retrogaming

Activision: Happy 35th Birthday

October 1, 2014 By ausretrogamer

What do you do when the company you make video games for does not want to recognise nor pay you royalties for your efforts? You become disgruntled and leave that company with a few of your programmer co-workers and form your own company. Well, that is pretty much how Activision was created – to break the shackles from Atari and recognise the programming geniuses behind some of the most beloved video games of all time.

In creating Activision; David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead became the world’s first third-party video games developers. So thank you to the courage of these men, we can only speculate (Ed: shudder to think!) what would have happened if we didn’t have a third-party video games developer community.

Activision has changed over the last three and a half decades, as has the video games market, but its legacy will not be forgotten. We still love playing their creations from all those years ago, from Pitfall! and River Raid on the Atari 2600, to breaking joysticks with Decathlon on the C64. Ah, those were the days. Happy 35th birthday Activision!

Retro Games with Modern Themes: Retro Games and Movies Mashup

September 29, 2014 By ausretrogamer

As featured in the French art book, Geek-Art: An Anthology: Art, Design, Illustration & Pop Culture, we have found these very cool illustrations of fictional classic video game boxes adapted for films and TV shows.

We love the hand-written notes on the packaging – a very nice touch. With so much awesomeness to look at, we can’t pick a favourite. Can you?

source: Penney Design

Retro Gaming: Solid State Media

September 25, 2014 By ausretrogamer

There is no point in pretending that I am a fan of downloadable content (DLC) – just for the record, I am not a fan! However, I can’t deny that it is the way of the future, unfortunately.

There is a sense of gratification when holding something precious like old school video games in your hands. That tactile pleasure is not the same as hitting the ‘Download Now‘ button. As solid state media becomes extinct, the pleasure of holding games in your hands and looking at the back to “check out the graphics” will become a thing of the past – something to tell your grandchildren.

Just like books adorning your personal library, there is an intoxicating atmosphere of nostalgia when you are able to view and touch your retro gaming collection. There is a sense of cultural importance in preserving these collections. Be proud of your gaming cartridges, diskettes, tapes, CDs, cards, DVDs and Blu-Rays. They may be going the same way as the dodo bird, but our passion for preserving these artefacts will ensure that they are enjoyed for generations to come.

The Players’ Score – A Videogame Music Documentary

September 12, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Despite the growing popularity of game music and chiptunes, there hasn’t been a comprehensive effort to chronicle their contributions to modern music and gaming culture. The Players’ Score: A Videogame Music Documentary aims to explore the relationships, developments and communities videogame music has fostered through live interviews with prominent videogame cover bands, chiptune artists, and the composers who inspire them in order to demonstrate the cultural and personal impact of videogame music.

Spanning the globe, participants have come from North America, Europe, and even Japan, with more artists being confirmed daily. Here is a brief selection of the artists who will be featured in The Players’ Score – A Videogame Music Documentary:

– Austin Wintory (Journey, The Banner Saga)
– Bit Brigade
– Danimal Cannon
– Danny Barranowsky (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac)
– Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, Kingdoms of Amalur)
– Grant “Stemage” Henry (Metroid Metal, LonelyRollingStars)
– Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Koudelka, Shining Hearts)
– Jake “virt” Kaufman
– Jeremy Soule (The Elder Scrolls series, Guild Wars series)
– Manami Matsumae (Mega Man, Shovel Knight)
– Mega Ran
– Morgan “Crashfaster” Tucker
– Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid series, Bayonetta)
– Starbomb
– The Megas
– The Minibosses
– The Triforce Quartet

Many more artists have already been filmed, and more will be announced as they are confirmed.

Show your support by spreading the word and pledge towards The Players’ Score – A Videogame Music Documentary.

Mega Drive Megatron and Optimus Prime Playstation

September 10, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Let’s all start with a collective sigh of disappointment. Why the disappointment? Well, after getting quite excited over the announcement that Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. would release special console Transformers to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the robots in disguise, there has been another delay in their availability.

The Mega Drive Megatron was originally slated for a September release, but that has now been pushed out to October. Optimus Prime (featuring original Playstation) won’t see the light of day till 2015 (no exact date known). On the positive side, the delay should give you extra time to save – these Transformers won’t be cheap (~$103AUD).

For now, you can drool over the photos of these awesome console Transformers!

The sleek Megatron!

Megatron in the flesh

Mega Drive Megatron in disguise

Optimus Prime Playstation!

Where did Optimus go? All I see is a Playstation!

image sources: Takara Tomy ARTS and TFormers

Chubby Checker’s Dig Dug Dance

September 9, 2014 By ausretrogamer

There is something quite endearing about old video gaming advertisements – from daggy TV commercials to the advertising wars between the heavyweights of the industry!

Then there are the TV advertisements that were released, but not as originally intended. The unearthing of a cassette tape with Chubby Checker singing in Atari’s Dig Dug arcade commercial, has sent a buzz around the retro gaming community.

Just in case you weren’t aware, the cassette was recently discovered by Matt Osborne, son of former Atari vice president Don Osborne. The song itself was technically used in the Dig Dug commercial, but without Checker’s vocals. The reasons of why this recording exists and why Chubby Checker’s vocals weren’t used in the final product, are unfortunately lost to history. We know which version we prefer.

Chubby Checker’s version

Final Atari Dig Dug Dance TV commercial

source: Scottith Games

image and Chubby Checker vocals source: TheOzMan (Matt Osborne)

C64 Shmuptember Action

September 7, 2014 By ausretrogamer

It may no longer be C64 month, but hey, who is complaining when you are getting an awesome free C64 game! Besides, it is SHMUPTEMBER, so here is your contender – take it away, Mr. Anthony Stiller:

SOPWITHS AND PTERRORDONS:
This simple, single-level Shoot’Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK) game was a project I assigned myself to celebrate August, the unofficial C64 month. I didn’t hit my deadline (Ed: we ain’t complaining).

