Weird and Retro

PAX Aus: It’s All About The People

November 15, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Sure, there’s always heaps to see and do at PAX Aus (more and more each year it seems!), but the best part is always the people – meeting new people and catching up with old friends. We had many laughs, hugs, handshakes and great conversations over the course of PAX Aus 2016 – here a just a few of the wonderful people we caught up with.

Many of the great people from Ausretrogamer, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro, Bartronica, Zax Amusements, Pinmem and the Bayside Pinball Club who worked with PAX to bring you the CGA

The CGA enforcer team was fantastic (again) this year – here are just a few

A special thanks to the fabulous CGA Enforcer Team Leader – Zailee (thanks also to Spyder!)

Look who stopped by the CGA to chat with Glenn – none other than Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, PAX Aus Content Manager

… or is it Gabby Boreland?

Glenn and Zailee

The ausretrogamer team – Alex Boz, Kerith (ms ausretrogamer), Alan Ly and Brant Raven

Alex with Weird and Retro‘s Serby

Greg and Josh from Bartronica

Retro Domination’s Matt and Daz…

…and Mark and Peter

‘We’re just making sure they work!’ Weird and Retro‘s Dr Curlytek with Scott Kellett and Pete

Bayside Pinball Club President – Lucas Bardin

Lucas with pinball wizards Nick Hamhougias and Wal Dickie

Group shot with some of our interstate friends – MeezerMummy and Lord Panek from Sydney plus artist, DM, retro game developer and top hat wearer Mr Ant Stiller from Brisbane

Ant with bro Grant, or ‘Granthony’

Nick with Melbourne Silverball League‘s Martin Robbins

Paul and Hoa – Weird and Retro

Aaron from Press Play on Tape Podcast and the adorable Phoebe

Aaron and Phoebe with fellow Tasmanians Tehkella and Damian

Chris Van Graas very kindly loaned some amazing items for the CGA retro museum, including Mel Croucher’s ZX Spectrum used to code ‘Deus Ex Machina’ and Chris Huelsbeck’s MIDI sampler used to create the famous music for ‘Turrican’

Chris also introduced us to three metre pizzas!

Alex with passionate classic gamer, Harmik

Retrogamer and artist Sean Tagg with the awesome Henry

Pinball prodigy Jordan ‘JTH’ Tredaway and family

The talented costume and prop-makers from Combustible Props

Bethesda ANZ Community Manager Noel Wheatley, CNET Editor Seamus Byrne and Stacey Borg (Dr Curlytek) with Alex pre-panel (‘Geek Trash or Treasure? Finding Collectibles with Real Value‘)

Seamus also stopped by the CGA for quick game

Some friendly faces in the ‘Geek Trash or Treasure’ audience – Serby, Skye, Alan, Aaron, Damian and Tehkella

Selfie with Frank and Lauren from Mana Mojo
(Photo from Mana Mojo)

Great pic of tech journalist Adam Turner and son

Shane Rubans, Marcus Sezenov (Rosstown Retro Pinball Arcade) and Luke Marburg

John and Ryan Sozanski

Alex with Hal, Kale and Kevin Tilley (Reset magazine)

Sairuk with Aaron

Alex with Kelly (Weird and Retro) and Andrew Owen

Tamagotchi!

Alex with Adam Renardson, Content Services Manager PlayStation Australia

Developer and YouTuber Rob Caporetto with programmer and CGA enforcer Rajesh Singh

Raj, Rob, Kevin and Chris

Rob in super-cool mode!

The most triumphant moment of PAX Aus 2016 – collecting our ‘PAX XP’ PAX Aus towels (thanks to Alan for doing most of the legwork):
(Photo from Meezergal)

PAX Aus 2016 was a blast – and spending time with awesome people was really what made it. We’re already looking forward to 2017, can’t wait to see you there!

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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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Conquered: EB Expo 2016

October 7, 2016 By ausretrogamer

As the old saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. This year’s EB Expo has come and gone, and yep, we had fun, lots of it!

A highlight for us was being invited by our Weird and Retro friends to assist in their awesome Retro Gaming section in the Freeplay City area. With 64 classic gaming systems to play, EB Expo attendees were not short on getting their nostalgia fix! From the ultra-rare Philips CD-I development kit, to the Commodore, Sega, Nintendo, NEC, Samsung and Atari wares, there was plenty to reminisce about.

