Category Archives: Misc

Retro Gaming Baby!

by

13

My absence is only temporary, I’m still playing retro games, buying retro games and collecting retro games. I’m slowly getting more time on my hands so I can hopefully blog more about my retro video games! I have been keeping up my instagram though. Those of you who follow me on there might have noticed the reason for my absence being my 5 month old baby girl ^_^ I can’t wait for her to grow up and play video games with me! I’m gonna teach her everything I know! :D

Still going to conventions XD
Retro Gaming baby ^_^
Retro Gaming baby in her natural habitat XD
Jeff Minter inspired attire, Llamasoft anyone? ^_^
Llamas in white and brown <3
Nova
Nova
Nova

They grow really fast! She’ll be handling a game pad in no time! XD

Retrospelsfestivalen 2017!

by

0

Last weekend I visited Retrospelsfestivalen in Malmö. A retro gaming convention in the south of Sweden that is now running for the fourth year in a row. This year they had changed the venue to a place called Inkonst. I really liked this new venue, they had used the stage downstairs for the marketplace which was awesome. So many retro games for sale, awesome sellers and tidy tables filled with retro gaming goodness ^_^

Games for sale
N644 games
Boxed Game Boys
So much SNES
Famicom
NES games
Mr. Gimmick
Lots of retro games
Sachen games
My little Pony and games
PC Engine and Game Boys
N64 controllers
NES games
Nintendo64
Retrospelsmässan at RSF
Quartex table of retro games
SFC
Retro Bit Bros selling games and merch
SNES and GBA
SNES games
Super Famicom
The market
Japanspel

Apart from games you could as usual also find a lot of retro gaming merchandise, artwork and crafts :)

Buying retro games
Pappas Pärlor bead art
Turtles riding a dino
Pappas Pärlor
Games and merch
Knitted beanies from bleepwear
Pappas Pärlor flowers
Sluskafan art
Table filled with games and merch

Upstairs there was a large area decorated with various console demo kiosks and arcade machines that were set to free play. They also had a demo corner surrounding the small stage where the competitions were held. Unfortunately I didn’t have the energy to stick around all day (I’m over 7 months pregnant right now), so I missed all the competitions and the lectures that were being held :( It was all really nicely set up though, and well organised :)

Super Mario Bros
Arcade gaming
Arcades
Candy cabs
Blast City
Donkey Kong Cocktail table
Gaming corner
GBA demo stand
Metal Slug
Ms pacman
Move
Start Game
MS Pacman arcade
N64
Playstation demo stands
PS2 demostand
The arcade
Scene
Sega Saturn demo stand
Retro Gaming

Scattered around the place were small personal collections on display, like Final Fantasy and Game & Watch :)

Final Fantasy Collection
Game & Watch
Game & Watch collection

I had a great time at Retrospelsfestivalen and I’m already looking forward to next years convention! It’s always great to get to meet all the friends I’ve gotten to know in the retro gaming world of Sweden ^_^ And of course I bought some cool stuff as well ;D I’ll make a post of that soon! Meanwhile, check out Geeky Gals post from the convention to read more about a cool game called Wünderling that was being showcased at Retrospelsmässan :D

Retrospelsmässan 2017

by

6

This year we finally got to attend Retrospelsmässan again, Sweden’s largest retro gaming convention! Thanks to Sven666 and Quartex who revived the franchise :) It was a blast as always, and bigger than ever! They used a larger venue, and this year there were finally not a single issue regarding the queues! Good job guys! :D

Retrospelsmässan RSM 2017

I had a table shared with a my friend Cleareyes this year, where I sold off some of my doubles. I was also given the task of arranging a Tetris competition during the afternoon :) I had picked out a Tetris game and a way of competing that wouldn’t be too time consuming. I chose Super Tetris 3 for Super Famicom. In 2-player VS mode we had tryouts of 64 people that competed :) 32 remained, and then 16, then 8, then 4 and eventually just 2 people who battled for the title of RSM’s Tetris champion ^_^ I hardly managed to take any pics during the competition but I got to borrow some from my friend and also avid Tetris collector Daniel Engdahl :) Thanks!

Me hosting the Tetris competition :) ©Daniel Engdahl
Stan64 competing in Tetris ©Daniel Engdahl
Super Tetris 3 ©Daniel Engdahl
Hiro competing in Tetris at RSM ©Daniel Engdahl
Me hosting the Tetris competition ©Daniel Engdahl
Tetris championship at RSM ©Daniel Engdahl
Super Tetris 3 on Super Famicom ©Daniel Engdahl
Competing in Tetris ©Daniel Engdahl
Tetris competition on the big screen ©Daniel Engdahl
Tetris champion Johan Paradis

I got to play a versus game with the winner afterwards. First to 3 wins and he beat me by 3-2. I got distracted in the last match XD

Me and Johan battling in Tetris
Focused
Me with Johan Paradis, the Tetris champion

The convention was a blast, unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore all the tables and all the exhibitors as much as I would have liked. I spent most of the time talking to friends that I bumped into :) It’s such a great place for all of us nerds to gather and hang out ^_^ I’m already looking forward to Retrospelsmässan 2018!

