retrogaming

Britsoft: An Oral History

June 9, 2015 By ausretrogamer

When it comes to books about video games or micro computing history, no one does it better than Read-Only Memory.

The creators of The Sensible Software 1986 – 1999, Mega Drive and the recently crowdfunded Bitmap Bros books) are publishing a book this August made up of interviews from the original From Bedrooms to Billions film. Ant and Nic Caulfield (creators of From Bedrooms to Billions) have given permission to Read-Only Memory to look through their film transcripts and then use them to construct a unique and awesome book. Nearly a year in the making, the clever layout oozes Read-Only Memory quality! It’s great to see such wonderful interview material find a home such as this and it does also include a new interview with Andrew Braybrook!

Britsoft: An Oral History, a collective story of the early British games industry

Composed of interviews with thirty-five people who shaped the modern videogame, including David Braben (Elite), Peter Molyneux (Populous), Rob Hubbard (Commando) and Jeff Minter (Attack of the Mutant Camels), Britsoft: An Oral History documents the start of a new form of entertainment – created in bedrooms and living rooms on ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s, Amigas and Atari STs.

The book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions, and uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64.

Britsoft: An Oral History is edited by Alex Wiltshire, former editor of ‘videogame Bible’ Edge magazine, and its striking page layouts are designed by London-based studio Julia. It includes rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, which perfectly set the Britsoft scene. Pre-order your copy now!

Features
• Exclusive anecdotes and stories from 35 industry luminaries
• Brand new interviews with Andrew Braybrook (Uridium) and Sean Cooper (Syndicate) conducted specially for the book, plus new stories from Mike Montgomery, Julian Gollop and Jon Hare
• Archive photographs, adverts and ephemera
• 39 original illustrations of the cult hardware, consoles and home computers of the era

Specification
• Hardcover
• 160mm x 230mm
• 422 pages
• Lay-flat binding
• Multiple paper stocks
• 125,000 words

source: Read-Only Memory

Kung Fury: Spot the Retro Gaming Goodness

June 7, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Surely you have all watched Laser Unicorns’ Kung Fury movie by now? If you haven’t, then please do yourself a favour and watch it! For those of you that have already feasted on this visual awesomeness, how many of you spotted the retrogaming gear within the movie? The most obvious of retrogaming items was the venerable Power Glove, worn by Hackerman. Here are a few more:

Golden Age Arcade Machines represent!

Hackerman’s Retro Computer Lair. Is that a Macintosh?

Oh, it’s so bad!

The Aussie made Microbee!

The venerable ZX Speccy! Sir Clive would be so proud.

Hanging ten on the Microbee Model II

I spy some tapes!

source: Laser Unicorns – Kung Fury

2015 C64 SEUCK Competition Winner

June 5, 2015 By ausretrogamer

A few weeks ago there was a call to action for the game playing public to cast their votes for the C64 2015 Shoot’Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK) Competition. Among the many talented candidates was our good friend, Anthony Stiller. Anthony’s entry, Abyssonaut, a horizontal scrolling shmup, was well received and deserved its entry in the competition.

Well, the votes have been counted and we can now proudly reveal the winner – drum roll please……. And the winner is, Abyssonaut (171 points) by Anthony Stiller!

Take a bow Anthony, this is a well deserved win and a great reward for all your hard yakka! As the Champagne starts flowing, we corner Anthony to ask him about the win:

AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: Congratulations Anthony, and well done! Has the win sunk in?
Anthony Stiller [AS]: Thanks, Alex! Last night’s shock (Kev, the editor of Reset C64, gave me the heads up) has finally settled down a little. I was buzzing at 1am this morning after reading the results!

ARG: You beat some seasoned game creators, how does it feel to be crowned the winner for 2015?
AS: There were some really great entries this year and, while I was very happy with Abyssonaut and knew it was in with a good chance, I really wasn’t expecting first place. Alf Yngve, who’s been the reigning champion, is a lovely, talented guy and Gigablast was an excellent entry. Really, though, everyone who makes the time and effort to enter a solid game deserves to be commended.

