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Retro Gamer

Blast From The Past: A Video Of A 1980s Arcade

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What an absolute blast from the past this is! We absolutely love raw VHS video footage, especially the kind from the early 1980s!

We commend the Bally’s Aladdin’s Castle employee that had the foresight to film inside the arcade centre, filled with absolute classic arcade and pinball machines, that one day this video would be cherished by a generation (or two) of gamers across the globe! This is what a throwback Thursday should be like every week.

Sit back and enjoy this 15 minute trip down nostalgia lane…..


source: Jon Exidy Jamshid



Williams Defender Source Code Posted To Github

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Fancy checking out some assembly code of a classic arcade game from 42 years ago?

Thanks to Rob Hogan, you can now check out Eugene Jarvis’ (and his fellow Williams programmers’) assembly code from one of the most successful arcade titles from the golden age of the arcades, Defender!

Oh how we wish we had the necessary skills to comb through the code to find Easter eggs and amusing comments, as we are quite sure Eugene and co. would have inserted in this tough 1980 scrolling blaster!

If you do find some surprises in the code from ‘Dr J’ (aka: Eugene Jarvis), please let us all know either via Twitter or Facebook!

PS: This Defender code is for the ‘Red Label’ version of the game, which was one of four versions (the others being: White, Blue and Green) that were distributed to arcades.



Cloud Computing With The Commodore 64

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It was only a matter of time that the venerable Commodore 64 would get onto the cloud! Yep, you read that right, you can now dust off your trusty breadbin and use it to communicate with a variety of clients over Azure using a SignalR client written in 6502 assembly!

If you are keen to check this out for yourself, take a look at the SignalR-C64 code on GitHub.

Long live the Commodore 64!


source: moozzyk

PS: Thanks to Matty G for making us aware of this geeky awesomeness!



Regressing To A Simpler Time With Modern Devices

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It is amazing how far technology has come in the last few decades, with a super computer in our pockets and gaming consoles that blur the line between reality and the virtual world.

We are in awe of our smartphones and can’t even imagine what our 15 year old self would have thought of this contraption if we were able to time travel back to the 80s. Back in the old days, we would play and then trade or sell our last gen system to fund the next big shiny new gen gaming system – this cycle was repeated for close to 3 decades! As we have gotten older and perhaps wiser, we keep yearning for the good old days, hence why we have immersed ourselves in retro gaming, reliving and revelling in games and systems from our distant past that gave us (and are still giving us) much joy.

The PocketCHIP beast!

Anyone for tennis?

Even with all of the classic gaming systems and games we have in our possession to intoxicate ourselves with nostalgia, we felt like something was missing, but we didn’t know what. We then stumbled upon contemporary technological marvels that stirred up something deep within us that made us take note. Thanks to playing retro-inspired games on the fantasy video game console, the PICO-8, we went down the rabbit hole of finding out more about playing pixel perfect 8-bit style games on modern devices, which also allowed us to tinker and do other stuff like coding! Welcome to the world of the PocketCHIP and Arduboy FX! Yeah, yeah, we are aware that you can play 8-bit style games on modern consoles, but these two little beauties are different – they are simple (in comparison), yet powerful, and very very elegant indeed.

Bit of Linux action

The Arduboy FX modded to be used as a gamepad for playing PICO-8 games on the PocketCHIP!

Selecting our next PICO-8 game

The PocketCHIP and Arduboy FX are both marvellous technological achievements, which fit the bill of being modern enough to be able to get on the net, code, tinker and also create our own games! The fact that you can also play games that other people have created is certainly the cherry on top!



Very Cool Tabletop Arcade Cabinets

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Check out these amazing tabletop arcade cabinets created by Hidecade!

According to Hidecade, the Xevious tabletop arcade is complete with a vertical screen and a JAMMA harness – which is totally mind-blowing! Oh how we wish these were for sale 😉

source: Arcade Cabinets on ameblo.jp



Paw Patrol Super Hang-On

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Our very good friend and Guinness World Record holder for creating the Largest playable Game and Watch device, Dr. Tom Tilley, has been keeping busy during the Festive Season with a cool new mod!

Spotting a Paw Patrol toy for $5 in his local op-shop, Dr. Tom thought how awesome and fun would it be to make this toy into a Super Hang-On controller – and we have to agree! Upon showing Lil Ausretrogamer this amazing mod, she was excited just as much as we were!

Before you say, “but the toy was in a working state”, relax, Tom found room inside to fit a joystick potentiometer with a 3D printed guide so it could pick up the steering without damaging the toy. The joystick and three buttons from the handlebars were connected to a Raspberry Pi Pico that Dr. Tom programmed to act as a USB joystick controller. The best bit is, when you’re done playing Super Hang-On, you just unplug the Raspberry Pi and reconnect the buttons to restore the original functionality of the toy. Now that is cool!


source: WithProfessorTom



Handheld Emulation Battle: Anbernic RG280V vs PS Vita

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Emulation is fraught with so much controversy, sometimes for good reason. In this post, we won’t be getting into the moral discussion of emulation nor it’s comparison to playing games in their native format/system. With our recent acquisition of the Anbernic RG280V, we have been asked multiple times, is it better that the PS Vita? Well, as with any comparison, it all depends on the use cases, sprinkled with personal preferences, like playing in a vertical (RG280V) or horizontal (PS Vita) orientation, is it pocketable or does it have an OLED screen, to name just a few.

