Old School

Digitiser: The Show – Proper Retro Gaming TV

March 13, 2018 By ausretrogamer

Does Paul Rose (aka: Mr Biffo) really need an introduction? If so, then hang your head in shame! OK, if you really don’t know, for whatever reason, we won’t judge (Ed: oh yes we will!). Anyway, here is the 101 on Paul Rose – Going by his alter ego, Mr. Biffo, he is the creator and chief writer of legendary teletext games magazine Digitiser, which ran in the UK between 1993 to 2003. These days, he mostly writes for kids TV but can still be found rambling on about games, old and new on his daily website, Digitiser2000.com. You can thank Wikipedia and Retro Gamer (magazine) for this mashed Paul Rose bio.

So why all the excitement and the soiled undies you may ask? Well, Mr Biffo has a Kickstarter that will tickle your retro gaming and funny bone. Digitiser: The Show, will be a proper retro gaming tv series, with top notch production value that will blow your 8-bit minds! Rather than spin a yarn on here, why don’t you check out the Kickstarter campaign and judge for yourself as to why THIS MUST HAPPEN!

Oh yeah, since Digitiser: The Show campaign has blown past its target goal, Mr Biffo has kindly thrown together a handy grid showing which rewards are available with which tier – so check it out, pledge hard or go play with your broken yo-yo!

source: Digitiser2000

The Legend Of Zorba

February 26, 2018 By ausretrogamer

Kevin Lieber of Vsauce2 fame checks out the old, interesting and weirdly obscure 10kg portable CP/M machine, the Zorba!

Now imagine lugging this beast around to play video games like Zork! That is exactly what Kevin does as he dives into the complexity of this early text adventure which paved the way for the Skyrims and Witchers of today 😉

source: Vsauce2

2018 Reset64 4KB ‘Craptastic’ Game Competition

February 22, 2018 By ausretrogamer

We’re excited to announce the 2018 Reset C64 4KB game coding competition. This year’s competition theme is once again…. Craptastic!

“What the bloom’n heck does craptastic mean?”, I hear you ask.

It certainly doesn’t mean crap, although it can! Craptastic can mean ludicrous, bonkers, outrageous, funny, wacky, far out, and silly. The theme simply implies that the compo is just for a bit of fun, not a serious coding competition. You are more than welcome to make an excellent game to submit for the compo. Your game may contain some humour or silliness to fit more with the theme, but it doesn’t have to!

2016 Craptastic Comp Winner: Goblin by Vanja Utne / Pond Software

In the 2016 competition, some entries were truly excellent, others excellent but silly, others truly awful but funny! It’s just a chance for people to do something a little different if they wish and explore ideas/concepts that wouldn’t normally work well in a more serious compo.

Please remember that this competition is limited to 4KB. Yes, any entry submitted can be no more than 4KB when compressed. If your game is more than 1 file, then all the files put together must not exceed the 4KB limit.

We want craptastic game entries! Remember, the key word here is fun! We want both coders and players alike to have fun and enjoy this comp!

Submit your entries to RESET (via email) by 30th June, 2018 (23:59 GMT).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RULES

Basic rules are as follows:

The competition deadline is 23:59 GMT on the 30^th June, 2018. All entries to be submitted to [email protected])
All entrants must register at [email protected]
Entrants are free to preview screenshots and videos of their game(s) to other publications/websites.
The competition will only begin when there are at least 5 registered entrants.
All submitted games MUST be 4KB or less, compressed, and executable on a stock C64 on either or each of tape, disk and cartridge. Your submission may have a separate docs file (either as a C64 executable or a txt file, which doesn’t count towards the 4KB cap).
The games must be previously unreleased and your own work, whether that be by yourself or as part of a collaboration.
PAL must be supported, with additional NTSC support optional (but encouraged).
Participants may submit multiple entries, either as an individual or within a team. Team entries must be registered by an individual, and any potential prizes will be sent to the registered individual only.
All applicants that submit a valid entry will be featured within the next issue of RESET magazine.
Entries should be submitted exclusively to RESET by the competition deadline. Please feel free to share as you wish after the competition has ended (after the compo deadline has passed).
There will be a panel of judges (TBA), and entries will be scored on a point distribution basis across several criteria. The decision of the panel is final.
Judges *CAN* enter games themselves, but cannot self-vote (award points to their own release).
Games must be submitted as freeware.
Games will be published (not necessarily exclusively) on a future Reset Mix-i-disk for the whole world to enjoy, after the competition has concluded, and may be included on a future cartridge compilation.

