Things to check out in London (UK)

[genetik]

Off to London soon for a work thing. Will be my 2nd time (I went 4 years ago). Thought I would ask to get an idea of what people here think I should check out over there. Gaming wise, I wrote down the addresses of the HMV, CEX and GAME stores around where I’ll be, but maybe there’s other gaming stores I haven’t heard about that might be worth checking out.

Also, any other places (like restaurants, place to visit…) I should check out?

 

[xsq]

https://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming

 

[Craig]

i aint been since i lived there. But if your in the westend. Gamefocus on goodge street used to have a load of good shit.

 

[genetik]

https://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming

Is it just an arcade, or is it a store as well? I might check it out, but it's about an hour from I'll be staying (in the the Victoria area).

i aint been since i lived there. But if your in the westend. Gamefocus on goodge street used to have a load of good shit.

Seems that it closed down according to this info.

But while looking for Game Focus, I found the Retro Game Base shop. I'll definitely check that one out.

 

[theMot]

Check out the pub sluts.

British slags go crazy for an accent.

 

[genetik]

Check out the pub sluts.

British slags go crazy for an accent.

Well, mine is a French Canadian one. I don't know how much that would turn them on. Think of a French accent, but that actually can talk in English without a very pronounced accent and that can say ''the'' instead of it sounding like ''zeh''.

 

[theMot]

Well, mine is a French Canadian one. I don't know how much that would turn them on. Think of a French accent, but that actually can talk in English without a very pronounced accent and that can say ''the'' instead of it sounding like ''zeh''.

I know your accent friend. I was in Montreal 10 or 12 years ago. Had a good ole time on St Catherines street during the grand prix. Good times.

 

[xsq]

Is it just an arcade, or is it a store as well? I might check it out, but it's about an hour from I'll be staying (in the the Victoria area).

AFAIK it's "just" (I can't stress the quotation marks enough) an arcade. Also current gen consoles. Seems to be a hell lot of fun. There's a bunch of videos on youtube.

 

[genetik]

AFAIK it's "just" (I can't stress the quotation marks enough) an arcade. Also current gen consoles. Seems to be a hell lot of fun. There's a bunch of videos on youtube.

From the pics, it looks like a cool place to hang out. I just don’t know if it’s worth a 2h roundtrip in bus/tube to play a couple of games on an arcade cab. I’ll see how I feel about it once I’m there.

 

[ViolentStorm]

i aint been since i lived there. But if your in the westend. Gamefocus on goodge street used to have a load of good shit.

Yeah bro, Gamefocus near Tottenham Court Road is closed but your right, their place used to be packed full of goodies including the basement!

 

[Tarma]

HMV will be a waste of time for games as they'll only have in stock, and on display, latest releases only, which you'll find anywhere. Good selection of films and CD's though.

CEX will be a total waste of time unless you've got a PDA or smart phone you want to pawn for a 2nd hand xbox game... all the fab retro stuff went years ago, all they do nowadays is latest releases and used titles for current gen.

GAME, just see my comments on HMV less the bit about films and music. Walk into your local Gamestop or equivalent, close your eyes and pretend you're in London. Same difference.

 

[genetik]

Last time I did manage to find some stuff in GAME and HMV. Mostly cause I wanted a few Euro exclusives (like echoshift and Patapon 2 on UMD, Heavy Rain limited edition and Wipeout HD fury on disc). GAME did oddly feel a lot like an EB Games/Gamestop.

As far as I know, there hasn't been a ton of European exclusive in the last few years. Because of region coding for the recent consoles, I'm mostly stuck buying PSP, DS or PS3 games. Most older consoles have a way to defeat region coding, and I got a PVM so PAL only games shouldn't be an issue.

But I like gaming stores. Mostly everywhere I travel to, I like checking out their stores (this drives my girlfriend nuts when we travel together). HMV, GAME and CEX seem plenty full around where I'll be, so really, there's no reason to at least stop by.

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

What the fuck are you doing plumping for PAL/UK/EURO releases anyway dude?

