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Castlevania: Nocturne – Coming to Netflix this September

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The rise of Richter Belmont. Premieres only on Netflix, September 28.

Discover the enthralling world of Castlevania as it ventures into new territory with “Nocturne,” an exciting series focusing on the origin story of Richter Belmont, a gaming icon and one of the franchise’s most beloved characters. Set amidst the backdrop of the French Revolution, this gory and gothic adventure takes fans on an unforgettable journey through a time of vampires and high stakes.

Led by showrunner Kevin Kolde and Creator/Writer Clive Bradley, “Nocturne” promises a gripping narrative filled with love, loss, and thrilling encounters. As an evolution of the original fan-favorite Castlevania Netflix Series, the show delves into never-before-seen aspects of Richter Belmont’s past, adding depth to this iconic character.

Produced by Project 51 Productions, with animations provided by Powerhouse Animation, “Nocturne” guarantees top-notch quality and a visually stunning experience. Whether you’re a seasoned Castlevania fan or new to the franchise, this series serves as the perfect starting point for an exciting journey into a world of gaming adaptations, anime, and captivating storytelling.

Get ready to immerse yourself in the epic tale of “Nocturne”!


image & video source: Netflix



Very Cool Tabletop Arcade Cabinets

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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



Classic Xbox Games Specials!

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Checking in this morning, we noticed that Microsoft has unleashed their latest Xbox games sale, which has quite a few classic titles that piqued our interest! The beauty of the backwards compatibility of the Xbox means that no matter which console you have (after the X360), then these games will all work!

Go to the Xbox Games Specials to grab yourself a bargain. In case you were interested, these were our picks from this sale:

  • Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night ($4.97 / 50% off)
  • Castlevania Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Contra Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Metal Gear Solid HD Edition 2 & 3 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Silent Hill: HD Collection ($12.61 / 75% off)
  • Final Fantasy VII ($12.07 / 50% off)
  • Resident Evil ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75 off)

 



Castlevania: The Complete History

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We are huge fans of Daniel Ibbertson’s (aka: Slope’s Game Room) history vids, just like his recent full-length documentary based on the history of one of the biggest game franchises of all time, CASTLEVANIA.

The Castlevania games series is one of the most expensive and well-loved retro gaming collections ever released. In this doco, Daniel not only talks about its history, but also showcases some of the rarest games in the series.

So chuck your headphones on, put your feet up and immerse yourself all things Castlevania.


source: Slope’s Game Room

Gradius V Official DVD The Perfect

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That Alex Reynolds (aka: Alexpletives on Twitter) has surprised us once again!

Hot on the heels of his Ikaruga Appreciate DVD, Alex showed us another DVD from Japan in his vast collection, this time, it was Konami’s Gradius V Official DVD The Perfect.

According to our good friend, Wikipedia:

“On April 9, 2004, Konami announced a DVD called OPTIONS, which was being offered to pre-ordering customers in Japan — containing interviews with the developers, art galleries and a number of videos demonstrating the inner workings of the game’s levels. Adding further incentive for customers to purchase the upcoming game, Konami later revealed the availability of The History of Vic Viper — a book indicating inner design, the background and the roadmap of the Vic Viper ships. The book was included with all versions of the original Japanese pressing of the game. An additional DVD with expanded content titled Gradius V Official DVD The Perfect was also released in Japan to be ordered separately or with the game from Konami’s online retail store, Konamistyle”.

We may need to ask Alex if we can “borrow” this DVD 😉

 

 

Contra: Celebrating 33 Years Of Rock Hard Awesomeness

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Contra, Gryzor or Probotector. No matter what name you know this classic Konami run and gun game by, you will definitely remember it as one tough mother of a game!

Konami had an instant hit on their hands when they released the arcade machine on this day [February 20] in 1987. Happy 33rd anniversary Contra, you irresistible force!

For those that have been away from Earth since early 1987, here is the lowdown on Contra:

Midnight, September 12 2631. The Marines catch sight of a small-sized meteorite that is fast approaching Earth. The meteorite plummets 20km north-east of New Zealand, at the Gal Mosquito Archipelago. The command keep watch of the meteorite.

Two years later, in December 2633, an intruder known as the Red Falcon is occupying the Gal Mosquito Archipelago and is planning the fall of mankind. Command orders confidential investigations at the enemies’ front base. The marine post orders for two “Contra” soldiers, Private First Class Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer and Private First Class Lance “Scorpion” Bean on a mission. The mission being: penetrate the insides of the enemy, destroy the front base and the entire centre of operation.

