AUSRETROGAMER

The Pop-Culture E-Zine

You are here: Home / Archives for Video Games

Video Games

Blow The Cartridge: The RetroGaming Webcomic

By

BTC_TitleWhat do you get when you mash retrogaming with a comic strip? The answer is quite simple, you get the awesome Blow The Cartridge retrogaming webcomic!

We have been fans of Cameron Davis’ Blow The Cartridge comic strips for a while now – his webcomic creations are always topical and infused with a great mix of gaming nostalgia and humour, which is exactly what the doctor ordered after a tough day in the office. With that said, it is great to see that there is currently a Kickstarter campaign to make the fifth issue of the collected Blow The Cartridge comic book series! The campaign is to get all the latest comics Cameron has made online and put them together into one mind-blowingly awesome comic!

Pledge rewards on offer for this campaign include signed and personalised copies of the comic book, digitally-delivered copies, and also guest-starring roles in new strips that will be made specifically for the comic.

This sounds all pretty awesome to us. Hit the Blow The Cartridge Kickstarter right now if you want a fun-filled 48 page, full color comic book about the video games we grew up playing and why we still love them so much today!

BTC_webcomicimage source: Blow The Cartridge

 

It’s On Like Oz Comic-Con

By

OZComicCon_3As the excitement builds for this weekend’s Oz Comic-Con at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the ausretrogamer crew are giddy with anticipation of the geeky awesomeness to come! Being our first Oz Comic-Con, we can’t wait to immerse ourselves in all things pop-culture – from TV and film guests, to great cosplay and cars from movies, it’s going to be huge.

For those of you that cannot be there in person, we will be keeping you up to date on social media using , so make sure you tune in!

OZComicCon_1

OZComicCon_2

image source: Oz Comic-Con

Jammin’ at the Commodore Club

By

CC_Jammin_HDRIt had been a while since we last attended the Amiga Users Group’s Commodore Club day. Going to one of these club meets is like a family reunion you look forward to – you know you will see people you know and like, and you are assured to have lots of fun. Well, it is safe to say, we had lots of fun playing games (terribly) and catching up with our great Commodore friends.

The highlight of the day was playing Throwback Games’ Jam It in four player mode on the C64. This pre-release basketball game even had our teams (Tweeters vs Slackers) and player names (I was MagicBoz) hard coded in by Leigh White, the brains behind the one-man-developer-shop at Throwback Games. We will interview Leigh in an upcoming feature to get to know him a little bit better and find out about his creation, Jam It, and its official release details. For now, I want to keep on jammin and slam-dunkin!

Welcome to Casa Commodore
CC_1

A box of C64 goodies. Let’s play lucky dip! 
CC_2

The C64 control deck! This is the nerve centre
CC_3

Meticulous organisation of the C64 5.25″ floppies
CC_4

The remastered Ghosts’N Goblins – it’s an absolute beauty!
CC_5

The battle of Xpiose: Dr Curlytek vs Zen Mare Retro
CC_6

Gonna have some Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off Road action!
CC_7

The C64 deck in 4-Player Joystick Mode!
CC_8

This stik is slik!
CC_9

Run for your life!
CC_10

Ice Skating (Hat Trick) battle: Reset Magazine Ed (Kev) vs The Doctor!
CC_11

The lads [L to R]: Rob, Stacey and Kevin getting ready to fly some taxis!
CC_12

Ashton Kutcher’s* dad’s creation – Space Taxi! *may not be true
CC_13

The beautiful Commodore 128D comes to life! 
CC_14

The A1200 – Now you are playing with power!
CC_15

Na na na na na na na na… BATMAN!
CC_17

Anyone for some Pooyan?
CC_16

C16 power!
CC_18

The 1200 can make anyone feel like a Hero!
CC_20

Oh that lush screen!
CC_25

Amiga 2000 represent baby!
CC_28

Getting ready to Jam!
CC_19

Jam It 4P battle: Tweeters vs Slackers! Who will win?
CC_21

Oo’er, I love me some Jam It stats!
CC_22

And the winner is……..
CC_winners

Leigh White playing his creation!
CC_24

The aftermath!
CC_26

The Thrill Of The Chase: Lost and Found Market

By

LostandFoundWhat does one do when their weekend schedule is clear? Well, you can choose to lounge around at home to keep warm in this cold Melbourne winter, or you can head outdoors to a flea market to grab yourself a bargain!

As it turned out, Ms ausretrogamer and I did the latter – we hit the Lost & Found Market in Brunswick East for a spot of vintage kitsch shopping. From vinyls, old Barbie dolls, to an Apple Mac from the 80s, the market did not disappoint. Here are just a few of our favourite items from Lost & Found:

They call me Bruce!
IMG_1944

What’s that next to the doll?
IMG_1940

I’m Batman!
IMG_1945

Blessed are those that play Taito’s Speed Race!IMG_1917

Some new AKAIs for the Walkman. Pffft, who needs an iPod….
IMG_1919

Forget your smartphone, carry this portable phonograph for your aural pleasure
IMG_1918

