Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
Wow, it has been a year that most of us would probably rather forget. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a better, safer and healthier year for everyone!
From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all an awesome Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, boardgames or otherwise!
Be merry and we’ll see you all in 2021!
Simon Parkin’s The New Yorker interview with Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto is an interesting, insightful and wide-ranging, reflective conversation. Seldom do we hear or read anything so candid or beyond Shigeru’s amazing creations in his four decade long career with the Big N.
So kick back and read Simon’s refreshing interview with Miyamoto-san, as he speaks openly about his video games design philosophy, being the boss, guns in video games, his kids love of Sega (Ed: what?!) and the new Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Japan.
image source: The New Yorker
Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉
Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.
May the X-mas Force be with you!
source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away
We have clearly been under a rock and missed the news that Nintendo had developed their theme park, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Japan.
As massive fans of theme parks, and yeah, Nintendo, this news was obviously right up our alley! With what has transpired this year, the opening of this cool ‘World’ has now been pushed out to Spring (our Autumn) in 2021! Oh yeah, not to be outdone, there will be a Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Hollywood too!
With a lot of travel restrictions around (rightfully so!), for now we’ll just sit here and admire Super Nintendo World from afar (and drool over our keyboard).
Who else is putting Super Nintendo World on their bucket list? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to let us know.
source: Mainichi newspaper
The highly anticipated Doom clone, Poom, is finally released on Pico-8!
This amazing conversion by Frederic Souchu and Paranoid Cactus is available for play right now, so go get blastin’! This is an absolute blast (Ed: pun fully intended) to play. Thank you to the developers for their meticulous work on this game, as they have transported us back to the 90s playing one of the greatest FPS games of all time, we love it!
If you like the game, and we assure you, you will, please support the creators so that they can continue making awesome games for us to enjoy!
We got to say, we love the creativity and genius behind these two augmented reality (AR) videos of classic Commodore 64 games, International Karate + (IK+) and Bruce Lee!
Absolute awesome work by Retrohead! If you don’t follow or subscribe to Retrohead’s net presence, we implore you to do so.
IK+ AR
source: Retrohead
Bruce Lee AR
source: Retrohead
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Several years ago, my brother bought an Atari Flashback 64 console, and I became obsessed with playing the 1983 tank video game Battlezone. As crude as the first-person shooter graphics may be, the game feels like a real tank simulator (minus the volcanoes and UFOs).
I’ve always loved tank games. Usually, the more realistic ones are the most entertaining, but Battlezone’s simplicity is what makes it so fun and interesting. I didn’t know until I did some research that Battlezone is often considered the first virtual reality arcade video game. The home version doesn’t feel like virtual reality, but I can definitely see how the original 1980 arcade version can be seen as a “3-D success”. Looking through the “periscope” viewfinder, which the player used to play the game, had to be exciting and different. The originality of it had to help the player immerse themselves in the classic game. I’ve never had the pleasure of playing Battlezone in an upright arcade cabinet; I hope one day I will.
There is also a smaller version of the cabinet where the screen was angled upwards, and there was no periscope. I think I remember seeing that version of Battlezone at a local supermarket when I was little.
When I play Battlezone, I have a battle manoeuvre where I circle around and pick off enemy tanks and flying saucers, then I pick up speed in one direction for a while until something pops up on my radar. I wish the game had a better radar, but the primitiveness of it adds to the retro feel. You must be fast on the joystick’s trigger when opposing tanks just pop up on screen in front of you. Playing the ’83 game is still a challenging and thrilling experience.
Atari 2600 version of Battlezone. Source: Retro Gamer
On this day [November 30] in 1990, Sega’s 16-bit beast arrived on our shores, which was about 2 years after Japan got theirs, but it was always better late than never back in those days!
Coming from the days of playing games on the Commodore 64 and Atari ST, the Mega Drive felt like we had a genuine arcade system in our bedroom! The Mega Drive was our first day one purchase (the N64 was the other) in 1990, which we paid $399 with the pack-in Altered Beast game. We also couldn’t resist buying Golden Axe on that day too. We still remember unpacking and playing it that day – our mind was completely blown!
Sega stamped their authority with their 16-bit powerhouse, and as history would record it, their most successful console ever. The Mega Drive was the catalyst for converting a generation of micro computing enthusiasts into console gamers, we should know, as we were one of them. Our transition from 8-bit (C64) and 16-bit (Atari ST) computing was quite stark – and as soon as we got our Mega Drive and whacked in the pack-in Altered Beast and then Golden Axe games, we honestly thought we had Sega’s arcade games in our bedroom. We were instantly smitten, and alas, that also rang the death knell on our playing days on the micros.
What were your earliest memories of Sega’s 16-bit beauty? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook and join in the conversation.
If we wish hard enough, perhaps this awesome Retro PC XT model will become an official Lego kit!
This digital render was created by Reddit user, Mrmo Tarius (aka: Mr. Motinjo) – it looks so real! We reckon he has captured the old school 80s PC aesthetic perfectly, where every PC was beige and darn bulky. We absolutely love the nice little touches like the 3.5″ floppy diskettes, CompPro joystick, speakers and the desk. Hope to see this Retro PC hit the Lego Ideas site in the not too distant future 😉
“Tristam Island” is out now! Play Hugo Labrande’s retro text adventure on one of 36 platforms (Ed: yep, 36 platforms!), from the Commodore PET, VIC-20 and C64 to the Dreamcast! Hours of gameplay, smooth parser, digital feelies, modern game design, intrigue on a deserted island! Best bit, it is cheaper than our daily coffee intake, go and get it now!
image source: Tristam Island by Hugo Labrande via itch.io