Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?

Anything to do with games at all.
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KingK
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PostAnyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by KingK » Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:27 pm

Thinking of taking my boys (13 & 11) to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield during the summer holidays.

Has anyone been and if so, what did you think? What is the selection of machines / games like? Is it all retro or is there anything current (or quite recent)?

It’s a 90min drive each way so not too far, and seems reasonably cheap for a day out for the 3 of us (£26) for a 2.5hr session.

Cheers

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OrangeRKN
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by OrangeRKN » Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:50 pm

I went to it when it was based in Nottingham, not sure how different it is since they moved. I had a great time - it was the first time I tried out VR, they had a HTC Vive with a full square area of floor cordoned off and a staff member running it as it was this made-for-exhibitioin VR experience like game. I also played around on a BBC micro and spent a while just playing Vib Ribbon on PS1. There was a good range of games in general. Do they not list what they have on their website?

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KingK
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by KingK » Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:15 am

OrangeRKN wrote:I went to it when it was based in Nottingham, not sure how different it is since they moved. I had a great time - it was the first time I tried out VR, they had a HTC Vive with a full square area of floor cordoned off and a staff member running it as it was this made-for-exhibitioin VR experience like game. I also played around on a BBC micro and spent a while just playing Vib Ribbon on PS1. There was a good range of games in general. Do they not list what they have on their website?

No list is showing, just some general blurb.

This page seemingly should list all games but it’s failing (for me)
https://thenvm.org/exhibitions-archive/now-playing/

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Rex Kramer
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by Rex Kramer » Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:13 am

KingK wrote:Thinking of taking my boys (13 & 11) to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield during the summer holidays.

Has anyone been and if so, what did you think? What is the selection of machines / games like? Is it all retro or is there anything current (or quite recent)?

It’s a 90min drive each way so not too far, and seems reasonably cheap for a day out for the 3 of us (£26) for a 2.5hr session.

Cheers

It was pretty decent when it was in Notts but I've never had the urge to go again once they moved it to Sheffield (I guess because I'd been a couple of times and only some of the exhibits changed each time). Really tempted to try out that Arcade place in Leeds though.

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kerr9000
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by kerr9000 » Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:46 am

I went in it in Nottingham before it was open. It grrew out of a festivel called Game City in honesty even when they left Notts they only really had the same stuff they'd had during the game city days.

I'm not s fan of them to be honest game city was run through volunteers who did it for the love of the games, when they opened as the measeum practically every volunteer went for an interview and none got jobs , for some reason 2 out of the 3 people they had interviewing and hiring were uni girls who hired all there uni mates who wanted jobs. I had an interview there it ranks as one of the least professional I've had they were literally hugging and kissing there uni friends and shrugging at other people, maybe it's my autistic grudgy nature but I'm glad the place left Notts.

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KingK
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by KingK » Tue Aug 10, 2021 10:35 am

I’ve booked us in for next week. Will report back afterwards.

It’ll also be my first time in Sheffield. Anything else worth seeing whilst I’m there?

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Hypes
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by Hypes » Tue Aug 10, 2021 1:14 pm

Wasn't hugely impressed when it was in Nottingham, certainly had some modern stuff. Don't know where you're based but I much preferred the Retro Computer museum in Leicester and the Centre for Computing history in Cambridge (obviously they're more retro focused)

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coldspice
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by coldspice » Tue Aug 10, 2021 2:06 pm

It was decent but nothing blew me away when it was still in Notts, but I've never been in Sheffield. It was very clear that it came from a volunteer/festival origin as it was pretty much rooms full of stuff with no additional explanation for the most part. When we went, they were running minecraft LAN sessions which my daughter really enjoyed though.

KingK wrote:I’ve booked us in for next week. Will report back afterwards.

It’ll also be my first time in Sheffield. Anything else worth seeing whilst I’m there?

Depending on where it is in the city, it's a decent, tightly packed city centre. Having a wander round the winter garden and surrounding areas is a decent way to kill time.

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KingK
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by KingK » Tue Aug 17, 2021 11:09 pm

So, we went yesterday and my tweenager boys loved it. They enjoyed the retro games more than I thought they might and literally played right until we were kicked out at 4pm closing time (there’s 3 sessions, we went for the 1.30-4pm slot)

It’s not the biggest place but for £10 entry fee (£8 for U18s) I won’t complain. We had goes on everything we wanted to without issue and multiple times in some cases.

There’s some collectibles and rare stuff on display in locked cabinets (e.g Doom II Master Gold Disk signed by John Romero, Dave Taylor, Adrian Carmack, Kevin Cloud and Bobby Prince; 5 Zelda Collectors Editions books with numbered certificate of authenticity signed by Eiji Aonuma; Halo 3 Collectors Edition Helmet; Fallout 4 Pip Boy edition).

Tons of old consoles also on display (BBC Micro [usable], Nokia N-Gage, Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear, Nintendo Game & Watch, Sega MegaDrive, PS1, PS2, Fat OG Xbox, N64, Wii, X360, NeoGeo CD, Commodore Amiga CD, Commodore A1200 (no C64 or Vic 20 though :cry:), Sinclair Spectrum, SNES, Panasonic and Phillips consoles(?), a Dreamcast, an N64 Dev Unit and some others too [all locked in cabinets]).

Playable cabinets of Space Invaders, Tetris, Ms Pac Man, Track & Field (where I posted the top 3, and 5 of the top 7 high scores on it, including the World Record for Hammer), Sonic Sega All Stars Racing Arcade, Gunblade Special Air Assault Force NY, Dancing Stage Fusion, Donkey Kong.

They also had Rock Band 3 with drums, keyboards and guitar all available, Gang Beasts, multiple Sonic games on various consoles incl GameCube, Saturn, PS4, plus Mario games on WiiU, NES. One highlight was a game with the most basic pixel graphics ever possibly (International Snowball fight I think it was called). 2-6 players lobbing snowballs at tiny pixelated men we controlled. My kids laughed so much playing this most primitive of games and showed the joy a simplistic game can bring.

Overall it was an enjoyable time but not one worth returning to or travelling far to I’d say. It helped occupy the kids for a cheap price and brought back some nostalgic memories for me.

Worth visiting if you’re local enough and looking for a cheap way of bringing back your childhood / youth.

8.5/10 whilst there. 6/10 when including the 150 miles and 3.5hrs round trip driving time

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Zilnad
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by Zilnad » Wed Aug 18, 2021 1:07 pm

I think my wife went to this with her sister a couple of years back. It didn't appeal to me then and it doesn't now.

I guess having lived through the history of video games, I just don't feel like I need to visit a place like this. My brain is already full of gaming knowledge and I can play anything I want from the comfort of my home.

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Outrunner
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PostRe: Anyone been to the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield?
by Outrunner » Wed Aug 18, 2021 1:22 pm

I took my nephew just before covid hit last year. I was a little disappointed (hoped there would be more arcade cabinets) but overall enjoyed it. My nephew loved it. I'd quite happily go again but then its only a 15 minute train journey from where I live and I'm moving to Sheffield in the autumn.

I think this place https://www.arcadeclub.co.uk/ would probably better for scratching my arcade itch

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