Retro Gamer

Still Dreaming About Super Nintendo World

19/02/2021 By ausretrogamer

The way this pandemic is still playing out, we won’t be making any traveling plans any time soon.

Luckily for us, our bucket list is immune to viruses! Still at the top of our bucket list is the Super Nintendo World themed area at Universal Studios Japan! We know this is old news, but we thought it is worth focusing on some fun stuff, again. This themed area is an absolute MUST for any Nintendo or gaming fan (or theme park fan) that is fond of Nintendo’s huge video games franchises.

We are already planning our itinerary, so we can’t wait to grab our Power-Up bands, hit the 1UP Factory for some shopping and grab a bite to eat and sip some coffee at Kinopio’s Cafe 😉

PS: If you want to see each pic in its full-blown resolution, just click on it and let your eyes feast on the awesomeness!

NEO GEO Games Infographic

12/02/2021 By ausretrogamer

There are some images that need to be shared for their informative awesomeness, and this NEO•GEO games infographic is one that definitely fits that bill.

Created and shared by Ange Albertini of the Corkami Reverse Engineering and Visual Documentation github repository, this image speaks to us loud and clear! We love the fact that in one image, we can see the timeline of all the games that were released for SNK’s mighty NEO GEO.

To get a sense of this amazing graphic creation, please click on the image below to see it in its native resolution!

Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry

18/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

Our friend and Atari developer extraordinaire, Howard Scott Warshaw, you know, he made Yars’ Revenge and E.T. amongst other notable Atari 2600 games, has released his new book, Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry, which is available right now on Kindle and Paperback.

Upon the release of his new book, Howard stated that, “I needed to put something fun and interesting into the world. Is it “The feel good book of 2020″? Nah, that’s too low a bar. This book was a labour of love, but a labour nonetheless. If you know me, you know this is a fun read. If you don’t know me, it’s still fun. I’m happy with the result and I hope you enjoy reading it”.

This book provides an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry in the US, and how it shaped the life of one of its key players. Howard’s book offers eye-opening details and insights from someone that was there during Atari’s heyday.

What are you waiting for, go and grab it!

Castlevania: The Complete History

12/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

We are huge fans of Daniel Ibbertson’s (aka: Slope’s Game Room) history vids, just like his recent full-length documentary based on the history of one of the biggest game franchises of all time, CASTLEVANIA.

The Castlevania games series is one of the most expensive and well-loved retro gaming collections ever released. In this doco, Daniel not only talks about its history, but also showcases some of the rarest games in the series.

So chuck your headphones on, put your feet up and immerse yourself all things Castlevania.

source: Slope’s Game Room

Things Are Afoot At The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory in 2021

05/01/2021 By ausretrogamer

With having a lot of time at home in 2020, we had been thinking about changing things up in the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory!

Things are afoot with designing the new space, which will see new additions, things being moved around and unfortunately, stuff that will go to a new home. We are quite excited with the next chapter of our games room, so we’ll be sure to share our journey throughout 2021 of the new and improved Ausretrogamer Fun Factory.

For now, you can have a read how the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory has evolved over the years.

Taking one last look at the current Ausretrogamer Fun Factory (click to enlarge)

Mini Star Wars Arcade Cab – The Force Is Strong With This One

21/12/2020 By ausretrogamer

Stop the press! What the heck is this dark side of the force creation? We LOVE it!

This mini arcade based on Atari’s seminal Star Wars arcade game was faithfully recreated by Astrodob, using a Raspberry Pi and MAME. Well Astrodob, where do we send our Jedi Bank cheque to?

source: Astrodob

Celebrating Intellivision Day

03/12/2020 By ausretrogamer

Don’t you just love anniversaries of bygone era video games systems ? We sure do!

Get your party hats out and let us all celebrate, as on this day [Dec 3] in 1979, Mattel’s INTELLIVISION was unleashed in the US (California to be exact)!

If you have any fond memories or favourite games on the Intellivision, make sure you hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.

Happy Intellivision Day!

Some of our favourite Intellivision games
images copyright (C) of ausretrogamer

Battlezone: One of Atari’s Best

01/12/2020 By David Cutler

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Several years ago, my brother bought an Atari Flashback 64 console, and I became obsessed with playing the 1983 tank video game Battlezone. As crude as the first-person shooter graphics may be, the game feels like a real tank simulator (minus the volcanoes and UFOs).