 

Metroid: Mother Brain Is an Iconic Villain

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Metroid’s Mother Brain is considered one of the most diabolical she-villains in video game history.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with defeating Mother Brain every time I put my Metroid cartridge into my Nintendo Entertainment System. It took me a while to finally defeat her, and when I did, I wondered if Mother Brain had a backstory. How did she get to possess such vast power?

When I would play the original Metroid, I found Mother Brain fascinating. In later Metroid games, we got a little backstory on Mother Brain, but none of it seemed that imaginative. The original design of Mother Brain was the best. All of the designs in later games, especially in Super Metroid, when Mother Brain looked like a brain with a grotesque chicken body, were slightly extreme and almost silly. In the original Metroid, Mother Brain was captivating and menacing by just sitting in a glass jar, controlling the game like a puppet master. When I would defeat Mother Brain, my imagination would run wild. Was what we saw in the jar her original or real form?

image source: Samolo via Deviantart

Metroid was not the easiest game to beat. It took me several tries before I finally completed the game. I wasn’t an expert at the game like my brother. It took him just a day or two to defeat Mother Brain. Then he would usually move on to another game and beat that before me as well.

In the video game magazines of the time, like Nintendo Power, they never really went into much depth when it came to the iconic, she-villain. But the early games didn’t tell as much about Mother Brain either. It must’ve been a boring existence, just sitting there in a protective glass jar, ruling the planet, hoping that a bounty hunter wouldn’t come along and destroy you. However, she did have an army of henchmen protecting her. Villains in other major games at the time were primarily male and mostly on the beefy side.

Mother Brain was engrossing because she was so different from all of the other heavy villains in video games. Mother Brain is one of the reasons Metroid is a classic NES game.

image source: metroid.fandom.com

 

Project D – F1 Spirit

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If you thought the contemporary F1 Spirit video game, a remake of the classic MSX title by Konami, was awesome, wait till you play Retro Reloader’s Project D – F1 Spirit, a tweaked version of Brain Games‘ remake with Initial D arcade style elements, from the music, sound effects, to the enemies, graphics and menu.

Go and burn some rubber, drift or blast a berm in Project D – F1 Spirit!


source: John Retro Reloader

 

LEGO Ideas: Bomberman

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Hands up who doesn’t like Bomberman – if you put your hand up, shame on you! Haha, just kidding, if you aren’t into Bomberman, but like Lego, this still may be of interest!

We’ll come out clean, Bomberman is one of a handful of video games we play a lot, especially with friends, so when we saw Indy988’s Lego Ideas Bomberman entry, we were quite chuffed and immediately pledged our support! We want these things to become a reality! Go and support this – right now!

image source: Lego Ideas


If you appreciate what we do, please feel free to show your appreciation via the ausretrogamer virtual tip jar. Thank you 🙂

 

Prepare for Impact: PC-Engine Mini, CoreGrafx Mini and TurboGrafx-16 Mini are Coming!

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Konami has done a mic drop at E3 2019 by announcing that they are entering the Mini classic consoles arena with three variants:

  • PC-Engine Mini (Japan);
  • TurboGrafx-16 Mini (US/Can); and the
  • PC-Engine CoreGrafx (Europe/RoW)

This is huge news, as it means Konami is going to go toe-to-toe with Nintendo and their SNES and NES Classic Minis and also Sega with their Mega Drive Classic Mini (due later this year). The three-way mini console war has been ignited!


source: Konami

Anyway, back on topic, they also revealed 6 titles to tickle our nostalgia, with lots more to come. We are loving the initial games by the way! Oh yeah, it also looks like the Japanese variant (PC-Engine Mini) will have a different lineup of games than the West variants – see below.

TurboGrafx-16 Mini & PC-Engine CoreGrafx Mini Games (announced so far)

PC-Engine Mini Games (announced so far)

Other details worth mentioning are that there will be a MultiTap released for 5-way gaming tussles (will be sold separately), save state functions – so you can play from where you left off and of course, the Minis will have various display modes (yay to scanlines!) to ensure you get the full nostalgic fix!

There were no release dates or pricing details at the announcement, so be sure to hit us up on Twitter and Facebook as more news comes to hand. We are damn excited!

image source: Konami