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From Pixels to Perfume: Retro Gaming Scents You Didn’t Know You Needed

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Eau de nostalgia

Just when you thought retro gaming couldn’t get any cooler (or weirder), Andrews UK drops a surprise that’s equal parts nostalgic and nose-tingling: a collection of premium fragrances inspired by classic home computers. Yep, you read that right — retro gaming perfumes are officially a thing, and we’re absolutely here for it.

Launching just in time for Christmas 2025, the Retro Gaming Fragrance Collection features four unique scents that pay tribute to the legendary machines that shaped our pixelated childhoods: THEC64, The Spectrum, ZX80, and ZX81.

🕹️ The Lineup: Smell Like a Legend

Here’s what’s in the olfactory lineup:

  • THEC64 Fragrance Pour Homme
    Bold, sophisticated, and just a little bit mysterious — think citrus, florals, and a rich patchouli-musk base. It’s the scent equivalent of booting up your C64 and hearing that SID chip sing.
  • The Spectrum Fragrance Pour Homme
    A vibrant blend of bergamot, woody warmth, and musky depth. It’s like loading Jet Set Willy on a rainy afternoon — comforting, chaotic, and unmistakably British.
  • ZX80 Eau de Parfum
    Feminine, elegant, and sparkling with florals, soft fruits, and creamy vanilla musk. A scent that’s as graceful as the ZX80 was groundbreaking.
  • ZX81 Pour Homme
    Refined and masculine, with lavender, leather, and aromatic freshness. It’s the kind of fragrance that says, “Yes, I coded in BASIC — and I smelled great doing it.”

🧴 More Than Just a Scent — It’s a Collectible

Each 100ml bottle comes in packaging that nods to the iconic design of its namesake computer. These aren’t just fragrances — they’re wearable collectibles for the retro gaming elite. Whether you’re heading to a gaming expo or just want to smell like your favourite 8-bit machine, this collection has you covered.

And let’s be honest — they really missed a trick not bottling that hot C64 PSU smell. Imagine a cologne called “Thermal Drift” — notes of melting plastic, ozone, and the faint whiff of a CRT monitor warming up. Eau de nostalgia!

🎁 Pre-Order Now for Christmas 2025

The Retro Gaming Fragrance Collection is available for pre-order now via AUK Direct. Whether you’re buying for a retro gaming fanatic or just want to spice up your shelf with something truly unique, this is one gift that’ll raise eyebrows — and maybe a few pulses.

 

Review: Forgotten Worlds no. 6 – The Sega Issue

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SEGA DOES WHAT NINTENDON’T

If you’ve ever blown into a Mega Drive cartridge, battled through Streets of Rage, or argued over the superiority of Blast Processing, then Forgotten Worlds Issue is your new holy grail.

This issue, lovingly dubbed The Sega Issue, is a pixel-perfect tribute to one of gaming’s most iconic companies. From the blue blur himself to the deep cuts of Sega’s arcade legacy, this mag is bursting with nostalgia, insight, and retro goodness.

🌀 What’s Inside?

  • Deep Dives into Sega’s golden era, including the rise of the Genesis/Mega Drive and the console wars that defined a generation.
  • Exclusive Interviews with industry legends who helped shape Sega’s legacy.
  • Rare Artwork & Ads that’ll transport you straight back to the ’90s.
  • Retrospectives about Sega magz from BITD, like Mean Machines Sega, Megatech, Sega Power and Megazone.
  • Opinion Pieces that are as bold as a Sonic speedrun.

The layout is slick, the writing is passionate, and the love for Sega is palpable on every page. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just Sega-curious, this issue is a must-have. Oh yeah, each issue comes with a limited edition ‘Sega Blue Skies’ cover insets / postcards – if you were lucky enough to grab the limited edition before it sold out, that came with all 8 (4 x double-sided) limited edition postcards.

📦 Don’t Miss Out!
These mags are flying off the shelves faster than Sonic with a speed boost. If you want to secure your copy before they’re all gone, hit the link below and place your order now:

👉 Order Forgotten Worlds #6 – The Sega Issue

Trust us, your coffee table (and your inner retro gamer) will thank you.

Disclaimer: Forgotten Worlds : The Sega Issue was kindly supplied by Forgotten Worlds for this review.

Snake? Snaaaaake?! On the SEGA Mega Drive?!

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🎮 Snake? Snaaaaake?! On the SEGA Mega Drive?! 🐍💥

Yes, you read that right. Thanks to the incredible work of coder h0ffman, the original Metal Gear has stealth-crawled its way onto the SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis, complete with retro flair, chiptune goodness, and a love letter’s worth of polish.