While in the main hall, we got to sit on the Iron Throne, gawked at Optimus Prime, bumped into awesome cosplayers, played on PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox’s latest gear and shopped at EB Games’ massive Mega-Store! No need for more words, we’ll just leave some of our photos from EB Expo 2016 to speak for themselves…

With the sun shining, it was time for EB Expo 2016!

First stop, Hall 6 and straight to the Weird and Retro Freeplay classic gaming area

Time for a Hewson classic! Go Pogo!

The new generation enjoying some old generation gaming!

Whoa, a Jaguar in the wild!

Attendees wowing at the 16-bit computing wonders!

Freeplay City Mario Kart 64 4P Showdown!

More 4P shenanigans on the Nintendo GameCube!

Whoa, a rare beast – the Philips CD-i dev kit!

Which classic system to play first?

Difficult decision: go straight for Hotel Mario or play Transylvania on the Apple IIe?

We weren’t aware that Deadpool was on the C64. And is that Stunt Car Racer on the Amiga? Whoa!

The decision of what to play on next just keep getting harder!

Doing the math on the Jaguars!

The dark side of Sega. Oh wait, look at that beautiful Atari ST!

Busted! Weird and Retro’s Serby blowing bubbles all the way to his own PS4 Pro!

What’s this, an Atari sign and some old wares? Time to shop!

Cosplay heroes!

Time to hit the Great (Main) Hall Of EB Expo 2016

Aha, a chill session may be in order!

The Iron Throne rules this hall!

Anyone want a test drive?

Hang on, we want a test drive in Optimus Prime!

Hulk Smash!

Lego Xbox!

Lego Kong Ride and some sweet Poke Balls!

A work of Lego art!

We found Pikachu! Quickly, where are our Poke Balls?

Shop till you drop at the EB Games Mega-Store!

The temptation is strong in these ones!

Stocking up on a few goodies *wink*

We’ve hit the motherload of retrogaming goodies!

Surely we can squeeze this beauty in our checked luggage…

Scarily beautiful!

Bumped into the famous Nintendo brothers…

Mind blowingly cool!

Of course we had to go here too!

Woohoo, just dance!

Jump on the tractor!

Gonna grab a seat at Nintendo-land

Let’s all play! Got lots of streetpasses here *winks*

The Nintendo posing podiums!

Another posing podium!

Heading over to Xbox

Forza Horizon 3 was quite popular!

Dr. Curlytek conquered the VeloDrone!

Waiting their turn patiently for some VR

Aha, there they are!

The unmissable PlayStation exhibit!

Wowing the masses with PlayStation VR

Dare to enter!

Driveclub VR = WOWSER!

A well deserved award!

All good things must come to an end. Till the next EB Expo…

Getting Weird And Retro At EB Expo 2016

September 28, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Watch out Sydney, Weird And Retro (WaRriors) are back for another EB Games Expo! This time around, the WaRriors are bringing a plethora of retro gaming systems that will feature over 60 games in the best of old-school gaming.

Players will be able to get hands-on with heaps of retro gaming systems, including the Commodore 64, Atari 2600 and the Super Nintendo to name just a few. No matter how you look at it, there will be plenty of classic games on offer to tickle the nostalgic nerve.

If you are attending EB Expo 2016 (Ed: woohoo, we are!) and are in need of a retro gaming fix, then make sure you swing by the Freeplay area! The WaRriors will be waiting!

Oh yeah, we’ll be live on our social media channels from EB Expo this weekend, so join the #EBExpo conversation!

source: EB Expo

Let’s Reminisce: The PAX Aus 2015 Classic Gaming Area

November 8, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Well PAX Aus 2015 is over, and I think we can all agree that the Classic Gaming Area was a huge success! Let’s reminisce…

The PAX Australia 2015 Classic Gaming Area was 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 Amusement Machine Distributors, Bayside Pinball Club, and Pinmem (providing pinball tables).

Over the three days we had a constant stream of happy guests and even had people queuing for turns on arcade machines, pinball tables and consoles.

Many people were involved in organising and running the Classic Gaming Area – here are just a few of them.

Lots of awesome people visited the Classic Gaming Area including ‘Blow the Cartridge‘ comic book creator Cameron Davis, the guys from Fury Fingers Films, game developer and YouTuber Rob Caporetto (pictured with pinball wizard Shane Rubans), and videogame history expert Harmik.

