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PAX Aus 2019 Highlights

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Judging by our PAX Aus Classic Gaming highlights feature, you would have been forgiven in thinking that there was nothing else to see at this year’s PAX Aus.

Well, we are here to tell you that there was stacks to see and experience, from great panels, awesome cosplay, pin and badge hunts to booth raids to check out the latest games and wares from indie devs and the big AAA studios and gaming companies.

There was so much to see, so we hope this Rest of PAX Aus 2019 Highlights photo package can make you feel like you were there!

The calm before the storm! The crowds waits patiently for the start of PAX AUS 2019!

 

Oz Comic-Con Sydney 2019 Highlights

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We were lucky enough to attend Oz Comic Con 2019 in Sydney and take in all the amazing sights and sounds! There were plenty of regular favourites and a few newcomers that shows just how much conventions are growing in popularity. Another very welcome addition we noticed was the increasingly family friendly nature these cons are becoming, with a scribble wall and colouring corners for kids!

There was a strong presence from the ESL (eSports League Australia) which is always good to see and they had live competitions running all weekend. The Southern Cross Garrison of the 501st Imperial Legion was also out in force, bringing some impressive cosplay from both sides of the force including Stormtroopers, Wookiees and Tauntauns! 

The artists corner was buzzing with activity, allowing upcoming artists to show off their skills and sell some of their merchandise. Lots of booths filled to the brim with pop culture goodies spread themselves throughout both the halls. We were also lucky enough to stumble onto some retro goodies that included figures, vehicles and playsets from Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and Masters of the Universe. 

Just in case you missed out on all the fun we brought you some highlights!

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

 

 

 

Star Wars Pinball – Switch Review

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What do you get when you mash together the world’s biggest pop culture franchise with one of the best video pinball developers on the planet? You guessed it, you get Zen Studios‘ Star Wars Pinball!

Zen Studios has somehow crammed 19 Star Wars themed pinball tables on this Switch release, which are damn brilliant and will satisfy any discerning Jedi pinball master – we were going to say wizard, but we reckon that has been done to death. The superlatives don’t just end there, there are additional features and modes that are exclusive on the Nintendo Switch, like HD Rumble, Vertical Play (grab your Flip Grip!), Cantina Jukebox, Galactic Struggle and Career Mode to name just a few.

As the title suggest, this is a pinball game at heart, meaning it is easy to get into and instantly enjoyable to flip the silver-ball. This is thanks to Zen Studios honing their skill in creating wonderful pinball experiences on consoles. The added bonus here is that the whole package is wrapped up in all things Star Wars. If you scratch the surface of this title and start looking deeper, there is a lot of content that will keep you playing for a long long time (in a galaxy nearby).

As mentioned, the unique gameplay modes on the Switch allow players to participate in community-wide Galactic struggles, allowing for contribution points to the light or dark side, depending on how you feel. Likewise, the new career mode allows players to join the ranks of the Jedi or Sith as they achieve up to 50 career ranks, and simply playing any table unlocks special Force Power bonuses that can be applied toward bigger scores. Playing any table unlocks special Force Power bonuses that can be applied towards bigger scores, and a Force Training mode to help pinball Padawans maximize their flipping potential.

The 19 Star Wars pinball tables are centred around the movies and TV show franchises, with iconic characters, memorable locations, and general Star Wars goodness:

  • Movies Adaptations: Episodes IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, plus Rogue One: A Star Wars™ Story and Solo: A Star Wars™ Story
  • TV Adaptations: Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™, Star Wars Rebels™
  • Characters: Han Solo, Darth Vader, Lando Calrissian in The Calrissian Chronicles table, Boba Fett, Droids
  • Locations: Ahch-To Island, Mimban (Battle of Mimban)
  • Themes: Jedi vs. Sith (Masters of the Force), X-wings vs. TIE fighters (Starfighter Assault), being the bad guy (Might of the First Order)

No matter which side you choose, Light or Dark, Jedi or Sith, you will Feel the Force in Zen Studios’ Star Wars Pinball on the Nintendo Switch. We highly recommend you give this awesome game a flip!

Disclosure: Star Wars Pinball [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Zen Studios for this review.

 

 

Star Wars The Retro Collection Action Figures

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NOTE: The pre-orders have sold out! If you are interested in this collection, please ensure you subscribe to get notified when they are available. The original story follows below.

How fast can you say, “WANT!”? Well, we can tell you how fast we said it for these new (old looking) Star Wars Retro Collection Action Figures – it was exactly 0.0001 seconds, that’s how fast.

Inspired by the original 1978 Kenner Star Wars 3 3/4-inch action figures, these Star Wars The Retro Collection Action Figures (part of wave 1) are a must get for anyone with an ounce of nostalgia for the old school figures they once had or lusted after back in the day. Packaged on classic 6-inch by 9-inch cardbacks with faux ageing, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between these and the original Kenner figures – at least these are cheaper! Oh yeah, each figure has 6 points of articulation and an accessory for you to pose them in their iconic stance from the original movie – we love Darth Vader’s and Luke Skywalker’s retractable telescopic lightsabers!

So what do you get in the Star Wars The Retro Collection Action Figures Wave 1 Case? The case includes 6 individually packaged action figures:

  • Darth Vader
  • Luke Skywalker
  • Stormtrooper
  • Princess Leia Organa
  • Chewbacca
  • Han Solo

The force is strong with these action figures!

