Latest news with #Malpass
Sydney Morning Herald
03-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Grammar's $39 million new building next door to a brothel
Times are a-changin' at Sydney Grammar, where headmaster Richard Malpass addressed his final assembly in charge of the $45,000-a-year private school this week. He's off to Singapore to start a new gig as head of senior school at the Tanglin Trust School. This column last encountered Malpass and Grammar when the headmaster abruptly cancelled a planned talk by former Socceroo turned human rights advocate and outspoken critic of Israel's conduct in Gaza, Craig Foster, citing concerns about the 'wellbeing' of the school community. Despite Foster's cancellation, those monthly talkfests have been a hit, with Grammar boys hearing from the likes of Julie Bishop and Tony Blair's spinner turned hit podcaster Alastair Campbell (who to be fair, would talk to a brick wall if given the chance). But Malpass' real final legacy to Grammar was a $39 million inner-city expansion, revealed by the Herald last year. The college acquired a quiet block in Darlinghurst that was once Sony's Australian headquarters, with plans to create new indoor sporting facilities, a statement in the never-ending buildings arms race which has gripped the city's wealthiest private schools. Grammar is also in the process of building its $54 million Weigall Sports Complex in Rushcutters' Bay, currently an unsightly sprawl of construction work visible from the T4, which was approved in 2021 despite vocal complaints from locals. Loading But if you thought the Darlinghurst site might be less controversial than Weigall, think again. A few concerned members of the school community have been in touch recently to inform us the new building is right next door to one of Sydney's oldest legal brothels. 'The school places great store on providing holistic education for our pupils, including physical health and wellbeing,' Malpass said, when announcing the new expansion. Indeed. While there's nothing wrong with living next door to a brothel per se, we don't imagine the kind of characters who patronise such establishments to be whom Grammar parents had in mind as the best role models.
Express Tribune
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Retro video games return
The shelves lining Luke Malpass's home workshop are a gamer's treasure trove stretching back decades, with components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Mega Drives and Nintendos jostling for space and awaiting repair. Parcels from gamers seeking help arrive from around the world at RetroSix, Malpass's Aladdin's cave. He has turned a lifelong passion for gaming into a full-time job, answering the common question of what to do with old and worn machines and their parts. "I think it can be partly nostalgic," said Malpass, 38, as he surveyed the electronics stacked at his home in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent. He said the huge revival in retro games and consoles is not just a passing phase. "Personally, I think it is the tactile experience. Getting a box off the shelf, physically inserting a game into the console... it makes you play it more and enjoy it more." Electronic devices and accessories, some dating back to the 1980s and the dawn of the gaming revolution, await to be lovingly restored to life. Malpass has between 50 to 150 consoles needing attention at any one time, at a cost of between £60 ($78) and several hundred pounds. It's not just nostalgia for a long-lost childhood. He believes it's also a way to disconnect, unlike most online games which are now multi-player and require skills honed over long hours of practice to reach a good level. "Retro gaming - just pick it up, turn it on, have an hour, have 10 minutes. It doesn't matter. It's instant, it's there, and it's pleasurable," he told AFP. With vintage one-player games "there's no one you're competing against and there's nothing that's making you miserable or angry". Malpass, who is a fan of such games as Resident Evil and Jurassic Park, even goes so far as to buy old televisions with cathode-ray tubes to replicate more faithfully his experience of playing video games as a kid. Video clips he films of his game play, which he publishes to his YouTube channel, have won him tens of thousands of followers. 'Always something retro' "I think people are always going to have a natural passion for things that they grew up with as a child. "So I think we'll always have work. It'll evolve. And it won't be, probably, Game Boys," Malpass said. "There's always going to be something that's retro." Last week a survey organised by BAFTA, the British association that honours films, television, and video games, voted the 1999 action game Shenmue as the most influential video game of all time. Doom, launched in 1993, and Super Mario Bros, in which Mario first started trying to rescue Princess Peach way back in 1985, came in second and third place. And last Wednesday, Nintendo unveiled details of its long-awaited Switch 2 console. It includes new versions of beloved favourites from the Japanese giant - Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bonanza. Held every four months, the London Gaming Market, dedicated to vintage video games, has been attracting growing numbers of fans. "I'm a huge Sonic the Hedgehog fan... You never know what you're going to find when you're out here so I'm just always on the lookout," said Adrian, a visitor wearing a T-shirt with a Sonic image. Collectors and gamers sifted carefully through stacks of CD discs and old consoles hoping to find hidden treasures. For Andy Brown, managing director of Replay Events and organiser of the London event which is now in its 10th year, the Covid-19 pandemic marked an upturn in the return to vintage games. "I think people were stuck at home, wanting things to do that made them remember better times because it was a lot of doom and gloom around Covid," he told AFP. A study earlier this year by the US association Consumer Reports found 14 per cent of Americans play on consoles made before 2000. And in September, Italian customs busted a gang smuggling counterfeit vintage video games, seizing 12,000 machines containing some of the most popular games of the 1980s and 1990s. AFP
