Fusion Retro Books

Just a shout-out about Fusion Retro Books. They produce publications such as Crash, ZZAP! 64, and Fusion, as well as their annual books. This ZZAP! Amiga 2023 Annual is one of a handful of books I backed on Kickstarter this year.

There are reviews on Turbo Sprint, Tiny Bobble, Metal Gear and Green Beret. A look back at the launch of Amiga Force, an interview with Geezer Games and much more. It's great to see a quality publication for the Amiga platform and excellent new game releases now and in the future.

Another book that I backed is The Commodore 64 Collectors Guide to Mastertronic. It lists and reviews every game released by Mastertronic and its sub-labels. It's beautifully produced, with over 500 pages and a decent paper thickness. Each game covered has box art, screenshots, game description and review, developer details and control instructions.

One of my fondest gaming memories was going to Kmart and seeing which new Mastertronic games had arrived. They were typically on those cassette holders that you would twirl around. Each game was $10, and most times, you purchased the game on the strength of the artwork. It was hit-and-miss, but that's what made it fun. This book is a great reference to go back and replay those classics or to discover titles never played.

Taito Milestones Collector's Edition

Preordered this 12 months ago from Strictly Limited Games, and it just recently arrived. For collectors, it is an excellent addition to your collection, especially for Taito fans. So far, I've spent several hours playing one of my all-time faves Elevator Action, as well as Front Line and The Ninja Warriors. You can change display settings to add scan line filters, but I've found that sharp pixels look the best on the Switch LCD.

Click the above screenshot to view the video.

Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Unboxing

Here's another video in the Unboxing Series, the recently released Atari Flashback celebrating its 50th Anniversary by AtGames. It's a solid mini console with decent emulation however, the joysticks are pretty spongy and require you to push hard in the direction you want to move. It is compatible with joysticks and paddle controllers from the original console, which is a bonus. If you're looking at purchasing one of these, be aware that the version of Space Invaders included isn't the 2600 version. It's the actual arcade release, which is disappointing as the Atari conversion has unique graphics and sound that I prefer over the arcade release. I purchased this at Kmart for about $129.

Click the above screenshot to view the video.

Evercade VS Unboxing

This is my third video in the Unboxing Series. I purchased the Evercade VS earlier this year from PixelCrib, and it's one of my favourite hardware releases in recent years. My collection has grown to 30 carts with a mixture of console, arcade and original releases. The recently released Commodore 64 collection has kickstarted support for retro computers with more to come in 2023.

Click the above screenshot to view the video.

Astro City V Mini Unboxing

This is my second video in the Unboxing Series. I've been playing this over the last few days, and it's probably my favourite of the mini consoles released to date. Emulation is very solid, and the collection of games is fantastic. For some of the titles, it's the first time they've been available to play at home. Give it a thumbs up if you like it, or provide feedback in the comments section.

Click the above screenshot to watch the video.

Mega Drive 2 Mini Console Unboxing

This is my first video in the Unboxing Series, with many more to come. Give it a thumbs up if you like it, or provide feedback in the comments section.

Click the above screenshot to watch the video.

I thought I was back...

Unfortunately, my planned posts for 2021 did not eventuate. With the ever-present pandemic over our heads, Melbourne became one of the few places with the most frequent and lengthy lockdowns in the entire world. We had a total of four lockdowns, with the longest being three months from early Aug to late Oct. During these times, retail and hospitality closed and shipments from overseas were forbidden. I have been quite lucky as I am still employed full-time, for which I am very grateful. Anything associated with finishing the games rooms and the computer lab was put on hold.

Fast forward to the present day, and it is November. There are not many weeks left till we enter 2023. After many false starts and different configurations, the games room was finally completed. Some headwind has also been made to the computer lab. It is a big relief as it means I can finally use the various consoles and create content for this blog and a future YouTube channel.  

Despite the pandemic and the various lockdowns, I managed to increase the collection over the last 20 months. I’ve invested in the Evercade range from Blaze, such as the VS model and the various cartridges available. Various flashcarts from Krikzz and mini consoles such as the PC Engine, Astro City, Taito Egret II and A500. I purchased a brand-new Commodore 128, a brand new Colecovision, NES, Famicom AV, and many games and books added to the library. These will feature in future posts.

 

So, to conclude this post, I’ve scaled back my side job (working at a juice bar) to one day a week, and with things a lot more settled here, I will have more time and energy to dedicate to this blog.