I've tried Trocadero and Las Vegas (Soho) but I didn't find a single shmup in either of them.
The only thing I found so far is a very, very bad emulator cab at MADD.
And HOG is a "little" out of the way and seems to be too heavy on fighting games for my taste. I think in their videos I saw maybe one or two shmups?
Is there anything I've missed on my search?
Shmups in London?
Re: Shmups in London?
HoG has two vert and one horizontal cab running naomi shmups. In fact i think they have other horis with a puzzle game or metal slug3 running on it usually. When i'm there I'm always asking them to switch games out for me, and they do it straight away.
Yeah it is dominated by fighters, but that's mostly what their clientele want, the fighting game community supports the place very well.
That seems to be the best london has to offer as far as i'm aware!
Yeah it is dominated by fighters, but that's mostly what their clientele want, the fighting game community supports the place very well.
That seems to be the best london has to offer as far as i'm aware!
Re: Shmups in London?
Oh so they´ve changed the name from Loading Cafe to MADD.... 
HoG is good. Its the only place around anyway. You can also bring ÿour X360 titles to HoG and have them run on a Viewlix.
HoG is good. Its the only place around anyway. You can also bring ÿour X360 titles to HoG and have them run on a Viewlix.
Re: Shmups in London?
Hm... sounds like I may have to throw (additional) money down TFL's throat after all...
But thanks a lot for the confirmation guys!
[edit]Just realized that North Acton is still Zone 2 - awesome![/edit]
But thanks a lot for the confirmation guys!
[edit]Just realized that North Acton is still Zone 2 - awesome![/edit]
Re: Shmups in London?
So I've been there today...
Well... like I feared, it demonstrates ambition but as things are right now, it unfortunately doesn't offer what I want.
First off (coincidentally also what I checked out first) - that bathroom. THAT bathroom! Holy freakin' Moses! Possibly the second worst I've seen in my whole life. Might as well just pee onto the tube rails outside.
It reminds me of a question I saw somebody ask on facebook - whether they provide wet wipes. Which I wasn't too concerned myself before. But at least I found wherever there is nothing to dry one's hands, people are less inclined to wash them in the first place. And the state of the sink made me wonder whether sticks and buttons are cleaned as regularly.
But as for the games...
I had a little chat about them with the guy who presumably runs things.
He said that he plans to have a little shmup corner with what looks to be about four machines. Which sounds nice but the type of games is more of an issue for me than the number of machines.
He mentioned R-Type and Raiden as far as old school is concerned... Well, Raiden is fair enough but personally, I'm more fond of stuff like Batsugun, Donpachi, Battle Garegga, Blazing Gun, Gunbird, Raidenfighters, Strikers, 19XX series, etc.
Ikaruga... I... I just can't see it any more. (there was also Psyvariar 2)
I get that those games are probably cheap and have a broader appeal but I'm not sure that "broader appeal" people would go to such a place anyway?
Speaking about cheap - when I briefly mentioned "Cave" (although I also said ", Raizing or something"), his eyes grew a bit bigger and he mentioned that they would just be too expensive for that one shmup guy per month. Which I totally understand. I am aware of prices for things like Ibara and wouldn't have expected any such games there. However, I am also aware that there are quite a few great shmups (doesn't even have to be Cave - see above) that can be had for around a 100 quid and sometimes even less.
They do have e.g. Gigawing 2 though (which I was told was Gigawing Generations - nope...). And once they put that in, I finally had a bit of what would've made me return there. Sure, there was no sound (by the way - the "soundscape" overall seems a bit unbalanced to say the least). And I wasn't sure about the sensitivity of the button (had to trigger slowly to not accidentally fire off the shield. But maybe it's supposed to be like that? I played that game maybe once before. Years ago). But in the end, I still probably played it for two hours or so and when I wanted to leave, I kept thinking "Oh, just one more game".
Maybe I'll check it out again in a year or so, if I'm still in London then. Like I said in the beginning, it has promise. I wish them all the best and I hope they'll earn enough to at some point get an acceptable bathroom as well as a couple more interesting shmups.
Well... like I feared, it demonstrates ambition but as things are right now, it unfortunately doesn't offer what I want.
First off (coincidentally also what I checked out first) - that bathroom. THAT bathroom! Holy freakin' Moses! Possibly the second worst I've seen in my whole life. Might as well just pee onto the tube rails outside.
It reminds me of a question I saw somebody ask on facebook - whether they provide wet wipes. Which I wasn't too concerned myself before. But at least I found wherever there is nothing to dry one's hands, people are less inclined to wash them in the first place. And the state of the sink made me wonder whether sticks and buttons are cleaned as regularly.
But as for the games...
I had a little chat about them with the guy who presumably runs things.
