The Pop-Culture E-Zine
As a kid, I loved looking through sales catalogues. I’d scour the toy, and of course the video games pages.
I came across this old Norman Ross (retailer from back in the day) from August 1982, and I must say, the prices (in AUD$) for some of these goods are astronomical! Anyway, instead of getting bogged down in factoring in inflation and figuring out the prices in today’s money, let’s just enjoy the nostalgia 
image source: supplied
It’s very dangerous to go trawling online when you are predisposed to nostalgia.
There are some things that we may have long forgotten, but when you see them, they instantly trigger that fuzzy nostalgic feeling. Once such “thing” is slot car racing! As kids, we loved playing on our friend’s Scalextric F1 set – pushing that plunger and watching our car whizzing around was so much fun.
We had always wanted our own slot car racing set, but alas, money wasn’t growing on trees back then, so we had to make do with playing once in a while on our friend’s set.
So how does all this have anything to do about trawling online? Well, while doom scrolling through that marketplace that shall remain nameless, we stumbled upon a cool Carrera Digital 132 slot car set. The fact that the seller created the huge track (2,500mm x 1,300mm) by combining 2 tracks and then added the scenery, makes this even more desirable for nostalgia freaks like us!
Now, to find a spare 1.9K Aussie dollaroos………
image source: Facebook Marketplace
Ah Atari, they know exactly how to squeeze every ounce out of their IP with products that hit the nostalgic sweet spot!
This time around, good ole new Atari has partnered with Retro Arcade to create high-quality authentic replica arcade machine Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for Black Widow, Gravitar and Major Havoc – iconic Atari arcade games prized for their advanced gameplay and relative rarity of their cabinets.
These reproductions are officially licensed 11.5 x 20.75 inch (29.2cm x 52.70cm) reproductions based on the original arcade board sets and are a new revision in the PCB history. The boards use the original bill of materials, follow the original schematics, and can be used to replace damaged original boards by using the original parts from these boards.
OK, we must admit, we are actually impressed with these replica/repro PCBs, even if the price (US$245) is a tad too much when taking into account the exchange rate.
Oh yeah, these are available in limited quantities at Atari.com.
PS: To sweeten this juicy deal, Atari is offering $10 off (code: “PCBOOPSIE“) on any one of the three Retro Arcade PCB boards (yeah, we know, boards is redundant in PCB boards)
Major Havoc challenges players with a journey through exciting gameplay styles, including Breakout-style mini games where a knowledgeable gamer can warp through different levels.
A multi-directional shooter with a reputation for difficulty, Gravitar is arguably also the first cave-flyer ever made.
The arcade classic Black Widow is one of the very first twin-stick shooters ever made.
Just in case you have been living off the grid, welcome back! Now, hop to it and watch the Still Standing documentary film!
Still Standing is a journey back in time, a time when arcade and pinball were the hottest entertainment in town. Adelaide producer and cinematographer, Brad Gilbertson, has shot this beautifully, inducing the kind of nostalgia that is intoxicating for the generation of kids that experienced the arcade and pinball golden era. The emotive and amazing stories and histories will have you gripped like a Darth Vader choke-hold right till the end.
Still Standing is a first of its kind Australian documentary film, peeling back the curtain on what it truly takes to create and run iconic arcades, past and present. We admit, we shed a few tears (of joy mainly), but we will not spoil it for you, so you can experience this authentic and beautiful documentary for yourself.
Why are you still reading this? Go on, watch Still Standing now, and remember, game over is not an option!
Still Standing is now streaming worldwide – more details here.
PS: We eagerly await the physical release of this wonderful documentary!
source: BGVC
After 3 years, PAX Aus is coming back home – in personIt’s that time of year where we all gather at PAX Aus for some amazing times. Naturally, we are biased by saying that you should all definitely come and check out the Classic Gaming Area for a hit of nostalgia (or if you are so inclined, to participate in the many tournaments to earn bragging rights!).
For now, to get you all hyped for PAX Aus 2022, check out our posts from the last in person PAX Aus in 2019. We hope to see many of you at this year’s event!
Need a(nother) new project in your life? If you do, then check out Peter Misenko’s (aka: bobricious’) super cute PICOmputer ZX – Pocket ZX Spectrum on Hackaday, powered by a Raspberry Pi PICO!
This is an ongoing project, so expect more details and instructions on Hackaday. Also follow bobricious’ GitHub here.
image source: Hackaday
What an absolute blast from the past this is! We absolutely love raw VHS video footage, especially the kind from the early 1980s!
We commend the Bally’s Aladdin’s Castle employee that had the foresight to film inside the arcade centre, filled with absolute classic arcade and pinball machines, that one day this video would be cherished by a generation (or two) of gamers across the globe! This is what a throwback Thursday should be like every week.
Sit back and enjoy this 15 minute trip down nostalgia lane…..
source: Jon Exidy Jamshid
It’s spring time! What better way to welcome the warmer weather than to delve into a deep corner of our retro gaming vault and dig up a few nostalgia inducing images from our past!
For September, we have your nostalgia covered with Neo Geo, Vectrex, PC-Engine, Commodore 64, Atari Jaguar and old school Nintendo items to name just a few! Enjoy the trip down memory lane and we’ll see you next month for more vault shenanigans!
All images are copyright of ausretrogamer
As we come out of a long (southern hemisphere) winter, we look long and hard into the vastness of our retro gaming vault and come out with a number of juicy nostalgia-inducing classic gaming bits and pieces, starting with a couple of pretty cool, but useless NES peripherals!
We also have the mighty Neo Geo featured this month, with its interchangeable console and arcade memory card that we use on our AES and MVS. For the Nintendo fans, we have DK on the NES and a snippet of Super Mario World (you gotta look hard). For the really old school fans we have the Futuretronics Galaxy Invader 1000 tabletop and the cool Space Shuttle Game Watch we used to love strutting at school. The Contra lads make an appearance as well, as does the DynoVisor VR headset we use on the PC-Engine. Last but not least, our all time fave C64 compilation.
Enjoy the nostalgia and we”ll see what we find in the vault next month!
All images are copyright of ausretrogamer
Do you wanna rock your kitchen with this set of nostalgia inducing kitchen sponges?
Being from a certain generation, we love cassettes, so the look of these classic mix tapes cassette sponges are right up our alley! The detail on the cassettes are so cool, with mix tape graffiti style scrawling on each sponge with clever titles like; “Spruce Springclean”, “‘NSink”, “Sponge N’ Hoses”, and “Greasy Boys” – so punny!
The mix tapes cassette sponges are sold as a pack of four inside a retro-style boombox case! Let’s just say that this will make cleaning more fun!
image source: genuinefred