Geeky Gals Becki & Heidi with Cleareyes
Karl and his N64 obsession ^_^
Pappas Pärlor in his new T-shirt
Daniel “Nize” Engdahl, thanks for the Tetris competition pics :)
Cleareyes found some toys XD
My buddy Matt8bit and others competing in Tetris
Sol Sunhede competing against Johan Paradis
Lovely Spellinnea and her friend competing in Tetris
Retrospelsmässan 2017

Retro Gathering VCE 2017!

by

8

This weekend I visited Retro Gathering VCE (Vintage Computer Edition) in Västerås with my friend Gabriella. This years focus was Commodore PET that celebrated 40 years, Apple II and adventure games which is right up my friend Gabbi’s alley ^_^ It was as awesome as always! A bit fewer people visiting the convention this time, but that just meant less people crowding around the tables where I wanna buy stuff XD But I understand that it might be frustrating for the sellers to get fewer customers :/ But it’s usually a bit fewer people at the Vintage Computer Edition of Retro Gathering in spring time, compared to the regular Retro Gathering they host each fall. Probably because less people are into old computers and more people are into Nintendo and newer consoles … unfortunately :(  Well, another thing that might also have been the cause of less visitors is that Nintendo at Bergsala in Gothenburg hosted a launch party for the Nintendo Switch during the same weekend. I know a lot of people who went there instead.. But I had a great time at Retro Gathering VCE! Met and chatted with so many friends that I’ve gotten to know through these last couple of years, I just love the retro gaming community here in Sweden! :D

There were still a lot of things to look at and to buy. My biggest mistake was not to snag an Atari Jaguar CD unit, boxed and WORKING! I waited and they were gone within the hour.. >_< But I bought lots of other cool stuff ^_^ I’ll make another post when I’ve gone through it all XD

Vintage Computers for sale
Commodore PET 700
Commodore PET 700
Michael and his calculators ^_^
COMX 35 The Clever Computer
Sinclair ZX Spectrum games
TAC-2 joystick
Sinclair QL
TAC-2 joysticks
Boxed Atari Jaguar CD unit
Minty Atari Jaguar games and accessories for sale
Atari games
Retro Gathering VCE 2017
Atari 130XE
Atari Light Pen
Mega Drive games
Sven666 from Retrospelsmässan
Games
Retro Gathering VCE 2017
Retro Gathering VCE 2017
Japanspel selling Japanese games
Söders at Retro Gathering
Boxed NES games
Nintendo games for sale
Nintendo games
NES games
Zapper and Game Boys
Retro games for sale
Sega games
Retro gaming artist
Pikachu Pixelart
Xbox and playstation – retro?
Sales at Retro Gathering
Super Famicom games
Neo Geo games!
Billy Mitchell XD
Oliver Frey Artwork
Oliver Frey book
ZX Spectrum games
Retro gaming friends ^_^

There was a big showcase of some old computer stuff, I don’t really know much about this kind of stuff, but some things were from the 70s and quite unique. The coolest thing was a guy who had put together Spacewar for people to try out, the very first video game from 1961! :D Both me and Gabriella tried it out ^_^

Music on old computers
Gabriella trying out Spacewar
Spacewar from 1961
Homebuilt controllers for spacewar
Spacewar
Computer exhibition
Old computers

Apart from all the awesome people that were there, visiting or selling, there were also loads of computers on demonstration that you could try out :) I kind of fell in love with the Microbee and the game Hopper! I got the highscore, until Magnus had to go beat me by 100 points XD I need to get me one of these computers so I can practice some more ;) Seriously though, if anyone has a Microbee lying around I am more than interested! :D There was also a competition held on a Commodore PET to play the game Car race by Satoru Iwata. This reminded me a lot of Race on Philips Videopac, but it was a bit more difficult, especially because of the slippery stages XD But I managed to get a decent score on there as well :) I’ll have to wait and see until they upload the scores on the Retro Gathering homepage to see where I ranked ^_^

Amstrad
Making music on vintage computers ^_^
ABC 80
Luxor computer
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k
Atari 800
Alice with Flappy Bird
Vintage Computers
Sord M5 CGL Home Computer
Commodore 64
Luxor, I think.. XD
Sinclair PC 200
Gaming on vintage computers
Kids playing old computer games
Sega SC3000
Texas Instruments TI-99
Commodore VIC 20
Sega SC3000 Personal Computer
Family Computer with breakout
Family Computer
Hopper game on Microbee
Macintosh Plus computer
Apple mouse
Macintosh IIci
Macintosh IIci
Macintosh Plus computer
Microbee playing Hopper
Microbee computer
Playing hopper on Microbee
Famicom Family Computer
Family Basic for Famicom
Vintage Computers on Retro Gathering
Microbee – Hopper

I’m already looking forward to Retro Gathering this fall! Meanwhile I’ll also be attending Retrospelsmässan in Gothenburg in April ^_^ I’m happy they’re back!