This is my first completed SEUCK game. My only other attempt was a long, long time ago (I tried to get a bubble to float gracefully across the screen, couldn’t get it to look any way decent, and gave up).

There’s no backstory to Sopwiths and Pterrordons. I just thought of two things that would be cool – my love of World War I and World War II planes, and who doesn’t like dinosaurs? They seemed like a great mix (and from feedback I’ve received, other people feel the same).

Feel free to make up your own backstory. Make sure the pilot is dashing, handsome and says, “Tally ho!” and “Chocks away!” an awful lot.

Special thanks to Andrew Fisher, David Rayfield and Cameron Davis for their valued advice, support and feedback.

Thanks also to Noble Kale and Rob Caporetto for their encouragement and inspiration.

Get your free copy of Sopwiths And Pterrordons here. Enjoy!

Playing tips:
– Scoring has been balanced, so with a little practice, you should just be able to nab an extra life right before the end of level boss;
– Due to the shape of the player bullet, enemies, and how SEUCK determines hitboxes, you really need to line up your shots with the pterrordon’s head to better guarantee a kill;
– You can squeeze between the vertical rows of deadly crystal chunks in the terrain later in the game
Design Notes – I approached Sopwiths and Pterrordons with definite goals:
– Use vanilla SEUCK;
– Short (originally only one scrolling and one static level which I then dropped to one scrolling level only);
– End of level boss;
– Minimise framerate loss (a particular bugbear of mine with regards to SEUCK games);
– Well-animated player and enemy graphics;
– Noticeable ACTION-REST-ACTION phases during the game;
– Use of foreshadowing (new enemies usually appear in generally non-threatening positions onscreen. The first laser-pterrordon is an exception however neanderthals are placed before it appears to encourage the player to move away from the mental “safe zone” of the bottom-middle of the screen);
– Minimise unfair death (pterrordons that appear behind the player)

What worked:
– The restrictions of SEUCK greatly reduced choice paralysis during the design/build phase;
– Descoping: I had several rather neat ideas that I dropped late in the design phase and into the early build phase;
– Getting some player feedback was very helpful; and
– SEUCK is still a pretty great tool, relatively speaking!

Challenges:
– Like anything, this took a lot longer than I expected from both an effort and elapsed time perspective. For example, the title page took about 4 hours of actual effort spread out over a day. In total I think I spent around 40-50 hours of total actual effort on this project from beginning to end;
– SEUCK and C64 restrictions can get a little frustrating and needed a lot of replaying. I also wanted this to work on a real C64 with minimal juddering and forgot that emulators can keep a steady framerate much easier than the original hardware;
– Initially I went for a low-flying biplane meaning the graphics needed to reflect that we were closer to the ground (eg: larger rivers). After some consideration I went for a higher altitude. This ended up causing considerable difficulty in the subsequent graphics design as I had to create graphics that provided the illusion of depth and distance (things falling into the screen or rising out of the screen);
– The cliffs on either side were a right pain. Ultimately the “overhang” design seemed to work;
– Colour palette choices. UGH!!!!!;
– I used CCS64 using snapshots to save progress but actually getting the final game onto a working d64 image via SEUCK seemed to be entirely random

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anthony Stiller
Loves the C64 a little too much, but that is ok.

Follow Anthony on Twitter

Rise Of The Arcade Phoenix

September 5, 2014 By ausretrogamer

It is always sad to see a family business close down. This is all the more apparent in the arcade and pinball parlour establishments. Long gone are the days of dark and dingy arcade joints we used to revel in. With the advent of super consoles and redemption machines, the old arcade parlours have been banished to the past.

Alas, there is hope! Barcades are starting to pop up all around the US. Their popularity is undeniable! We only have one here in Melbourne – Forgotten Worlds. There is even GameRoom Essentials in Adelaide, a throwback to old school arcades. Oh yeah, how could I forget the Mana Bar in Brisbane – another very hip bar and gaming establishment. We are keeping our fingers crossed that more of these throwback arcades and barcades pop-up around Australia!

Fun ‘N’ Games indeed!

You are never too old to have fun

The arcade: a friendly place

Let’s play!

image sources: Port Macquarie News | GameRoom Essentials | ausretrogamer

Robin Williams: A Video Games Inspired Web Comic Tribute

August 29, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Melbourne based cartoonist, Gavin Aung Than of Zen Pencils has created an awesome web comic tribute to the late Robin Williams (Robin Williams: A Spark Of Madness). Fusing Robin’s love of video games with his vast body of comedy and film works, Gavin has captured the essence of Robin’s life story just perfectly.

source: Zen Pencils

Commodore Club: Under the Hammer

August 19, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Carrying the tradition of August being Commodore month, the Commodore Club held their annual auction at the weekend. There was a fair bit of loot on offer, from the C64 and Amiga, to the Atari 2600, N64, SNES and other classic systems.

Paul the auctioneer kept the formalities to a minimum and ensured the smooth running of the bidding processes – once the gavel dropped, there was no mucking around. What transpired was some friendly bidding wars amongst the modest crowd. Weird and Retro’s Serby cleaned up with the winning bid on the C64 cassette games, but I ensured I got in on the action with winning the C64 Breadbin andC64 compilation game pack auctions. The usual suspects (Stacey, Rob and Pedro) also got in amongst the action and scored themselves some impressive vintage goodies. By the end of it all, everything that was up for grabs was gone.

Once the auction wrapped up, it was down to business of playing some old school classics. The Commodore Club day is one of those monthly events that you should not miss! Are you coming to the next one?

Let the auction begin!