4th place in the 2016 Craptastic Comp: Bonkey Kong by Graham Axten / Pond Software

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SCORING SYSTEM

The scoring rules are very simple. Depending on the number of entries, the judges will award points to each game over several criteria (as discussed below). If there are 6 entries, 6 points go to the best, then 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 to the worst.

If a panel member has entered a game themselves, then the number of points that they can award will be adjusted (in this example, to 5) and they will not score their own release.

The criteria that each game will be evaluated on are:

Originality – New idea or “rip off”? Off the wall ideas encouraged.
Concept – Quality of game design, is it fun, is it bonkers, is it craptastic?
Execution – Execution of design, taking into account controls, NTSC/GS compatibility.
Presentation – Quality of graphics, audio and overall presentation. Supremely bad can be seen as a positive in some cases!
Gameplay – A measure of how enjoyable the game is to play.
Lasting Appeal – replay value, addictiveness.
OMG factor – when you see it, do you think “wtf!?” This is the true measure of craptasticness!

When the panel has scored each game accordingly, the totals for each criteria will be divided by the number of judges to produce a mean average. These averages are then added together for each game to give a final score.

CSDB will not be used for voting. Also, entries should not be uploaded to CSDB, or elsewhere until after the competition has closed. Feel free to post screenshots or info though.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRIZES

A craptastic gaming comp requires craptastic prizes, right? Actual prizes and more sponsors will be announced soon!

For now, a big thank-you to the following sponsors for their support.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Keep an eye on the Reset64 Facebook page for more information.
If you would like to sponsor a prize, please get in touch!

So, what are you waiting for? Get coding, and remember, have fun!!

Previous competition (to help you get inspired): http://csdb.dk/event/?id=2483

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unkle K / Reset C64
Father, husband, teacher and retro gaming/computer enthusiast! Editor of Reset… C64 magazine.

Follow Reset C64 on Twitter

Best Atari Jaguar Games

February 7, 2018 By ausretrogamer

If we had a dollar for every time we have been asked to list our favourite Atari Jaguar games, well, we’d be able to buy a few Snickers bars. Jesting aside, you can stop Googling for the ‘best atari jaguar games‘ as we present to you, the definitive list (in no particular order) of the best Atari Jaguar games of all time*

*List may change when another awesome Jag homebrew title is released!

Before you get all, “But where the hell is AVP?”, relax, it’s a great game, so it makes the honorary list:

Total Carnage
Defender 2000
Alice’s Mom’s Rescue
Hyper Force
Rebooteroids
Super Burnout
Alien Vs Predator

So there you have it. What do you reckon, agree or disagree? What are your fave Atari Jaguar games?

PS: If you want to have a robust discussion about our choices, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.

Replicade X Tempest Mini Arcade Machine: The Early Bird Catches The Cool Worm

February 2, 2018 By ausretrogamer

If you were like us, you may have backed New Wave Toys’ first Kickstarter which was a Replicade Centipede mini arcade machine.

When we got the note that their Replicade X Tempest mini arcade was now live on Kickstarter, we jumped on it right away! Yes, we broke our first New Year’s resolution – no backing Kickstarters in 2018, but we made an exception for this, cause it is that good.

The Replicade X Tempest Kickstarter has already blown past its goal, so this will happen and we can’t wait! For everyone that went gaga at our photos of the insert coin light up keychain, here is your chance to grab one by backing this campaign with as little as $25USD.

Instead of regurgitating all about New Wave Toys’ Replicade X Tempest mini arcade right here, why don’t you go and check out the Kickstarter now and decide for yourself.

source: Replicade X Tempest on Kickstarter

Double Dragon: Busting Heads For 30 years

December 12, 2017 By ausretrogamer

If you have been with us since we began our retro gaming journey, you’d know that we are huge Double Dragon fans, especially the arcade game!

Speaking of the arcade, would you believe that Double Dragon is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year! It’s amazing that after three decades, this game is still being talked about with such affection.

