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Atari Table Pong Project: More Than A Coffee Table

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Back in March of this year we told you about the incredible Table Pong Project Kickstarter. Raising in excess of US$335,000, this project was always going to be under huge scrutiny. Well, we are happy to report that the project is on track and the early prototype looks absolutely amazing! We honestly can’t stop staring at this gorgeousness!

If you want to see how awesome this coffee table is, then put on some water proof clothing, as you will be drooling with excitement! Oh yeh, if you want to deck out your house with a great interactive coffee table, then hit Table Pong Project’s pre-order page right now.

Now imagine if we had one of these tables in the Classic Gaming Area at PAX Aus 2017 – it would totally blow everyone’s mind. We may need to have a chat to the Table Pong Project crew *wink*


source: Table Pong Project

Superman 64: The Worst Video Game Ever Made

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

When I was a kid, I was so ecstatic when I read that Nintendo 64 was releasing a Superman game. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and play it.

Fortunately, my friend down the street bought Superman 64 before I did. I was lucky enough to never spend a dime on the controversial game made by Titus Software.

Superman 64 begins with Lex Luther telling you “You will never find your friends in this world…” That confused me. The game isn’t set in Metropolis, it’s set in Luther’s “virtual world.” You would think that the natural setting for a game starring Superman would be Metropolis. Too many cooks in the creative kitchen at Titus Software perhaps?

The dumb, unimaginative plot of the game has you (as the Man of Steel) go through a simple maze in Lex’s “virtual world” to save Superman’s friends. All you do for most of the game is fly through an unbearable number of rings that get tedious after ten seconds. Why did anyone think that this would make for an appealing game? It has the kiss of death for a console game: it’s boring.

It’s incredibly hard to control Superman’s course of flight at times. If you have Superman at the centre of your game, you would think developers would’ve had a surplus of ideas that they could incorporate into the game to make it exceptional. The game was released in 1999; there were a lot of back issues of Superman for them to pull appealing ideas from.

At one point in Superman 64, you have to pick up a police car and carry it to the end of a street…real exciting stuff. During one mission, you have to blow random tornadoes away with your super breathe. And yes, I just wrote that sentence.

“LEX WINS.” I got so sick of “LEX WINS.” And you hear Lex do some creepy, stoner-like chuckle every time he wins. Then, in all of that excitement, you have to fly through more rings. There are no instructions for how to fly or breathe your super breath. There are moments in the game where you have a timer, and then, during other stages, there’s no timer at all. It also takes a long time for Superman to get back up when he is knocked down. That was frustrating, and nothing about Superman’s ability to take a punch should be frustrating.

There were moments during Superman 64 where you would get stuck in corners of the game and it would take a moment to find a way to fly again. When I played this frustrating game, I had no idea that Titus Software hadn’t actually finished it. I found that out much later. But just from the confusing game play and the strange, green haze in Lex’s “virtual world,” it was obvious that Titus developers had a little trouble in the developing stage of Superman 64.

If flying through rings surrounded by a green haze sounds like a fun gaming experience, you may enjoy Superman 64? As a huge Superman fan and gamer, this game was a big disappointment. Titus should have never let this game see the light of day.

 

Night Trap: The Cult SEGA CD Classic Returns

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Soooooo, were you one of the (un)lucky thousands of gamers to snag yourself the FMV (Full Motion Video) Sega CD cult classic, Night Trap? If you managed to get one, then you better get ready for some voyeuristic cheesiness!

For those of you thinking, “what the f… is Night Trap?”, welllllll, let us bring you up to speed: Night Trap has players take the role of a special agent tasked to watch over teenage girls visiting a house which, unbeknownst to them, is full of danger. Players watch live surveillance footage of the house and trigger traps to capture anyone seen endangering the girls. The primary antagonists are Augers, vampiric beings hellbent on capturing the girls for their blood. The player can freely switch their view between different cameras to keep watch over the girls and eavesdrop on conversations to follow the story and listen for clues.