ARG: What was your inspiration to make Abyssonaut?
AS: Great question! I was at a party and my eyes fell on the label of a bottle of Kraken spiced rum (true story!). Also, once I had decided to use Sideways SEUCK I was thinking of what the player sprite should look like. I wanted to see the player’s figure but I needed to work within the two frames of animation you get for the player sprite. So the player had to be riding a vehicle of some sort. I was almost immediately hit with the image of someone in SCUBA gear riding a seascooter into a seabase. I may have watched a few too many James Bond movies growing up. And the rest is history.

ARG: How long did it take to create Abyssonaut?
AS: About three months elapsed time and over 100 hours actual effort. That includes concept, design (I like the idea of using sketches for design work), testing, and a little marketing, but doesn’t factor in the time my playtesters put in.

ARG: What were some of the challenges creating the game?
AS: Like my previous SEUCK game, Sopwiths & Pterrordons (S&P), I really wanted to make a “proper” game – with gameplay flow, foreshadowing, and a subtle story built into the game itself. All that takes time and effort and lots of testing. I also wanted Abyssonaut to be on a grander scale than S&P. It has a far greater number of different enemies and the actual length of the game is more than twice that of S&P.

Finally, I wanted to ramp up the difficulty. S&P is quite easy. Level 1 of Abyssonaut is gentle but the curve ramps up dramatically in Level 2. There’s a proper end of level boss in Level 2 and at this stage I don’t think anyone’s reached it without cheating.

Oh, I also should add that getting all the animation right was a huge challenge. I need to stop using bio-organic creatures in my games!

ARG: Have you got any new SEUCK projects in the pipeline?
AS: Well, there’s a rumour that there’s going to be a Sideways SEUCK compo later this year and I’ve got this really interesting idea … ARG: Your secret is safe with us. It’s in the vault.

ARG: Just like any award ceremony, is there anyone you would like to thank?
AS: Oh, that’s a long list! First, thanks to Richard Bayliss. Not only does he run the competition, but he is also amazingly helpful and supportive. Stacey Borg, who is the best playtester ever! Cam, Rob, Raj and Kale, my brains trust. There are a whole lot more people out there in the retro scene whom I only know online and are always lifting me up! You know who you are! And, lastly, thanks to everyone who’s played Abyssonaut!

As we toast his achievement and clink Champagne glasses, we leave Anthony to enjoy his deserved win. For those of you that haven’t yet played Abyssonaut, what are you waiting for!

The Sega Genesis 32X Wasn’t Just a Gimmick

May 28, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Many gamers, me included, have fond memories of Sega at its prime – they were ready to knock Nintendo off of its pedestal. The Sega Genesis, in all of its 16-bit glory, took home gaming to an entirely new level. The colors were more varied and vivid, the music was better, and the worlds that we visited were more realistic. That’s not to say that I didn’t love my NES, but my Sega held a special place in my heart.

Nintendo didn’t just sit around and let Sega have all of the 16-bit fun, and soon, the Super Nintendo was looking to dominate the home video game market. Maybe this was the reason why Sega felt like they needed to improve upon the Genesis, by adding peripherals and add-ons like the Sega CD and 32X.

While I never was a big fan of the CD add-on, I did enjoy the 32X addition to my Genesis. It basically plugged into the cartridge slot, and into the back of the system, essentially doubling the output of the unit. The 32X promised better sound, especially through a premium Selby home theater surround sound system, brighter colors and ushered in true three-dimensional gaming to the masses.

I wasn’t sure about the add-on at first until I happened to see a demo at my local mall for the fighting game Virtua Fighter. It was a 3D fighter with fully articulated fighters on a 3D field. The camera rotated around the fighters and the polygonal figures on the screen moved so realistically. I was so gobsmacked, I knew I had to buy the system immediately.

source: Wikipedia

Now, the ultimate promise that Virtua Fighter made on the fledgling system never really materialized. It was probably the best game on the system and although there were other good games such as Mortal Kombat 2, Star Wars Arcade, and the Sonic and Knuckles games, there were many other games that weren’t much more than pretty ports of the original game, but ultimately the best version of the game.

Even though the system was not very successful and ultimately only 30 or so games were released, it had a lot going for it and was a stepping stone towards the games we enjoy today. You have to hand it to Sega for having the guts to give this thing the green light in the first place. It offered near perfect arcade ports of games that were unbelievable at the time and affordable to most people as well.

