pinball

PAXAus 2016: Classic Gaming Tournaments

October 25, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Attention gamers: Sharpen your gaming skills now and prove your retro gaming worth in the Classic Gaming tournaments at PAXAus 2016. As usual, you can compete for fun or glory!

There will be head to head racing, high score challenge competitions on arcade machines, consoles, 8-bit computers and pinball tables to show off your prowess. Speaking of pinball tournaments, Saturday’s competition will be fully sanctioned by the IFPA!

We suggest you put the Classic Gaming tournament schedule in your diary right now. Are you game to compete?

Keeping the Ball Alive: 30 Years of Stern Pinball

October 21, 2016 By ausretrogamer

STOP THE PRESS! If you have been looking for a coffee table art book with an inside look at the world’s largest pinball manufacturer, then this Stern Pinball Inc. and PaperFlock collaborative Kickstarter is for you!

Presenting Keeping the Ball Alive: 30 Years of Stern Pinball, a commemorative coffee table art book that will give fans an inside look at the history, design, production, and manufacturing of pinball machines, as well as the people behind them! The 200-page coffee table book will feature over 160 photo pages, colour foldouts, and artwork from thirty years of games. Alongside the photos and artwork will be interviews with important game designers like John Trudeau, Steve Ritchie, George Gomez, John Borg, and many more!

The Book!

To make it even sweeter, fans/backers will get a chance to become part of the books production through PaperFlock’s unique crowd collaboration process. Content will be crafted with input from the projects forum on PaperFlock.com. This gives fans a real sense of ownership in the project. With unprecedented access provided by Stern, there surely will become a highly sort after pinball tome.

The Kickstarter campaign is live and will run for a few weeks yet. So check it out, there are plenty of pledges and rewards to tickle your pinball fancy!

Behind the scenes: Stern prototypes

The Rewards!

We had to back it!

source: Stern Pinball Inc. and Keeping The Ball Alive – Kickstarter

Get Ready For Some Classic Gaming At PAX Aus 2016

October 19, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Get your nostalgic senses ready, as the PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is back, bigger and better for 2016! We say this every year, but this year is no exception – there will be games that will take you back to your younger years, and you never know, you may discover golden oldies that you may have not known or had forgotten about.

With systems like the Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Dreamcast and the NEC PC-Engine (to name just a few) to tickle your retro gaming fancy, your only problem will be, what to to play first!

If you want a trip down memory lane while at PAX Aus 2016, then make sure you come on over to the Classic Gaming area!

One fire button is all you need to play on the Commodore 64!

Anyone up for some Alex Kidd action?

Shoot’em up action on the Engine that could!

Let’s go make some crazy money!

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is proudly brought to you by: ausretrogamer, Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, PinballScore, Pinmem, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro and Zax Amusements.

Jersey Jack Pinball Announces The Future Of Pinball

October 14, 2016 By ausretrogamer

As we had predicted in our Pinball Expo 2016 feature, Jersey Jack Pinball have announced their newest machines, and let’s just say, they have hit it out of the proverbial park!

Jersey Jack’s new machines will definitely be making history by being right on the bleeding edge of pinball design! First up, Pat Lawlor’s Dialed In. The legendary designer’s highly anticipated, original concept game will be the first pinball machine to feature Bluetooth® connectivity, a camera and additional player capabilities through a smartphone! The other special features of Dialed In will make your head spin, like the swivelling LCD mount, hidden trap door and the 3D interactive projected image to name just a few. Dialed In will come in two different variants, a Collector’s and Limited Editions.

The second machine announced is their Black Arrow Special Edition, named after the arrow that defeats Smaug™ in the acclaimed The Hobbit™ film trilogy. Special features include Black Arrow track mode animation, Black Ink body armour, black pinballs, gold Smaug™ character and plenty more to keep you excited. We honestly can’t wait to find out more about this one!

Pat Lawlor and Jersey Jack’s Jack Guarnieri proudly show-off Dialed In

The Dialed In playfield looks very inviting!

Oh that RGB lighting is gorgeous!

Who you gonna call? Jersey Jack Pinball!

Do as Bob says, visit him when flashing!

Get your smartphones ready, pinball wizards!

Holy black pinballs!
source: Jersey Jack Pinball

Pinball Expo 2016

October 10, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Pinball Expo 2016 is almost upon us! the 32nd Pinball Expo will take place from October 12 to 16 at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois. The expo will be jam-packed with new pinball machine reveals. Being the biggest Pinball Expo to date, expect the major pinball industry players to showcase their latest (and future) wares.

Here is what you can expect from the big boys (if you are one of the lucky attendees):

American Pinball:

The newest kid on the pinball block will showcase their first game, Houdini Master Mystery.

Dutch Pinball:

The diverse Dutch group of pinball maestros will have their much anticipated The Big Lebowski machine on display.

Heighway Pinball:

The UK pinball manufacturer will finally reveal Alien.

