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80s Baby: NKOTB Are Back Baby!

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New Kids On The Block are back, baby! Well, so are Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty By Nature, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson performing 80s Baby. Part of the ‘The Mixtape Tour 2019‘, this new single is a throwback to the awesomest decade of them all, the 1980s!

This song will have you bopping along with that familiar cool 80s tunes. Oh yeah, the video clip is a throwback to Sega’s cool OutRun arcade game – a nice touch indeed!

Huge thanks to Poop Face (aka: Freakin Frankie) for letting us know about this!


source: New Kids On The Block

 

Awesome Chiptunes: 8 Bit Weapon

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There is something about lo-tech chiptune music that gets the old aural nostalgic nerve tingling. Listening to 8 Bit Weapon’s self titled album of chipmusic certainly took us back to the heyday of computer generated music that we loved to listen to, even if the associated game was absolute crap. Music has a way of speaking to us, no matter the times we are in.

8 Bit Weapon’s album is the culmination of sound experiments that started in 2015 and ending in 2017. Created via the original Game Boy and Commodore 64 (Ed: SID forever!), the artists sought to explore the outer reaches of the Game Boy’s 8-bit CPU/4-bit sound chip, especially it’s dynamic wave channel sound manipulation capacity with the addition of the Commodore 64 SID synth bass and other sounds to round out the albums sound.

Please don’t ask us to pick a favourite track, as it is like asking to pick our favourite child – impossible! OK, if push came to shove, then we’d say Dungeon Crawler Baller is our fave track, but only just – seriously, all the tracks are ace and unique in their own way.

What Seth and Michelle (8 Bit Weapon) have created is pure awesome original and unique chiptunes that your ears will want you to play over and over. If you are into chiptunes, then this album is for you. Get it now!

Artists: 8 Bit Weapon
Album: 8 Bit Weapon (available via Bandcamp)
Cost: USD $5.00 (or more)

Michelle and Seth are 8 Bit Weapon
image source: 8 Bit Weapon

Disclosure: 8 Bit Weapon kindly provided us with the download of their album for this article.

 

The Legend Of Zorba

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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

 

Retro Cube Speaker and the Super GamePad

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Do you want control and great sound? Do you like all things retro? Then keep reading!

8BitDo Retro Cube (Bluetooth) Speaker ($39.99 from PixelCrib)

For those of you that love listening to chiptunes (or any music) on your phone, you’ll note that the speakers aren’t much chop. Enter 8bitdo’s NES inspired Retro Cube Bluetooth Speaker! Enable Bluetooth on your smartphone and switch on the Retro Cube Speaker and you are paired up ready to blast out some cool tunes!

We absolutely love the look of the Cube, which fits right in with our retro gaming décor. The best part is, you can take it anywhere around the house (or outside) to give your ears some decent aural pleasure. At $39.99 from Pixel Crib, this is a no brainer – get one now!

MyArcade (wireless) Super GamePad ($24.99USD from MyArcade)

If you are sick of sitting close to your SNES Classic Mini due to short controller cords, then MyArcade’s Super GamePad may be the answer.

Boasting a cool SNES retro style with wireless functionality, the Super GamePad is a versatile controller that can be used to play on the SNES and NES Classic Minis and on classic (supported) virtual console titles on the Wii™/ Wii U™!

We love the SNES (PAL) colour style, but if you like the North American styling, then MyArcade has you covered. The Super GamePad may not suit those with large hands, so you may want to try one before you make a decision. For everyone else, this is a great wireless pad that features a HOME button for easy access to the game selection menu on the SNES/NES Classic Minis. There is also an intuitive TURBO button that can be assigned easily to any of the action buttons. The ergonomic grips (like newer controllers) make the Super GamePad very comfy to use.

Oh yeah, the 2 x AAA batteries that power the Super GamePad will last for 75 hours, so you can play without worrying that you will run out of controller juice! Another neat feature is the shape of the main action buttons: X and Y are convex, whereas the A and B are concave, a subtle and cool feature. Before anyone asks, you can play about 25 feet (7.5M) away from the console without lag or disconnection! So now you can play your video games from the comfort of your couch or fave recliner 😉

 

DISCLAIMER: The Super GamePad and Retro Cube Speaker were supplied by MyArcade and PixelCrib respectively.