Nowadays the system is mostly for collectors, but some of these games are still pretty fun to play, even 20 years after their release, such as Virtua Racing, NBA Jam and Space Harrier. With more third party support, the 32X might have been considered a classic today with a huge library of games…unfortunately, it has become just a footnote in the history of gaming, much like Nintendo’s Virtual Boy…my eyes and head hurt just thinking about that thing.

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Matt Thames
Blogger and Brand Manager at Selby Acoustics.

The Wizard Files

May 25, 2015 By ausretrogamer

What’s up with wizards in video games – why do they wear those hooded robes and why must they have long white beards? Well, most of them do. I guess I would have to be into sorcery stuff to know such things *wink*.

My first interaction with a wizard in a video game was in Wizard of Wor. The evil wizard was one scary dude – with his face hidden under his blue hood, he would move swiftly about the dungeons, taunting you to shoot him. The satisfaction when you got him was overwhelming, but the disappointment was just as intense if he escaped. Damn wizard!

Wizards have featured in many video games, some were good and others were evil. Some wizards were even awesome characters you could select – just like Merlin in Gauntlet! Here are a few famous (or infamous) wizards that you may have played as or against, in a video game. Who were your favourites?

	Wizard: Merlin Game: Gauntlet Comment: “Wizard needs food – badly!” – Merlin was always a popular character choice in Gauntlet.
	Wizard: Wiz Game: Wizball Comment: Not your conventional wizard, but Wiz was most definitely dabbling in wizardry. Wiz even had a feline companion, Nifta!
	Wizard: Wizard of Wor Game: Wizard of Wor Comment: The titular evil wizard that lurks in the dungeon and taunts you to shoot him before he escapes through the side exits, is one shifty dude.
	Wizard: Wizard 1 Game: Chaos: The Battle of Wizards Comment: Wizard 1 battles it out till the death. Last wizard standing, wins!
	Wizard: Axil The Able Game: Heavy On The Magick Comment: The neophyte wizard Axil has a few magic tricks up his generously big sleeves. Those goblins, vampires and wyverns don’t stand a chance.
	Wizard: The Wizard Game: Atic Atac Comment: Do you want to swing an axe, a sword or cast awesome spells? That’s easy, casting spells is always damn cool.
	Wizard: Sabreman Game: Pentagram Comment: Your typical wizard with a pointy hat, beard and dapper robe, sets out on a quest to resurrect a mystical pentagram. Oooooooooo!
	Wizard: Sorcerer Game: Sorcery Comment: Travel from your home in Stonehenge to free the enslaved and save your three wizard mates from the Necromancer. It is all up to the Sorcerer!

Pixels Invading The Silver Screen

May 22, 2015 By ausretrogamer

On the back of the Wreck’It Ralph success, it seems that video game characters and themes are the hottest ticket in Hollywood right now! Sony Pictures Entertainment have released their second official trailer for their upcoming Pixels movie.

Set for release this (northern hemisphere) summer, the movie sees four mates (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage) use their former arcade gaming prowess to save the world from invading intergalactic aliens, including Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Centipede and Space Invaders!

The movie will hit Australian cinemas on July 30! Are you game to watch Pixels? Let the the trailer whet your appetite.

source: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Operation: Atari Lynx LCD Mod

May 20, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Should we allow our retro gaming gear to age gracefully, or do we do what everyone does in Hollywood, go under the surgeon’s scalpel in the hope of looking better? In this instance, having an Atari Lynx II upgraded with McWill’s LCD modification (with VGA out) was an easy choice. This surgical transplant was well worth sacrificing one Atari Lynx II out of the many sitting there to be used at ComLynx parties. The only difference being, I would have the best looking screen at the next meet *wink*

In its original form, the Lynx II’s screen isn’t the best, you are constantly angle it or mucking around with the contrast to get that perfect view. With the new LCD, that is all gone! No more mucking around with the contrast knob, and you certainly do not have to angle the Lynx II to get a better vantage point. The new screen is super sharp, able to be viewed clearly at 180 degrees! Not only that, you can also play your Lynx II on the big screen via the VGA out interface! Cor blimey!

Just like any delicate surgical procedure, I left this modification to the expertise of Dr Curlytek. With precision, Dr Curlytek was able to salvage the old screen (to be used as a spare part if need be!) and install the new one without a hitch. The mod isn’t as straight forward as the instructions lead you to believe, so it is best left for those that have steady hands and exquisite soldering skills. So was it all worth it? A photo comparison can’t do the new screen any justice – you have to see it in real life to get an appreciation of its sharpness and vividness! Imagine if Atari had installed these screens originally? Perhaps they would have sold more Lynxes!

