Cafes / Bars with game consoles / arcade machines etc?

[dave heats]

Hey all,
Bit of a random query here, but I'm curious to know if you guys know of any cafes / bars / social venues that give punters access to retro consoles, and perhaps have the odd arcade machine available too? And which venues do you like the most / the least?

I'm doing a bit of research at the moment for a potential pie in the sky future venture, but any info from you all could be incredibly handy.

[wakka]

double post

[wakka]

Four Quarters is about 20 mins walk from me in Peckham. Excellent place. A good selection of retro cabs and great games (e.g. 6 slot MVS with KOF 98, Metal Slug, Neo Bomberman, Point Blank cab, Tron cab, couple of pinball tables), no systems to play on though, it's purely arcade focused. It's a proper barcade, bit grubby inside but it all adds to the charm.

Look at their Facebook page for more.

There is also one I have visited called AJ's Cafe in Liverpool. Very different, no arcade machines and just retro consoles hooked up to CRTs. It wasn't a bar either, it was a cafe (as the name suggests lol).

[CMcK]

There's a cracking retro gaming cafe in Malm? called Pixel Cafe. Not too convenient for a UK based forum granted but if you are out that way it's worth a look.

[Lebowski]

Brewdog in Leed's has a Snes and a Megadrive hooked up to play on. i posted about it in the smile thread a bit ago and got stick for playing on pal Street Fighter 2 turbo

[QualityChimp]

This project in Glasgow recently failed to make its funding target of ?6000 (The Prince's Trust was to provide the other half).

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-megabytes-open-an-arcade-cafe-in-glasgow

Might be useful as part of your research, dave heats.

[CMcK]

If I'd know about that campaign I would have contributed. Would be great to have something like that in Glasgow.

[fuse]

Not been, but fits the bill: http://loadingonline.co.uk

[Soundwave]

We have 2 fairly local.

Heart of Gaming which frankly looks awesome but I'm yet to make the trek

http://www.theheartofgaming.com/the-heart-of-gaming/

Astro City in Southend I only found out about this the other but I will most likely take a trip up there next week when I'm off work for a looksee

http://astrocityarcade.co.uk/

Neil

[fuse]

Don't know if we're splitting hairs here, but I would definitely class both of the above as arcades first and foremost

As an aside, I went to Astro a few weeks back to play some IIDX - never thought I'd see the day one actually made it into a UK arcade!

[Nu-Eclipse]

Not been, but fits the bill: http://loadingonline.co.uk

I frequent that place on a fairly regular basis as it's not too far from where I live.

Speaking of which, there's a Smash Bros. Wii U tournament happening there in a fortnight's time - free to enter and eShop voucher prizes are up for grabs.

https://www.facebook.com/events/720837784658580/?fref=ts

[Soundwave]

Don't know if we're splitting hairs here, but I would definitely class both of the above as arcades first and foremost

As an aside, I went to Astro a few weeks back to play some IIDX - never thought I'd see the day one actually made it into a UK arcade!

I actually thought that as I posted it but thought what the hell they seem like more social venues that outright Arcades as they seem to be made with love & more for the community than just the ones down the sea front.

Glad to hear you've been, seems like a good place for a trip.
That said did you see the fiasco they had with Jeff at Digital System Designs about cabs they'd ordered??

Neil

[dave heats]

This is all great guys, and could be very handy. Thanks for all of the input so far.

[QualityChimp]

There's a few suitable threads this could have gone in (Bordersdown meetup, Arcades in London), but I thought I'd pop it in here.

http://www.mrhyde.com/email/2015-02-03/londons-gaming-bars

It's a nice article on some gaming bars in London.

LONDON'S GAMING BARS

From pubs with video games, to pinball machines, to a shabby box of Scrabble with half the letter tiles missing...

FOUR QUARTERS 187 Rye Lane, SE15 Of course Four Quarters. Good beers, a decent number of arcade cabinets and the fun of changing your money into US currency for the full New Jersey shore experience. The Street Fighter IImachine is the most popular, drawing crowds as the Tron machine sits unused in the corner. Maybe invest in a second one?

THE PIPELINE 94 Middlesex St, E1 A bar named after a Johnny Thunders song? A prime example of don?t-give-a-hoot cool. Or is it self-consciously hipster? We can?t tell anymore. We're fairly sure it's the former. Has pinball machines and Nordic influences on the jukebox and bar menu ? including a selection of drink-at-your-own-risk Swedish spirits.

MELTDOWN 342 Caledonian Rd, N1 Serious about gaming? Enough to know what e-sports are? Then go up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right and you'll Be At this recently opened competitive gaming bar. Or just take the Piccadilly Line. There are regular tournaments held, including a Street Fighter IV one this Thursday (and a DOTA 2 one tonight).

BREWDOG 15-19 Goldhawk Rd, W12 BrewDog, you say? Tell me more about this firm you've definitely never mentioned before... Well, it's a craft beer company with a series of bars, many of them in London. Shepherd's Bush is the one to head to for both pinball and arcade machines with your Punk IPA. More breaking news as we have it.

LOADING 97 Stoke Newington High St, N16Rather than just a bar with some arcade machines thrown in for atmosphere, this is modelled on Tokyo's gaming cafes. Albeit with less focus on Pokken Tournament ? a niche reference we stole from the internet by Googling "Tokyo gaming cafes". Don't say we don't go the distance on our research.

[dataDave]

If anyone is ever in Amsterdam there is a new arcade slap-bang in the middle of the red light district, exactly where I've been saying that I want to build my arcade for the past 11 years.

http://www.tontonclub.nl/

It was crowd-funded, too.