Dos_Box Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Just seen this on the BBC: BBC News - Digital bar flies: Pub where everybody knows your game It's a pub for gamers called The Meltdown in Islington. Looks worth a trip and it's just a couple of minutes walk from a tube station Their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/MeltdownLondon Guess where we shall be taking the guys at BETT 2014!
rickjames Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I genuinely can't think of anything more pathetic. 1
LosOjos Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I genuinely can't think of anything more pathetic. You haven't lived much, have you? I think the place looks awesome but I haven't been. There's no shame in having fun
X-13 Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I genuinely can't think of anything more pathetic. StarCraft and Street Fighter are our Football and Rugby. You have your pubs, we have ours. I think the place looks awesome but I haven't been. There's no shame in having fun I have next week off, I may go have a look. 1
CAM Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 We already have cybercafes, why not a cyberpub? Edugeek excursion required! 1
Sunnyknight Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I genuinely can't think of anything more pathetic. If i got seen in there, i'd be shot the moment i walked out.
X-13 Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 If i got seen in there, i'd be shot the moment i walked out. Why does it matter what things you're interested in? Nobody gets grief because they like sports. [unless you support the wrong team.]
LosOjos Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 So sad when image is so important to some people! We're only here once so enjoy life! So long as you're not hurting anyone, to hell with what the rest of the world thinks of you! 2
X-13 Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 But I wouldn't go to a pub to game. "It hosts its own gaming tournaments and screens international championships from around the world, just like a regular sports bar might screen the big match." It's an e-sports bar. Not an arcade that sells alcohol. [The gaming tournaments would be like the pub football team or a quiz night]
LiamH Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Sounds ace, like a mini LAN event any day of the week. Don't see how meeting like minded people should be seen as a social stigma, had some great times drinking at LANS in the UK and Europe. 1
Koldov Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Why does it matter what things you're interested in? Nobody gets grief because they like sports. [unless you support the wrong team.] So sad when image is so important to some people! We're only here once so enjoy life! So long as you're not hurting anyone, to hell with what the rest of the world thinks of you! So totally agree with these sentiments! I guess there are geeks and then there are GEEKS! I wonder if age has any part to play in it? I've also seen a fair few stereotypes in the world of GEEKDOM I wonder if the young, loud garage music playing-souped up car-spiky hair-massive gaming rig geek and the older, bearded-real ale-DOS geeks (excuse the no female sterotype) could all just get along? Maybe the younger generation just see a pub as somewhere to get hammered? Kol.
bushby Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 its super there get to drink and be social while watching gameplay / WCS. I normaly sit at home with it on the projector while drinking as I have a bet running on wcs finals so putting it in a pub is the next step in the uk as in the states and the east they already have these setup
Flatpackhamster Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 "It hosts its own gaming tournaments and screens international championships from around the world, just like a regular sports bar might screen the big match." It's an e-sports bar. Not an arcade that sells alcohol. [The gaming tournaments would be like the pub football team or a quiz night] I guess I just don't see the fun in what is essentially a solitary act where you interact with other people through the medium of a screen being transported to a pub, which is a place where you interact with other people through the medium of talking to their faces. I just don't see how an anti-social activity gels with a social one. And gaming is an anti-social activity, and I write as a keen gamer (with no time to game any more).
LosOjos Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I guess I just don't see the fun in what is essentially a solitary act where you interact with other people through the medium of a screen being transported to a pub, which is a place where you interact with other people through the medium of talking to their faces. I just don't see how an anti-social activity gels with a social one. And gaming is an anti-social activity, and I write as a keen gamer (with no time to game any more). I don't think it's so black and white any more. Granted, I'm something of a solitary gamer as I tend towards single player campaigns, but many of my friends will play multiplayer games and coop games all the time, either at their own houses or sat together with separate screens so they can chat face-to-face rather than over a headset. I do think gaming has become much more social in recent years with the rise of services like XBL and PSN. As for going to the pub, well it's somewhere to meet like minded people, to watch tournaments as they unfold (just like you would football/rugby/cricket/countless other sports people go to the pub to watch together) or to play games yourself, with a pint, whilst chatting to your mates. I'll be honest, this was one of those ideas I've had in mind to run a gaming pub if I ever won the lottery!
captaincharisma Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 You rarely find these types of places anymore. Certainly not one anywhere near where I live. I came across a place called Xtreme gaming in Colchester while I was researching the idea.