Retro Rumble 2016 ~ Winter Edition ~

by

2

I managed to squeeze in another Retro Rumble before the year ended, on December 27th. This time was an all-time high in the amount of visitors! We were over 30 people! At least 21 of these were competing in the Retro Rumble competition ^_^ It was great, and a bit crowded XD A lot of old friends who I haven’t seen for a while came this time, and also a bunch of new friends who had never visited my game room before! :D My godson Benjamin is now the youngest Retro Rumble visitor ever XD

Benjamin intrigued at Retro Rumble
Robert and Julie at Retro Rumble
Retrospelsfestivalen represents at Retro Rumble
Casandra playing Super Mario Bros 3 at Retro Rumble
Benjamin and Mona at Retro Rumble
R.O.B the Robot
Tobias playing Twinkle Tales on Sega Mega Drive
Tobias at Retro Rumble
Crowded at Retro Rumble
People at Retro Rumble
Trying to get R.O.B to work
Tobias gaming
Happy kitcheners Andreas and David at Retro Rumble
Karl-Henrik at Retro Rumble
Intense Dr. Mario gaming at Retro Rumble
Blast City

The competition consisted of 5 games that everyone had to play. These were:
1. Race on Philips Videopac 7200, one try, 2 minutes, get the highest score.
2. Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time on VIC-20. One life, get the highest score.
3. Spaceman Splorf on C64. One life, get the highest score.
4. Cycho Rider on PC Engine CD. One try, 2 minutes, get the highest score.
5. Katochyan & Kenchyan on PC Engine. One life, one stage, get the highest score.

Competition going on at Retro Rumble
Competing in Cycho Rider on PC Engine at Retro Rumble
Spaceman Splorf on C64
Competing in Race on Philips VideoPac G7200 at Retro Rumble
Katochyan & Kenchyan on PC Engine
Competing in Spaceman Splorf on C64 at Retro Rumble
Race on Philips Videopac G7200

Everybody competes individually but they’re also divided into teams, there’s a winning team score as well as an individual score :) The winning team was team “Spökplumpen” with Mattias, Matte and Leigh! :D The individual scores were really close this time, so we had to have an extra match to see who would make it into the semi-finals. This stood between Christian and Klas. They got to play The Kick Boxing on Sega Mega Drive and Christian came out victorious! :)

The victorious team at Retro Rumble
Christian and Klas competing for the 4th place to enter the semi-finals at Retro Rumble
Who’s going to the semi finals?
The Kick Boxing for Sega Mega Drive
Christian and Klas battling it out in The Kick Boxing on Sega Mega Drive

In the semi-finals the 4 highest scoring individuals battled in 3 different games on Super Famicom. I usually have these games or similar ones, because it’s so convenient using the Super Famicom multitap, and there’s just so many games on the system which has 4 player compatibility. The games they competed in were VS Collection, Sugoi Hebereke and Super Bomberman 2.

Semi-finals at Retro Rumble
Semi-finals in VS Collection on Super Famicom at Retro Rumble
Cristian being serious in the Semi-finals at Retro Rumble
Semi-finals at Retro Rumble

The two highest scores from the semi-finals were Matte and Christian. They went on to play in the finals which started of with Freeway on Atari 2600 :D Christian won this one, and the second game was Air Sea Battle on Philips Videopac G7200. They couldn’t seem to win over eachother in this one, after two rounds it was a draw XD So it ended with a game of Combat on Atari 2600 and Christian came out victorious! Congrats! :D

Matte and Christian competing in Freeway on Atari 2600
Finalists crossing the road in Freeway on Atari 2600
Freeway on Atari 2600
Finalists at Retro Rumble
Finals at Retro Rumble
Matte didn’t take it very well XD
A winner is you!

