a retro NES inspired case! 
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Sega fans rejoice! Plug and play the Sega Nano on any TV (with composite connectivity)
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There should always be a Masters Of The Universe gift under the Christmas tree
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If clothing is preferred, then nothing says cool like a C64 tee
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Bookworms partners will love this Commodore book!
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Can’t afford a real Intellivision? Then the Intellivision Flashback is the next best thing!
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Or maybe they are a ColecoVision type of gamer…
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Forget forking out thousands for an arcade machine, grab them a My-Arcade mini retro machine!
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And if you really want to spoil him or her, get them the ultimate handheld emulation system, the GPD XD
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image source: supplied

Sponsored Video: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone

Step again into the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer, this time hired to defeat a ruthless bandit captain, Olgierd von Everec. This expansion to “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” packs over 10 hours of new adventures, introducing new characters, powerful monsters, unique romance and a brand new storyline shaped by your choices.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone launches on October 13, 2015!

For more information about The Witcher visit:

Buy now: http://buy.thewitcher.com
Facebook: https://www.fb.com/thewitcher
Twitter: https://twitter.com/witchergame
Homepage: http://thewitcher.com/witcher3
Instagram: https://instagram.com/cdpred

 

Street Fighter The New Challenger: Ryu

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street-fighter-t-n-c-01-ryu_1Attention Street Fighter fans: The highly successful The New Challenger (T.N.C.) 01: Ryu figure from BigBoysToysHK is reaching its last and final run and is about to release soon! Make sure you do not miss out and orders yours now, and use the LASTCHANCE4RYU code for a further $8.00USD discount upon checkout! It’s a win win!

This stylized Ryu sits on a custom diorama representing his Street Fighter II: The World Warriors stage and is depicted with his iconic Hadouken stance; the Hadouken actually lights up by pressing the Street Fighter button on the diorama stand (Ed: Oo’er!)! As well, for every press of the button, the official soundclip of Ryu shouting “HADOUKEN” will be played! This is truly a great collector piece. Grab it while you can!

street-fighter-t-n-c-01-ryu-darkimage source: Play Asia

 

University Of Calgary’s Video Game Library: Time To Go Back To School

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Established in 2010, the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) Digital Media Commons contains (among other techy things) a unique collection of cutting edge gaming PCs, retro and contemporary gaming consoles, and software from the 1970’s to current gen.

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The collection is open to students, staff and the public. They plausibly claim it is the largest collection of video games for academic studies in the nation.

The game catalogue consists of mainstream titles, educational games as well as unique and independent games – you can browse the catalogue HERE.

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The University also offers a class in Computer Game Design, which includes a history of video games.

Watch the Games and Related Media Librarian talk about the collection:

Source: University of Calgary, UToday, YouTube

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msausretrogamerMs. 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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter