The Pop-Culture E-Zine
If your New Year’s resolution was to learn more about video game graphics, you are in luck. For those of you with limited time to spare, I present three videos by Ahoy, providing a brief history of graphics; from pixels and sprites, to those super cool polygons! Are video games all about graphics? Of course not! Feast your eyes and ears right now, you may learn something.
Part 1: Pixels Pioneers
Part 2: Sprite Supreme
Part 3: Polygon Realm
source: Ahoy
When I first began playing video games in the early 80s, arcade games were the pinnacle of the gaming experience – they had huge cabinets, great graphics, booming sound, and if you were good enough (or had lots of 20 cent coins), gameplay that would keep you coming back.
Being a nostalgist, I was recently reminiscing about arcade games I played at the local darkened arcade parlour, the corner milk bar and also the fish and chips shop near my school. With a smile on my face, I compiled a number of screenshots of arcade games that kept me mesmerised in the 1980s. I hope these bring back great memories for you, as they have for me. Enjoy and remember, “Winners Don’t Use Drugs!”.
My favourite beat’em up of all time. Nothing beats the kneeing to the head and wrapping a baseball bat around a the Black Warriors head!
Save Ronnie and grab some burgers and coke! We are bad dudes fighting the dragon ninja!
Still my go-to vertical shoot’em up! Plenty of 20c coins were spent on Galaga!
The little yellow dot muncher never let me down
The droning sound of this most awesomest of dungeon-maze crawlers is still sublime
Wrestling was huge in the mid 80s, and Wrestle War was a laugh!
Saving the kidnapped Madonna, one kick at a time!
Who could forget this aerial dogfighting classic from Yu Suzuki!
Another Yu Suzuki classic!
The game that ushered in the Golden Age of Arcades
The helicopter cockpit version of Thunder Blade was simply awesome!
The ninja craze was huge in the 80s. Everyone wanted to throw shurikens like Joe!
My beat’em up love began with Kung Fu Master
It was either Salamander or R-Type. I chose Irem’s blaster!
Yu Suzuki’s Out Run will always be associated with coolness!
Ikari Warriors – guerrilla warfare with a mate
Heavy Barrel – just like Ikari Warriors, but with a rotary stick to shoot baddies in 8-directions!
Another Sega classic. This was as close as I got to riding a motocross bike in the 80s
The seminal Nintendo classic will always be on my favourites list
The timeless Taito platform beauty – I love you Bub and Bob
A bomb disposal hero in leotards = perfect!
4P dungeon exploring never got any better than this!
Tempest – the vector splendour!
Going to Flashbacks on Swanston Street was always about Discs of Tron
Special agent action via Elevator Action
I wasn’t much of a skateboarder, but I was pretty good on 720 Degrees!
The ultimate single-screen blaster!
There was something about Moon Patrol that I can’t even explain now!
What would any 80s arcade list be without TMNT. Cowabunga!
Double Dragon started the 2P co-op beat’em up genre, Final Fight took it to another level!
source: various – supplied on request
It is always great to find video games based articles and programs published by major media outlets. This time around, our beloved Aunty (ABC Radio National) has got in on the video gaming action with an interesting piece on ‘A history of video games in five anecdotes’ by Dan Golding. The article is part of the A Short History Of Video Games program.
So what do the Australian Human Rights Commission, Alan Turing’s chess game, Toru Iwatani’s Pac Man and Australia’s first hit video game have in common? You’ll have to read Dan’s story here to find out.
While you are exploring the ABC Radio National’s ‘A Short History Of Video Games’ program, you may also want to listen to the accompanying podcasts. Listen to them, as you may learn something. Hit play and immerse yourself in a bit of video gaming history. Thank you Aunty.
source: ABC Radio National
As the year draws to a close, it had to happen, we had to go for one final thrill of the chase!
With the adrenaline rushing at this time of year, there were classic gaming items to be found and bargains to be bagged. While everyone else was recovering from their Christmas festivities, Ms. ausretrogamer and I hit the road to find those elusive retro games and vintage toys.
There were a number of places that were closed due to the festive season, but that didn’t deter us from going to the next stop on our hit-list. We did hit the jackpot at our final stop – we may not have found what we were looking for, but we did have a blast playing some Daytona USA, Speed Race and the three-screen extravaganza, TX-1.
So with another year in the history books, we eagerly await the new year. Roll on 2015 for more thrills! Happy New Year to you all!
Spotted! Topless Skeletor
Open Pokemon
Close Pokemon. See, I can do magic!
Namco made digital alarm clocks? *Mind Blown*
Master System games + Hillbilly Jim = Perfect!
No way, A (broken) Robot Armatron!
Seeing is believing
Don’t get these two wet!
Give your TV some old school action!
Dayyyyyytonaaaaa!
20c for some action? That’s cheap as chips!
Go Speed Racer!
Gotta get pole position!
Nooooooo, it’s GAME OVER!
Struggling to find the perfect video gaming present this Christmas? Perhaps you have about three quarters of a million dollars gathering dust and would like to procure the world’s largest video games collection? Well, if you do have some spare cash lying around or you have won the lottery, you could get instant Guinness World Record recognition by grabbing Michael Thomasson’s massive 11,000+ video gaming collection! You can view the games room full of goodies in an interactive panoramic view over here – get zooming!
If you are serious about buying this massive lot, head on over to Good Deal Games and get the low-down on this once-in-a-lifetime collection.
source: Good Deal Games
The classic Segasa electro-mechanical pinball table, Baby Doll, has been saved from the scrap heap and morphed into the fully fledged Internet Meme Ball pinball!
Those games room specialist, Liberty Games, are so adventurous and clever! Their pinball creation is perfect for that void in every office breakout area. Right, I am going to raise a new purchase order and send it to my boss – we really need this table to boost morale around here <winks>.
Internet Meme Ball
source: Liberty Games
During the pioneering days of video gaming and home computing, our industry may have been small when compared to Japan, the US and UK, but we were (and still are) proud of our gaming heritage – we will always be proud of John De Margheriti’s Micro Forté and Alfred Milgrom’s Melbourne House and Beam Software amongst the initial big industry players.
As Australian gaming enthusiasts, we always paid attention to what was happening around the world, like we still do till this day. In the early 80s, when home computing took off in Australia, we were on a parallel with our gaming brethren in Europe and the United Kingdom, more so than Japan and the US.
With our nascent video gaming magazine industry barely keeping up with our veracious appetite for gaming information, we turned our attention to the British media to satisfy our craving. Our newsstands were filled with brilliantly written British magazines, from Crash and Zzap!64, to Zero, ST/Amiga Format and Computer & Video Games (to name a few!). These magazines were our only channel to what was going on in the home computing and gaming industry. The magazines introduced us to household British developers, bedroom coders, musicians, publishers and journalists, so it is satisfying to finally watch a film based on this history.
From Bedrooms To Billions, the successful crowd-funded production, shows how the early UK games business began and evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. The story is fused with interviews with key contributors that helped shape the video gaming industry – the enthusiasts, hobbyists, schools kids, bedroom coders, music maestros, journalists and entrepreneurs. Through these interviews, the film reveals the remarkable stories, struggles and successes of the people involved in the invention, creation and evolution of the UK video gaming business.
From Bedroom To Billions connects us over here in Australia (or anywhere around the world for that matter) with the pioneers of the gaming industry, from the bedroom coders, developers and music maestros, to the journalists and publishers we grew up with in the late 70s, 80s and 90s. This documentary is essential viewing, either to reminisce, curate or just to learn how the UK video gaming industry went from nothing to a force to be reckoned with. If there was a category for a “Video Gaming Film Of The Year”, this film would win it hands down. We applaud you Anthony and Nicola Caulfield for a job well done.
Dear Santa,
I know you are busy and stuff, but I thought I’d drop you a line and let you know that I’ve been a very good boy this year.
Since I’ve been good, I thought I would send you my Christmas present wishlist. I hope you could put one (or perhaps more) of these gifts under my Christmas tree – I have included some photos to make your job easier. I promise I’ll leave you heaps of biscuits, milk or whatever other food or beverages you and your reindeer prefer – just let me know.
Thanks Santa and Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
Yours sincerely,
AUSRETROGAMER
Being a big fan of Masters Of The Universe, this would look great on my desk.
Ms. ausretrogamer will like these too.
Who doesn’t love Arnie! I’ll be back!
I want to show some love to my Atari ST.
I’ll break you! That’s what he said, not me!
The future is now! Hand me that almanac.
A bit of footy at Xmas is always great!
This would be great for some Xmas eve viewing.
It says it is the complete edition!
I know I am not a Zelda fan, but this hoodie is cool. Oh yeah, I am a medium!
I can pretend to be Link. I’d be so boss!
Any one of these gaming related items would be appreciated. I am not fussy.
I must admit, I am a sucker for infographics! I am a visual person and would prefer to see more pictures than words. Don’t get me wrong, a well constructed piece will hold my attention, but I get excited over pictures – the more of them, the merrier. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
You don’t need words to explain what you are looking at below – just click on the infographic and then zoom in and enjoy the visual ride!
source: Pop Chart Lab
It had been some time since our last The Thrill Of The Chase. With the close of 2014 getting nearer, we are aiming to squeeze a few more thrills before the curtain falls on this year!
With the adrenaline rushing, we blazed a path across Melbourne to some vintage markets, pawn stores and a very funky memorabilia store. What we found was great and thrilling, but prices of items precluded us from taking things back home.
So, what did we find you may ask? Rather than words (Ed: boring!), check out the below photos!
Celebrating like it is 1984!
Let’s take a look, shall we
Um, this memorabilia store is a fire hazard – it’s packed to the rafters!
TANANA NANANA TANANA NANA TANANA NANANA TANANA NANA GHOSTBUSTERS!
A very expensive Freddo!
Old school WWF is where it’s at baby!
E.T. will phone home!
At last, some Game & Watch beauties
The ubiquitous Pac-man and Simon!
Sega, Atari and Nintendo games!
Donkey Kong Hockey Micro Vs for $65? No!
Atari is best
Scarface playing cards? Say hello to my……
Perfectly tactile QWERTY keyboard
I spy a MOTU boxed product!
Whoa! I wonder if this Taito Asuka & Asuka arcade cabinet is for sale?
Before DVD, there were some big ass LaserDiscs
Oh man, Gakken Super Puck Monster tabletop! Very hard to resist
Let’s hookup this Mac to the internet
Scarface – enough said!
Surely this Taito Speed Race machine is for sale?
Oh damn, it’s for fun only
I play while Ms. ausretrogamer shops
Three screen action aplenty!
Yoda overseeing our shenanigans
