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Highest-Grossing Arcade Machines of All Time

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Let’s reflect and gloat for one second – it was great to be alive during the Golden Age of Arcade video games and experience arcade joints first-hand; from the clean franchised ones to the decrepit dark and scary independent ones – we loved them all.

Oh yeah, we loved the games too, from coin dropping in Galaga, Bomb Jack, Pac-Man, Tron, Double Dragon, DragonNinja to Sega’s beasts like Space Harrier, Super Hang-On, OutRun, After Burner and Thunder Blade – we spent up big and loved every single second of it.


The 1990s started with us hammering coins into Atari’s Pit-Fighter, Capcom’s Final Fight and Street Fighter II. However, it was Sega’s Daytona USA that emptied our piggy bank of coins – we just could not get enough of it.

source: The Arcade Flyer Archive

Looking at the top 10 highest grossing arcade games (below), we can tell you that we played them all during their heyday and understand why the dot munching Pac-Man is perched right up top – the game was a breath of fresh air (for its time), as it wasn’t a derivative of the then plethora of space shoot’em ups. Pac-Man was truly a revolutionary title which had universal appeal, both male and female gamers loved chasing Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.

source: A-1 Arcade Gaming

So what of Atari’s Pong then? Well, the 1972 game did very well for Atari, they sold somewhere between 8,500 to 19,000 units (1972 to 1973) grossing them around $11Million US dollars – not bad for 1973!

The revenues generated were quite staggering, reaffirming the Golden Age of Arcade video games period as the most prosperous of them all, with Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam flying the flag for the 1990s.

Source: Wikipedia, USGamer and Goliath

Retro Handheld: Burger King Game Boy Color

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This is an old one, but we thought it was still worth repeating, in case you missed it the first time around.

If you were lucky enough to have had a meal at Burger King in 2000, you may have been handed a plastic replica of the Game Boy Color which had analogue games built in.

Fast forward a decade and a half and that cute little Burger King Game Boy Colour toy with its analogue games has been DIY hacked with a Raspberry Pi Zero stuffed inside, morphing it into an awesomely cool and working Game Boy Colour emulator! Wish we were this clever.

[original story and images via Technobob]



Real Life Mario Kart is Coming Down Under

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Just in case you missed this, we thought we’d bring it to your attention!

Have you ever wanted to race against Mario or Luigi while collecting stars to win amazing prizes? ‘Real Life Mario Karting’ – Go Karting with a Twist will be headed to Sydney and Melbourne soon!

A unique experience that combines your favourite characters, friends and new friends for a driving experience that will take you back in time.

On the race day,  you’ll be able to pick your favourite character, drive courses dressed as them, and have the opportunity to collect stars to win prizes.

Tickets for this event are extremely limited, so sign up now.

Get ready for a ride of a lifetime!

image source: Mushroom Racing

 

Flipping Cool: Stern Pinball Arcade – Nintendo Switch

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Let’s get something straight off the bat, there is definitely room for two pinball video games on the Nintendo Switch! The gamer is the winner here as both pinball games on the Switch are unique in their own way to warrant them being in your games library.

Stern Pinball Arcade is distinct from Pinball FX 3 as it allows playing real world pinball machines on your Switch. And with the latest digital update allowing portrait mode (TATE) play and full in-game touch control, Stern Pinball Arcade is currently our go to pinball game on the Switch (sorry Pinball FX 3).

Look, you can now play Stern Pinball Arcade in TATE mode!

Oo’er, TATE loveliness

As mentioned earlier, playing real world pinball machines is this game’s main drawcard. We are huge fans of Stern’s real world machines, so to be able to play the likes of AC/DC, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, Mustang and Starship Troopers is pretty damn cool. For those of you that want to know exactly which tables you can play in Stern Pinball Arcade, here is the complete list (tables can be purchased in add-on packs):

  • Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
  • Ripley’s Believe it or Not!
  • Starship Troopers
  • Ghostbusters Premium
  • Ghostbusters Limited Edition
  • Star Trek Vengeance Premium
  • Star Trek Enterprise Limited Edition
  • Harley Davidson / Third Edition
  • High Roller Casino
  • Last Action Hero
  • AC/DC Premium
  • AC/DC Back In Black Limited Edition
  • Mustang Premium “Boss”
  • Mustang Limited Edition
  • The Phantom of the Opera

Each table has leaderboards to chase for bragging rights whether you compete against friends or players around the world. There is also a Stern Challenge mode that sees you hitting a target score on each table to earn challenge points before moving on to the next. If you want to get to grips with a table and understand how to play it or dig deeper in its ruleset, then hit the instructions and table goals to get you up to speed.

Speaking of speed, Stern Pinball Arcade has got you covered. Ball trajectory and flipper aim is accurate, so hitting targets and ramps is easier, giving you that satisfied feeling when you make your shot! The greatest satisfaction of playing Stern Pinball Arcade on the Switch is that it has the fundamental concepts of gravity, force and acceleration down pat. If you can’t find these Stern pinball machines to play in real life, then Stern Pinball Arcade is your next best bet! Get flipping and tilting (actually, don’t tilt!).

Should we play Stern’s Ghostbusters in YOKO (horizontal) mode; OR …

TATE (vertical) mode? Hmm….

Better luck next time!

Let’s learn the Star Trek ruleset

Woohoo, full in-game touch control!

