Tuesday was abuzz with an almost record attendance of 22 people. The night was streamed live on our Twitch channel – twitch.tv/retrotuesday – and later on Facebook – thanks to Robert Haines for all his hard work. Please support by joining these forums and contributing to the enthusiasm with your comments, as did ‘aleyxarise’ and ‘SufferUM’.
Caravan mode:
The group enjoyed a timed competition called “caravan mode” with the game Tyrian 2000, unarguably one of the best shooters on PC. Set up via projector on Mal’s Windows 98 PC (a fine Window’s year) and Quickshot joystick, it played beautifully, albeit a few deftly overcome technical issues (wouldn’t be retro if there weren’t). Top score champion was Jerry with a score of 22635.
On show:
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Karl brought along his MiSTer FPGA which impressively and accurately demonstrated a range of consoles.
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Shane set up 4-player N64 with the games 007 and Mario Party.
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Matthew brought along his Mega Drive @Games console which was hooked up to a component CRT (kindly donated by Ludo).
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Rob Caporetto brought along Analogue’s quality Mega SG playing Gley Lancer.
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Mal had Galaga playing on the museum showpiece Casio MX-10 (MSX).
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Rob & Angela Haines had Galaga ’88 in its purity playing on their CoreGrafx.
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Aleks brought a range of books and games some of which were available for purchase.
At the end of the night Aleks and Jerry from Weird and Retro treated us with an unboxing of around 18 amazing PS Vita games. You can see this video on Facebook.
DISCUSSION
Pixel Alley:
Three weeks ago we had an outing to Pixel Alley – a local barcade. A small but humble turnout, highlights included Rob Caporetto showing us he was boss at 1943 (who knew there was a bonus where a cow appears) and Mal demonstrating his prowess at pinball. Otherwise a lovely retro catch-up over a pint of beer and glass of soda. Stay tuned for the next Pixel Alley date in around 3 months’ time, where we hope to see a larger and less humble turnout.
Winter WonderLAN:
The LAN party too was small and humble, however lots of fun was had with 7-player Bomberman [all out bombing carnage] on the Nintendo Switch, and Outrun 2 [racing], Halo 2 [first person shooter] and Blur [racing] on the Xbox/360. Again, we’re hoping to have another WonderLAN late in the year and hope to see a larger turnout. A big thank you to Alex from Weird and Retro for the games, Robert & Angela Haines for the live stream and equipment, and the Mal for convening.
Retro news:
Presented by the expert himself David Loving:
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Youtube’s ‘My Life in Gaming’ special on incredible ROM hacks that can enhance retro-gaming.
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Phantomgear, a lovely new side scrolling game for the Mega Drive. Yes, the Mega Drive.
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The Switch Lite, in case you might not have heard.
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The Polymega, quickly shifting the crowd towards a less negatively ruckus position.
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The Evercade, offering hope of a quality modern retro-handheld.
Show and tell:
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Rob Caporetto presented the book “The Game Console” containing exploded views of our favourite retro consoles and controllers.
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Aleks brought along a copy of Limited Run Games “ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove!” for the Switch which came in a very radical box package.
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Angela handed out photos of the group captured on her Gameboy Camera. Very cool.
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Mal brought a museum piece in the Casio MX-10, which handled Galaga flawlessly. Later we played City Connection a previous Game of the Month.
The $5 challenge:
Each month we have a competition to see who can get the best retro gaming item for no more than $5. Among the contestants were:
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Angela’s Skylanders Superchargers Pack featuring Donkey Kong
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Matthew’s Xbox 360’s Dead Rising
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Aleks’s Gears of War Steel Book
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Mal’s PixelPal Tomb Raider and Quickshot joystick.
However ever-reigning champion Tim Gadler stole the show, with 2 promotional XBOX360 games (one which was still sealed) of which one included a personal note from someone at Atari.
What have you been playing:
A segment where we find out about games we might not be aware of. Rob Caporetto has been playing and highly recommends Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, though doesn’t recommend the poorly ported version on the Nintendo switch. Angela was pleasantly surprised to find her mum 3DS gaming with her over the puzzle game Kami. Aleks has been enjoying Puyo Puyo Tetris with his family. David has been playing an excellent Contra homage called ‘Blazing Chrome’, featuring CRT filters of which one is a PVM-style and the other is crappy-composite.
Game of the Month:
Each month we vote on a game to play and discuss. This month it was Galaga ‘88/’90/’91: Mal (aka Mr Galaga – he was wearing the T-shirt) was runaway winner with a score of 286820. Though an interesting twist on the original, it was felt by some that the simplicity of the original Galaga is much preferred. Angela awarded him the prize which was a Steam key for Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams and Giana Sisters Twisted Dream Rise Of The Owlverlord which she donated.
Angela presented 5 random games to vote on as game of the month for August, of which Treasure’s Alien Soldier (SMD) was selected. GIVEAWAY: Angela will kindly reward the person who reaches furthest with a Steam Key to a retro game (for those who attend the meeting).
Theme for next Month:
Every second month we have a theme. Mal’s suggestion of the year 1992 won. Next month bring along consoles or games that were released in 1992.
Next month:
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8-player Virtua Racer on the Nintendo Switch with the projector.
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Get in some Alien Soldier gaming.
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Tune in to Retro Tuesday on Twitch and Facebook.
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If you like, bring along a game, console, or other, relating to the year 1992.