If you mashed Contra with Paperboy, what would you get ? Absolute pure mayhem ! Daneboe has cross-bred these two awesome games and has come up with one awesome video. Feast your eyes below. [Read more…] about Contra vs Paperboy
Retro Gaming
Top 5 Games Charts: Oct 1990
Back in 1990 the three biggest consoles on the planet were Sega’s Mega Drive, Master System and the Nintendo Entertainment System.
If you want to know what the chart toppers were in October 1990, cast your eyes below. [Read more…] about Top 5 Games Charts: Oct 1990
PC-FX: The Other NEC console
Written by: Kimimi
The PC-FX, like it’s older and far more popular brother the PC-Engine, isn’t actually a PC of any sort. You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise – it looks very much like a traditional tower PC and confusingly you will find Youtube videos of people running PC-FX games on PC hardware (using a PC-FX GA card, more on that later) but in reality it’s just a regular console, albeit one that could also play CD+G and photo CDs as standard. [Read more…] about PC-FX: The Other NEC console
Pumpkin + Tetris = Pumpktris
What do you get when you get a clever guy (Nathan from Haha Bird), a pumpkin, and the classic killer video game, Tetris ? Well, if you check out the video, you will see the coolest jack o’ lantern for this Halloween. [Read more…] about Pumpkin + Tetris = Pumpktris
Evolution of Strip Poker Games
Throughout the history of gaming, it is widely accepted to kill, pillage and destroy as long as the ladies keep their clothes on. OK, maybe we made that up. However, it is ironic that many companies will not touch a strip poker game but will make first person shooters until the cows come home. Fortunately some companies took a chance on this genre and male poker fans have been thankful ever since. Let’s take a brief look at the evolution of strip poker games. [Read more…] about Evolution of Strip Poker Games
Musée Mécanique: The Mechanical Museum Of San Francisco
San Francisco, it may not have Disneyland, but what it does have is an arcade aficionado’s paradise – the Mechanical Museum, or ‘Musée Mécanique’.
Located at Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf, this wonderland is Mecca for arcade nostalgia buffs. Once you enter the museum, you are greeted by familiar sounds of coins dropping into machines, pinball bumpers being hammered, plastic fire buttons being mashed, and good old Zoltar providing fortunes – music to the nostalgic ear. This Musée contains one of the world’s largest (over 200) privately owned collections of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition. The best part is, you can play them all!
After admiring Laffing Sal, the very first game that took my fancy was the original Pong. I had never seen one in real life, so this was an experience to behold. The sharp and square cabinet is a testament to industrial design. The machine still works, even after all these years of punishment. The round dials were still responsive; and yes, after being down a few points, I did beat my less-experienced wife.
The most difficult decision in the Musée is where to go first, and what to see next. It is a huge place! It is akin to being a kid in a candy store. But after Pong, we proceeded to the ‘mechanical’ machines, built 80+ years ago. No photos can do these old machines justice. They have to be seen and touched in the flesh. Their build quality is second to none. Now I understand why people say “they don’t build them like they used to”. These things are built like tanks and are priceless relics.
Interspersed among the antique coin operated machines are pinball tables and arcade games from the Golden Era – Ms Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Moon Patrol, Sprint, Robotron 2084, and Dig Dug – to name a few. First I chose to play the 1962 electro-mechanical pinball table ‘Olympics’. I managed to draw some onlookers, fascinated by the bumper noises. I felt like a teenager, feeding off their attention. Once the table was tilted, it was game over and time for me to move onto the next machine.
At the rear of the Musée, you will find the largest concentration of golden era games (Centipede, Spy Hunter, Rally X, Battlezone and others) as well as more modern arcade machines, including SNK’s Neo Geo cabinets. Let’s just say, I spent a considerable amount of time (and money) in this area.
After prying myself (and my wife) away from these machines, we walked the floor of the Musée to (again) saviour the old and the not so old in coin operated machines. During this stroll one thing struck me, there were families containing multiple generations all enjoying every aspect of this place. There were parents showing their kids Pac-Man, grandmother’s having a go on Bally’s Sharpshooter, and kids generally wide-eyed at the wonderment that was within the walls of the Musée.
If you are an arcade video games player and you are in the vicinity of San Francisco, head to Pier 45 at Fisherman’s Wharf to soak up some nostalgia at Musée Mécanique.
To view all 111 photos from Musée Mécanique, hit the album on Facebook.
Place: Musée Mécanique
Where: Pier 45 (Shed A), Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel: (415) 346-2000
Hours of operation:
Mon-Fri 10:00am-7:00pm;
Sat-Sun 10:00am-8:00pm;
Holidays 10:00am-8:00pm
Space Harrier: An Arcade Blast
Yu Suzuki, Sega’s answer to Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, has produced some of the most iconic arcade games ever. How does Out Run, After Burner, Power Drift, Super Hang-On and Virtua Fighter (to name a few) grab you ? Before all these superlative arcade titles, it was the 1985 hit Space Harrier, that propelled Yu into the stratosphere of legendary game developers. [Read more…] about Space Harrier: An Arcade Blast
Top 5 Games Charts: July 1988
Do you remember what games you were fascinated with on the C64, Atari ST or the Amiga back in July 1988 ? What do you mean you don’t !
[Read more…] about Top 5 Games Charts: July 1988
Chiptune: L.E.D. Storm
Being avid C64 gamers, we often get asked (quite often actually) if we have a favourite C64 chiptune from that era.
Picking one favourite out of a sea of fantastic chiptunes is literally like finding a needle in a haystack. C64 music from maestros like Rob Hubbard, Matt Gray, Jeroen Tel, Ben Daglish, Steve Rowlands, Martin Galway and Tim Follin spring to mind immediately.
Who could forget the mesmerising IK+ tune by Mr Hubbard or Matt Gray’s aural pleasure in Last Ninja 2. There is one chiptune that does stand out for us (sorry Zamzara by Charles Deened), which is Tim Follin’s L.E.D. Storm riff based on Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ – so, sit back, relax and take in this awesome 8-bit SID tune.
If you have a favourite chiptune, please share it with us via Twitter or Facebook!
Top 5 Games Charts: Dec 1992
Welcome to the new feature on ausretrogamer.com – Top 5 Games Charts from years gone by. This feature will become a regular.
Ensure you check back often for these gaming charts (or subscribe) to see if an old favourite was in the top 5 ! [Read more…] about Top 5 Games Charts: Dec 1992