PAX Australia

Classic Gaming at PAX Aus 2018 – It’ll Be Intoxicating Nostalgia!

October 3, 2018 By ausretrogamer

With the imminent 6^th iteration of PAX Aus, we are in the final stages of planning for our Classic Gaming area. The team is working extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure you get a nice juicy hit of nostalgia come late October! As the saying goes, the Classic Gaming area will be bigger, badder and better in 2018.

If you’ve never visited the Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus, then perhaps our trip down memory lane may motivate you to get your retro gaming on, from our humble beginnings at the inaugural PAX Aus 2013 at the Showgrounds to our 5^th showing in a row at the greatest event in the southern hemisphere.

Hopefully we will see a lot of you there in a few short weeks – make sure you say hi!

PAX Aus Classic Gaming highlights from:

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is brought to you by: Ausretrogamer, Press Play on Tape Podcast, Weird and Retro, Bartronica, Zax Amusements, Bayside Pinball Club and Pinmem.

ReedPOP & EB Games partner up for PAX Aus 2018 featuring EB Expo

March 14, 2018 By ausretrogamer

THIS IS BIG NEWS PEEPS!

PAX Aus and EB Expo, the biggest gaming shows in the southern hemisphere, are teaming up to create the ultimate celebration of games and gaming culture at PAX Aus 2018.

This partnership will bring the world-class features of EB Expo to PAX Aus and include a dedicated area for the biggest game publishers to showcase upcoming titles, developer presentations, and Australia’s biggest pop-up EB Games store.

PAX Aus will take place from 26-28 Oct. at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and feature games and content from over 180 companies from around the world.

PS: Don’t stress, the Classic Gaming Area will return again at PAX Aus 2018!

The Other Sights At PAX Aus 2017

November 8, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Before you ask, yes, we did manage (somehow) to venture outside of the Classic Gaming area and hit the main expo hall (and more) at PAX Aus 2017!

Here is what we saw…

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!

Look, this is where we are!

Almost there. Oh wait, we know this guy – it’s Mr Ant Stiller!

We have arrived!

On the way to the pinball section and look who we run into – Melbourne Silverball & Head2Head Pinball’s Marto!

Love this machine, again!

PAX Aus 2017 Cosplay

November 3, 2017 By ausretrogamer

One of the main highlights at every PAX Aus is the cosplay. Even if you weren’t there this past weekend, you will definitely appreciate the awesome cosplay highlights package we have for you here – and to think, this was only the tip of the great cosplay iceberg!

Overwatch cosplay was well represented!

A bunch of Links. Now, to find Zelda!

Weird and Retro’s Kelly-Maree as Lollipop Chainsaw’s Juliet Starling

Press Play On Tape’s Phoebe as ‘The Puppet’ – FNaF2

Dragonair!

Of course we were bound to find a super couple

Skyrim by the awesome Combustible Props and Zel T

Zel T is gonna get ya!

A close cut!

2B (Nier Automata)

Even Pyramid Head makes friends with Nintendo characters

Nintendo Man?

Blathers and Celeste flew to PAX Aus too!

Sewn Chaos Orianna – Legendary indeed!

Cross-Cosplay = Roadhog (Overwatch) and Deadpool!

photos by: Alan Ly and ms. ausretrogamer

Classic Gaming Returns To PAX

October 20, 2017 By ausretrogamer

image source: PAX Australia

We are back, baby! Not much more needs to be said!

We are proud to be bringing the Classic Gaming area yet again to PAX Aus in 2017. Together with our fellow retroholics, Weird and Retro and Press Play On Tape, this will be our 5^th (consecutive) year that we will be bringing you a hit of nostalgia at PAX!

But that’s not all! Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, Pinmem, Zax Amusements and Melbourne Silverball will also have their arcade and pinball machines for you to indulge your nostalgic senses. We hope to see you all there (and don’t be shy, come and say hi!).

If you want to get your classic gaming competitive juices flowing, then check out our tournament schedule. If you want to attend a great retro gaming panel, then diarise Saturday 5:30pm in the Gamespot theatre for a Blast from the Past!

PAX Aus 2017 Tournaments

October 6, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Woohoo, the PAX Aus 2017 Tournaments have just been announced!

If your preference is to compete on old school consoles, 8-bit computers, handhelds, arcade and pinball machines, then the PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming Tournaments will be right up your nostalgic alley.

Check out the Classic Gaming tournament schedule below and make sure you come to the Classic Gaming Area nice and early to ensure you do not miss out. What are you waiting for? Put these times in your diary and get practising!

The PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming Tournaments are brought to you by these awesome community partners: Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, Melbourne Silverball, Pinmem, Press Play On Tape Podcast, Weird And Retro and us at Ausretrogamer.

The Classic PAX Aus 2017 Ticket Giveaway

September 27, 2017 By ausretrogamer

*** THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED ***

Wanna go to PAX Aus 2017? Do you want an easy way to enter a ticket giveaway? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you are in luck!

Thanks to our great friends at PAX Aus, we have 3 x double passes for Sunday (October 29) to attend one of the biggest and best gaming events in the southern hemisphere. To score one of these double passes all you have to do is tweet us your favourite retro gaming item(s) – be it a console, computer, game or accessory, we want to see what tickles your nostalgic nerve. Don’t forget to tag us in your tweet and use the hashtags #PAXAus and #ausretrogamer.

It doesn’t get any easier than that! So get cracking on photographing those retro gaming items, as entries close on October 4th at 8:00pm!

