People who knows me well and have been to my place will spot immediately that there’s a large number of video game items in my home (thanks to the incredible tolerance of Ms Buddha). So it was only natural for me to want to go to GAME ON 2.0 that was being hosted by the Centre for Life in Newcastle.
The plan for our UK trip was to drive up from Manchester to Edinburgh, so Newcastle, whilst a detour, was a decent stop along the way to stretch our legs a little.
The Centre for Life was easy enough to find with the GPS in the car, but note that the centre itself does not have parking, so if you’re driving you’ll need to park in the multi-storey carpark nearby (about 3 mins walk).
The cost itself was 8.5 pounds a person, and a pound more for a locker to put your backpack, once inside, you can also see the rest of the place – although frankly, the place was more geared towards children.
Once inside, you’re greeted with one of the most famous and oldest video game of them all – PONG:
Ms Buddha and I split up and explored the place a bit, until I found her glued to a Pinball Machine that she said “I use to play these!”
At each one of the stations, they displayed the various consoles throughout the last 20 years of gaming, along with some tidbits about the console itself and the era. One that caught my attention was the original FamiCon.
The rest of the show floor was packed with many other consoles and the great thing was, on a weekday, it wasn’t that busy.
After a bit more roaming around, Ms Buddha shared with me her story with Tamagotchi – a massive fad back in the 90s where you carry around a tiny egg looking after a small electronic pet (more information here). She was lucky enough to get the real deal (but ended up losing it); while I remember I just got a copy fake version – but back then – it was fun none-the-less.
At the end of the show floor, Ms Buddha disappeared again until I found her glued to another arcade game – “Centipedes” – she was surprisingly very good at these games – and I think I’m slowly getting her hooked on this video game thing!
Is the show worth it? Yes, it certainly have heaps of games (old and new) for you to see – and if you’re an adult who loves video games and have kids, it probably is worth the trip to show your kid what your gaming life was like.
