The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Damn it, I totally missed it! On February 27, those pesky pocket monsters, oops, I mean Pokémon, celebrated their 19th anniversary! Wow, how time flies when you are hunting wild Pokémon.
Instead of hurling a Poké Ball around here (Ed: you have no idea, do you?), we thought we would share some awesome rustic Pokémon ads created by the talented Mexican artist, Chuz0r.
source: Buzzfeed
In the early days of the video games industry it seemed like all game development was being done out of bedrooms across the UK and Europe. The North Americans were also pumping out games from their hive in Sunnyvale. It is a little known fact that Australia also made major contributions to game development in those early days. Australian pioneers like Alfred Milgrom (co-founder of Melbourne House and Beam Software) were designing and producing games like Hungry Horace and The Hobbit. Melbourne House‘s other major release, Way Of The Exploding Fist, went on to become a massive hit on every 8-bit micro back in the mid 1980s. After Australia II won the America’s Cup in 1983, Armchair Entertainment cashed in on the craze by creating the sailing sim, Arnie’s America’s Cup Challenge. The game was bundled in the Commodore 64 Family Pack that was released to coincide with the 1987 America’s Cup event in Fremantle.
But what of the 8 and 16-bit consoles you know and love, like the NES, SNES and the Mega Drive? Did Australia produce any games on these world dominant systems? Of course they did. Australian talent continued to churn out classic games that went on to become major hits on their respective platforms.
In this maiden Made In Australia voyage, we will reflect on the games that Australians produced for Nintendo‘s world beating 8-bit console, the NES! I bet you will be surprised.
720° (1989)
Bad Street Brawler (1989)
Defender of the Crown (1989)
Airwolf (1989)
Road Runner (1989)
The Last Ninja (1990)
RoadBlasters (1990)
Smash TV (1990)
Aussie Rules Footy (1991)
Star Wars (1991)
But wait, there were more Aussie made NES games, like: Back to the Future (1989), The Three Stooges (1989), Battle Chess (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Back to the Future Part II & III (1990), Bigfoot (1990), Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum (1990), Fisher-Price: Perfect Fit (1990), Fisher-Price: I Can Remember (1990), The Punisher (1990), Rocket Ranger (1990), Bo Jackson Baseball (1991), Family Feud (1991), George Foreman’s K.O. Boxing (1992), International Cricket (1992), Nightshade (1992), Power Punch 2 (1992), Mickey’s Safari in Letter Land (1993) and Mickey’s Adventures in Number Land (1994).
In the next Made In Australia feature, we will reflect on the Mega Drive games that were Aussie made! You will be surprised to learn the number of hit games that Aussies had their hand in! Till next time, game on!
image sources: Moby Games, Tomorrow’s Heroes, GameFAQs, retro gaming australia
PBS Space Time is a weekly YouTube program that ‘explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth’ with host Gabe Perez-Giz – an astrophysicist who studies black hole physics.
In this episode they look into the secret behind Mario’s amazing jumping ability – is gravity in Super Mario World weaker than Earth, and could Super Mario World exist on one of the planets in our Solar System? Or does Mario just have really, really strong legs? Watch the video to find out!
Source: Laughing Squid and PBS Space Time
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Ms. 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
In the biggest video game adaptation news of the moment: Netflix is in the early stages of developing a live-action series based on Zelda – wow! Apparently it is envisioned as Game of Thrones for a family audience.
If the project pans out, it will be a rare example of a Nintendo adaptation – others include the 1989 animated Legend of Zelda series and the disappointing Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993.
In 2004 there was talk of a Metroid film to be directed by John Woo, but according to the former producer Brad Foxhoven, the project fell through when Nintendo became nervous about handing over control of their characters’ back stories and development to the film’s writers and directors.
In latest reports, Netflix is seeking a writer for the project. Let’s hope this one gets off the ground and is well received because a successful adaptation could open the door to many more exciting Nintendo-themed films and series.
On a final note, The Verge has some excellent suggestions for a winning cast, including Maisie Williams as young Link and Natalie Dormer as adult Link.
Source: Geekologie, Speakeasy and IGN.