He said that he plans to have a little shmup corner with what looks to be about four machines. Which sounds nice but the type of games is more of an issue for me than the number of machines.
He mentioned R-Type and Raiden as far as old school is concerned... Well, Raiden is fair enough but personally, I'm more fond of stuff like Batsugun, Donpachi, Battle Garegga, Blazing Gun, Gunbird, Raidenfighters, Strikers, 19XX series, etc.
Ikaruga... I... I just can't see it any more. (there was also Psyvariar 2)
I get that those games are probably cheap and have a broader appeal but I'm not sure that "broader appeal" people would go to such a place anyway?
Speaking about cheap - when I briefly mentioned "Cave" (although I also said ", Raizing or something"), his eyes grew a bit bigger and he mentioned that they would just be too expensive for that one shmup guy per month. Which I totally understand. I am aware of prices for things like Ibara and wouldn't have expected any such games there. However, I am also aware that there are quite a few great shmups (doesn't even have to be Cave - see above) that can be had for around a 100 quid and sometimes even less.
They do have e.g. Gigawing 2 though (which I was told was Gigawing Generations - nope...). And once they put that in, I finally had a bit of what would've made me return there. Sure, there was no sound (by the way - the "soundscape" overall seems a bit unbalanced to say the least). And I wasn't sure about the sensitivity of the button (had to trigger slowly to not accidentally fire off the shield. But maybe it's supposed to be like that? I played that game maybe once before. Years ago). But in the end, I still probably played it for two hours or so and when I wanted to leave, I kept thinking "Oh, just one more game".
Maybe I'll check it out again in a year or so, if I'm still in London then. Like I said in the beginning, it has promise. I wish them all the best and I hope they'll earn enough to at some point get an acceptable bathroom as well as a couple more interesting shmups.
Re: Shmups in London?
Just come along to the next Loading Cafe meet up (check the RIP Casino thread in the shmupmeets section).
It's not an ideal setting, but usually someone brings a decent stick and a few different shooters for us to play. Last time I went we had a good session on SDOJ and Muchi Muchi Pork. We'll probably start meeting up again in January.
It's not an ideal setting, but usually someone brings a decent stick and a few different shooters for us to play. Last time I went we had a good session on SDOJ and Muchi Muchi Pork. We'll probably start meeting up again in January.
Re: Shmups in London?
Ah, that sounds interesting!
Thanks for making me aware of it.
I'm a bit confused though - Loading is inside of MADD? So... is MADD just the front part with the pastries and Loading is everything else? Do the MADD people also sell the Loading drinks and whatnot then?
Thanks for making me aware of it.
I'm a bit confused though - Loading is inside of MADD? So... is MADD just the front part with the pastries and Loading is everything else? Do the MADD people also sell the Loading drinks and whatnot then?
Re: Shmups in London?
Sure as hell isn't the worst I've seen. Try stepping into a bathroom outside the "first" world, or heck, into the toilets of a pub on a weekend.sh4dow wrote:So I've been there today...
Well... like I feared, it demonstrates ambition but as things are right now, it unfortunately doesn't offer what I want.
First off (coincidentally also what I checked out first) - that bathroom. THAT bathroom! Holy freakin' Moses! Possibly the second worst I've seen in my whole life. Might as well just pee onto the tube rails outside.
It reminds me of a question I saw somebody ask on facebook - whether they provide wet wipes. Which I wasn't too concerned myself before. But at least I found wherever there is nothing to dry one's hands, people are less inclined to wash them in the first place. And the state of the sink made me wonder whether sticks and buttons are cleaned as regularly.
I tend to jump to the defense of HoG, sure, but your post reeks of entitlement, man. From what I understand the place is two guys who dreamed of running an arcade, did what they could to clean up this property which was a state when they moved in. Who've been struggling to pay the bills from day 1. I don't see the point in them rushing to procure PCBs that will be played rarely compared to their fighters, and that the tiny shmup crowd might not even like. Although not every patron is as particular as yourself, i'm sure. The kind of place you want, or that we all want, doesn't exist because no one feels like pissing their money away.
They did have Strikers 1945 running there once, actually.
Re: Shmups in London?
It's the same thing. I think Loading is the newer name for the place.sh4dow wrote: I'm a bit confused though - Loading is inside of MADD? So... is MADD just the front part with the pastries and Loading is everything else? Do the MADD people also sell the Loading drinks and whatnot then?
We had it just over a year ago... at Casino...Blinge wrote:The kind of place you want, or that we all want, doesn't exist because no one feels like pissing their money away.
They didn't spend money on anything - we gave them games then payed the fuckers to play 'em!Re: Shmups in London?
@ Blinge:
"Reeks of entitlement"? Excuse me?! It's not like I'm playing with a couple of buddies for free there. If I pay, I expect at least some basics to be covered. (I guess you also may have missed the part where I said that I understand that it's not worth it for them to buy expensive or many PCBs?)