Originally a 1987 MSX2 title from the mind of Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear kickstarted a legendary stealth-action franchise. But while NES players got a… creative reinterpretation of the game, the true MSX2 version never graced a Sega console—until now.

🔧 Enter h0ffman, a coding wizard who reverse-engineered the original game and painstakingly rebuilt it from the ground up to run natively on Mega Drive hardware. We’re talking full sound and music via the YM2612 chip, buttery-smooth scrolling, and pixel-perfect visuals that feel right at home on a CRT.

image source: h0ffman via BlueSky

💾 You can:

  • Download the ROM (here) and play it on real hardware or an emulator

  • Check out the development blog (here) for juicy technical insights

  • Support the project (and future ports?!) through his itch.io

This isn’t just a port—it’s a what-if alternate reality where Metal Gear launched on Sega’s 16-bit beast back in the day. And honestly? It slaps.

So fire up your EverDrive or emulator of choice and get ready to infiltrate Outer Heaven, Mega Drive-style. Just remember: this is a sneaking mission. 🕵️‍♂️

PAX Aus 2024 Panel Schedule Announced

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With only a month to go till PAX AUS 2024 (Ed: wow, not long to go now!), we thought we’d share some of the panels that will be on at this year’s event.

To check the full schedule of panels so you can map out your weekend at PAX Aus, go here now!

Friday, October 11:

  • Storytime with Julian Wilton, Creative Director of Massive Monster | Main Theatre, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

  • Fireside with Abubakar Salim | Main Theatre, 3:00pm – 4:00pm

  • Fireside with Sonia Coronado Cuesta, Senior Music Designer at PlayStation | Quokka Theatre, 5:00pm – 6:00pm

  • Content Creating with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses: Finding Acceptance within Gaming | Fruitbat Theatre, 1:00pm – 2:00pm

  • Career Storytellers | Dropbear Theatre, 10:30 – 11:30am

  • Creating Armour and Props with EVA Foam | Cosplay Theatre, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

  • Civilization VII Developer Panel: Bringing Your Civ World to Life | Quokka Theatre, 11:00am – 12:00pm

  • Xbox presents: In Conversation with Ryan Warden, Production Director of Avowed: Lifting the lid on Production | Quokka Theatre, 3:00pm – 4:00pm

  • Fireside: Bringing Lord of the Rings lore to the Art of Tales of the Shire, presented by Wētā Workshop | Main Theatre, 5:00 – 6:00pm

Saturday, October 12:

  • Penny Arcade Make-A-Strip | Main Theatre, 11:00am – 12:00pm

  • The Custodians of Lord of the Rings bringing Hobbit lore to Tales of the Shire, presented by Wētā Workshop | Quokka Theatre, 11:00 – 12:00pm

  • Crafting Characters: The Style and Substance of FINAL FANTASY XIV | Main Theatre, 1:00pm – 2:00pm

  • Making Music in the Games Industry | Dropbear Theatre, 2:30pm – 3:30pm

  • MOUSE: P.I. For Hire – First Look: Developer Playthrough | Quokka Theatre | 3:00 – 4:00pm

  • Fireside Chat With Josh Weier – Project Lead On Portal 2 | Quokka Theatre, 5:00pm – 6:00pm

  • Forging a new league of legends: gaming, mental health and masculinity | Dropbear Theatre, 4:30pm – 5:30pm

  • Sea Shanties you say? Yahaarghh! | GenerOZity Wombat Theatre, 9:00 – 11:00 pm

  • Airbrushing 101: Airbrushing for cosplay, props and minis (Live painting demo) | Cosplay Theatre, 10:30am – 11:30am

  • So you want to be a Voice Actor? | Main Theatre, 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Ausretrogamer’s Alex Boz at the ‘Blast From The Past’ panel at PAX Aus

Sunday, October 12:

  • World Of Vtubers | Dropbear Theatre, 10:30am – 11:30am

  • Fireside with Mark Meer | Main Theatre, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

  • Zelda Universe Presents: More Than A Damsel | Quokka Theatre, 1:00pm – 2:00pm

  • Cosplay Central Crown Championship Finals | Main Theatre, 2:00 – 3:30 pm

  • Overshare: Handling Mental Health Topics in Stream Chat | Kookaburra Theatre,  2:30 – 3:30pm

  • Fireside with Teddy Dief and Karrie Shao | Quokka Theatre, 3:00 – 4:00pm

  • One-Shot Wonders | Writing D&D5e One-Shot adventures | Dropbear, 4:30 – 5:30pm

 

Atari Introduces New Collectible Replica Arcade PCBs

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A NEW REVISION IN ARCADE CIRCUIT BOARD HISTORY

Ah Atari, they know exactly how to squeeze every ounce out of their IP with products that hit the nostalgic sweet spot!