Stern Pinball Arcade add-on packs were kindly provided by Stern Pinball for this review.

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The Evolution Of Nintendo Consoles

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A very cool video of the evolution of Nintendo consoles by our good friends at GameSpot Today I Learned!

Before some of you say, “But where is the Game Boy, DS and 3DS?”, relax, this is the evolutionary line of their consoles, not their handhelds. Having said that, it seems like the Virtual Boy doesn’t fit in any category 🙁

How many Nintendo consoles have you owned since their Color TV-Game 6?


source: GameSpot Today I Learned

 

NESmaker – Make New Cartridge Based Games For the NES

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We’ll keep this short and sweet – if you want to realise your childhood dreams of making a new (cartridge based) playable game for the NES but don’t have the necessary coding expertise, then hit the NESMaker Kickstarter immediately. Hurry up, ’cause there are only a few hours left to secure this awesome bit of dev-kit!

Go on, unleash your inner game developer without the need of coding skills!

PS: Don’t worry about funding, the project has already blown waaaaay past its goal and has unlocked a number of stretch targets!


source: The New 8-Bit Heroes

 

SNES Classic Mini: To Hack Or Not To Hack, That Is The Question

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Hack or not to hack the SNES Classic Mini: that is the question and my dilemma! On the one hand, I want the SNES Mini to remain as it was intended by Nintendo, and on the other, I want to load it up with more games than you can poke a stick at!

Apart from entering the murky waters of gaming rom legalities, I also don’t want to risk bricking my cute little SNES. I am aware that the hack to load more games is well tested and there are easy to follow instructions out there, but I choose to leave my SNES Classic Mini as is – with its 21 legal video games!

I’ll admit that in the past I dabbled in the shadows of piracy by exchanging C64 games on tape in the schoolyard. Even though I thought it was cool to do this back in the day, I am now filled with regret that I had cheated the creators of making a pretty penny for their creation. The other and less moralistic reason for not wanting to hack my SNES Classic Mini is that I’ know I would suffer from being spoiled for choice. When faced with a choice of hundreds of gaming roms, I know I’d skim past a fair few of them, thus missing out on playing some real gems, and worse still, not play a load of games due to the sheer volume of choice.

Whatever your choice, you can do whatever you see fit with your SNES Classic Mini. I just chose to leave mine alone.

 

Nintendo Labo: Make, Play, Discover

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The big news of the day has to be the announcement of Nintendo Labo, a brand new build and play interactive experience for your Nintendo Switch! From piano to motorbike, a robot and much more, each Toy-Con comes to life when combined with the mighty Switch.

Don’t believe us, then check out the trailer below. Basically, this cardboard tech will tickle your creative bone, we just hope that it could somehow be integrated with our PinBox 3000 😉

Nintendo announced two Toy-Con kits (Variety and Robot) with a Customisation Set that will provide handy materials, like stencils, stickers and tape. Nintendo Labo kits will be available on April 20 in Australia. So, what’s the verdict?

image source: Nintendo of America

image source: Lil-Ausretrogamer’s PinBox 3000!

RIVE: Ultimate Edition – Twin Stick Mayhem on the Nintendo Switch

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We are always told everything in moderation is good for you. Pfft, stuff that, RIVE: Ultimate Edition doesn’t do things in moderation – it’s full on from the get go!

Get your twitch senses ready, as Two Tribes’ final game, RIVE: Ultimate Edition is pure twin stick shooting mayhem on the Nintendo Switch!

RIVE: Ultimate Edition eases you into the game (sort of!) by blasting away asteroids (reminiscent of Atari’s Asteroids, with scrolling!), but that then gives way to some pretty hair-raising action as you manoeuvre your spider-tank with one stick and aim and shoot with the other. Sounds simple enough? RIVE ramps up the difficulty quite quickly (even in easy mode), but persistence is rewarded by etching away at each level – checkpoints do help with your progress. The mayhem onscreen may feel overwhelming at times, but you will get used to it as you hone in your skills at moving around and shooting. There is also some very cool banter between the rogue AI and your pilot, which will make you laugh with its cheesiness, but it helps to keep things lighthearted, as you will invariably have palpitations at the swarm of enemies that come at you like kamikaze pilots! The aim is to constantly be on the move, and power up your spider-tank to take out the rogue enemies.

RIVE goes an ‘Ultimate’ step on the Switch by introducing co-op/copilot mode. This takes advantage of the split Joy-Cons, allowing one player to pilot and another player to ‘man the gun’. Controls switch over when you die, leading to some chaotic and hectic gaming sessions. This extra layer, coupled with the HD Rumble effect makes the game even more enjoyable to play. And just another interesting titbit, we love the ‘Guru Meditation’ error message thrown in for good measure – a nod to the great Amiga 16-bit computer, many thanks Two Tribes!

As the saying goes, it’s great to go out on top. Seeing that RIVE: Ultimate Edition on the Switch is Two Tribes’ final game, they sure are going out in style and at the top of their game (no pun intended).

RIVE: Ultimate Edition is pure twin-stick shooting heaven. What a way to go out Two Tribes, you know how to get our hearts racing!

Hit the Nintendo eShop right away and get this!

Price: $12.75 (US/Canada) / £13.49 or equivalent (UK/EU/AU)

* RIVE: Ultimate Edition was provided by Two Tribes for this review