A huge thank you to Serblander for sourcing the LCD kit and to the surgeon himself, Stacey “Dr Curlytek” Borg for his exceptional skill in transplanting the new screen into the Atari Lynx II.

The surgeon prepares!

Open that sucker!

The Lynx II opened up

Out with the old (screen)!

The new screen awaits its new host

The Lynx II patiently waits for its new internal organ

Read the instructions twice and perform surgery once – great plan!

The delicate work continues

Additional body part for the Lynx II

The Atari Lynx II in post-operation recovery

The screen test begins! Wow, looking super sharp!

Testing the VGA output! Looking good.

Let the Lynx II screen battle begin!

And the winner is……. Ah, it’s an easy choice

Press Play On Tape: Amiga vs Atari ST

May 14, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Before the 16-bit Sega and Nintendo console war era, there was the 16-bit computing war in the late 80s between Commodore’s Amiga and Atari’s ST. The war between these two titans was being waged in schoolyards across the world – you were either a diehard Amiga fan or an ST whiz kid.

In episode two of PRESS PLAY ON TAPE, hosts Daz & yours truly, Alex Boz, together with special guest, Matt Cawley, go toe to toe on which computer was best. It’s Amiga vs ST – a battle for the ages! As nostalgic 16-bit blows are traded, we even find time to reflect on the once mighty publisher, Epyx. As Professor Elvin Atombender famously said, “Stay awhile, staaaay FOREVER!”.

If you like PRESS PLAY ON TAPE on Facebook, you will enter the wonderful world of 8 and 16-bit computing awesomeness – with plenty of discussions and lots of photos to tingle your nostalgic senses! You can listen and subscribe to the PRESS PLAY ON TAPE podcast on Podbean or iTunes.

Nolan Bushnell: Welcome to Your World, Your Way

May 13, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Last night we had the unexpected pleasure of spotting Nolan Bushnell on the telly. No, we weren’t watching ‘Atari: Game Over‘, it was a new ad campaign for ANZ Bank – ‘Welcome to Your World, Your Way’.

The campaign – which aims to inspire people to shape their own world, and their own future – features a raft of ‘Worldshapers’ or ‘inspiring individuals with drive, commitment and imagination in transforming the world around them’.

Nolan Bushnell is undeniably a Worldshaper! As ANZ describe:

‘Back in 1972, few could have imagined a game console in the home. But Nolan did, and the world took note… The world has changed a lot since 1972. And Nolan has played a big part in changing it.’

The Atari co-founder is filmed playing old school arcade machines at Forgotten Worlds, an awesome barcade in Collingwood, Victoria. Ah, if only we knew Nolan was there, we would have challenged him to a game of Asteroids!

Source: ANZ Australia on YouTube

Top 5 Games Charts: March 1998

May 3, 2015 By ausretrogamer

While some of us were bopping to the Spice Girls‘ “Who Do You Think You Are” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, others were busying themselves playing some absolute classic games on their console of choice.

1998 saw many top quality games, and judging by the top 5 games for each system, you would have been hard pressed not to have found a game you liked to play. The Playstation hit its straps with brilliant titles featuring Lara Croft (Tomb Raider 2) and that ultra cool marsupial, Crash Bandicoot, getting a second outing.

The timing was also right with the release of a football game coinciding with the FIFA World Cup taking place in France that year, while Sega wasn’t going to be outdone by an official license with their release, Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 for the Saturn.

What were your favourite games in March 1998?

	1) Tomb Raider 2 (Eidos)
	2) FIFA 98: The Road To The World Cup (Electronic Arts)
	3) TOCA Touring Car (Codemasters)
	4) Crash Bandicoot 2 (Sony)
	5) Cool Boarders 2 (Sony)

	1) Sonic R (Sega)
	2) Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (Sega)
	3) Resident Evil (Capcom)
	4) TOCA Touring Car (Codemasters)
	5) Sonic Jam (Sega)

	1) FIFA 98: The Road To The World Cup (Electronic Arts)
	2) Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo)
	3) Goldeneye 007 (Nintendo)
	4) Super Mario 64 (Nintendo)
	5) Lylat Wars (Nintendo)

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