Kung-Fu Master and Renegade may have preceded it, but Double Dragon was the first co-operative beat’em up on the arcade block. Who could forget the two Lee brothers punching, kicking, elbowing Black Warrior thugs to get to their damsel in distress. Let’s not spoil it for those that haven’t finished the game, but let’s just say that brotherly love doesn’t count.

Being the first co-op beat’em up game, Double Dragon paved the way for all that came after it and kickstarted the golden age of the beat’em up. Long live Double Dragon!

Interesting fact: Double Dragon’s arcade board is quite complex – instead of utilising an expensive 16-Bit CPU, the game runs on two 8-Bit CPUs with a third CPU dedicated to sound! How ingenuous!

Review of the Official SNK Book – NEOGEO: A Visual History

November 28, 2017 By ausretrogamer

When you grab hold of a tome by Bitmap Books you immediately feel its quality in your hands. Like every other Bitmap Books publication, the high standard in aesthetics extends to great content within.

We found that with each page turn of the NEO-GEO: A Visual History book our pupils were dilating in joy at the eye popping and gorgeous visuals (the photography and artwork throughout this book is simply sublime) and the content on each page, like the rare interviews with key SNK staff (Yasuyuki Oda, Tatsuhiko Kanaoka and Hideki Asanaka) and the brilliant master games list for NEO-GEO, among other great content, simply elevates the book to bible status.

It is easy to see that the NEO-GEO: A Visual History book was a labour of love for its creators. The loving and painstaking detail that has gone into each of the 400 pages makes the reader stop and absorb it all before turning to the next eye popping page. With SNK’s official blessing, this is the one and only definitive English language book you will ever need based on the great NEO-GEO video game line, from the MVS, AES, CD to the Hyper 64 and NEO-GEO Pocket systems, and the aforementioned master games list. This book will be a permanent fixture on your coffee table for ease of access to great content and reference (oh yeah, and to show off its beauty to your friends).

If you are a NEO-GEO fan (or even if you are not!) or know of someone that is a NEO-GEO fan, this book is an absolute MUST GET! With Christmas around the corner, you can’t go wrong with this as a gift for yourself or for that SNK fan you know will appreciate this fantastic publication.

If you can only buy one video games related book this year, then let me make your decision quite easy, get NEO-GEO: A Visual History now!

NEO-GEO: A Visual History Collector’s Edition is available from:

Pixel Crib $109.99 AUD (free Australia-wide delivery)

What you get in the NEO-GEO: A Visual History Collector’s Edition:

The book comes protected in a full-colour heavy duty board slipcase
A set of 5 high quality A4 art prints protected within a card wallet
Comes with a 25mm black plated soft enamel pin badge
A sticker set comprising 2 A6 stickers of famous Neo-Geo logos

You better hurry, as the Collector’s Edition book is in limited quantity and will never be produced again!

The NEOGEO: A Visual History book (only) is available from:

Bitmap Books £29.99 GBP (free UK delivery)

Do yourself a favour and get this now. You won’t regret it!

NEOGEO: A Visual History was supplied for review by Bitmap Books and Pixel Crib

Super Size Me: Mega Nintendo Game & Watch Octopus

November 21, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Remember when you carried your Nintendo Game & Watch (or the equivalent knock-off) in your pants pocket?

Now try and imagine putting this mega (193cm by 116cm) Nintendo Game & Watch Octopus in your pocket and then whipping it out for a quick play – your friends would have been thoroughly impressed 😉

This gigantic Game & Watch is the brainchild of computer scientists and one clever Australian, The Tominator – Dr Thomas Tilley. This would have blown our mind back in the day, as it does right now! Awesome stuff indeed.

source: WithProfessorTom

Galencia Blasts Onto Your C64

November 15, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Fire up your trusty Commodore 64 and grab Jason Aldred’s brilliant new shoot’em up Galencia.

For those that have been away on Mars and have just landed back on Earth, Galencia is a fast action shoot ’em up for the C64 in the mould of Galaga, but even better! Yes, it is that good that we reckon it is even better than Galaga – there, we said it.

Galencia features 50 action packed levels with asteroid fields, challenging stages, boss battles, ebb and flow difficulty curve and siren enemy with tractor beam for double ship action (Ed: oo’er!). The game includes gorgeous intro, launch and completion sequences, coupled with 6 unique SID chiptunes for your aural pleasure.