One for the Star Wars book fans – May the force be with you
IMG_1920

Daytonaaaaaaaaa. Let’s race!
IMG_1916

Vintage Snoopy mugs – perfect for a hot cuppa!
IMG_1921

A Twirly Curls Barbie! And she isn’t blonde!
IMG_1922

OH MY GAWD! It is the ARMATRON!!!
IMG_1923

Do not feed it after midnight – the Mogwai, not the Smurfs!
IMG_1924

Daddy and baby robot
IMG_1926

Want to be a Jedi like Luke? You better drink from these cups!
IMG_1928

Blast some tunes! Grab some records while you are here!
IMG_1931

Can this Telyphone operate my telly?
IMG_1932

The ultimate tag team!
IMG_1934

Rowdy Roddy Piper dare you to enter Piper’s Pit.
IMG_1933

Our podcast mic has been found!
IMG_1936

Retro boomerangs
IMG_1935

Scalextric – your childhood in one box!
IMG_1937

A vintage Mac!
IMG_1939

Looking for a Marantz unit……..
IMG_1938

Perfect for the games room!
IMG_1942

2015 World Video Game Hall of Fame Finalists

By

HallOfFame-TITLEJust in case you have been hiding in a cave for the last week or two, we thought we would take this opportunity to bring you up to speed on the 15 electronic games finalists to be inducted into The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame. The inductees will be formally recognised in a ceremony at The Strong museum in downtown Rochester, New York, on June 4.

Which games made the cut? Surely there wouldn’t be too many surprises when you scan the below list of inaugural inductees. We reckon there should have been some Yu Suzuki arcade classics in the hall of fame, but we are sure they will make the next induction. So, which other iconic game(s) do you think should have made this initial World Video Game Hall of Fame list?

Oregon Trail (1971)
HallofFame_oregon_trail

Pong (1972)
HallofFame_Pong

Space Invaders (1978)
HallofFame_SpaceInvaders

Pac-Man (1980)
HallofFame_Pac-Man

Tetris (1984)
HallofFame_tetris

Super Mario Bros. (1985)
HallofFame_SuperMario

The Legend Of Zelda (1986)
HallofFame_zelda

Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
HallofFame_Sonic

Doom (1993)
HallofFame_doom

FIFA Soccer (1993)
HallofFame_FIFA

Pokémon (1996)
HallofFame_pokemon

The Sims (2000)
HallofFame_Sims

World Of Warcraft (2004)
HallOfFame_wow

Angry Birds (2009)
HallofFame_angry_birds

Minecraft (2009)
HallofFame_minecraft

source: The Strong – National Museum Of Play

University Of Calgary’s Video Game Library: Time To Go Back To School

By

Established in 2010, the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) Digital Media Commons contains (among other techy things) a unique collection of cutting edge gaming PCs, retro and contemporary gaming consoles, and software from the 1970’s to current gen.

Header

The collection is open to students, staff and the public. They plausibly claim it is the largest collection of video games for academic studies in the nation.

The game catalogue consists of mainstream titles, educational games as well as unique and independent games – you can browse the catalogue HERE.

Picture 3

The University also offers a class in Computer Game Design, which includes a history of video games.

Watch the Games and Related Media Librarian talk about the collection:

Source: University of Calgary, UToday, YouTube

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Editor and Researcher at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Australia’s Top 100 Video Games

By

GGTV_top100_HdrAustralia, you have spoken. More to the point, Australian gamers have voted for their top 100 video games of all time.

Presented on our favourite national video games based TV show, Good Game, Steven O’Donnell (aka: Bajo) and Stephanie Bendixsen (aka: Hex), together with Gus Ronald (aka: Goose) and a ragtag of industry luminaries counted down our favourites in an hour long special that aired on August 12.

So what was the game that beat them all?  If you missed the show, don’t stress, you can stream or download the episode (episode 28) from the Good Game TV website. 

Without spoiling it too much for you, here are the highlights:

  • there were a few retro games in the top 100, mainly from the Nintendo stable (ahem, N64 represent!)
  • my all time favourite game, Super Mario Bros. anchored the list at 100 (Ed: Boo!)
  • the Irrelevant Tosser’s pick, Clowns (Commodore 64) was a nostalgic trip. Too bad it didn’t make the top 100
  • Zelda games featured better than Mario (Ed: another boo!)
  • The mayhem of Goldeneye 007 for the N64 made it into the top 20
  • There was no love for Sonic nor Shenmue (Ed: sorry for spoiling that for you!)
  • The show’s Rubber Chicken award provided some light relief from the seriousness of counting down Australia’s top 100 games of all time

RubberChicken

One thing was for certain, this list did spark some frantic discussion on social media (), but hey, that’s exactly what lists do – they create engagement, good and bad.

It seems that my votes counted for two out of my three games, but I must admit I was shocked not to see Super Mario World anywhere on the list. Ah well, I guess the voting demographic may have been in nappies when that game was rocking our socks. Did your favourite games make the top 100?

image source: Good Game

 

Minotaur: The Pop Culture Specialists

By

Have you ever struggled to buy a gift for a friend or family member? Do you need ideas? Well, this is your lucky day – we reckon you can never go wrong with getting a pop culture gift for that special someone.

Minotaur, the pop culture specialists store in central Melbourne caters for all pop culture tastes and needs; from cult TV shows, movies, music, comics, video games paraphernalia, books, toys to clothing, you name it, they sure as hell have it. If you don’t believe us, just take a look at some of the photos we took on our last visit.

When visiting Minotaur, prepare to spend a fair chunk of the day browsing the drool-worthy items. The hardest part will be carrying the heavy bag of goodies you are sure to walk out with from the store.

Mino_cups

Mino_GoT_pop

mino_bigbang

mino_arnie

mino_rocky

mino_adv_time

mino_wolf

Mino_DD

Mino_MiniSFTekken

Mino_MegaMan

mino_Nintendo

mino_figures

mino_resi

Mino_GoT

mino_SF_books

mino_purchase

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Minotaur Entertainment
Address: 121 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
Store Hours: 
Monday to Thursday: 9:00am – 6:00pm
Friday: 9:00am – 8:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am – 5:00pm