I know a few people have contacted me about what their scores were, here you can download the PDF >>

Thanks to everyone who attended! Hopefully I’ll see you again for a new Retro Rumble coming up in 2017! :D

Retro Games convention in Stockholm!

by

4

This weekend in Stockholm was really awesome and totally surpassed my already high expectations :D After attending a book release and having an awesome after party at an arcade on Friday I spent Saturday at a retro game convention called simply Retro Games :) This is the third year in a row that Retro Games is being held, and I’ve missed it the previous years due to so many other conventions taking place this time of year here in Sweden. Also Stockholm is kind of far away for me.. but this time I was determined to check it out, and boy am I glad I did! :D

Retro Games Stockholm

I was there already when they started setting up, so I could get some nice pictures of all the arcades. I’ve heard that the Retro Games convention is more focused on gaming than the buying or selling of retro games, and this was kind of true. The venue was smaller than a lot of the other retro game conventions, but the ratio of sellers contra arcades were different here. THERE WERE SO MANY ARCADE MACHINES!  In the main room with the vendors there were 7 various candy cabs, both newer and older ones, containing great shmups set to free play ^_^ I just think these Japanese cabinets are so beautiful <3 Sorry for the picture spamming below, but DAMN they’re just all so pretty! XD

Atomiswave arcade green buttons
100 Yen
START
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Arcade candy cabs
New Astro City arcade
Sega New Net City joystick
Shmups on arcade
Shmups on arcade
Orange arcade joystick
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Astro City 2 arcade
New Astro City arcade
Atomiswave arcade green joystick
Sega New Net City
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Atomiswave arcade cabinet
Green arcade buttons and joystick
Black arcade joystick
Japanese arcade cabinets
Japanese shmup on Atomiswave arcade
Black arcade joystick
Japanese shmup on New Net City arcade
Yellow arcade joystick
Sammy Atomiswave arcade
Shmup on New Astro City arcade
Black arcade panel
playing shmups

Then there were even more arcades in the other room! Old classics such as Space Invaders, Defender, Tempest, Pole Position, Centipede, Missile Command, Asteroids, Robotron 2084 and also a few that I wasn’t as familiar with like Battlezone, Space Firebird and Space Duel. Missile Command is really hard in my opinion.. but I really enjoy Tempest, Asteroids and Robotron 2084! Also Battlzone was really interesting with different controls ^_^

Vintage arcades
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Space Invaders arcade cabinet
Asteroids arcade cabinet
Asteroids arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Missile Command arcade cabinet
Missile Command arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Vintage arcade cabinets

There were of course still a lot of great sellers there to show off some awesome goods! This time I took the train up to Stockholm though so I had to restrict myself from buying the whole place XD I didn’t buy more than I could carry ^_^ But I had so much fun talking to friends that were there and meeting internet acquaintances and new people as well! I barely had time to browse through everything that was being sold XD

Mixed games
Talking SMD
Sven666 selling some really good games!
Super Famicom games
R-Type 3 SNES VS SFC
Ghoul Patrol on SNES!
Anders and Michaels old school table
Atari 400
Amiga games
Atari 130XE
ZX Spectrum games
Horrible CDi games XD
So many games!
Arcade joysticks
Kristin finding l00t
Anders selling vintage games
NES games
Arcade parts
Saturn and Playstation games
Svensk Videospelsutveckling (Swedish game development)
Svensk Videospelsutveckling (Swedish game development)
Martin selling his book with Thomas
Athletic World and Earth Bound repros
Boxed NES
stuff
Buttons
Browsing
Flashback and modded Gameboy
Cassettes
Cyberbots Saturn
Cyberbots Saturn
Game & Watch Donkey Kong Hockey
Hats
Motaro selling loads of retro games
MSX games
Neo Geo games
Söders Spel & Skivhandel
Neo Geo MVS 120 in 1
NES and arcade stick
Part and pieces
Anton showing off a Perfect Dark Soundtrack on vinyl
Perfect Dark Soundtrack vinyl

Retro Games has three years in a row held the Swedish Championships of Pac-Man at the convention. I’ve never played Pac-Man on arcade but thought I might as well try it out. I actually managed to get the 6th highest score and made it to the take-outs! :D Then I lost XD

Pac-Man arcade cabinets
Pac-Man arcade cabinets
Pac-Man
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Blomman hosting the convention
Awesome gaming tattoo on Pac-Man contestant ^_^
Barklund knowing all the tricks in Pac-Man SM
Ghost and Pac-man
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man on arcade
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Such pretty, such heavy XD
Pac-Man and the champion lurking behind it

Retro Games is definitely not the biggest retro gaming convention in Sweden, but it has a nice mix of both playing retro games and buying them, and also of course a really nice lineup of people attending it! :D I will definitely try to go back next year ^_^

Sven666 at Retro Games convention Stockholm
Retro Games convention Stockholm
Retro Games convention Stockholm
Retro Games convention Stockholm
Retro Games convention Stockholm
Retro Games convention Stockholm