 

Retro Hunting In Spa Country

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Ms ausretrogamer and I hit spa country in north western Victoria on a fine winter’s day a few weekends ago.

From the Daylesford Sunday Market to local vintage bazaars and The Amazing Mill Markets in Ballarat and Daylesford, we found vintage goodies that warmed our cockles.

 

Sneak Peek At Atari’s New Gameband Smartwatch

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Last week we reported on the imminent new Atari hardware, and now we can tell you a tad more. With just 3 days to go till the official Gameband Kickstarter launch (1:00am February 9th AEDT), some teaser sneak peek photos have emerged of the Gameband Atari and Terraria Edition smartwatches.

As can be seen in the photos (from left to right); there’ll be a straight Gameband Edition (Black, sleek and shiny), an Atari Edition (red, black and retro) and a Terraria Edition (brown, green and indie). Apparently there will be a super early bird price on Kickstarter (starting at $99USD) for a limited quantity – too bad the Kickstarter will launch at the ungodly hour of 1:00am our time :-/

According to Gameband’s CEO, Feargal Mac Conuladh, the Gameband Smartwatches will be “An insanely powerful Smartwatch, wrapped in gaming design and content.”. We shall see!

We reached out to Feargal to state that the launch was going to be at 1:00am on February 9 (our time), meaning a lot of Australians would miss out on the early bird special. He responded thusly:

It’s always good to see a CEO having a sense of humour!

 

Retro VGS: Keeping It Retro

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RetroVGS_consoleWhen was the last time you truly got excited over a cartridge based console release? I know for myself, it was when the Nintendo 64 was announced – Super Mario 64 totally blew my mind, and that controller, oh man, I still love that controller (even though a lot of you don’t!). I just realised, that excitement for a new cart based console was almost two decades ago!

Well, start getting excited people (if you haven’t already), the Retro VGS console is generating a buzz in the gaming community like the systems we knew and loved in the 1990s. With the imminent Kickstarter campaign launch (it should launch any day / any minute now!), we can’t contain our excitement – this is the latest early bird pricing details we could find:

“The final early bird pricing of the RETRO VGS Kickstarter has been announced, and it appears to be starting at $299 for the standard black model, and $349 for the Kickstarter Exclusive colours. They’ve announced that the early bird will be limited to 500 units.

This indicates that the standard pricing for the system will be $349 for the standard black model, and $399 for the Kickstarter variants, which is in line with what we’ve been hearing from Mike Kennedy and the team over at RETRO VGS over the last couple of weeks.

With the recent pricing controversy, it’s nice to see that people will have a chance to grab the system at a lower price.”

As we know, Mike Kennedy and his team have been working tirelessly to ensure that the Retro VGS is a resounding success. The Retro VGS will truly be keeping it retro!

RetroVGS_controller

RetroVGS_new_back

VGS_yellow

VGS_red_blue

VGS_gold

image source: RetroVGS

NOTE: Since publication, the Retro VGS crowdfunding campaign has kicked off on IndieGoGo – check it out now!

 

Montage of Computer Hacking In 80s Films

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HackingSupercut-2
From Real Genius, War Games and Weird Science, to TRON, Spies Like Us and Cloak & Dagger, how many other 80s movies can you spot from this montage of computer hacking in films?

The team at Found Item Clothing have done a stellar job in collating and presenting the silliest, best and iconic hacking scenes from the big screen. Oh the nostalgia!


Source: FoundItemClothing

 

8-Bit Cinema Extravaganza

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8-bit_Title

We have featured CineFix’s 8-Bit Cinema creations on our site before, but not to this extent. The following cult movie 8-Bit remakes are the new pinnacle in pop culture fusion.

There is no need to head to the nearest cinema complex, just get that popcorn out of the microwave,  sit back on your comfortable recliner, put your feet up and watch these luscious pixelated remakes. You definitely won’t be disappointed.

Donnie Darko

The Fifth Element

Star Trek

Pulp Fiction

Anchorman

Inception

Blade Runner

The Big Lebowski

The Shining

Batman The Dark Knight

A Clockwork Orange

Iron Man

Hunger Games

Godzilla vs Monsters

Kick Ass

The Amazing Spider-Man

Finding Nemo

8-Bit Cinema videos source: CineFix