Blast-Off!

But wait, there is more! In-game options include:

Load, Save and Reset High Scores
Extensive CRT options including 3 levels of Starfield Brightness
3 different Score Palettes
Tournament Mode
Music and Simultaneous Sound Effects or Sound Effects only
3 selectable difficulty levels; and
Pause and Quit game options

There are many great people behind great games, just like the peeps that had a hand in creating Galencia. We can all thank these talented group of people for making such a wonderful and sublime game:

Jason Aldred: programming and graphics
Pulsebot: all music and some sound effects
Saul Cross: additional graphics and sound effects
Lobo: physical artwork including box and manual
Mark Hardisty: manual back cover illustration
Flemming Dupont: concept art
Jakob Chen-Voos: Protovison

Even the great Julian ‘Jaz’ Rignall gives his sizzling approval!

You can grab the digital version right now via itch.io for US$4.99 (which is an absolute steal!), or for the more traditionalists among us, Galencia will be available on physical media from Friday, November 17 via Protovision Games, just take a look at these tangible temptations:

Cassette (without box) €10.00 – comes on a green cassette with a j-card that can be flipped around for an alternative cover picture. The tape comes in a neon green jewel case (front side is fully transparent, only back is neon green).
Cassette (boxed) €30.00
Disk (boxed) €30.00
Cartridge (boxed) €40.00
Disk and Cartridge Special Edition (boxed) €50.00

All boxed editions of Galencia will come in a fully printed cardboard box with custom inlays to hold the disk, tape or cartridge, which will also include:

a full colour manual with 16 carefully designed pages (A5 sized),
Galencia coaster with a scratch free glass surface,
Bee key ring that can serve you as a trophy when you battle against vermin,
Big Galencia sticker that you can stick on your disk sleeve if you have the disk version; and
While stocks last – the first 200 boxed version orders will receive an additional small Galencia sticker!

With the Disk and Cartridge special edition, both physical media will be in the one box with all of the above inclusions, plus a space amulet that is much needed in higher levels of Galencia, as it has been reported to promote good fortune!

Oh yeah, the game works on both PAL and NTSC C64 computers, with all physical editions containing the tape and disk digital images. If you don’t have a C64, then emulation is fully supported through VICE.

So what are you waiting for, go and pilot the 1981 Galencia Fighter to restore order, before it’s too late!

The game is never over!

The eyes have it!

Credit where credit is due

Tough choice – will you grab Galencia on cart?

On disk?

Or on tape? The choice is yours (you can’t go wrong!)

Time to squash some bugs!

Go on, get blastin’

image source: Jason Aldred – Galencia HQ

PAX Aus 2017 Was A Classic!

November 6, 2017 By ausretrogamer

For a 5th year in a row, the PAX Aus Classic Gaming area proved yet again to be a popular spot for families, friends, kids, teenagers and people of all other ages wanting to get their hit of nostalgia.

The Classic Gaming area had it all – consoles, computers, handhelds, arcade and pinball machines. And for the more competitive types, there were tournaments to show-off their old school skills, like Press Play On Tape’s International Karate comp on the Commodore 64.

The museum displays had visitors intrigued, from Weird and Retro’s awesomely rare Atari pieces (like that cool Atari baseball and patches!) and Lord Sugar’s Amstrad micros, to our custom built Neo Geo MVS console and games.

In the arcade area, Greg Pell and Bartronica had curated some very cool and rare machines, like an original 3-player Rampage and a Ms Pac-Man. But once again, it was the fighting machines (Mortal Kombat II) and the gun games (Point Blank and Time Crisis) that proved quite popular.

As proven in previous years, pinball is getting a lot of attention, and rightly so. Skott Kellett assembled some absolute beautiful pinball machines with the help of the great pinball community – Bayside Pinball Club, Pinmem, Melbourne Silverball, Mr. Pinball and Zax Amusements. There were machines older than most players playing them and there were machines from Stern and Jersey Jack that had just been released. You would have been hard pressed not to have found a machine you would’ve liked to flip on.

The Classic Gaming area will be back bigger and better for PAX Aus 2018. For now, enjoy these photo highlights!