If you need convincing of how great PAX Aus is, then check out last year’s event.

For those of you that like to read T&Cs, here are the finer details of this most awesome giveaway:

Entries open to Australian residents only
Entries close on Wednesday October 4, 2017 at 8:00pm
To enter the giveaway, tweet us your retro gaming photos with the appropriate hashtags (#PAXAus and #ausretrogamer) and tag @ausretrogamer and @PAXAus
Entrants must follow ausretrogamer (to receive a DM if you are the winner!)
Winners will be notified via Direct Message (DM)
Winners will receive their tickets in the post (via Australia Post)
The winners (if interstate) will be responsible in arranging their own transport and accommodation in Melbourne

PAX Aus 2017 is on from October 27 to 29 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets / Badges are available here.

PAX Australia 2017 Dates Announced

February 16, 2017 By ausretrogamer

Woohoo, we finally have news of the PAX Australia 2017 dates!

PAX Australia will take place 27-29 October 2017 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and tickets are scheduled to go on sale 14 March, 2017.

Early bird tickets will save you $5 AUD on the full ticket price. Friday Only, Saturday Only, and Sunday Only tickets will cost $65 AUD. Three Day Passes (including International Three Day passes) will cost $165 AUD. Attendees wishing to bring their own computer, can also purchase a BYOC pass for an additional $45 AUD.

“Australia’s gaming community has given PAX such an incredible home here,” said Jerry Holkins, co-founder of PAX and Penny Arcade. “This year will see the fifth PAX Aus erupt in Melbourne, and there’s every indication it will be the best one yet.”

We can’t wait to get stuck into creating a bigger and better Classic Gaming Area at PAX Aus 2017. We hope to see you all there!

PAX Aus: It’s All About The People

November 15, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Sure, there’s always heaps to see and do at PAX Aus (more and more each year it seems!), but the best part is always the people – meeting new people and catching up with old friends. We had many laughs, hugs, handshakes and great conversations over the course of PAX Aus 2016 – here a just a few of the wonderful people we caught up with.

Many of the great people from Ausretrogamer, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro, Bartronica, Zax Amusements, Pinmem and the Bayside Pinball Club who worked with PAX to bring you the CGA

The CGA enforcer team was fantastic (again) this year – here are just a few

A special thanks to the fabulous CGA Enforcer Team Leader – Zailee (thanks also to Spyder!)

Look who stopped by the CGA to chat with Glenn – none other than Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, PAX Aus Content Manager

… or is it Gabby Boreland?

Glenn and Zailee

The ausretrogamer team – Alex Boz, Kerith (ms ausretrogamer), Alan Ly and Brant Raven

Alex with Weird and Retro‘s Serby

Greg and Josh from Bartronica

Retro Domination’s Matt and Daz…

…and Mark and Peter

‘We’re just making sure they work!’ Weird and Retro‘s Dr Curlytek with Scott Kellett and Pete

Bayside Pinball Club President – Lucas Bardin

Lucas with pinball wizards Nick Hamhougias and Wal Dickie

Group shot with some of our interstate friends – MeezerMummy and Lord Panek from Sydney plus artist, DM, retro game developer and top hat wearer Mr Ant Stiller from Brisbane

Ant with bro Grant, or ‘Granthony’

Nick with Melbourne Silverball League‘s Martin Robbins

Paul and Hoa – Weird and Retro

Aaron from Press Play on Tape Podcast and the adorable Phoebe

Aaron and Phoebe with fellow Tasmanians Tehkella and Damian

Chris Van Graas very kindly loaned some amazing items for the CGA retro museum, including Mel Croucher’s ZX Spectrum used to code ‘Deus Ex Machina’ and Chris Huelsbeck’s MIDI sampler used to create the famous music for ‘Turrican’

Chris also introduced us to three metre pizzas!

Alex with passionate classic gamer, Harmik

Retrogamer and artist Sean Tagg with the awesome Henry

Pinball prodigy Jordan ‘JTH’ Tredaway and family

The talented costume and prop-makers from Combustible Props

Bethesda ANZ Community Manager Noel Wheatley, CNET Editor Seamus Byrne and Stacey Borg (Dr Curlytek) with Alex pre-panel (‘Geek Trash or Treasure? Finding Collectibles with Real Value‘)

Seamus also stopped by the CGA for quick game

Some friendly faces in the ‘Geek Trash or Treasure’ audience – Serby, Skye, Alan, Aaron, Damian and Tehkella

Selfie with Frank and Lauren from Mana Mojo
(Photo from Mana Mojo)

Great pic of tech journalist Adam Turner and son

Shane Rubans, Marcus Sezenov (Rosstown Retro Pinball Arcade) and Luke Marburg

John and Ryan Sozanski

Alex with Hal, Kale and Kevin Tilley (Reset magazine)

Sairuk with Aaron

Alex with Kelly (Weird and Retro) and Andrew Owen

Tamagotchi!

Alex with Adam Renardson, Content Services Manager PlayStation Australia

Developer and YouTuber Rob Caporetto with programmer and CGA enforcer Rajesh Singh

Raj, Rob, Kevin and Chris

Rob in super-cool mode!

The most triumphant moment of PAX Aus 2016 – collecting our ‘PAX XP’ PAX Aus towels (thanks to Alan for doing most of the legwork):
(Photo from Meezergal)

PAX Aus 2016 was a blast – and spending time with awesome people was really what made it. We’re already looking forward to 2017, can’t wait to see you there!

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer 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

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