[via: technabob]

 

Star Wars Pin: The Force Will Be With You

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If you missed the news from last week’s San Diego Comic-Con, Stern Pinball Inc. announced their new home edition pinball machine, Star Wars Pin!

Jack Danger of Dead Flip fame streamed the new machine from the event and we have to admit, we really liked what we saw. If you missed Jack’s Twitch stream of Star Wars Pin, you can catch it here or check it out below.

Watch Star Wars Pin, Live from ComiCon from DeadFlip on www.twitch.tv

With a price point of AU$6,850*, the Star Wars Pin machine will hit Australian shores in October for those budget conscious pinball enthusiasts that want their pinball fix at home.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a smaller or massively cut-down version of a pinball machine – Star Wars Pin is still a commercial grade pinball machine with the same playfield dimensions plus all of the sub-assemblies (flippers, drop targets, slingshots, bumpers) of it’s big brother Stern cornerstone machines, but without the coin mechanism or coin wiring, hence the home edition moniker. Coupled with Stern’s ‘Spike‘ system (operating architecture), this Star Wars Pin becomes an attractive proposition for Star Wars and pinball fans alike.

For those of you that get nervous thinking about the maintenance of a pinball machine, don’t fret, as long as you keep the machine clean and change the rubbers (dependant on the amount of play), you should see many many years of trouble-free and fun times with Stern’s Star Wars Pin!

We look forward to play testing this pinball machine once it hits our shores and telling you all what we think – so stay tuned. If you are keen on Star Wars Pin, hit up your local distributor (AMD or Zax Amusements) now!

* dependant on $AUD/$USD exchange rate between now and October 2019.

image source: AMD via Stern Pinball

 

Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2019 Highlights

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Oz Comic Con Melbourne (2019) has come and gone. It is always a blast attending this event.

If you missed out on being there, don’t fret, our awesome photography team from REE Photography captured some awesome pics from Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday weekend for you to enjoy and feel like you were there!

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REE Photography
The new and awesome photography service that captures all of your special moments from pop culture and gaming events.

Like REE Photography on Facebook

 

 

New Star Wars Game

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

This month, at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, the trailer for a new Star Wars game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, was released to a room full of diehard Star Wars fans. The two-minute trailer for the Electronic Arts game gave fans an intriguing story preview and stunning action-packed visuals.

I grew up playing Star Wars games. The Empire Strikes Back for Super Nintendo is still one of my favorite video games. It’s also one of the hardest. I played a little of it recently and I was reminded of how difficult each level was.

Jedi: Fallen Order had a great trailer, but there was little gameplay shown. It takes more than a good trailer to get Star Wars fans excited for a new game. The last few Star War games haven’t been stellar outings. I enjoyed Star Wars Battlefront II, but it felt like it wasn’t the game that was advertised. Star Wars in gaming is like a sleeping giant; with the right creative team and the vast universe at their disposal, something really special could be produced any year.

Star Wars games have always had excellent trailers, but most of the games haven’t lived up to their stellar previews. Jedi: Fallen Order looks like a fugitive story where the protagonist is running from the Empire. That’s a cool, original set-up. The story takes place after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, when Order 66 was initiated. It’s like a superhero origin story where the hero has to hide their powers. In Jedi: Fallen Order, the main character’s powers are The Force. The trailer shows a new Star Wars location; that gives me hope that it’ll be entertaining. However, Jedi: Fallen Order won’t have multiplayer.

The EA game will be released around the same time as the new Disney+ series The Mandalorian. Will the Star Wars faithful be more hyped to play Jedi: Fallen Order or watch The Mandalorian if the entire series drops? Fans can do both, but my main focus will be seeing what Jon Favreau does with a Star Wars bounty hunter series. For many fans, the game will be put on hold if they can stream all of The Mandalorian.

Jedi: Fallen Order, which will be released on November 15, looks like it has great potential. Star Wars needs a game that knocks it out of the park.

Emoji Art for Geeks

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We knew there was a good use for emojis!

Our talented co-founder, Ms. Ausretrogamer has put emojis to good use by creating iconic artwork of pop culture geekiness, from Star Wars, Dr. Who, Donkey Kong, to The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, The Shining and Mortal Kombat to name just a few.

If you don’t want to miss Ms. Ausretrogamer’s geeky emoji artwork, follow her on Twitter.

 

TGIF: Friday Shopping Frenzy

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Well, Thank Gawd It’s Friday, or better yet, !

Friday always feels good as it is the end of the working week and knowing that the weekend shenanigans are nigh.
To make Friday flow even easier, we thought we’d go shopping for some cool retro gaming and general pop culture stuff that you may also be interested in. Oh yeah, if you are keen on any of the gear below, just click on the pic and it will take you to the relevant merchant/store – too easy, here we go!

 

Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2018 Highlights

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If you missed out on attending Oz Comic-Con 2018 in Melbourne, we have you covered!

With our trusty cameras in tow (thanks Alan Ly!), we snapped quite a few photos (over 60 photos actually) to make you feel like you were there, from awesome cosplay, comic book creators, artists, vendors with tempting gear, to a Star Wars X-Wing waiting for you to enter its cockpit and some Doom shenanigans at Bethesda’s booth.

Scroll through and enjoy what was a pretty epic Oz Comic-Con 2018!

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