|
Namco Funscape
Namco Funscape, formally known as Namco Funscape County Hall, was a Namco amusement arcade located on the ground to basement levels of County Hall, Westminster, London. Originally opened as Namco Station in August 1997, it operated as one of the capital's leading family and corporate entertainment centres for 25 years, closing permanently in August 2021 due to redevelopment plans blocking a lease renewal. The centre was owned and ran by Namco UK Ltd (formerly Namco Operations Europe), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. It has served as one of the company's longest-running flagship locations, outlasting examples opened in other countries. The centre had different types of arcade games and amusement attractions, including arcade video games, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, pool tables, ten-pin bowling, air hockey, Super Shot and Whac-A-Mole. Though generally targeted more towards families and tourist groups, it has also been a site of numerous offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amusement Arcade
An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as claw cranes), or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables. In some countries, some types of arcades are also legally permitted to provide gambling machines such as slot machines or ''pachinko'' machines. Games are usually housed in cabinets. The term used for ancestors of these venues in the beginning of the 20th century was penny arcades. Video games were introduced in amusement arcades in the late 1970s and were most popular during the golden age of arcade video games, the early 1980s. Arcades became popular with children and particularly adolescents, which led parents to be concerned that video game playing might cause them to skip school. History Penny arcade A penny arcade can be any type of venue for coin-operated devices, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whac-A-Mole
Whac-A-Mole is an arcade game, originally known as or in Japan. A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a waist-level cabinet with a play area and display screen, and a large, soft, black mallet. Five holes in the play area top are filled with small, plastic, cartoonish moles, which pop up at random. Points are scored by whacking each mole as it appears. The faster the reaction, the higher the score. Play The cabinet has a three-digit readout of the current player's score and, on later models, a "best score of the day" readout. The mallet is usually attached to the game by a rope to prevent it from being stolen. Current versions of Whac-A-Mole include three displays for Bonus Score, High Score, and the current game score. Home versions, distributed by Bob's Space Racers, have one display with the current score. If the player does not strike a mole within a certain time or with enough force, it eventually sinks back into its hole with no score. Although gameplay starts out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was developed from farmland by Henry VIII in 1536, when it became a royal park. It became a parish in its own right in the late 17th century, when buildings started to be developed for the upper class, including the laying out of Soho Square in the 1680s. St Anne's Church was established during the late 17th century, and remains a significant local landmark; other churches are the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory and St Patrick's Church in Soho Square. The aristocracy had mostly moved away by the mid-19th century, when Soho was particularly badly hit by an outbreak of cholera in 1854. For much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation as a base for the sex industry in addition to its night life and its location for the headquarte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties of England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its southern suburbs were transferred from Derbyshire to the city council. It is the largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The city is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines and the valleys of the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don with its four tributaries: the River Loxley, Loxley, the Porter Brook, the River Rivelin, Rivelin and the River Sheaf, Sheaf. Sixty-one per cent of Sheffield's entire area is green space and a third of the city lies within the Peak District national park. There are more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens in the city, which is estimated to contain around 4.5 million trees. The city is south of Leeds, east of Manchester, and north ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associated Press, Reuters, Fox News, Al Jazeera, ABC News, ''USA Today'', CNN and BBC News. In 2001, Yahoo! News launched the first "most-emailed" page on the web. It was well-received as an innovative idea, expanding people's understanding of the impact that online news sources have on news consumption. Yahoo allowed comments for news articles until December 19, 2006, when commentary was disabled. Comments were re-enabled on March 2, 2010. By 2011, Yahoo had expanded its focus to include original content, as part of its plans to become a major media organization. Veteran journalists (including Walter Shapiro and Virginia Heffernan) were hired, while the website had a correspondent in the White House press corps for the first time in February 2012 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxian 3
