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Sega Reboots Classic Dreamcast Games

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According to this Bloomberg article, Sega is gearing up to reboot a couple of iconic Dreamcast titles, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio as part of their Super Game initiative!

These titles will be first ones released under Sega’s Super Game initiative, which Sega announced a year ago. Sega’s Super Game aims to develop recurring revenue sources and build online communities around its stable of video games.

Mimicking Fortnite’s model, Sega’s Super Game setup will offer their games as free to play, be available across multiple platforms, host large multiplayer contests and include extras like vehicles, construction and social events on top of the usual combat, ensuring they get players to purchase in-game items.

Not sure how we feel about this approach from Sega, but if it works for Epic Games with Fortnite, then we guess that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – if you can’t beat them, copy their business model!



The Internet Archive Console Living Room

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If you don’t want to stuff around with finding, downloading, configuring and tearing your hair out in making video gaming emulators work on your computer, then check out the Internet Archive’s Console Living Room.

The Internet Archive Console Living Room harkens back to the revolution of the change in the hearth of the home, when the fireplace and later, the television, were transformed by gaming consoles into a centre of videogaming entertainment. Connected via strange adapters and relying on the television’s speaker to put out pew pew pew sounds, these games were resplendent with simple graphics and simpler rules.

Via the use of the JSMESS emulator system, this allows direct access to different emulator programs in your browser with no additional plugins or settings, meaning that these games can be enjoyed again without mucking around in looking for emulators or games. Simply click on the screenshot or “Emulate This” button for each individual cartridge, and on modern browsers the games will just start to run. As nostalgia, a teaching tool, or just plain fun, you’ll find hundreds of the games that started a billion-dollar industry.

NOTE: These games are best enjoyed in an up to date version of a modern browser. Currently, there is no sound in the games, although that feature will be added soon.

image source: Internet Archive – Console Living Room



The Tabletop Retro Gaming Royal Rumble

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There is no doubt that we are still in the honeymoon period with our gorgeous Taito EGRET II mini tabletop arcade, but there are a few seasoned classics that could easily knock it off its perch!

Of course the Sega Astro City mini is another beautiful little arcade in the mould of the EGRET, just a tad smaller in stature and without a number of bells and whistles that its bigger brother enjoys.

The arcade mini contenders face-off!

Going toe to toe!

Then there are the tabeltop  heavyweights that have withstood the test of time, Grandstand’s seminal Astro Wars (1981) and Nintendo’s Game & Watch tabletops from 1983. We would’ve added the Vectrex too, but we thought otherwise 😉

Now don’t get us started about superior graphics and sounds on the Sega and Taito arcade minis, that is a given, however there is something quite charming about VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) displays and simple pew pew pew sound effects – they never get old!

We have wasted too many batteries to count playing Astro Wars, Mario’s Cement Factory and Donkey Kong Jr., which we still keep coming back to till this day – that’s 4 decades, and counting! Let’s see if we will be saying the same about the new arcade minis from Sega and Taito in the 2060s.

Let the Tabletop Royal Rumble begin!

For now, the EGRET II mini with the trackball & paddle controller is consuming our gaming time!



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



Paw Patrol Super Hang-On

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Our very good friend and Guinness World Record holder for creating the Largest playable Game and Watch device, Dr. Tom Tilley, has been keeping busy during the Festive Season with a cool new mod!

Spotting a Paw Patrol toy for $5 in his local op-shop, Dr. Tom thought how awesome and fun would it be to make this toy into a Super Hang-On controller – and we have to agree! Upon showing Lil Ausretrogamer this amazing mod, she was excited just as much as we were!

Before you say, “but the toy was in a working state”, relax, Tom found room inside to fit a joystick potentiometer with a 3D printed guide so it could pick up the steering without damaging the toy. The joystick and three buttons from the handlebars were connected to a Raspberry Pi Pico that Dr. Tom programmed to act as a USB joystick controller. The best bit is, when you’re done playing Super Hang-On, you just unplug the Raspberry Pi and reconnect the buttons to restore the original functionality of the toy. Now that is cool!


source: WithProfessorTom



Handheld Emulation Battle: Anbernic RG280V vs PS Vita

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Emulation is fraught with so much controversy, sometimes for good reason. In this post, we won’t be getting into the moral discussion of emulation nor it’s comparison to playing games in their native format/system. With our recent acquisition of the Anbernic RG280V, we have been asked multiple times, is it better that the PS Vita? Well, as with any comparison, it all depends on the use cases, sprinkled with personal preferences, like playing in a vertical (RG280V) or horizontal (PS Vita) orientation, is it pocketable or does it have an OLED screen, to name just a few.

