Mission Brief #1 - Base, The Final Frontier

First off hello and thanks for signing up to our updates, we've been overwhelmed and overjoyed by the response from the good retro folk of Belfast and beyond since we announced The Retro Room a few weeks back. Let's jump right in shall we?

EXITING BASE ARCADE

Marty here! I've been asked a lot about why I exited Base Arcade and the answer is boringly simple. Stephen, Dave and I didn't see eye to eye on the where's and what's and where Base was heading and so decided (very amicably!) to go on separate missions.

For me it's simple, the lads want to stay with the pop up format and while it's great, I'd like to see it through to being a permanent spot. As I said a while back on the Best of Belfast podcast, Belfast deserves a retro arcade just like almost everywhere else has one. I wholly believe that. That's what we're working towards with the Retro Room and it's within sight. Mostly because I want to be able to hang out in an arcade again from time to time!

Arcade stuff from 21.36 in. Mad Spectrum stuff and other strange Belfast-based shenanigans throughout!

Meantime Dave and Stephen will take Base forward as the hugely successful pop-up now over at Banana Block in Portview Trade Centre. You'll not find two people more passionate and committed to operating an arcade than them and it's in great hands.

And yes we'll be competitors at times perhaps but hey the winners will be you, the players, as you'll have two great arcade setups to choose from!

SPACE ACE!

Was Ace Rimmer inspired by the goof from Space Ace? Will anyone read this newsletter and do a remake with Ace Rimmer and Kristine Kochanski in the lead roles. Would anyone care?

Anyhow we digress. WE FOUND A FUCKING SPACE ACE! That's right, one of only three laserdisc based games ever made along with the iconic Dragon's Lair and Dragon's Lair II is on its way to Belfast and will soon be on an arcade floor near you.

We couldn't be more excited!

Space Ace en route to Belfast!

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE RETRO ROOM?

After a hugely successful pop up event at Common Market in Belfast during freshers week in September we've been continuing to build up a stock of great 80s and 90s arcade machines (as original as possible btw, no 1Ups allowed!), a world class tabletop football setup, a rake of 80s and 90s classic tabletop games and more and will be bringing all of this to a city centre venue near you very soon indeed.

The permanent premise is still a little way away, keep an eye out here for news on that. Thanks again and we'll catch you soon enjoying the pleasure of past things at The Retro Room.

Written to the tunes of Roky Erickson - The Evil One (1980), the greatest Halloween horror album ever made by a legendary song writer.