Surely there's nothing 'we' have in terms of gaming releases that's of interest over the pond... sans Pandoras Tower, Last Story & Xenoblade... back when they hadn't released yet?

Also, exactly what Tarma said. Just avoid those places if you can for games... unless you really want overpriced new or shitty condition 2nd hand, current gen titles?

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

Check out the pub sluts.

British slags go crazy for an accent.

What? In London? The capital and multicultural capital of England?

K.



Fucking wombat.

 

[ebinsugewa]

Definitely go to HoG. Probably only thing worth visiting in that neck of the woods gamewise.

 

[genetik]

What the fuck are you doing plumping for PAL/UK/EURO releases anyway dude?

For sure, the list of exclusives PAL/UK/EURO is small, no doubt about that. But here and there, there's a handful of releases which are exclusive to Europe. Of the ones I don't own and would definitely grab is the English version of Vib Ribbon, and Deep Fear for the Saturn. I think it's very unlikely I would find those now. Anyway, I like shopping for games, so even if I manage to find a 2-3 games, that will be fine.

 

[Takumaji]

Be careful, PAL games run at 50Hz and not all of them can be switched to 60Hz. I really HATE that 50Hz PAL crap with a passion, it's one of the few advantages of modern gaming that the problem finally went away with the new consoles and HDMI, at least there are no speed differences anymore.

 

[genetik]

Be careful, PAL games run at 50Hz and not all of them can be switched to 60Hz. I really HATE that 50Hz PAL crap with a passion, it's one of the few advantages of modern gaming that the problem finally went away with the new consoles and HDMI, at least there are no speed differences anymore.

Yeah, I know that games playing at 50Hz isn't as smooth as 60Hz. As far as compatibility, I got a Sony PVM, so that's not an issue. For having spent hundred of hours testing games at 50Hz (for work) prior to HDMI being around, I know how annoying 50Hz can be.

 

[CaseyTappy]

The bloody tower for your dose of medieval torture !

 

[Tarma]

GAME did oddly feel a lot like an EB Games/Gamestop.

.

GAME used to be EB in the UK, but I guess they rebranded when they parted parent companies.

BTW fair enough, didn't realise there were any UK/Euro exclusives worth having any more. I'll be surprised if you see anything of any interest in CEX. You may see some GAME "exclusives" in GAME, but I wouldn't be surprised if you can't get the same "exclusive" at Gamestop.

 

[NeoGeoNinja]

Be careful, PAL games run at 50Hz and not all of them can be switched to 60Hz. I really HATE that 50Hz PAL crap with a passion, it's one of the few advantages of modern gaming that the problem finally went away with the new consoles and HDMI, at least there are no speed differences anymore.

True.

To be fair though, it was really the DC that brought forth 50/60hz for PAL gamers. I wonder why in the hell it had to take that long...

 

[Takumaji]

True.

To be fair though, it was really the DC that brought forth 50/60hz for PAL gamers. I wonder why in the hell it had to take that long...

It took them so long because many European TV sets could not handle 60Hz/NTSC until the early/mid-90s when multi-norm sets became the standard. As there still were a lot of these old TV sets around until the late 90s, Euro publishers went with 50Hz to avoid complaints.

I just never got why it took them so long to add a friggin' 60Hz switch to their games. Playing games at 50Hz is not acceptable for a true gamer. If you've ever seen and played an old game at full speed and full-screen, you don't wanna go back to 50Hz ever again.

50Hz/PAL was the main reason why I started buying imports, some of them cost almost twice as much as regular Euro releases but it was worth it.

 

[Tarma]

50Hz/PAL was the main reason why I started buying imports, some of them cost almost twice as much as regular Euro releases but it was worth it.

Heh, that was one of my main motivators as well...

Resident Evil PAL - bleh!

Biohazard NTSC/J - yay!

 

[Mac91]

Check out the way everyone in London is a fucking cunt.

Yours,

a Northerner.

 

[BeefJerky]

You could always go see the queen and her old, dumb tits.

I would slap at them. Possibly with my dick. Word.