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PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming: Atari and Sega Console Giveaway

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*** THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED ***

Thanks to our good friends at Five Star Games, we are giving away an Atari Flashback 8 Gold HD and a Sega Mega Drive Flashback HD gaming consoles to two lucky PAX Aus 2017 attendees.

To score yourself one of these gaming consoles has never been easier! Just follow these three steps:

  • Visit the Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus (on any of the three days);
  • Pick up an ausretrogamer flyer and take a photo of the flyer anywhere within the Classic Gaming area;
  • Post the photo on either Twitter or Facebook using the and hashtags (make sure you also tag ausretrogamer on Twitter or Faceook!)

See, we told you it was going to be simple!

The winners will be selected at random by our Editor-in-Chief, Alex Boz. Winners will be notified after the event and advised when to expect their prize (Prize will be sent to the winners by Five Star Games).

So if you want to stand out from the other entrants, go and say hi to Alex (he’ll have his name on the back of his t-shirt)! *wink*

image source: AtGames

 

The Age Newspaper: Retro Gaming Revival

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The ausretrogamer team was recently interviewed by Adam Turner for the Sunday Age M lift-out cover story which was all about the revival of retro gaming and the classic gaming area at PAX Australia!

If you didn’t get the chance to read the article in print, then you can read it all online right now on The Age website!

The full story can be read online on The Age website now

 

Classic Gaming Returns To PAX

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image source: PAX Australia

We are back, baby! Not much more needs to be said!

We are proud to be bringing the Classic Gaming area yet again to PAX Aus in 2017. Together with our fellow retroholics, Weird and Retro and Press Play On Tape, this will be our 5th (consecutive) year that we will be bringing you a hit of nostalgia at PAX!

But that’s not all! Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, Pinmem, Zax Amusements and Melbourne Silverball will also have their arcade and pinball machines for you to indulge your nostalgic senses. We hope to see you all there (and don’t be shy, come and say hi!).

If you want to get your classic gaming competitive juices flowing, then check out our tournament schedule. If you want to attend a great retro gaming panel, then diarise Saturday 5:30pm in the Gamespot theatre for a Blast from the Past!

 

Mi-Sex: Computer Games

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Watching the ABC’s Classic Countdown on the weekend, we saw a music clip that triggered a torrent of nostalgia. The music clip in question was Mi-Sex’s Computer Games.

Released in 1979, Computer Games was way ahead of its time, both in the context of the nascent computer and video gaming age, and the use of Control Data Corporation’s data centre to film their music video, which features a number of arcade games from 1979 – can you name them all? The answers are further down below – don’t you dare cheat!

For those of our vintage that remember this hit song, here it is for you to enjoy once again. And for those that haven’t heard this before, kick back and enjoy!


source: saynotonowave

Answer: Computer Games features Vectorbeam’s Speed Freak, Atari’s Basketball and Exidy’s Star Fire! Did you get them all right?

 

8-Bit Adventure Anthology: Retro Horror and Thriller Adventures Just In Time For Halloween

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Set the date to 1987 and get ready to revisit the classic 8-bit adventure games that mesmerised a generation of console junkies. Now is the opportunity to play cult favourites Shadowgate™, The Uninvited™ and Déjà Vu™ the way they were supposed to be played, with controller in hand and worlds awaiting to be explored!

The 8-Bit Adventure Anthology (Volume One) will be available on Steam, PlayStation®4 and Xbox One on October 31.

The three classic ’80s thriller adventures games are being bundled into one package by Abstraction Games. Set within the realms of fantasy, horror and film noir, these three fantastic stories are a must have for those who lived in the decade of neon and those that wish that they had.

The 8-Bit Adventure Anthology (Volume One) includes these classic games:

  • Shadowgate™: The wind whistles through the silent halls as you step through the stone threshold. You’ve just entered Shadowgate, a once shining castle, now an evil, dark moldering ruin. Swallow your fear and take up your torch. You are the ‘Seed of Prophecy’ and in your hands lies the fate of the world itself.
  • The Uninvited™: The last thing you remember was a figure appearing in the middle of the road and the sound of your sister’s screams over the screeching tires. When you come to, you discover two horrifying things: your sister is missing and the mansion that now looms before you seems to be calling your name…
  • Déjà Vu™: It’s 1942 and you wake up in a seedy bathroom with no idea how you got here or, for that matter, who you are. You grab a .38 hanging on the door, stumble up the stairs and find some stiff slumped over a desk with three bullet holes in him. You check your gun. Three bullets are missing. This is gonna be a bad day.

source: GamePress

 

The UNIQLO UTGP’17 Nintendo T-Shirts Are Out Now

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The wait is over peeps! Remember how we told you back in May about the UNIQLO Nintendo T-Shirt Grand Prix (UTGP’17) competition winners? Well now you can head on in to your local UNIQLO store and snag a few (or all) of the UTGP’17 Nintendo tees!

We started with one tee because we love Donkey Kong, but we couldn’t resist grabbing the two Super Mario tees. Oh yeah, the littlest member of the ausretrogamer crew also scored herself some tees – check them out!

If you intend on going into their store, UNIQLO also have a free play area for you to enjoy some premium Nintendo video gaming! And don’t fret if there is no bricks and mortar store near you, just head to their online store and buy them all!

Remember folks, life cannot be reset!

