🕹️ History of Video Games – Bristol | "I had a quick search for anything gamey-gamey in Bristol and came across the HOVG" 🕹️ #Retrogaming #Arcade

"Whilst driving through Bristol my car doors and associated bodywork fell off exposing just me and my driver's seat!"

www.historyofvideogames.co.uk

After recently spending a hundred million ice ages in cryogenic isolation following myself and my immediate family contracting Covid, we decided a family trip was in order to get back out into the world and spent a couple of days in Bristol.

Naturally, as part of the trip planning, I had a quick search for anything gamey-gamey in Bristol and came across the HOVG, and I’m glad I did – as we had an awesome afternoon there!

"Pac decided it was time to take his buddies down the pub for an early finish and shed load of pills"

Located in the Galleries Shopping Centre on the ground floor, under the banner of ‘Future Artists Studios’, the exhibition/arcade is easily located and very much pushchair /wheelchair friendly.

Heading in, on the left there are some exhibition stands and display cases showing the very early days of the first generation of computer systems (with the accompanying information panels in both English and Welsh), beginning with the Magnavox Odyssey and a selection of early ‘Pong consoles’, the Microvision and eventually the second generation of systems such as the Atari VCS, CreativVision, and the Phillips G7000 etc.

There is also a Pac-Man display that shows a home port of the game in action as well as some handheld versions and the like. All of this is well-presented on colourful stands, and the accompanying information is brief and on point, great for a snapshot of each system.

"It was 5am at the arcade and maybe I was a bit early?"

On the right as you walk in, there is a cool Sonic the Hedgehog stand and an area for board gaming – not forgetting an awesome cocktail-style Pac-Man for two players – and also a small shop that sold snacks, merch and boardgames – they had some quite tasty prices! For example, I picked up a sealed Way of the Fighter board game for £15 and the Warhammer Doomseeker board game was also only £15 -although I talked myself out of buying it, possibly unwisely.

Heading into the main exhibition/arcade area, the walk-in leads the visitor through the next few generations of gaming via more displays that are on the sides. There was some really interesting stuff here, in terms of accessories that I didn’t even know existed! This was at the point where I realised how well-lit it was, there’s a real atmosphere and mood to the HOVG that is accentuated by the gentle cacophony of the arcade machines that you know are around the corner, waiting to be seduced by your button-bashing touch as you burst forth into the main area.

"Binatone planned to break free from his cell when the lights went out"

This is the area that we spent the most time in, the machines were nicely set-out, meaning there was plenty of space and certainly enough games (all set to free-play) to get lost in for a few hours. I’ll list them all here (as best I can!):

• Space Invaders
• Defender
• Robotron
• Rush ‘n Attack
• Donkey Kong Jr
• Continental Circus
• Black Tiger
• Arkanoid (with dial)
• Mr. Do!
• Growl (good)
• Dead or Alive  - (at which @KingdomofCarts may or may not have beaten me)
• Operation Thunderbolt
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (four players)
• Time Crisis 4
• Point Blank
• Sega Rally
• Demolition Man – Pinball Machine
• The Getaway – Pinball Machine (at which @kingdomofcarts had such a high score, I didn’t even bother trying)
• ParaParaParadise 2nd Mix
• Dancing Stage
• Guitar Freaks V7
• Dance Evolution Arcade (the area by the dance machines has a couch so you can collapse on it between sessions and watch your friends shake their stuff, good thinking there)
• A selection of sit-down multicade machines
• A selection of modern multi-play machines kindly provided by a company that builds and sells them – www.bitcade.co.uk

  

  "VINTAGE ARCADES ANONYMOUS MEETING 126"

There was also an area at the back that you could chill out at and play some consoles; with a GameCube, N64, PlayStation one, NES, Master System and PlayStation 2 set up with seating available.

The machines were all clean, in working order (aside from the second player screen of Time Crisis 4) and the atmosphere was great.

We spent some time chatting to Tom, who was working that day, a cheery and helpful guy who explained that the whole setup is a real passion project with a lot of machines supplied by collectors that just want to share their joy of these old games.

The History of Video Games is in Bristol until April 2022 and it’s absolutely worth a visit as a part of your day out there, awesome stuff!

www.historyofvideogames.co.uk