is a 3D rail shooter video game developed and published by Namco. It was originally a theme park attraction designed for the Expo '90, International Garden and Greenery Exposition (Expo '90) in Japan, and was later released as an arcade game in 1992. The game involves players controlling a starship named the Dragoon in its mission to destroy Cannon Seed, a superweapon set to destroy what is left of the human race. An entry in the ''List of Galaxian video games, Galaxian'' series, ''Galaxian3'' was conceived following Namco's success with motion-based arcade games in the late-1980s, such as ''Final Lap'' and ''Metal Hawk''. The attraction version, housed in a massive circular room and supporting 28 players, was designed by company engineer Shigeki Toyama. He was tasked with making the biggest video game possible to prevent other companies from copying it, in addition to creating a game that showed off Namco's 3D technology. The attraction was moved to Namco's Wonder Eggs theme park ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wonder Eggs
was an amusement park located in the Niko Tamagawa Park in Tokyo, Japan. The park was constructed by Namco on February 29, 1992, and is the first amusement park operated by a video game company. The park was renovated in 1996 as Wonder Eggs 2 and later in 1999 as Wonder Eggs 3. The park was closed permanently on December 31, 2000 and demolished a year later. The park featured a large carousal, several dark rides, and game centers with a comical theme, as well as a special version of the arcade game ''Galaxian 3'' that seated 28 players. The Wonder Eggs was built off of leased land and intended to last for five years, however, the park's popularity allowed Namco to continue operating it for many more years. Namco created the park out of its interest in designing a Disneyland-inspired theme park that featured the same kind of stories and characters present in its games. Wonder Eggs saw regularly high attendance numbers; 500,000 visitors attended in its first few months of operation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division for the development of both arcade games and home video games, Sega Games, has existed in its current state since 2020; from 2015 to that point, the two had made up separate entities known as Sega Games and Sega Interactive Co., Ltd. Sega is a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings. From 1983 until 2001, Sega also developed List of Sega video game consoles, video game consoles. Sega was founded by American businessmen Martin Bromley and Richard Stewart as on June 3, 1960; shortly after, the company acquired the assets of its predecessor, History of Sega, Service Games of Japan. Five years later, the company became known as Sega Enterprises, Ltd., after acquiring Rosen Enterprises, an importer of Arcade game, coin-oper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taito
is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It began production of video games in 1973. In 2005, Taito was purchased by Square Enix, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary by 2006. Taito is recognized as an important industry influencer in the early days of video games, producing a number of hit arcade games such as ''Speed Race'' (1974), ''Western Gun'' (1975), ''Space Invaders'' (1978), ''Bubble Bobble'' (1986) and ''Arkanoid'' (1986). Alongside Capcom, Konami, Namco and Sega, it is one of the most prominent video game companies from Japan and the first that exported its games into other countries. Several of its games have since been recognized as important and revolutionary for the industry - ''Space Invaders'' in particular was a major contributor to the growth of video games in the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namco Wonderpark London
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, and Shanghai Namco in mainland China. Namco was founded by Masaya Nakamura on June 1, 1955, as beginning as an operator of coin-operated amusement rides. After reorganizing to Nakamura Seisakusho Co., Ltd. in 1959, a partnership with Walt Disney Productions provided the company with the resources to expand its operations. In the 1960s, it manufactured electro-mechanical arcade games such as the 1965 hit ''Periscope''. It entered the video game industry after acquiring the struggling Japanese division of Atari in 1974, distributing games such as '' Breakout'' in Japan. The company renamed itself Namco in 1977 and published '' Gee Bee'', its first original video game, a year later. Among Namco's first major hits was the fixed shooter '' Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage Gateshead, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and has on its outskirts the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture. Historic counties of England, Historically part of County Durham, under the Local Government Act 1888 the town was made a county borough, meaning it was administered independently of the county council. Since 1974, the town has been administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead within Tyne and Wear. In the 2011 Census, town had a population 120,046 while the wider borough had 200,214. Toponymy Gateshead is first mentioned in Latin translation in Bede, Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' as ''ad caput caprae'' ("at the goat's head"). This interpretation is consis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MetroCentre (shopping Centre)
Metrocentre is a shopping centre and entertainment complex in the Dunston, Tyne and Wear, Dunston area of Gateshead. It is located on the former site of Dunston Power Station, near to the River Tyne. Metrocentre opened in stages, with the first phase opening on 28 April 1986, and the official opening being held on 14 October that year. It has more than 300 shops occupying over of retail floor space, making it the second-largest shopping centre in the UK, behind Westfield London. Additional retail space can be found in the adjoining Metro Retail Park and MetrOasis. History Metrocentre's construction was financed by the Church Commissioners, Church Commissioners of England, and was masterminded by John Hall (businessman), Sir John Hall's company, Cameron Hall Developments. The ground upon which it is built was purchased for £100,000 in the early 1970s. Access to the development was facilitated by an urban development grant from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_OSM_map.png "Click for more on -> Soho")