Daily Tribune
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Tribune
Nostalgia fuels UK boom in vintage video game repairs
The shelves lining Luke Malpass's home workshop are a gamer's treasure trove stretching back decades, with components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Mega Drives and Nintendos jostling for space and awaiting repair. Parcels from gamers seeking help arrive from around the world at RetroSix, Malpass's Aladdin's cave. He has turned a lifelong passion for gaming into a full-time job, answering the common question of what to do with old and worn machines and their parts. "I think it can be partly nostalgic," said Malpass, 38, as he surveyed the electronics stacked at his home in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent. He said the huge revival in retro games and consoles is not just a passing phase. "Personally, I think it is the tactile experience. Getting a box off the shelf, physically inserting a game into the console... it makes you play it more and enjoy it more." Electronic devices and accessories, some dating back to the 1980s and the dawn of the gaming revolution, await to be lovingly restored to life. Malpass has between 50 to 150 consoles needing attention at any one time, at a cost of between £60 ($78) and several hundred pounds. It's not just nostalgia for a long-lost childhood. He believes it's also a way to disconnect, unlike most online games which are now multi-player and require skills honed over long hours of practice to reach a good level. "Retro gaming -- just pick it up, turn it on, have an hour, have 10 minutes. It doesn't matter. It's instant, it's there, and it's pleasurable," he told AFP. With vintage one-player games "there's no one you're competing against and there's nothing that's making you miserable or angry". Malpass, who is a fan of such games as "Resident Evil" and "Jurassic Park", even goes so far as to buy old televisions with cathode-ray tubes to replicate more faithfully his experience of playing video games as a kid. Video clips he films of his game play, which he publishes to his YouTube channel, have won him tens of thousands of followers. 'Always something retro' "I think people are always going to have a natural passion for things that they grew up with as a child. "So I think we'll always have work. It'll evolve. And it won't be, probably, Game Boys," Malpass said. "There's always going to be something that's retro." This week a survey organised by BAFTA, the British association that honours films, television, and video games, voted the 1999 action game "Shenmue" as the most influential video game of all time. "Doom", launched in 1993, and "Super Mario Bros.", in which Mario first started trying to rescue Princess Peach way back in 1985, came in second and third place. And on Wednesday, Nintendo unveiled details of its long-awaited Switch 2 console. It includes new versions of beloved favourites from the Japanese giant -- "Mario Kart World" and "Donkey Kong Bonanza". Held every four months, the London Gaming Market, dedicated to vintage video games, has been attracting growing numbers of fans. "I'm a huge 'Sonic the Hedgehog' fan... You never know what you're going to find when you're out here so I'm just always on the lookout," said Adrian, a visitor wearing a T-shirt with a Sonic image. Collectors and gamers sifted carefully through stacks of CD discs and old consoles hoping to find hidden treasures. For Andy Brown, managing director of Replay Events and organiser of the London event which is now in its 10th year, the Covid-19 pandemic marked an upturn in the return to vintage games. "I think people were stuck at home, wanting things to do that made them remember better times because it was a lot of doom and gloom around Covid," he told AFP. A study earlier this year by the US association Consumer Reports found 14 percent of Americans play on consoles made before 2000. And in September, Italian customs busted a gang smuggling counterfeit vintage video games, seizing 12,000 machines containing some of the most popular games of the 1980s and 1990s.
Asharq Al-Awsat
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Nostalgia Fuels UK Boom in Vintage Video Game Repairs
The shelves lining Luke Malpass's home workshop are a gamer's treasure trove stretching back decades, with components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Mega Drives and Nintendos jostling for space and awaiting repair. Parcels from gamers seeking help arrive from around the world at RetroSix, Malpass's Aladdin's cave. He has turned a lifelong passion for gaming into a full-time job, answering the common question of what to do with old and worn machines and their parts. "I think it can be partly nostalgic," said Malpass, 38, as he surveyed the electronics stacked at his home in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent. He said the huge revival in retro games and consoles is not just a passing phase. "Personally, I think it is the tactile experience. Getting a box off the shelf, physically inserting a game into the console... it makes you play it more and enjoy it more." Electronic devices and accessories, some dating back to the 1980s and the dawn of the gaming revolution, await to be lovingly restored to life. Malpass has between 50 to 150 consoles needing attention at any one time, at a cost of between £60 ($78) and several hundred pounds. It's not just nostalgia for a long-lost childhood. He believes it's also a way to disconnect, unlike most online games which are now multi-player and require skills honed over long hours of practice to reach a good level. "Retro gaming -- just pick it up, turn it on, have an hour, have 10 minutes. It doesn't matter. It's instant, it's there, and it's pleasurable," he told AFP. With vintage one-player games "there's no one you're competing against and there's nothing that's making you miserable or angry". Malpass, who is a fan of such games as "Resident Evil" and "Jurassic Park", even goes so far as to buy old televisions with cathode-ray tubes to replicate