And frankly, the meets in Vienna (long time ago, no thread here) or Toronto WERE what I wanted. Or... didn't even know that they were what I wanted because I came across the scene by accident. It was always a pleasure to hang out at Raidenfighter Kirkov's, jonny5's and brendz's. Not only did they have quite the array of games but everything also appeared well-maintained and clean. I possibly would've payed a modest fee similar to what HoG charges - but it was even free.
I guess I just got lucky to come across people who decided to "piss away their money"?
And speaking of which - being the particular, entitled guy that I am, I myself even looked into buying this thing here, which of course is less than ideal either but hey... it would satisfy me for quite a while. But as I lack the means of transportation as well as maintenance knowledge...
Now, there's obviously a difference between being a collector and trying to run a business. But... like I said, there's also a difference between hanging out with buddies and being a customer.
"Reeks of entitlement"? Excuse me?! It's not like I'm playing with a couple of buddies for free there. If I pay, I expect at least some basics to be covered. (I guess you also may have missed the part where I said that I understand that it's not worth it for them to buy expensive or many PCBs?)
And frankly, the meets in Vienna (long time ago, no thread here) or Toronto WERE what I wanted. Or... didn't even know that they were what I wanted because I came across the scene by accident. It was always a pleasure to hang out at Raidenfighter Kirkov's, jonny5's and brendz's. Not only did they have quite the array of games but everything also appeared well-maintained and clean. I possibly would've payed a modest fee similar to what HoG charges - but it was even free.
I guess I just got lucky to come across people who decided to "piss away their money"?
And speaking of which - being the particular, entitled guy that I am, I myself even looked into buying this thing here, which of course is less than ideal either but hey... it would satisfy me for quite a while. But as I lack the means of transportation as well as maintenance knowledge...
Now, there's obviously a difference between being a collector and trying to run a business. But... like I said, there's also a difference between hanging out with buddies and being a customer.
Which is why I didn't just write "this place sucks balls" and was done with it but instead began and ended my opinion about HoG by acknowledging what they're trying to do, wishing them all the best and provide actual reasons for why I was disappointed. But I guess empathy (or recognizing it) isn't your strong suit.From what I understand the place is two guys who dreamed of running an arcade, did what they could to clean up this property which was a state when they moved in. Who've been struggling to pay the bills from day 1.
Re: Shmups in London?
Hm... like I mentioned before, I don't know too much about these sort of things (both finance as well as maintenance) but if you're ten people or so, wouldn't it be possible to buy a used but decent cab together and be independent of anybody else?dan76 wrote:We had it just over a year ago... at Casino...
Re: Shmups in London?
Well yes we could, but where would we put it. When Casino was closing a few of us discussed putting a cab in a pub, but nothing came of it - I still think that's a good idea...
Re: Shmups in London?
Ah, yeah that was one possible issue I considered.
And actually... a pub is probably a much better solution than what I thought. Because I figured there may be at least one person who is comfortable hosting shmup sessions for at least all the people who chipped in at his place frequently.
But obviously, I can already hear the claims of people hogging the cab and whatnot.
At a pub, I suppose everybody would find time to play. But like you hinted at with the Casino, people may not be big on making the initial purchase AND paying for playing in addition to that?
Unless... you find a pub with a younger clientele (or even better a gaming-related place? (*hint hint*? I don't know whether the Loading cafe would be an acceptable option) ) whose owner you can sell on the idea that you're basically buying the cab "for him", if he only lets those ~10 people play for free whenever they want.
And actually... a pub is probably a much better solution than what I thought. Because I figured there may be at least one person who is comfortable hosting shmup sessions for at least all the people who chipped in at his place frequently.
But obviously, I can already hear the claims of people hogging the cab and whatnot.
At a pub, I suppose everybody would find time to play. But like you hinted at with the Casino, people may not be big on making the initial purchase AND paying for playing in addition to that?
Unless... you find a pub with a younger clientele (or even better a gaming-related place? (*hint hint*? I don't know whether the Loading cafe would be an acceptable option) ) whose owner you can sell on the idea that you're basically buying the cab "for him", if he only lets those ~10 people play for free whenever they want.
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Obiwanshinobi
- Posts: 7470
- Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am
Re: Shmups in London?
What I see a need for is not someone's dream of "running business", but something of an interactive museum, ideally sending out mobile exhibitions.
In my village, polytechnic didactic workers and students organise retro gaming events. So the kids can have contact with old computers. Now, if this isn't a hint...
In my village, polytechnic didactic workers and students organise retro gaming events. So the kids can have contact with old computers. Now, if this isn't a hint...
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
The way out is cut off