Jersey Jack Pinball:

The crew that brought us the brilliant The Wizard Of Oz and The Hobbit machines have been busy tinkering on their much anticipated 3rd machine, designed by the veteran pinball designer, Pat Lawlor.

Multimorphic:

The company behind the P3 Pinball Platform will show their latest version of the Lexy Lighspeed machine. They will also have the mini games from the Texas Pinball Festival from earlier in the year.

Planetary Pinball / Chicago Gaming:

With their extremely popular Medieval Madness Remake still high in demand, the Californian based company is teaming up with Chicago Gaming yet again for their second title! All be revealed at Pinball Expo.

Spooky Pinball:

The Wisconsin pinball makers will be busy showing their Rob Zombie Spookshow International, Domino’s Spectacular Pinball Adventure and possibly news on future titles!

Stern Pinball Inc:

Last but not least, the biggest pinball manufacturer of them all, Stern Pinball, will be revealing their Batman 66 machine. This will be Stern’s first game utilising a full colour LCD replacing the dot-matrix display. The game will feature a second smaller LCD on the playfield as well. The Batman 66 design team will be headed by George Gomez, with Lyman Sheats taking care of programming and artwork featuring Christopher Franchi’s impressions. The game will borrow heavily from the Batman The Dark Knight (2008) playfield, including the crane, but the left side of the playfield will be totally redesigned.

The other Stern pinball machine to be featured at Pinball Expo will be the Pabst “Can Crusher”.

image source: multiple – supplied

Thrill Of The Chase: The Walking Dead Pinball

September 21, 2016 By ausretrogamer

It’s true what they say: it really is better to give than to receive. And that’s what makes this ‘Thrill Of The Chase‘ extra special, because I was chasing something for a very important person (hint: her name rhymes with Ms Ausretrogamer).

Ms Ausretrogamer loves ‘The Walking Dead‘ and she loves to play pinball, so we’re always on the lookout for TWD tables to play. We’ve travelled far and wide in our quest to kill those zombies, and we’re yet to get tired of it. It’s such a fun table, whether your a newbie or a wizard. So, while watching Ms Ausretrogamer clearing the prison yard and unleashing the Well Walker multi-ball, I made a decision – I had to get her a TWD pinball table of her own! But with only six months until her birthday, I had to move fast.

Searching far and wide, the pinball machine was secured. The next part of the plan was to get it delivered and setup without Ms Ausretrogamer’s knowledge. To keep her off the scent, a decoy birthday gift was created.

With everything in its place, it was time to execute Project Happy Birthday. Ms ausretrogamer was presented with the diorama, where not even Rick Grimes playing a Twilight Zone pinball machine gave her any indication of what was to come! Under the ruse of checking out the birthday decorations in the games room, the surprise was revealed and the look on Ms Ausretrogamer’s face was priceless! That’s when I knew, this thrill of the chase was totally worth it.

The decoy gift

Rearranging the fun factory

Space cleared next to Pin*Bot

The careful delivery – thanks to Skooota and Tony!

The surprise is set!

Even the machine knows it’s an important day!

Surprise!

Film Review: Wizard Mode

July 22, 2016 By ausretrogamer

There is something enticing about pinball – the flashing lights, pop bumpers, drop targets and the challenge of playing better in each game seems to draw people from all walks of life. Among the top tier pinball players in North America, there is one name that constantly stands out, Robert Emilio Gagno. Through his dedication to pinball, Robert has won many a tournaments and competitions and now strives for the ultimate pinball reward, Wizard Mode. Oh, and Robert happens to have autism.

Wizard Mode is a candid personal perspective on autism through the life of the current world champion of pinball. The film follows Robert as he seeks to balance his quest to become a world pinball champion and his growing real world responsibilities, culminating in the largest pinball tournament at the world, Pinburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA.

We laughed, we cried, we cheered, we applauded, and most importantly, we were inspired by Robert Gagno’s story to become (spoiler alert), the pinball champion and a champion in life! Robert has definitely achieved Wizard Mode and the filmmakers from Vimeo and Salazar Film have hit the Super Jackpot!

Currently available on Vimeo in the U.S. and Canada. Wizard Mode will be available worldwide later this year.

source: Wizard Mode Film

PinCade: All-In-One Pinball Arcade Machine

July 15, 2016 By ausretrogamer

If you are a keen arcade and pinball gamer and you don’t have the space in your home to cram a bunch of machines, perhaps this PinCade – an all-in-one pinball and arcade machine is your answer!

The PinCade is currently available on eBay and is going for a pretty penny (or best offer). If you factor in all of the pinball machines you can play (yep, we are well aware that they are digital) and all vertically oriented arcade games, then this machine becomes a pretty good proposition. It also doesn’t hurt that it looks damn awesome! Ah, if only we had the funds to add this to our games room.

Oo’er, are you scared stiff?

Choose your pinball table!

Flippin hell, it’s Indy!

Once you are done playing pinball, get some Pac-Man into ya!

If Pac-Man is not to your liking, then perhaps some shmup action!

source: eBay

Highlights: Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2016

June 13, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Oz Comic-Con commanded us to ‘unleash your inner geek’ – and we were very happy to oblige. We came, we saw, we played, and we conquered Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2016.