Let’s get one thing straight, we aren’t comparing apples with apples here. The PS Vita, even though it’s getting long in the tooth, is a powerful beast with an awesome OLED screen (the 1000 series), able to play and emulate everything up till the PSP, plus everything in between like the Nintendo 64, GBA and Sega’s Dreamcast. In comparison, the RG280V is able to play and emulate all your old classic 8, 16 and 32-Bit systems without any issues, including the PS1 and GBA games. So, just on sheer number of systems that can be emulated, the PS Vita wins the battle. However, be mindful that modding the Vita to play emulators isn’t for the faint of heart, so be prepared to manually configure it to make it all work properly. For what it’s worth, getting PS1 games to emulate properly on the Vita was rage inducing. The RG280V on the other hand is (almost) plug and play – just drop your games (legally obtained roms, of course) in their relevant folders and you are good to go – all configuration is set for you, including button mapping and the like. Oh yeah, the RG280V also boots up in less than 10 seconds, so you’ll be playing on it in no time compared to the boot-up sequence on the PS Vita.

We honestly love both of these handhelds, but we do find ourselves playing all the classics more often on the RG280V as it’s easier to setup and use, the D-pad, buttons (face and shoulder) and the screen (and its aspect ratio) are amazing and we absolutely love its form factor – it’s such a pocketable unit when compared to the PS Vita.

So which do you choose? Well, if you like horizontal orientation, and OLED screen and are technically inclined and don’t mind tinkering for hours on end to mod and setup the Vita, then that is the way to go. If you prefer to spend less (under AU$120), have a powerful pocketable little unit with a portrait orientation and its ease of setup and use, then the RG280V is for you – unless you have massive hands, then we’d say go for the PS Vita.

No matter which one you go with, you honestly can’t go wrong. Happy gaming peeps!

The RG280V boots up in no time when compared to the PS Vita

Atari Lynx battle! 

APB – horizontal v portrait!

Ninja Five-O baby! Both systems emulate really well.

Our current favourite emulation handheld – it is rock solid

 



Ausretrogamer Is 10 Years Old!

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Who would have thought that when we first started ausretrogamer.com in January 2012 that 10 years later we would still be here! Time certainly flies when you are having fun.

Today marks a major milestone for us at ausretrogamer as we have reached the magical decade mark! When starting our site and social media channels in 2012, we honestly didn’t have any expectations that we would still be around in 2022 – but we are glad that we are!

We have been pleasantly surprised over the years to find so many like-minded people who enjoy playing and talking about all the stuff we love, from obscure video games from the 1970s to those schoolyard-type discussions on which 8-bit computer was best (we all know it was the Commodore 64!).

Ausretrogamer has also allowed us to meet a lot of you in real life, either at events like PAX Aus or local pinball competitions or computing club events – which have been a priceless experience. We are humbled to call all of you our good friends. Nostalgia is a powerful force that binds us all – long may it continue!

To all the awesome folks that have contributed and to those that are still contributing content and everyone that engages with us, thank you very much – you all rock our world!

Looking forward to another decade full of retro gaming (and pinball) goodness! 😉



May The Festive Season Be With You

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Wow, another year has flown by! It was another year for all of us to put behind and hope that 2022 brings us all a better, safer and healthier year!

From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all a wonderful Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, board games or whatever tickles your fancy! Oh yeah, we hope Santa brings you what you wish for!

Next year we celebrate an important milestone, our 10th anniversary of all things ausretrogamer. But for now, it’s time to relax, be merry and we’ll see you all in 2022!



image source: supplied



The Retro Gaming Vault – September 2021

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It’s spring time! What better way to welcome the warmer weather than to delve into a deep corner of our retro gaming vault and dig up a few nostalgia inducing images from our past!

For September, we have your nostalgia covered with Neo Geo, Vectrex, PC-Engine, Commodore 64, Atari Jaguar and old school Nintendo items to name just a few! Enjoy the trip down memory lane and we’ll see you next month for more vault shenanigans!

All images are copyright of ausretrogamer



 

LAVAIR X SEGA MEGA DRIVE

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Sega does what Nintendon’t? Actually, Nintendo have already done the whole ‘cross’ pollination with iconic streetwear brands (like the one with Vans). Sega have also done the same with their famous blue mascot when they crossed him with Puma. Well, now it is Sega’s 16-bit classic console, the Mega Drive, that gets the streetwear treatment with the new Lavair X Mega Drive range!

We must admit, we had never heard of Lavair till today (perhaps we are showing our age!), so at least we have learned something new! So here they are, the Lavair X Mega Drive runners (or sneakers if that is your preference), which we reckon capture the colours perfectly of Sega’s flagship Japanese Mega Drive with the Analog runner and the Mono runner which capture the PAL Mega Drive. If you are more into baseball hats, then you are in luck, as they have the Analog and Mono hats for you to choose from too. The Lavair x Mega Drive is a limited-edition themed collaboration, so we expect these products to go quite quickly, just like Sonic, boom!

image source: Sega and Lavair