I’ve always loved tank games. Usually, the more realistic ones are the most entertaining, but Battlezone’s simplicity is what makes it so fun and interesting. I didn’t know until I did some research that Battlezone is often considered the first virtual reality arcade video game. The home version doesn’t feel like virtual reality, but I can definitely see how the original 1980 arcade version can be seen as a “3-D success”. Looking through the “periscope” viewfinder, which the player used to play the game, had to be exciting and different. The originality of it had to help the player immerse themselves in the classic game. I’ve never had the pleasure of playing Battlezone in an upright arcade cabinet; I hope one day I will.

There is also a smaller version of the cabinet where the screen was angled upwards, and there was no periscope. I think I remember seeing that version of Battlezone at a local supermarket when I was little.

When I play Battlezone, I have a battle manoeuvre where I circle around and pick off enemy tanks and flying saucers, then I pick up speed in one direction for a while until something pops up on my radar. I wish the game had a better radar, but the primitiveness of it adds to the retro feel. You must be fast on the joystick’s trigger when opposing tanks just pop up on screen in front of you. Playing the ’83 game is still a challenging and thrilling experience.

Atari 2600 version of Battlezone. Source: Retro Gamer

Celebrating the Sega Mega Drive in Australia

30/11/2020 By ausretrogamer

On this day [November 30] in 1990, Sega’s 16-bit beast arrived on our shores, which was about 2 years after Japan got theirs, but it was always better late than never back in those days!

Coming from the days of playing games on the Commodore 64 and Atari ST, the Mega Drive felt like we had a genuine arcade system in our bedroom! The Mega Drive was our first day one purchase (the N64 was the other) in 1990, which we paid $399 with the pack-in Altered Beast game. We also couldn’t resist buying Golden Axe on that day too. We still remember unpacking and playing it that day – our mind was completely blown!

Sega stamped their authority with their 16-bit powerhouse, and as history would record it, their most successful console ever. The Mega Drive was the catalyst for converting a generation of micro computing enthusiasts into console gamers, we should know, as we were one of them. Our transition from 8-bit (C64) and 16-bit (Atari ST) computing was quite stark – and as soon as we got our Mega Drive and whacked in the pack-in Altered Beast and then Golden Axe games, we honestly thought we had Sega’s arcade games in our bedroom. We were instantly smitten, and alas, that also rang the death knell on our playing days on the micros.

What were your earliest memories of Sega’s 16-bit beauty? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook and join in the conversation.

We Love Our 35th Anniversary Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.

17/11/2020 By ausretrogamer

It took a while for our 35th anniversary Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. to arrive, but we are so glad that it did!

Nintendo sure knows how to tug at our nostalgic strings, as we pre-ordered this as soon as it was revealed in early September. We recall how excited we were at the time and couldn’t wait for November 13^th to come around! Well, November 13^th come and went, with the dreaded postage notification advising us that good ole Aussie Post would deliver our Game & Watch (G&W) some time between Nov 16 – Nov 19, which was like a pixel dagger thrown right into our 8-bit heart. As it turned out (and luckily for us), Aussie Post took the median value and delivered this precious cargo today (November 17). At the time of writing, we still had a number of our friends that hadn’t received their units.

Enough with the negativity regarding pre-orders not arriving on the day of release (although, this should be fixed!), this Game & Watch has exceeded our expectations by a country mile. The see-through sleeve on the gold packaging was an indicator that this thing was going to be special. Upon opening and holding the G&W, it was like being in the playground at primary school, being wowed by this little contraption made by Nintendo and showing it off to our friends. The look, the feel – including the D-pad and buttons, has been nailed by Nintendo. We didn’t need any LR-44 cell batteries to power this unit, so that was a plus. The only niggle we had, this new G&W did not come with the little tuck-in stand that the old school ones have. But like we said, it’s a very very small niggle. Of course we compared it to a number of our original Game & Watch units, including its namesake, and we can say, this new one fits right in!

The only wish we have at this stage is for people interested in this 35th anniversary G&W game (that missed out on the pre-order) get an opportunity to get one, at a non-scalped price! Oh yeah, we also wish for a Donkey Kong Multi-Screen G&W next, with the original Donkey Kong and perhaps Donkey Kong Country – surely that’s not too much to ask for!

Retro Gamer

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