Night Trap was the first interactive movie released for the Sega CD / Mega CD and one of the primary games responsible for popularising full-motion video (FMV) games 25 years ago. We can all thank Night Trap for causing controversy at the time which inevitably led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

OK, if you missed this Limited Run Games remastered Night Trap for the PS4, don’t fret, you can still play the original.

The original voyeuristic game, Night Trap

 

Retro Gamer Issue 171 is Out Now!

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Extra! Extra! Read All About It! The latest Retro Gamer, issue 171 has hit the physical and virtual newsstands!

We are huge fans of Retro Gamer covers, but this one takes the cake – it is simply awesome! Behind this gorgeous cover you’ll find a myriad of retro gaming features to satisfy your nostalgia hunger. Still not convinced? Here is a taste of what’s inside this issue:

  • The Kings Of Donkey Kong – We quiz the high scores past and present about Nintendo’s hit arcade game.
  • Pushing The Limits: R-Type (Spectrum)
  • SNES Mini Feature
  • Making Of Saboteur II
  • Hardware Heaven: Sinclaur QL
  • Licence To Thrill: Aliens
  • Archives: Introversion Software
  • Making Of Wild Guns
  • In The Chair: Simon Phipps.
  • Ultimate Guide: Zaxxon
  • Peripheral Vision: Super Scope
  • Retro Revival: Shadowfax
  • Making Of Arch Rivals
  • Retro Revival: Super Adventure Island
  • The Unconverter: Spider-Man The Videogame
  • Lost In Translation: Enduro Racer (Master System)
  • Future Classic: Undertale
  • Retroinspection: PocketStation
  • Minoirty Report: Game Boy Advance
  • Retro Revival: Dungeon Explorer
  • Back To The Noughties: August 2000
  • Classic Moments: Mischief Makers

source: Retro Gamer

 

Unofficial Super Mario 64 Maker Released for the N64

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Just in case you were visiting Mars and just came back to Earth, there is now an unofficial Super Mario 64 Maker for Nintendo’s 64-bit beast! The brainchild of this awesomeness is Kaze Emanuar, the coder extraordinaire!

For those gamers itching to let loose with their Super Mario 3D level creativity on the N64, you better grab your trusty Nintendo 64 controller and get busy! For instructions on how to do all this stuff, go here (and click on show more).

Don’t believe us? Then you better take a gander at this!


source: Kaze Emanuar

 

Let’s Get Physical with Wonder Boy The Dragon’s Trap

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Hold onto your swords peeps, Limited Run Games will be releasing physical copies of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap on the PS4 this Friday (August 4) – North American time (midnight Friday in Australia) !

There will be 5,000 copies of the Standard Edition and 3,000 of the Collector’s Edition with limits (per customer) to ensure everyone has a fair chance of grabbing this wonderful game!

Standard Edition: 5,000 copies, with a limit of two per customer!

Collector’s Edition: 3,000 copies with a limit of one per customer!

source: Limited Run Games

 

How a Mario Kart Movie Could Work

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Nintendo’s Mario Kart 64 was one of my favourite video games growing up. I played the racing game regularly after school and on weekends with my friends.

2008’s Mario Kart Wii and 2005’s Mario Kart DS are two of Nintendo’s top selling video games; roughly 60 million in combined sales. With sales like that for just two versions of the iconic game, you would think a film adaptation of Mario Kart would be in the works by a film studio. But most films based on video games have failed miserably at the box office and with critics.

I wish I could erase my memory of seeing the confusing, badly edited Assassin’s Creed adaptation that was released last December.

A Mario Kart movie could work if handled correctly. Movies based on video games have always taken themselves so seriously; especially the Resident Evil franchise. If a director or screenwriter did something fun with the world of Mario Kart, like what Phil Lord and Christopher Miller did with The Lego Movie, it could be a really entertaining film. It would have to be animated and the humour would have to be smart for kids and adults.