This time around, good ole new Atari has partnered with Retro Arcade to create high-quality authentic replica arcade machine Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for Black Widow, Gravitar and Major Havoc – iconic Atari arcade games prized for their advanced gameplay and relative rarity of their cabinets.

These reproductions are officially licensed 11.5 x 20.75 inch (29.2cm x 52.70cm) reproductions based on the original arcade board sets and are a new revision in the PCB history. The boards use the original bill of materials, follow the original schematics, and can be used to replace damaged original boards by using the original parts from these boards.

OK, we must admit, we are actually impressed with these replica/repro PCBs, even if the price (US$245) is a tad too much when taking into account the exchange rate.

Oh yeah, these are available in limited quantities at Atari.com.

PS: To sweeten this juicy deal, Atari is offering $10 off (code: “PCBOOPSIE“) on any one of the three Retro Arcade PCB boards (yeah, we know, boards is redundant in PCB boards) 😉

Major Havoc PCB: Revision D

Major Havoc challenges players with a journey through exciting gameplay styles, including Breakout-style mini games where a knowledgeable gamer can warp through different levels.

Gravitar PCB: Revision C

A multi-directional shooter with a reputation for difficulty, Gravitar is arguably also the first cave-flyer ever made.

Black Widow PCB: Revision A

The arcade classic Black Widow is one of the very first twin-stick shooters ever made.



The Official Real-life Boots of Super Mario Bros.

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With the imminent release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo’s popular plumber now has his own real life boots!

Minnesota-based Red Wing Shoes (their logo is very reminiscent of Honda’s) has teamed up with Nintendo to create pixel-for-stitch-perfect Mario boots which will be on display at the Nintendo World New York store at Rockefeller Center from now till April 30th!

Even the “making of” video of these boots is cool, so check it out below, wa-hoo!


source: Illumination

image source: Red Wing Shoes



Mega Book Collection Digital Book Is Now FREE

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Yep, you read that right! The ‘Mega Book Collection – A Visual Guide to the Sega Mega Drive’ digital book – the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis visual opus is now totally gratis!

The author, Darren Doyle (Greyfox Books) explains the reason this book has now been released for free:

We attempted to bring this book physically to everyone back in 2021 via crowdfunding but alas we were unable to do so. So going forward, we decided rather than this amazing project to be left sitting on a hard drive gathering dust forever, we made the decision to offer it for free for everyone to enjoy and because we are very nice and generous people here at Greyfox Books and love to support the Sega retro gaming scene.

In case you were wondering, the great big SEGA put the kibosh on this book being published physically. So before they kill the digital one, grab it now! And while you are at it, please consider leaving a donation via the publisher’s PayPal account.

image source: Greyfox Books



Super Mario Bros. Plumbing TV Commercial – Let’s A Go!

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Got to admit it, the Super Bowl always features amazing ads, and considering the fortune they cost, they need to grab your attention immediately!

It was great to see the marketing of the Super Mario Bros movie in full swing at the Super Bowl! Not only do we have the movie coming, but there is also a plumbing website, https://www.smbplumbing.com/, complete with testimonials, careers, services offered and a phone number to call either Mario or Luigi! The cheesy ’90s smell is wafting through the internet here!

If you don’t want to watch almost 4 hours of this year’s Super Bowl to get a glimpse of the ad, here it is! WA-HOO!


source: Illumination



20 Years of PlayStation: 1994 – 2014

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We say better late then never!

This 8 year old infographic by Reddit user Adiost (aka: Dmitry Pankin) celebrates the PlayStation timeline from its beginnings in 1994 with the groundbreaking PS, all the way through to the PS Vita Slim in 2014 – 20 years of awesome play (well, 28 years, but who is counting)! 😉

image source: imgur



SEGA Genesis Interactive Plush Console

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Sega Does What Nintendon’t!

Another nostalgia inducing product from Kidrobot for those Sega 16-bit and Sonic fans! Kick it oldschool with this cool retro plush! The beloved classic SEGA Genesis (we prefer, Mega Drive!) gaming console gets a plush makeover with interactive elements.

This Genesis/Mega Drive console is a 12″ / 30cm plush which includes a plug-in plush Sonic game cartridge and an original 3-button type plug-in plush controller.

image source: Kidrobot