tabletop

PAX Aus 2016 – I’m Making A Note Here: HUGE SUCCESS

November 12, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

So… we’re calling it – PAX Aus 2016 was a triumph (it’s hard to overstate our satisfaction).

This year’s PAX Aus was bigger and better than ever – including a huuuge Tabletop Area, a speed running stage, a VR Freeplay Area, awesome speakers like Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb (Director of Programming for Xbox Live, Microsoft) and live performances by 7bit Hero and Axis of Awesome. But best of all was the massive Classic Gaming Area (of course!).

(Maps from the PAX Aus website)

We met heaps of cool people (look out for our upcoming article about that), saw masses of amazing cosplay, and basically spent three full days on our feet helping man (and woman) the Classic Gaming Area or wandering around, taking in all that PAX Aus had to offer (which was a lot!).

Let’s start by celebrating the Classic Gaming Area. Back for the fourth time, the CGA was bigger than ever. The CGA is a joint initiative between PAX and Melbourne-based retro gaming experts Ausretrogamer, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro (all providing retro consoles and computers), local barcade Bartronica (providing arcade machines), and pinball enthusiast Scott Kellett with Zax Amusements, Pinmem and Bayside Pinball Club (providing pinball tables). We also had an awesome museum of retro treasures and rarities this year.

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming Area – Stay a while… stay forever!

The arcades were as popular as ever

The consoles, computers and handhelds provided much nostalgic fun

Competition was fierce but friendly in the CGA tournaments

Pinball tables were a hit!

A new addition to the CGA – the retro museum

But PAX Aus 2016 had more to offer than just the Classic Gaming Area…

The Expo Hall

The Tabletop Area

PC and Console Freeplay

The Handheld Lounge

Queuing for merch

The six rules of PAX

Noms

Pin-pressive!

D20

Sanic

Game over – until 2017

And just like that, PAX Aus is over for another year, but we had a blast – and we have so many great memories. We hope you do too. See you all again next year!

Photos: ausretrogamer.com and Alan Ly

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

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The Mini Arcade By SuperGameCo

November 26, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Have you always wanted to make your own mini arcade tabletop machine? Are you a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) hack just like me? If you answered yes to both questions, then the SuperGameCo Mini Arcade may be just what you are looking for.

Made from bamboo panels that snap together, the Mini Arcade is a breeze to setup – if you prefer (Ed: are too lazy), SuperGameCo also offer the Mini Arcade in fully assembled form.

At the heart of the Mini Arcade is a very speedy Raspberry Pi 2 Model B computer, running Emulation Station. This ensures that the emulators and games run nice and smooth. We didn’t experience any slowdown during play – which was great. The 9″ LCD screen provides great resolution, but the marquee protrudes a tad too much which tends to get in the way if you are not sitting down low.

The control deck is made up of an 8-way Sanwa/Seimitsu arcade stick and 6 concave arcade buttons. These are complimented with a single player select button and an insert coin (credit) button on the left side of the unit to provide an authentic arcade feel when playing games via MAME.

Audio on the Mini Arcade is pumped through the front facing speakers via a stereo amplifier. We did find that the sound wasn’t as beefy as we would have liked, which took away a bit from the experience when playing shoot’em ups with booming explosions.

We found the Mini Arcade to be a breeze to operate and play games. The assembly was nice and easy, and once you are all setup, it is pretty straight forward to select your favourite old game and get all nostalgic. If you are struggling to find a Christmas present for your retro gaming partner, then the Mini Arcade may be a viable option.

PROS:
– Clever snap-together kit (or you could opt for it to be fully assembled)
– Easy to get started playing games
– Latest Raspberry Pi 2 Model B internals
– Quality Sanwa/Seimitsu arcade joystick
– Inclusion of the Insert Coin button provides an authentic arcade feel
– Multiple interfaces (USB/RJ45) for additional connectivity

CONS:
– Marquee is obtrusive when playing on the 9″ LCD display
– Button layout felt a tad cramped
– Sound is reasonable, but it needs to be meatier
– Insert coin button stickiness (may have just been our unit)
– Power supply cord was too short
– Graphics on the bamboo panels would be nice

The Mini Arcade product variants and prices can be found at the SuperGameCo store here.

Astro Wars: A Blast From The Past

October 28, 2012 By ausretrogamer

Back in the early 80’s, the closest thing to having an arcade in your home was to have one of a plethora of electronic tabletops. In a sea of these portable tabletops, one stood out head and shoulders – Grandstand’s (Epoch developed), Astro Wars. Everything about this black and grey beast was and still is uber cool. It looks like a miniature arcade and it even plays like one. It has a 2-way metal joystick (for left and right movement) and one big plastic fire button – what more could you want !

Even after three decades, the hardware oozes coolness. Just look at the unit ! The display is a “vacuum fluorescent display”, or VFD (the box says Multicolour FIP Display !). This was used on consumer-electronics equipment back in the early 80’s, like calculators. Unlike liquid crystal displays, a VFD could emit a very bright light with high contrast and could support display elements of various colours.

The unit feels sturdy and can be powered by mains (6 Volt) or with four ‘C’ batteries. The unit is “portable” – perhaps only around the house as you wouldn’t want to lug it around.

So, how does this Astro Wars play ? Well, as a shoot’em up, it is quite simple – move your earth ship left / right to avoid missiles from the fierce squadron of attacking fighters and fire back to blast them into smithereens. Once you blast away waves of enemy fighters, warships and command ships, you attempt the docking manoeuvre – landing the upper module to the rocket part of your earth ship. Succeed with this manoeuvre, and you are given extra points. Speaking of points, once you reach 9999, the counter resets to zero and you have effectively “clocked the game”. When you do end up finishing the game, you still want to re-play it. Now that is saying something for a game that has been around for 30+ years. How many other games can you say that about ? OK, I hear people screaming Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, and yes, them too.

If you want a cool piece of gaming history with “pew-pew sounds” and a great game to boot, then hunt down this unit – you will not regret it.

For more photos of Astro Wars, go to the Facebook album