Although, a live-action Mario Kart could be hard to get greenlit by a major studio because 1993’s Super Mario Bros., with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, bombed magnificently at the box office. But an animated version, perhaps even a Lego Mario Kart, could be successful if the right filmmakers who know the Mario Kart world write a clever, original script.

A Mario Kart film about a single race through several stages could be interesting if the characters are fleshed out. The game’s world is vast; there’s a treasure trove of situations and conflicts that could make for a fascinating film.

Until then, I’m sure another instalment of Resident Evil is in the works. The franchise has made $1.2 billion worldwide. The last film was The Final Chapter… sure, we’ll see about that.

 

NES Classic Hoodie: Now You Can Wear The Power!

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Merchoid, the videogame merchandise specialist, has revealed their new official ‘Nintendo NES Classic Hoodie’.

Inspired by the classic gaming console, which saw a limited re-release last year, the hoodie is available to preorder from Merchoid now for £44.99/€54.99/$54.99 and ships in September (shipping is free to anywhere on the planet!). Featuring clean lines, body panelling, two front pockets and NES button detailing on the front, its elegant design will ensure it becomes an instant classic.

Merchoid’s Community Manager Jessica Adams says of the new hoodie “Re-enter an 8-bit 80s wonderland, where Mario is king, gloves are controllers and some of the best gaming experiences are a cartridge push away. And what better way to embrace your 80s nostalgia than representing your favorite console in one stylish hoodie? Now you’re playing with power!”

The ‘Nintendo: NES “Console Inspired Hoodie’ is available to preorder from Merchoid.com now.

Key features of ‘Nintendo: NES Console Inspired Hoodie’.

  • New design based on the NES Console
  • Available to preorder from Merchoid.com now for £44.99/€54.99/$54.99
  • Officially licensed by Nintendo
  • Releases September 2017

source: Merchoid

 

Neohabitat Reawakens Lucasfilm’s First MMORPG

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It seems that we may have been living under a rock all this time! We are the first to admit that we aren’t massive fans of adventure or RPG style games, but when the C64 is involved, we always sit up and take note!

Now cast your mind back to 1986 when Lucasfilm Games (LucasArts) began previewing their new online game Habitat (developed a year earlier) in magazines of the time. If you are lucky enough to remember, you’d recall that the game looked bloody amazing, a cross between an adventure game and something akin to an online chat room. If your recollections are a bit fuzzy, then think of a multiplayer SCUMM game before Lucasfilm were anywhere near releasing Maniac Mansion! Then, the game went into a closed beta and didn’t see the light of day till 1988, when it was scaled back as Club Caribe. Ah, you would be forgiven in thinking that the game was lost to the sands of time. But wait, there is a new ending to this story.

Before we get swept away by the nostalgic tide, let us give you the good news – Neohabitat have reawakened the original Lucasfilm Habitat server, which is now available for anyone and everyone to play online – for free! How awesome is that! It will feel familiar to those accustomed to the SCUMM-like interface, complete with cross hairs with a modern twist, which ain’t a bad thing at all.

Who would have thought that we’d be playing an MMORPG in 2017 that was made over three decades ago! It is indeed a great time to be a retro gamer!

source: Bobby Blackwolf on YouTube

Concept art for the box cover of Lucasfilm’s Habitat game. Source: Wikipedia

 

Tips And Tricks To Get The Most Out Of Your NES Console

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Be warned peeps, this tips and tricks video will void your old console’s warranty!

The Ben Heck Show team go under the hood of the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) for a complete teardown with tips and tricks on how to breathe new life in the venerable Ninty console.

The team start by disabling the lockout chip (yay!) and also give the cartridge loading bay care and attention as it’s one of the common failures, partly because it functions like an old VCR player! Ben also provides anecdotes from his time at Funcoland (now Gamestop) and also gives us other possible mods for the NES.

So what are you waiting for, grab the screwdriver and start taking apart that grey Nintendo shoe box!


source: The Ben Heck Show