Freelance technology journalist Adam Turner (read Adam’s SMH article about the Classic Gaming Area), the guys from Mana Mojo (watch Mana Mojo interview Alex Boz), Marcus and Jen from Retrospekt, and game developer/artist/DM/all-round great guy Ant Stiller also stopped by.

…and last but not least, the lovely guys from Combustible Props (visit their Facebook page for amazing cosplay/prop photos), Nich ‘NichBoy’ Richardson from Good Game Pocket, and special VIP guests: Mr and Miss Daz Retro Jr.

The enforcers in the Classic Gaming Area did a fabulous job: as well as creating a great energy, they answered questions, solved technical problems, looked after lost kids and generally kept the area running as smooth as silk. Thank you to Zailee and the rest of the team.

Now let’s see the area in action – beginning with the consoles, computers and handhelds.

Arcade machines and pinball tables were new to the Classic Gaming Area in 2015 and they proved to be very popular!

We had such a great time and we are already looking forward to PAX Aus 2016. If you like this article, here’s our coverage of PAX Aus 2013 and 2014; as well as PAX Aus 2015 cosplay, the 2015 PAX Aus / AMD Classic Pinball Tournament, and Good Game Pocket’s visit to the Classic Gaming Area.

Images sources: ausretrogamer.com and Brant Raven

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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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

PAX Australia announces return of the Classic Gaming Area at PAX Aus 2015

October 26, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is proud to announce that the Classic Gaming Area will be returning for the third time, bigger and better than ever, at PAX Aus 2015. The Classic Gaming Area joins the dozen of areas on the show floor catering to PAX Aus badge holders over the three-day event including Tabletop, Console, PC, eSports, and more.

Image source: Blow The Cartridge

The Classic Gaming Area will feature a plethora of playable retro consoles and computers from the 1970s to the early 2000s, and for the first time, arcade machines and pinball tables! This will also include the new and much anticipated Game Of Thrones pinball tables!

Image source: IGN

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 Amusement Machine Distributors, Bayside Pinball Club, and Pinmem (providing pinball tables), the Classic Gaming Area will transport PAX Aus attendees young and old to the golden age of video gaming.

Consoles on display will be NES, SNES, Dreamcast, Saturn, Master System, Mega Drive, GameCube, N64, PC-Engine, C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Game Boy, Wonderswan, PS1, PS2, and Xbox.

The classic arcade section will include Mortal Kombat 2, Time Crisis, and even an original Donkey Kong cabinet.

Image source: Prima Games

Ausretrogamer’s Alex Boz explains “besides freeplay consoles, computers, arcade machines, pinball tables, and friendly retro gaming experts, the Classic Gaming Area will be running tournaments all weekend with some great prizes!”

Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, PAX Aus Content and Community Manager adds “the Classic Gaming Area has been a very popular and successful part of PAX Aus since we began in 2013, we are thrilled it is back for 2015 and excited about this year’s expanded range of activities.”

More information about the Classic Gaming Area, including tournaments, can be found at https://www.ausretrogamer.com/paxaus-2015-classic-gaming-tournaments.

Friday and Sunday badges and 3-day international badges are still available and can be purchased online at www.paxaustralia.com.au/registration.

For further information visit paxaustralia.com.au or follow PAX Australia updates via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Source: PAX Australia

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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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

EB Games Expo 2015: It’s A Wrap

October 9, 2015 By ausretrogamer

What do you get when a bunch of great friends invite you to Sydney to participate and assist in their retro gaming exhibit at one of the biggest gaming events of the year? You get a huge rush of adrenaline mixed with a massive dose of fun that lasts for 5 days!

This past weekend, I attended the EB Games Expo 2015 (EBExpo15) in Sydney, assisting the Weird and Retro crew in their Interactive History Museum (IHM) exhibit. Even though I have now come back to reality, the buzz of EBExpo15 is still high – I hope the buzz lasts a little while yet.

It all started three days before EB Games Expo 2015 – we picked up the rental truck, packed all the retro gaming gear and pop-culture goodies and set off for our ‘retro road trip’ to Sydney (Ed: we’ll save the story of the retro road trip for another time). Once arriving in Sydney, the bump-in was relatively easy, with all of us working in unison, we had setup the Interactive History Museum (IHM) with items from the 80s, 90s and 00s, from retro gaming systems, retro video games, to a myriad of pop-culture gear, we had three decades worth of nostalgia covered in the one area.

