A Melbourne Gaming Journal

“We finish the games
everyone else
reviews in an hour.”

Deep-dive reviews, retro hardware restorations and weekly patch breakdowns, written from a cluttered desk above Oxford Street in Collingwood. No scores rushed, no builds skipped.

Iron Game Chronicle editor's desk with retro consoles

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Cited & syndicated by independent gaming press

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What we publish

Three columns, every week

The Long Play Review

Full-credits reviews of one major release, published only after we’ve seen the ending. 3,000+ words, no early-access scores. New issue every Thursday, 9am AEST.

Restore & Replay

Step-by-step retro restoration guides — recapping a Mega Drive, cleaning N64 slots, RGB-modding a PAL SNES — with parts lists priced in AUD and photos from the Collingwood bench.

The Patch Ledger

A plain-English weekly breakdown of what actually changed in the games you’re playing — balance passes, stealth nerfs and the fixes the changelog buried. Out every Monday.

From the archive

Recent long reads

Open-world RPG review — Review · 90 hours in the wasteland

SNES restoration guide — Retro · RGB-modding a PAL SNES

Patch notes breakdown — Patch · The stealth nerf nobody logged

Indie platformer review — Review · The indie that ate our weekend

Reader mail

What subscribers say

DL
Dylan L.
Fitzroy, VIC

“The Long Play Review talked me out of a $110 pre-order and into finishing three games in my backlog instead. Best gaming newsletter in the country.”

PT
Priya T.
Carlton, VIC

“Followed the Restore & Replay recap guide on my dad’s old Mega Drive and it boots clean for the first time in 20 years. The parts list in AUD saved me a fortune.”

MK
Marcus K.
Collingwood, VIC

“The Patch Ledger is the only place that explained what the last balance update actually broke. No hype, no filler — just the changes that mattered.”

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Say hello

Pitch, tip or just chat

Got a restoration story, a patch tip, or a game you think we should sit down with properly? The inbox is open. We read everything from the desk above Oxford Street.

Phone: +61 3 9419 5132
Studio: 56 Oxford Street, Collingwood VIC 3066
Email: [email protected]
Hours: Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm AEST

“We finish the games everyone else reviews in an hour.”