Whoa, where to begin…

Of course there were plenty of Mario related tees. Oh yeah, Luigi gets in on the act too!

Do your eyes hurt?

Metroid and Zelda fans will be happy

Whoa, we love 8-bit Mario (which was the winning design)!

There is even a junior 8-bit Mario tees! Our little one will love this!

One of the cool Donkey Kong tees

We had to grab this DK tee!

The back of the DK tee is as cool as the front! The level of detail is just sublime.

Wish they had this in adult size *sad face*

Just some of the UTGP’17 tees we grabbed. We will be going back for more!

After you are done shopping, play some (free) Nintendo video games!

So true!

 

The SNES Classic Mini Is In Da House

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We may have missed out on the NES Classic Mini, but we were determined not to repeat the same mistake twice!

When the SNES Classic Mini was announced earlier in the year, we jumped in early to lock in our pre-order. Well, the wait is finally over and we have our grubby mits on Nintendo’s latest (and best) Classic Mini system.

Our initial impression is that it is so small and cute! Leaving the aesthetics aside, the console connects easy to any newer TV (via HDMI) with the correct aspect ratio. You can power your SNES Classic by connecting it to your TV’s USB interface – no more worrying about a power outlet. The most important part of this whole Classic Mini thingy are the games, and what a stellar list! The bundled SNES Classic Mini games reads like a who’s who of the greatest games of all time. Just when you thought Nintendo could not top this, they have also thrown in the previously unreleased Star Fox 2!

Did you get yourself a SNES Classic Mini? If you did, we would love to know what you think – hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

Anyway, enough chatting, time to play!

 

The Classic PAX Aus 2017 Ticket Giveaway

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*** THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED ***

Wanna go to PAX Aus 2017? Do you want an easy way to enter a ticket giveaway? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you are in luck!

Thanks to our great friends at PAX Aus, we have 3 x double passes for Sunday (October 29) to attend one of the biggest and best gaming events in the southern hemisphere. To score one of these double passes all you have to do is tweet us your favourite retro gaming item(s) – be it a console, computer, game or accessory, we want to see what tickles your nostalgic nerve. Don’t forget to tag us in your tweet and use the hashtags and .

It doesn’t get any easier than that! So get cracking on photographing those retro gaming items, as entries close on October 4th at 8:00pm!

If you need convincing of how great PAX Aus is, then check out last year’s event.

For those of you that like to read T&Cs, here are the finer details of this most awesome giveaway:

  • Entries open to Australian residents only
  • Entries close on Wednesday October 4, 2017 at 8:00pm
  • To enter the giveaway, tweet us your retro gaming photos with the appropriate hashtags (#PAXAus and ) and tag @ausretrogamer and @PAXAus
  • Entrants must follow ausretrogamer (to receive a DM if you are the winner!)
  • Winners will be notified via Direct Message (DM)
  • Winners will receive their tickets in the post (via Australia Post)
  • The winners (if interstate) will be responsible in arranging their own transport and accommodation in Melbourne

PAX Aus 2017 is on from October 27 to 29 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets / Badges are available here.

 

If BioShock Was Made In 1998

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If BioShock was made in 1998…

Source: 98DEMAKE on YouTube via Laughing Squid

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

NFL Blitz Turns 20

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

From the first time I played the arcade version of Midway’s NFL Blitz at a movie theatre arcade, I was hooked. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the colorful, over-the-top football game in arcades. And yes, that makes me feel old too.

Before there was Madden, there was Blitz if you were an NFL fan and gamer. Blitz wasn’t as technical and stylized as a year of Madden, but it was just as fun and competitive to play with your friends. When Nintendo 64 released Blitz, the game was so different than any other football game on the market.

Blitz had a blown up exaggeration to it with the humorous violence when you tackled an opposing player. The explosive crunching sounds and the streak of light behind the ball when you threw it deep elevated the gaming experience. The graphics and play popped off the smallest of television screens.

The “late hits” after plays were a bit much; so much so, it’s one of the reasons, along with some of the graphic collisions, the NFL almost offered to refund Midway’s licensing fee. I’m sure the NFL was pleased when they saw the early numbers of units sold.

Everyone I knew who had a Playstation or Nintendo 64 system owned Blitz. Like Madden or Goldeneye, playing Blitz was a happening at a friend’s house. I can’t count how many times in high school I participated in an NFL Blitz tournament. No money was ever involved, but a friend had to wash my Jeep after I humiliated him in a rout.

On weekends, I would play an entire season (usually with the Cowboys or Broncos) in a single day. And I loved the pitch play. My go-to-play was always “Da Bomb,” or the pitch to my running back down the right sideline. The reverse pass play was always a must on a difficult drive as well.

As much as I’ve enjoyed years of Madden, I think I have fonder memories of playing Blitz. It wasn’t as formal as Madden, but the action was just as enthralling and challenging. When you scored a touchdown against a really good opponent, it was just as gratifying as when you scored in a competitive Madden duel. And, I would know, I’ve played against some exceptional Madden players.

Twenty years ago, Midway created one of the most enjoyable football games ever. It still holds up, and when I play it, I’m flooded with bittersweet memories of close wins and crushing defeats.

I hope, somewhere in a lively arcade, kids are still playing and discovering a version of NFL Blitz.

source: The Arcade Flyer Archive