Once EBExpo15 kicked off, it was great to see attendees flocking to the IHM area and enjoying themselves by playing video games they hadn’t seen since they were a child or wowing at the sight of the Sale Of The Century board game with Tony Barber in the 90s section. The age range of attendees was varied, but each person that took a trip down memory lane in the IHM was not disappointed – there was something to do and see for everyone. There were plenty of compliments, which always makes you feel that all the hard work was worthwhile, like this one from a very happy patron, “Your stand was my favourite of all time!!! Thank you for showing the next generation the amazing technology advancement from when I was a kid to now. I was born in the 70’s, so my childhood of gaming was experienced in the 80’s and it was wonderful to relive all those great times. Once again, thank you.”

EBExpo15 wasn’t just about the IHM. The main hall was packed with modern gaming with all the big players in the industry being present, from Sony Playstation Australia showing off their VR headset, Xbox Australia garnering interest with their Xbox One wares, to Nintendo Australia and New Zealand doing what they do best – gaming and running gaming related competitions. And what exhibition is complete without amazing Cosplay. At EBExpo15, there were cosplayers representing every medium – TV, gaming, comics and movies. The cosplayers were all equally amazing to see and humble when approached to be photographed.

Like all good things, EBExpo15 concluded on Sunday (Oct 4). After 5 days in Sydney, we had to pack up the gear (Ed: very carefully!) and make our way down the Hume Highway back to unseasonably warm Melbourne. So, was it all worth it and was it fun? Let’s just say we had the gunnest time ever! Roll on EB Games Expo 2016!

Thank you to the Weird and Retro team: Serby, Stacey, Jerry, Pedro and Kano for allowing me to share in the EB Games Expo 15 shenanigans!

Where on the road to…… EB Games Expo (Sydney)

Pit-stop – the Ice Man (Jerry) enjoys a bit of cocktail action

Isuzu trucks – they are not so squeezy

We arrive at Sydney’s Showground!

Pass picked up – time to go in and start setting up

The Interactive History Museum – let’s go in!

Totally 80’s – computers!

Totally 80’s – consoles!

Never forget the 90’s!

The mighty SNES

The Jaguar museum piece was a personal fave!

The Noughties represent!

Taking a sneak peek at the PlayStation exhibit in the main hall

Freeplay City – the calm before the storm!

Retro Gamer Rival (Pedro) making us drool over his mint warez!

Getting our gear on before the start of EB Expo 15!

Drool worthy!

Stuffing our faces – a growing body needs sustenance!

I love this computer. There, it has been said!

The write-up for the Jag was pure gold!

Taking more sneaky peeks into what PlayStation will have for us in the near future

Yours truly making some last minute adjustments to the 90’s museum display

Loving the view!

It’s showtime! The IHM proves popular with all patrons

Yay, Zool action!

The popular 90s!

Weird and Retro’s Serby enjoying a bit of bongo action on Donkey Konga!

Mega Man made it to the expo!

Sonic enjoyed on the Mega Drive by the new generation

Even the dark side of the force enjoys a bit of retro gaming

I wanna bust out the Barry Crocker tune now!

Checking out the main hall during our breaks

Serby enjoys an old classic on new hardware. Oh wait…..

The EB Games mega-store was MEGA (and always packed)!

So many temptations in the EB Games mega-store

Whoa, Lego Mario and Luigi!

More Lego retro gaming creations! *want*

Speechless!

Oh my gawd! This is my kind of arcade!

Meanwhile, back in the IHM, we find Link and his Fairy!

May the force be with you!

16-bit Mortal Kombat WaR!

My childhood in the 80s!

16-bit goodies

XBox royalty!

If only this was $9.99!

Busting out the vinyl

Spin that wheel! I’m a make you feel….

Taking a pinball break! This means WaR!

Spooky!

Whoa, that’s green!

Ubisoft crashes the party!

On my best behaviour

Sonic competes at the Nintendo stand!

We made it on the Gamespot #EBExpo15 social media wall!

Best tattoos at show!

Mini Luigi beating his bro on Super Mario Kart

Star-Lord and Drax the Destroyer enjoying some Dayyyyytoooooona USA!

Ah, all good things must come to an end.