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Ms. 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
Want to take a piece of your NES on the go and play games on it? Yep, you read that question right – take a piece of your NES, in this instance, a NES console stuffed into a NES game cartridge that can be played on the go!
The specifications of this Nintendo Entertainment System Portable (nesP) are:
Screen: 2.8″ TFT LCD
Control: D-Pad, Select, Start, and two fire buttons
Storage: 4GB internal / SD card slot for additional storage
Battery: rechargeable Li-Ion
Players: MP3 audio player and recorder, FM radio, photo viewer and video player
Emulators: NES, Game Boy and Game Boy Color
Speaker: Mono
Output: TV-Out
All in all, a pretty cool one-of-a-kind handheld device that would definitely send tongues wagging on public transport. The TV-Out is a nifty feature, so take that Sega Arcade Nano!
source: robotswillkillyou
Work can be a damn bore. To break the monotony of doing that sales forecast report that is due by the end of the week, we use our lunch-break as a sanctuary to get away from it all.
My lunch break shenanigans had me traversing the city, looking for gaming and pop culture gear in particular. I was pleased to find a number of Nintendo and Namco goodies – from t-shirts and hoodies, to board-games, figurines and pool cues!
Seems as though my timing was quite good, as there were discounts and two-for-one deals throughout the stores – as if I needed more temptation! Shop on!
The coolest NES tee!
Coolest Nintendo backpacks ever!
The coolest Zelda tee!
A super Super Mario!
The coolest Mario tee!
Nintendo has too many temptations
Are you a Nintendo gamer? Then you need to wear this!
The Nintendo Console History Timeline – where it started
The Nintendo Console History Timeline – the 90s and early 2000s era
You’ll be a Mega Man or a Mega Woman if you wear this!
I want to play pool with these Pac-Man balls!
Compliment your Pac-Man pool balls with this Pac-Man cue!
37 years on, and Space Invaders is still relevant!
Lots of drool-worthy tees on this wall!
Let there be light!
Everyone needs Indy in their life
If Nintendo can do it, so can Namco!
An impromptu lunchtime sojourn comes up trumps! With no intention of hunting for retro or pop culture goodies, I was surprised what I found in Melbourne’s CBD (Central Business District) as I was out and about. From Sonic comics and video gaming related books, to bartop arcade machines at the most unlikeliest place, it was a lunch break I didn’t expect.
A great start to the week indeed. Oh yeh, my wallet was also worse for wear.
Green Lantern VS Zodac? *Mind completely blown*
An awesome book that is to be read by every gamer!
Another awesome book. A great reference indeed!
One for the Zelda fans!
Wish I could flip through the pages of this book!
Sonic Comic! Hey, that rhymes!
Sega fans would love this!
More Sonic love!
Oh wow – Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back! I gotta get these!
Your keys would ROCK and look MEGA on this keyring!
Sam Fisher in his desert suit. Very cool indeed.
The dark side awaits!
An arcade machine in Myer? No way! Oh, that old school phone is cool too.
Yes way – it is an arcade machine at Myer!
The last word always goes to Ron Swanson.
Care to use Twitter on your Game Boy? Perhaps you would rather use Microsoft’s Office applications on Nintendo’s little coloured beast? I know, you want to Skype your friend with vintage equipment!
Ah yes, welcome to good use of retro gaming gear Japanese style! You got to hand it to the Japanese, they know how to refashion old equipment and make you notice it. I wish I was this clever. Now hand me those SNES headphones and scroll through these epic pics!
source: matome.naver.jp
If you have 162 minutes to burn, you may wanna settle back and watch every single Game Boy start screen ever. Yes, you read that right, EVERY SINGLE GAME BOY START SCREEN EVER!
I am a masochist, so I will kill almost three hours of my day to watch this. Enjoy!
source: NicksplosionFX
Who said cats don’t retro game? Based on these video gaming inspired cat scratchers from If Industries, it is quite clear that felines enjoy some old school Atari and Nintendo action! Um, need I say more? Of course not! Scratch away baby!
Don’t worry, those people at If Industries haven’t forgotten about you either. You can now hold up your pants in style with these awesome arcade belt buckles. They even light up! So, are you a 25c or a 50c kind of arcade gamer?
source: if Industries