ICTDirect_Dave Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I guess I just don't see the fun in what is essentially a solitary act where you interact with other people through the medium of a screen being transported to a pub, which is a place where you interact with other people through the medium of talking to their faces. I just don't see how an anti-social activity gels with a social one. And gaming is an anti-social activity, and I write as a keen gamer (with no time to game any more). Some of the best social times I've had were LAN parties playing Halo 2 on the old Xbox. We'd share a crate of beer, some snacks and the general bloodlust created by blowing someones head off from 200 yards with a sniper rifle. If we would've been able to do similar in a local pub we would've jumped at it, certainly would've mean a lot less to carry!
Flatpackhamster Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 I don't think it's so black and white any more. Granted, I'm something of a solitary gamer as I tend towards single player campaigns, but many of my friends will play multiplayer games and coop games all the time, either at their own houses or sat together with separate screens so they can chat face-to-face rather than over a headset. I do think gaming has become much more social in recent years with the rise of services like XBL and PSN. As for going to the pub, well it's somewhere to meet like minded people, to watch tournaments as they unfold (just like you would football/rugby/cricket/countless other sports people go to the pub to watch together) or to play games yourself, with a pint, whilst chatting to your mates. I'll be honest, this was one of those ideas I've had in mind to run a gaming pub if I ever won the lottery! My brother plays a couple of MMOs and does that new-fangled talking-video-whatchamacallit. Maybe I'm just an old git from a gaming point of view.
LosOjos Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 My brother plays a couple of MMOs and does that new-fangled talking-video-whatchamacallit. Maybe I'm just an old git from a gaming point of view. Ha, I know what you mean, like I said before I am something of a solitary gamer. I hate playing online most of the time, though I do enjoy multiplayer LAN games (i.e. sat in the same room chatting and playing), but my younger brother and to an even bigger degree the missus' younger brother spend a hell of a lot of time socialising on XBL. In fact, the missus' brother met his long term GF playing FF12 and actually goes over to Virginia to stay with her every few months! It's all alien to me but at least gaming isn't something everyone does in the darkness of their bedroom alone any more
Koldov Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) I guess I just don't see the fun in what is essentially a solitary act where you interact with other people through the medium of a screen being transported to a pub, which is a place where you interact with other people through the medium of talking to their faces. I just don't see how an anti-social activity gels with a social one. And gaming is an anti-social activity, and I write as a keen gamer (with no time to game any more). I'm so tempted to try and get a tenuous link with pr0n in here... It's ok viewed through a screen but much more fun in person! I was also an avid gamer and very anti-social (still am quite anti-social if not the gamer), in fact I'm sure there was a huge impact on a previous relationship and it was a factor in the break-up (hours on end glued to a screen blocking everything out with headphones for evenings and even whole weekends). Many people (myself included) lack a lot of the social skills to interact 'down the pub' but would still deep down like to go out and meet other like-minded people, or don't want to go to those places because they just don't feel comfortable. I don't enjoy the atmosphere or clientele (or music choice) in the majority of pubs and clubs I have been to... Gaming is only viewed as 'anti-social' because that's the way the majority of people have access to it. In their own homes, on their own computers! That's not to say it couldn't be another way. It can be much more fun with a few mates like 4-player Streetfighter 'down the arcade'. Multiplayer gaming is a social activity as much as any other accessed through the internet (Facebook, Twitter and plenty of other 'social' medias, including things like dating sites and that side of the 'net are accessed by solitary people in their homes reaching out). I've sat in countless times wishing I could go 'out' to somewhere I want to be, somewhere I might fit in, might find someone to 'talk to'. I remember LAN parties being quite the 'rage' and seeing tournaments being played out. I wished I could've gone to see Heat0n back in the good old Counterstrike days! Kol. Edited July 11, 2013 by Koldov
LiamH Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Never really got the whole antisocial thing tbh. Most of the time i am gaming i'll be on voice com's with other people who i can genuinely say are my "gaming" friends, its a lot more sociable than watching TV. I do go to the pub every week with my old school mates and spend time away from the computer a fair bit, i can see the 24/7 gaming people as being viewed as antisocial, but its all about moderation. 1
Koldov Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 As for going to the pub, well it's somewhere to meet like minded people, to watch tournaments as they unfold (just like you would football/rugby/cricket/countless other sports people go to the pub to watch together) or to play games yourself, with a pint, whilst chatting to your mates. Just wanted to add that although those sports are all played in teams, there are just as many sports people watch where it is just one-on-one, or even one versus many such as athletics. I always jokingly told people I was an athlete... Cyberathlete! Kol.
CAM Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Most titles these days are best played with friends. If you can go down a pub, meet said friends from online and all watch a tournament of the game you play I see no harm. Of course, until we can teleport freely over continents to the local boozer then we may only be able to meet some on our friends lists.
LosOjos Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 ...until we can teleport freely over continents to the local boozer... and let's face it, when that happens, I won't be drinking in England any more!
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