more faithfully his experience of playing video games as a kid. Video clips he films of his game play, which he publishes to his YouTube channel, have won him tens of thousands of followers. "I think people are always going to have a natural passion for things that they grew up with as a child. "So I think we'll always have work. It'll evolve. And it won't be, probably, Game Boys," Malpass said. "There's always going to be something that's retro." This week a survey organized by BAFTA, the British association that honors films, television, and video games, voted the 1999 action game "Shenmue" as the most influential video game of all time. "Doom", launched in 1993, and "Super Mario Bros.", in which Mario first started trying to rescue Princess Peach way back in 1985, came in second and third place. And on Wednesday, Nintendo unveiled details of its long-awaited Switch 2 console. It includes new versions of beloved favorites from the Japanese giant -- "Mario Kart World" and "Donkey Kong Bonanza". Held every four months, the London Gaming Market, dedicated to vintage video games, has been attracting growing numbers of fans. "I'm a huge 'Sonic the Hedgehog' fan... You never know what you're going to find when you're out here so I'm just always on the lookout," said Adrian, a visitor wearing a T-shirt with a Sonic image. Collectors and gamers sifted carefully through stacks of CD discs and old consoles hoping to find hidden treasures. For Andy Brown, managing director of Replay Events and organizer of the London event which is now in its 10th year, the Covid-19 pandemic marked an upturn in the return to vintage games. "I think people were stuck at home, wanting things to do that made them remember better times because it was a lot of doom and gloom around Covid," he told AFP. A study earlier this year by the US association Consumer Reports found 14 percent of Americans play on consoles made before 2000. And in September, Italian customs busted a gang smuggling counterfeit vintage video games, seizing 12,000 machines containing some of the most popular games of the 1980s and 1990s.
Arab News
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Nostalgia fuels UK boom in vintage video game repairs
STOKE ON TRENT: The shelves lining Luke Malpass's home workshop are a gamer's treasure trove stretching back decades, with components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Mega Drives and Nintendos jostling for space and awaiting repair. Parcels from gamers seeking help arrive from around the world at RetroSix, Malpass's Aladdin's cave. He has turned a lifelong passion for gaming into a full-time job, answering the common question of what to do with old and worn machines and their parts. 'I think it can be partly nostalgic,' said Malpass, 38, as he surveyed the electronics stacked at his home in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent. He said the huge revival in retro games and consoles is not just a passing phase. 'Personally, I think it is the tactile experience. Getting a box off the shelf, physically inserting a game into the console... it makes you play it more and enjoy it more.' Electronic devices and accessories, some dating back to the 1980s and the dawn of the gaming revolution, await to be lovingly restored to life. Malpass has between 50 to 150 consoles needing attention at any one time, at a cost of between £60 ($78) and several hundred pounds. It's not just nostalgia for a long-lost childhood. He believes it's also a way to disconnect, unlike most online games which are now multi-player and require skills honed over long hours of practice to reach a good level. 'Retro gaming — just pick it up, turn it on, have an hour, have 10 minutes. It doesn't matter. It's instant, it's there, and it's pleasurable,' he told AFP. With vintage one-player games 'there's no one you're competing against and there's nothing that's making you miserable or angry.' Malpass, who is a fan of such games as 'Resident Evil' and 'Jurassic Park,' even goes so far as to buy old televisions with cathode-ray tubes to replicate more faithfully his experience of playing video games as a kid. Video clips he films of his game play, which he publishes to his YouTube channel, have won him tens of thousands of followers. 'I think people are always going to have a natural passion for things that they grew up with as a child. 'So I think we'll always have work. It'll evolve. And it won't be, probably, Game Boys,' Malpass said. 'There's always going to be something that's retro.' This week a survey organized by BAFTA, the British association that honors films, television, and video games, voted the 1999 action game 'Shenmue' as the most influential video game of all time. 'Doom,' launched in 1993, and 'Super Mario Bros.,' in which Mario first started trying to rescue Princess Peach way back in 1985, came in second and third place. And on Wednesday, Nintendo unveiled details of its long-awaited Switch 2 console. It includes new versions of beloved favorites from the Japanese giant — 'Mario Kart World' and 'Donkey Kong Bonanza.' Held every four months, the London Gaming Market, dedicated to vintage video games, has been attracting growing numbers of fans. 'I'm a huge 'Sonic the Hedgehog' fan... You never know what you're going to find when you're out here so I'm just always on the lookout,' said Adrian, a visitor wearing a T-shirt with a Sonic image. Collectors and gamers sifted carefully through stacks of CD discs and old consoles hoping to find hidden treasures. For Andy Brown, managing director of Replay Events and organizer of the London event which is now in its 10th year, the Covid-19 pandemic marked an upturn in the return to vintage games. 'I think people were stuck at home, wanting things to do that made them remember better times because it was a lot of doom and gloom around Covid,' he told AFP. A study earlier this year by the US association Consumer Reports found 14 percent of Americans play on consoles made before 2000. And in September, Italian customs busted a gang smuggling counterfeit vintage video games, seizing 12,000 machines containing some of the most popular games of the 1980s and 1990s.
