Greetings All,

 

I am very happy to announce that I am in the early stages of fulfilling a lifelong dream - to establish a space where people can come together with like minded folk, enjoy a nice cup of coffee or a local beer while enjoying the sights and sounds of the arcades of yesteryear.

 

That's right people, Bristol will have its very first decent arcade coffee shop where a huge love for arcade games and tasty beverages come together to form a kaleidoscope of sounds, colours and tastes!

 

Initially the location will be a mix of full size arcade cabinets (running arcade emulators), pinball tables and a retro machine area.

 

"Woah, wait up! Emulators?" I hear you ask…

 

We have decided to go down this route to simply keep the initial costs down. Furthermore, this will enable us to offer up a HUGE variety of games to people to play without having to commit to potentially expensive cabs or the need to stack cabs floor to ceiling! But over time, as soon as funding allows, we will look to add original cabs to the collection with a mixture of old and new.

 

But don’t worry arcade purists, to soften the blow, these arcade cabs (excluding the pins) will be free-to-play and we will cycle the games available regularly. Furthermore, the cabs themselves will be fitted out with only the best Sanwa and Seimitsu joysticks and buttons for the most authentic and enjoyable arcade experience - no cheap knock offs here!

 

In addition to the arcade machines and shiny new pinball tables there will also be a ‘Retro Zone’ that will be home to a selection of vintage machines, games and controllers.

 

One of our primary goals is to create a fun, friendly and inclusive community and culture and therefore we will be running weekly events ranging from tournament nights and game leagues to launch parties and table top nights. However, that is just the beginning and we have a huge amount of ideas and events we intend on rolling out over the initial months/year resulting in people unable to resist the urge to come back!

 

While a plethora of neon digital entertainment will be available to cater for all your video gaming needs this is only part of what Start/Select will have to offer and therefore, we will be offering up an excellent selection of local craft ales, finely brewed speciality coffees and locally sourced pastries that will satisfy even the most sophisticated of palates.

 

Therefore, we hope this is the beginning of a beautiful venture that gamers and non-gamer alike will love and not want to miss. We will be posting progress updates to the site as things come together. Furthermore, you can keep in contact with us via one of our several social media sites.

 

However, in the meantime take it steady and keep it retro!

​

James

 

Start/Select