Let’s get one thing straight, we aren’t comparing apples with apples here. The PS Vita, even though it’s getting long in the tooth, is a powerful beast with an awesome OLED screen (the 1000 series), able to play and emulate everything up till the PSP, plus everything in between like the Nintendo 64, GBA and Sega’s Dreamcast. In comparison, the RG280V is able to play and emulate all your old classic 8, 16 and 32-Bit systems without any issues, including the PS1 and GBA games. So, just on sheer number of systems that can be emulated, the PS Vita wins the battle. However, be mindful that modding the Vita to play emulators isn’t for the faint of heart, so be prepared to manually configure it to make it all work properly. For what it’s worth, getting PS1 games to emulate properly on the Vita was rage inducing. The RG280V on the other hand is (almost) plug and play – just drop your games (legally obtained roms, of course) in their relevant folders and you are good to go – all configuration is set for you, including button mapping and the like. Oh yeah, the RG280V also boots up in less than 10 seconds, so you’ll be playing on it in no time compared to the boot-up sequence on the PS Vita.

We honestly love both of these handhelds, but we do find ourselves playing all the classics more often on the RG280V as it’s easier to setup and use, the D-pad, buttons (face and shoulder) and the screen (and its aspect ratio) are amazing and we absolutely love its form factor – it’s such a pocketable unit when compared to the PS Vita.

So which do you choose? Well, if you like horizontal orientation, and OLED screen and are technically inclined and don’t mind tinkering for hours on end to mod and setup the Vita, then that is the way to go. If you prefer to spend less (under AU$120), have a powerful pocketable little unit with a portrait orientation and its ease of setup and use, then the RG280V is for you – unless you have massive hands, then we’d say go for the PS Vita.

No matter which one you go with, you honestly can’t go wrong. Happy gaming peeps!

The RG280V boots up in no time when compared to the PS Vita

Atari Lynx battle! 

APB – horizontal v portrait!

Ninja Five-O baby! Both systems emulate really well.

Our current favourite emulation handheld – it is rock solid

 



Ausretrogamer Is 10 Years Old!

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Who would have thought that when we first started ausretrogamer.com in January 2012 that 10 years later we would still be here! Time certainly flies when you are having fun.

Today marks a major milestone for us at ausretrogamer as we have reached the magical decade mark! When starting our site and social media channels in 2012, we honestly didn’t have any expectations that we would still be around in 2022 – but we are glad that we are!

We have been pleasantly surprised over the years to find so many like-minded people who enjoy playing and talking about all the stuff we love, from obscure video games from the 1970s to those schoolyard-type discussions on which 8-bit computer was best (we all know it was the Commodore 64!).

Ausretrogamer has also allowed us to meet a lot of you in real life, either at events like PAX Aus or local pinball competitions or computing club events – which have been a priceless experience. We are humbled to call all of you our good friends. Nostalgia is a powerful force that binds us all – long may it continue!

To all the awesome folks that have contributed and to those that are still contributing content and everyone that engages with us, thank you very much – you all rock our world!

Looking forward to another decade full of retro gaming (and pinball) goodness! 😉



May The Festive Season Be With You

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Wow, another year has flown by! It was another year for all of us to put behind and hope that 2022 brings us all a better, safer and healthier year!

From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all a wonderful Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, board games or whatever tickles your fancy! Oh yeah, we hope Santa brings you what you wish for!

Next year we celebrate an important milestone, our 10th anniversary of all things ausretrogamer. But for now, it’s time to relax, be merry and we’ll see you all in 2022!



image source: supplied



TAITO EGRET II mini – United Games Entertainment brings exclusive version to the West!

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EGRET II mini – Exclusive version coming to the West
United Games Entertainment – TAITO Partnership Continues to Grow

Ever expanding German media publishing house United Games Entertainment, with its two game publishing labels, ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games, is moving into 2022 with an exciting announcement. They have secured the exclusive rights for the distribution of TAITO’s EGRET II mini in North America and Europe! The home version of the famous arcade cabinet will be available in different exclusive editions for the Western territories starting in 2022.

Great news for all fans who have been eagerly trying to order this yet to be released console, directly from Japan. With this exciting announcement United Games Entertainment, who exclusively distribute and sell TAITO’s titles in the West, both in digital and physical form, continues its growing relationship with one of Japan’s most iconic video games companies, well-known for legendary games such as Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble and many others.

The EGRET II mini is a faithful miniaturised version of the original, successful arcade cabinet TAITO EGRET II, coming with special content and features that make it a ‘must have’ for gamers:

  • A total of 40 pre-installed games, including classics such as Space Invaders, Lunar Rescue, Bubble Bobble, Darius Gaiden and many more

  • 5-inch 4:3 rotating screen (1024×768 resolution) for horizontal and vertical alignment and an optimal adaptation to the selected game

  • Joystick individually adjustable for each game – easily switch from 8 directions to 4 directions

  • HDMI output to play the games also on TV

  • Two USB Type-A controller ports for the different EGRET II mini controllers (that are sold separately)

  • Power inlet via USB Type-C port

  • SD card slot to add even more games

  • Own integrated sound through stereo speakers

  • Instruction panel for exchangeable instruction cards

  • Special in-game features like: Save states, adjustable lives and rapid fire

Games, Games and more Games!

In addition to the 40 pre-installed games on the console, 10 additional games can be added through an SD card that’s included in the EGRET II mini Paddle and Trackball Game Expansion Set, coming with Strike Bowling, Arkanoid, Plump Pop and seven other TAITO classics.

This adds up to an incredible total of 50 games of various genres, from 1978 to 1997 that will be available with the launch of the EGRET II mini!

More details about the different editions, what they will contain and where to get the EGRET II mini will follow soon!



Disclaimer: Press Release supplied by PR Hound