AUSRETROGAMER

Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine

You are here: Home / Archives for Retro Gaming

Retro Gaming

Create Your Own Miniature Arcade and Pinball Parlour

By

UPDATE: 33 Games is no longer available via Etsy (as at May 1 2018)

If you don’t have the space or can’t afford a row of classic arcade and pinball machines at your place, then 33 Games may have the next best thing – miniature 1/12th scale arcade and pinball replica machines!

Standing 6 inches tall and mostly made of wood and plastic, these mini arcade machines and pinball tables are an absolute meticulous work of art by Alan Friggens of 33 Games. The range is quite extensive for both arcade and pinball machines – all the greats are there, from Robotron, Galaga and Final Fight, to Bally, Gottlieb, Williams, Data East, Stern and Jersey Jack Pinball machines! We just wish Alan made JJP’s Dialed In mini pinball machine (hint! hint!).

33 Games offers these scale miniature machines as a single buy (pinball $36.82 / arcade $27.61) or in a special ‘pick any 3’ for $92.08 for 3 mini pinball tables or $73.66 for 3 mini arcade machines of your choice. Oh yeah, the pinball machines also have a LED lighting option which adds custom fitted LED lighting under the playfield and behind the backglass to really make them pop!

Which 33 Games mini arcade and/or pinball machines would you get? Jump on Twitter or Facebook to let us know!

image source: 33 Games via Etsy

 

The Legend Of Zorba

By


Kevin Lieber of Vsauce2 fame checks out the old, interesting and weirdly obscure 10kg portable CP/M machine, the Zorba!

Now imagine lugging this beast around to play video games like Zork! That is exactly what Kevin does as he dives into the complexity of this early text adventure which paved the way for the Skyrims and Witchers of today 😉


source: Vsauce2

 

NESmaker – Make New Cartridge Based Games For the NES

By

We’ll keep this short and sweet – if you want to realise your childhood dreams of making a new (cartridge based) playable game for the NES but don’t have the necessary coding expertise, then hit the NESMaker Kickstarter immediately. Hurry up, ’cause there are only a few hours left to secure this awesome bit of dev-kit!

Go on, unleash your inner game developer without the need of coding skills!

PS: Don’t worry about funding, the project has already blown waaaaay past its goal and has unlocked a number of stretch targets!


source: The New 8-Bit Heroes

 

Replicade X Tempest Mini Arcade Machine: The Early Bird Catches The Cool Worm

By

If you were like us, you may have backed New Wave Toys’ first Kickstarter which was a Replicade Centipede mini arcade machine.

When we got the note that their Replicade X Tempest mini arcade was now live on Kickstarter, we jumped on it right away! Yes, we broke our first New Year’s resolution – no backing Kickstarters in 2018, but we made an exception for this, cause it is that good.

The Replicade X Tempest Kickstarter has already blown past its goal, so this will happen and we can’t wait! For everyone that went gaga at our photos of the insert coin light up keychain, here is your chance to grab one by backing this campaign with as little as $25USD.

Instead of regurgitating all about New Wave Toys’ Replicade X Tempest mini arcade right here, why don’t you go and check out the Kickstarter now and decide for yourself.

source: Replicade X Tempest on Kickstarter

 

Everything Retro Is Hot At CES 2018

By

If you were in Vegas last week for the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was the 1990s!

It definitely looks like companies are finally tweaking to the fact that retro gaming is big business. From Hyperkin announcing the mighty Ultra Game Boy to Retro-Bit announcing their partnership with Sega, it looks like 2018 is going to be a big year for retro gamers and their credit cards!

Here are our hot retrogaming picks from CES 2018:

Hyperkin Ultra Game Boy in an aluminium case will turn heads for sure!
image source: Gizmodo

Retro-bit did a mic drop by announcing that they had signed a licensing agreement with Sega to produce accessories for Sega’s Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast gaming consoles! They even showed off games for the NES and SNES! These guys were on fire in Vegas!

Retro-Bit’s Sega Dreamcast Bluetooth Controller, Receiver and TV connectivity cables

Retro-Bit’s Sega Saturn controllers!

Retro-Bit’s Sega Mega Drive / Genesis Bluetooth Controllers

Retro-Bit’s Games for the NES (Holy Diver) and SNES (R-Type Returns CE)

source: Retro-Bit on Twitter

(Atari) Table Pong – If you weren’t lucky enough to snag this via its super early-bird Kickstarter price, then you will be paying three times more for it now!

source: Alex Kidman via Finder

 

Ausretrogamer is Six Years Old

By

Ausretrogamer launched six years ago today! We’re not doing a whole lot to celebrate, unless eating cupcakes and doughnuts counts as a celebration – but we didn’t want to let the day pass without some sort of acknowledgement. It would be an understatement to say that the retro gaming scene is a tad different today than when we launched in January 2012. Back then there was no NES or SNES Classic Minis nor was there a PAX event in Australia.