From the awesome cosplay (which never ceases to amaze us!), freeplay gaming areas, fantastic artists, comics and pop culture gear, to the TV/movie superstar celebrities (like Lucy Lawless, John ‘Captain Jack Harkness’ Barrowman, Robert Patrick, David Anders and Rose McIver) – Oz Comic-Con 2016 had something for everyone.

Of course we spent a considerable amount of time in the gaming zone – the Spider-Man Vault Edition pinball machine in particular – but we were also sure to check out the rest of the con. We walked the floor and were thoroughly impressed with the range and quality of cosplay as well as the stunning artwork on show.

Rather than waffle on, we thought we would let our photos give you a glimpse into what was an awesome Oz Comic-Con!

We hope Mulder and Scully have their Oz Comic-Con tix!

What should we do first?

Look who we found in the gaming zone: Oz Comic-Con Content Manager Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, Scott Kellett and Rob Caporetto)

Whoa, a surprise celebrity dropped in – Tony Stark wasn’t on the guest list!

Who you gonna call?

The cutest Marty McFly at Oz Comic-Con

Gaarrgghh! My eyes!!

Oo’er, that Marvel artwork!

LED goodness!

My spidey-senses are tingling!

The TARDIS found some time for a game

Blast those pesky aliens!

On-site movie make-up

Teenage Mutant Ninja … Turtles?

This Clone scout trooper wants you!

What posers!

I’m a very cool Batman cosplayer

Watch out for the Blue Elf Death Knight

Forget Conan, this Female Barbarian means business!

The Flower Card – beautiful!

Awesome display at Cosplay Central part 1

Awesome display at Cosplay Central part 2

Who got water on the Mogwai?

Amazing TARDIS dress made from duct tape at the I’m a Craftaholic booth

This cosplay makes my millennium

Cool retro bikes spotted outside the MCEC

We worked up a decent thirst

I spy with my little eye… great cosplay

By the power of Grayskull!

Poor C-3PO!

What’s in the box?

Na Na Na Na Naaa

Radio controlled R2-D2 – wow, nice!

Stern concentration

Gotham City Sirens

Groovy

Tabletop action

Awesome TWD cosplay

The Baseball Furies came out to play

Rebel scum!

Ms ausretrogamer completes level 1!

Ready to fight!

Amour-azing!

Steam Punk-tastic

Where’s Rick Grimes when you need him?

Game on

Wow!

We have no complaints about this awesome ‘No-Face’ cosplay

One more go before closing time

So, there you have it – we had a great time at Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2016. We’re already looking forward to 2017.

An Ausretrogamer Birthday Mystery Tour

May 23, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Weekends can get filled up with so much boring stuff – groceries, washing, vacuuming… blerg! So when Mr Alex Boz’s birthday came around, we knew it was time to put adult life aside for a day and have some fun instead – and what’s more fun than a Birthday Mystery Tour?

It was a beautiful sunny day, and after a quick breakfast at our favourite cafe – we were off. All destinations were a surprise to Alex, he had to solve clues along the way to work out where we were heading next.

We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne

Stop #1: Escape Room – Burlesque at EscapeXperience

‘Strange things are happening at the Burlesque. You’re going in undercover to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. Behind the glamour and mystery lies a dark secret that someone is desperate to keep hidden. Can you solve the mystery and escape before it’s too late?’

We heard this was the best escape room in Melbourne, and we were not disappointed. This was our first real-life escape room experience, so we were a little nervous, but the staff were awesome – very friendly and reassuring. They gave just enough help to point us in the right direction when we got stuck – without giving too much away. We had a blast and will be returning to try out their other rooms very soon.

Stop #2: Snack shopping at USA Foods

One of our favourite things about travelling to the US is trying out all the weird and wonderful snack food, but forget about the airfare and the jet lag because all our favourite snack foods are available right here in Melbourne at USA Foods. Alex’s clue was ‘Peanut Butter M&M’S’ and he guessed it right away!

Stop #3: Waverley Antique Bazaar

A fun day out would not be complete without a stop at a second-hand store, and the enormous Waverley Antique Bazaar was just the ticket.

Stop #4: Pinball at Pixel Alley

I know what you’re thinking – what about pinball? Well, don’t fret, Alex got his pinball fix at Pixel Alley. They have a nice selection of tables currently on-site: Metallica Master of Puppets (Premium), Spider-man Vault Edition, Game of Thrones (Limited Edition) and KISS (Premium).

Stop #5: Coburg Drive-in

The final Birthday Mystery Tour stop was the Coburg Drive-in to see The Jungle Book. It had been a long time since we’d been to the drive-in but all the fond memories came flooding back as soon as we drove through the gate, we especially loved the adorable retro diner.

We also spotted some interesting sights while out-and-about all day.

An old Pentridge Prison watchtower – spooky

Groovy vintage cars

What a day! Now, excuse me while I start planning for next year…

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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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