On The Road To EB Games Expo 2015

September 28, 2015 By ausretrogamer

image source: techradar

This time of year is always the best! The weather starts warming up, trees start blossoming, the major sporting codes play their respective finals and the biggest gaming event hits Sydney – it is, EB Games Expo 2015 time!

For the first time ever, ausretrogamer will be attending EB Games Expo 2015, assisting the Weird and Retro (WaR) crew in the Retro Central Park area. As you may (or may not) have known, Weird and Retro have been running the Retro Central Park area (formerly known as the Retro Gamer Garden) within the Freeplay City attraction at EB Games Expo for the last two years.

After hearing about all of the fun the WaR team has had at previous EB Games Expo events, we knew we wanted to be part of the action. We begged and groveled till they relented and allowed us to hit the road with them to Sydney (Ed: Um, this may not have been how it went down!).

To say we are looking forward to EB Games Expo 2015 would be a great understatement – we can’t wait! It will be great to travel with awesome friends and experience this event first hand. If you are attending, please come by the Retro Central Park area and get a hit of nostalgia by playing some old classics, or come by to check out the Interactive History Museum – you’ll have a ball! Hope to see you there!

The essentials are packed!

Details:
Event: EB Games Expo 2015
When: October 2 – 4, 2015
Where: Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park

Weird and Retro presents: The Retro Roadshow at PAX Aus 2014

October 19, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Lookout Antiques Roadshow, Weird and Retro is coming at ya with their even cooler Retro Roadshow at PAX Aus 2014!

Don’t worry about bringing your grandmother’s ‘Torquay Fake’ porcelain deer to this roadshow, Weird and Retro want you to bring along and showcase your rarest or weirdest items from your retro (and not so retro) video games collection!

Pack your weird or rare items and bring them along to show them off at the Retro Roadshow at PAX Aus on November 2nd 2014 at 12:30pm in the Kookaburra Theatre. See you there!

EB Games Expo 2014

April 23, 2014 By ausretrogamer

Get excited gamers! Tickets to EB Games Expo 2014 go on sale tomorrow (April 24, 10AM AEST)!

Australia’s biggest video gaming event caters for all gamers, from the modern to retro! I can’t wait to check out the Retro Central Park Freeplay City area which will be run by our very good friends, Weird and Retro.

If you are in Sydney and are free between October 3 – 5, then you should get yourself down to the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park precinct for one heck of a weekend! If you are from interstate or overseas, then I hope this event tempts you to come to Sydney! Hope to see you there!

All images sourced from and remain the property of: EB Games Expo 2014

Aftershock 2013 Extravaganza

December 12, 2013 By ausretrogamer

When you get a personal invitation to attend a retro gaming event run by the Weird and Retro crew, you know you need to clear your schedule and be there.

The retro gaming event at Aftershock 2013 was part of the overall Monash University Computer Games Boot Camp (CGBC) interactive and industry engagement event. The whole event is the brainchild of Andrew Owen – a remarkable individual with creations that need to be seen to be believed – but more on that in a future article!

Aleks “Serby” Svetislav from Weird and Retro (WaR) extended the invite to us, which we were more than happy to oblige and attend. As usual, the buzz generated by an event run by WaR always brings on a rush of adrenaline. With a firm greeting handshake, Serby ushered us inside the Monash University auditorium.

My pupils dilated once I saw the TempFest2000 (all Tempest 2000 game versions!) setup in front of a large wall projection. Serby (and the WaR crew) always know how to leave a hardened retro gamer totally gobsmacked! With Tempest 2000 versions running on the Jaguar, Saturn, PC, PlayStation to the “I’ve never seen it before” Apple Mac, my mind was well and truly blown.

Even when the doors closed on the Aftershock 2013 gaming event on Saturday evening, we stayed back and chatted with Serby. I even got introduced to a new Pringles potato chip flavour which I am now frantically searching to buy from a certain American grocery store here in Melbourne.

The Aftershock 2013 event wrapped up last Sunday with a showcase of homebrew game releases and of course, some 4 player Power Stone 2 mayhem on the Sega Dreamcast! What a way to wrap-up proceedings!

As they say, all good things must come to an end. It was, as per usual, a pleasure catching up with Serby and Daz Retro. These kinds of events remind me of why I love the retro gaming scene – the passionate nostalgics just like me.

Weird and Retro

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