The retro gaming community has grown in leaps and bounds with its momentum showing no slowdown – long may it continue to be this way. In fact, if we can blow our own horn for a moment, we’ve set new traffic records on ausretrogamer in 2017 – and we have all of you awesome peeps to thank for that!

We at ausretrogamer are not planning on stopping anytime soon. Your enthusiasm and excitement for retro gaming and its limitless possibilities is what keeps us motivated to keep on going. Who knows what the next six years will bring, but rest assured, we will keep doing what we do as long as you keep reading and engaging with us on social media. Thanks heaps!

 

Wishing You All A Geeky Xmas

By

We may not be wearing our nerdy Christmas jumpers, you know, coz it’s bloody hot here, but we still thought we’d take this opportunity to wish you all an awesomely geeky, safe and fun Christmas!

Hope Santa can drag himself away from playing pinball and deliver presents to all the good folks out there.

On behalf of the ausretrogamer team, Merry Christmas!

 

Get A Hit of Nostalgia With The Retro Pocket Arcade

By

Have you had enough of the huge prices that Nintendo’s Game & Watch games demand? Well, you are in luck, as JB Hi-Fi have the exclusive Retro Pocket Arcade handheld going for $24.95!

This fun on the go mini handheld arcade sports a colour 1.8″ LCD and comes packed with 150+ games – take that Game & Watch! The little pocket rocket is powered by 3 x AAA batteries so you can game on the go for hours.



We know what you are thinking – what games are on it and how does it play? Well, if you like Game & Watch games, then you’ll love the incarnations on this little beast. Games like Parachute are on there (it’s actually called Parachute!) – save the parachuting kamikazes by catching them with your boat. We’d be here all day if we went through the entire list of games, but rest assured there are games on the Retro Pocket Arcade to please everyone (take a peek at some in the pic below).

The LCD is nice and bright, making viewing better and easier on your eyes. The D-pad is replaced with four buttons, but that isn’t a bad thing, as it’s reminiscent of the older Game & Watch games that predate Gunpei Yokoi’s wonderful directional pad. The buttons all feel easy on the finger without any lag, but they would have been even better if they were convex instead of being flat. At $24.95, this little beast comes highly recommended if you can’t be stuffed chasing the elusive and expensive Game & Watch games by Nintendo.

With Christmas around the corner, this is a great stocking stuffer for the retro gamer. JB, you’ve done it again!



* The Flea Market Retro Pocket Arcade handheld was supplied by JB Hi-Fi for this article.



How to Make A Super Mario Bros Game Using Cardboard

By

It absolutely boggles the mind to think about the talent some peeps have. I mean how does one come up with the idea to make a real life Super Mario Bros. game using cardboard? It is truly an amazing DIY creation that blows our minds! Take a peek, you’ll be impressed.


source: Sata Production

 

Play Your Fave Retro Gaming Systems in Your Web Browser

By

Virtual Consoles – a recently launched website makes it possible to play legendary computers and consoles like the Apple II, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Super Nintendo (to name a few) right in your web browser.

The Virtual Consoles website offers its services free of charge: you can play on 9 old school gaming systems without installing any add-ons or plug-ins. Now that is pretty damn cool!

With the revival of retro gaming and the ever escalating costs, this site has come at the right time. “The site generally uses open-source development, so the use of emulators is completely free of charge. An up-to-date browser and an average desktop computer is all that is needed, although most of the retro computers offer good experience on tablets, as well”, says Kornel Kolma, founder of virtualconsoles.com.

Play with Spacewar! from 1962
Currently there are 9 online emulators available on the site: Apple II, Atari 2600, NES , Super NES. DOS, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. There are also some curiosities to be found in the collection, like the CHIP-8 interpreter which ran on microcomputers of the 1970s, and the DEC PDP-1, which was introduced in 1959 – making it possible to play the original Spacewar! game online.

“We only attached games to the emulated computers and consoles if they were freeware games or had gotten approval from the copyright owner. For most of the emulators we made it possible to upload games from existing collections. Our long-term goal is to come to an agreement with copyright owners of old games and make these games available in a retro gaming online store”, says Kornel Kolma. Kornel also added, “The short-term plan of Virtual Consoles is to launch additional emulators which will run in your web browser”.

With Virtual Consoles, the game is definitely not over!