If you live in the UK and also happen to be a retro gaming fan, you’d surely be happy to spend a night with friends at the NQ64 Arcade Bar.
Heck, you can even go hang out by yourself if you want. No reason you can’t just show up and make some new retro gaming friends!
There’s two main reasons why we are fans of NQ64:
It’s an awesome space for retro game fans who want a place to meet up with friends and have a laugh while playing some classic games.
And our friend Shaun Campbell, a prominent member of the retro game community, has been NQ64’s console management technician at most of their locations for a couple of years now.
Shaun Campbell
Surely you guys know Shaun, you just might know him by his superhero alias Did Somebody Say Retro?®.
Many of us in the retro scene embraced our passion for gaming during the pandemic, when everybody was forced to evaluate their place in the world. I am one of those pandemic gamer babies. No shame in it.
But to see that Shaun has been posting Game Boy mods, CRT/PVM gaming, and Pokemon cards way before then makes him a true O.G. and gives him some serious street credit.
I took a deep dive on his Instagram and he’s been modifying consoles since 2017. At least, that was his first post. And I actually don’t know how he was able to achieve that quality of mods way back then.
Clearly Shaun has a ton of experience and knowledge, so it is no surprise that he was the goto guy when NQ64 needed an expert with retro games.
In fact, he told me that it was a chance encounter with NQ64’s directors at his local NQ64 Arcade Bar that led to them bringing him onboard as their technician.
And besides having the know-how, he’s also just a really friendly guy, super stylish, and has a beard. So like… that makes him my brother, whether he wants to be or not. Lucky for me, he seems to be okay with that.
NQ64 Arcade Bar
So what is NQ64 Arcade Bar exactly? I think the name says most of it.
They have drinks, they have awesome murals on the walls, they have fun lighting, and of course… all of the best arcade and console games a retro fan could ask for.
NQ64 also happens to have locations all over the UK. So all of my English and Scottish brothers and sisters need to be paying them a visit soon!
There are currently locations in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Soho, Newcastle, and more. Nine in total.
And our guy Shaun has been busy helping NQ64 with two new locations in development.
I was recently speaking with Shaun, and he had to go because they were about to start a Mario Kart tournament. How cool is that?
It sounds like this is the place to be for retro gamers.
Conclusions
Sadly, we don’t have an NQ64 satellite location in my hometown of Chiang Mai, Thailand. But if you guys wanna open one, hit me up. I’d love to help.
I recommend that you guys go check out Shaun’s Instagram if you are not yet familiar with his work.
Besides what he is doing with NQ64, he also has some really incredible things he is working on, including his Woodboy project, which we will surely be covering soon.
I’m a big fan of Shaun and his work, and I can’t say enough good things about the guy. Show him some love.
Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion in retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.
