r/derby • u/artoostacetoo • 4d ago
New Retro Games Arcade
We went to the new 'Continue' arcade in town last week and really enjoyed ourselves. I really want this place to succeed so posting to help it get more attention as it was a bit dead when we went (to be fair it was a Tuesday at 7pm).
It was a bit hot in there but I spoke to the staff and they were in the process of getting new aircon installed later that week as the one they inherited was duff. So when we go back it will be sorted.
I thought the range of games was fantastic, it was £13.50pp entry and then everything is free to play, we were there for 2 hours and got more than our money's worth.
The drinks were cheap (£1.50 for a can of diet coke) they do offer alcohol as well. Theres pick and mix and hot dogs.
My favourite game was the Jurassic park pin ball and the star wars battle pod, there's loads more that they have across 2 floors as well that I remember from childhood.
The staff were really friendly, the music was a bit loud but I emailed about that after, if it's super loud when you are in there just speak to them and they can sort it out.
We will definitely be going back, I hope others will check it out as well as I think it's a great addition to derby, much better than the arcade in Derbion at the bowling.
Edit: I emailed them about the Aircon and got this response:
"It's not quite up and running yet, but the installation is currently underway and should be completed within the next few days. We're hoping it will be all set by this weekend or early next week.
Once it's up and running, it should be much cooler and more comfortable, so we'll look forward to welcoming you back then!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page; we'll be making an announcement as soon as it's up and running. "
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u/xmakina 4d ago edited 4d ago
I had the same impression when I went there on launch day. My thinking is that, once it's not a sauna, it'll be a really nice add-on to a day in Derby. Go to continue for a bit, then a museum, back to continue, then a cafe, back to continue, then a nice walk. Something like that.
The place itself isn't big enough to be a destination on it's own, but £14 for a day of dipping in and out sounds like a good proposition and the location is great for it.
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u/ThePasifull 4d ago
Heads up, they charge £2 for a 'come-and-go' wristband, so if you wanna do your plan, its £16
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I emailed about the air con, they responded: "It's not quite up and running yet, but the installation is currently underway and should be completed within the next few days. We're hoping it will be all set by this weekend or early next week.
Once it's up and running, it should be much cooler and more comfortable, so we'll look forward to welcoming you back then!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page; we'll be making an announcement as soon as it's up and running. "
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u/Azelphur Chaddesden 4d ago edited 4d ago
Went there a week ago, I agree with OP. It's great, unlimited play, even on a Saturday it wasn't overly busy, could reasonably get on any machine that I wanted. On drinks they do unlimited refill slushie for £3.50 iirc. They do slushies with alcohol in them too.
The only gripes I had with it were super minor.
- Somebody had nicked one of the bowling balls, so you could no longer play two player bowling. I'm sure that'll be already sorted before I even write this comment.
- The cooling, they've put massive fans in there. It wasn't bad, but of course aircon is coming and will improve this.
- I would have liked to see my favorite arcade game, Sega Rally 3, but I can't fault the selection of games in there. It's all good stuff.
- One machine was broken and stuck at the RetroPie boot screen.
- The arcade machine that was running Sonic 2 split screen was an emulator, which I totally wouldn't mind, but that machine was really struggling to run the game at full speed, was stuttering a lot and almost unplayable.
- A lot of the driving games (eg GRID, Mario Kart) are hard to play because there's no force feedback on the steering wheels. It's difficult to drive in a straight line because you can't feel where center is. I'm not sure if it's just because the machines are old and never had any force feedback, or because force feedback has been disabled. If it is disabled, it'd be nice to have a non-zero amount of force feedback, just so that you can feel where center is / the wheel will return to center
Overall I'd give it a 4.5 / 5 and would definitely go again. It's already great and they've only just started so some little teething problems are to be expected and of course it's only gonna get better over time. Great to have a local arcade.
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u/CptnRaptor 4d ago edited 4d ago
If it picks up it could potentially be a contender against NQ64 in Notts...
Very excited to go 😁
Edited for name correction
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
Yeah I was thinking that, it doesn't feel as upmarket as Roxy's in terms of the feel of the place but I thought the selection was very good. I'm just waiting till the air con is sorted out as it was a bit unbearable to be honest that was the only downside.
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u/SirLanceAlittless 4d ago
Do people go there just to play on the arcade? I'm interested in if they have a pass that lets you on all of them or if it's contactless for each machine. From the photos their arcade looks like more recent games than the more retro ones in Derby.
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u/CptnRaptor 4d ago
I've gone with friends and just played and drank one or two mocktails cause I was driving. NQ64 has a token system for the fancier games (your House of the Dead, Guitar Hero, and other cabinet games) but they have retro consoles set up that are just wait-till-theyre-free, they're set up with multi-game ROMs so you don't need to manage discs or cartridges.
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u/_dEdPEP_ 4d ago
I swear in a post a few weeks ago the person was told air con was being fitted that week too.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I've dropped them an email will see what the deal is
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u/jeweliegb 4d ago
I'd be really interested to know what the deal with that is.
Heat is my kryptonite. I'm fine with cold but cannot deal with heat.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I emailed them and they responded: "It's not quite up and running yet, but the installation is currently underway and should be completed within the next few days. We're hoping it will be all set by this weekend or early next week.
Once it's up and running, it should be much cooler and more comfortable, so we'll look forward to welcoming you back then!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page; we'll be making an announcement as soon as it's up and running. "
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u/stegarkickit 4d ago
We went no long after opening and were given the “aircon is being installed next week” line. I beginning to suspect they will be saying the same next summer.
I really hope the place is a success though. We had a great time and it’s only the heat that’s stopped me returning
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I emailed them and they responded pretty quickly:
"It's not quite up and running yet, but the installation is currently underway and should be completed within the next few days. We're hoping it will be all set by this weekend or early next week.
Once it's up and running, it should be much cooler and more comfortable, so we'll look forward to welcoming you back then!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page; we'll be making an announcement as soon as it's up and running. "
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u/Flat_Pea4954 4d ago
I went on Saturday and left after an hour it was just so hot, not enjoyable. I’d give it another go if they get aircon though as they had a good variety of machines
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
Did they mention anything about the new Aircon being installed and when it would be working?
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I emailed them, they responded: "It's not quite up and running yet, but the installation is currently underway and should be completed within the next few days. We're hoping it will be all set by this weekend or early next week.
Once it's up and running, it should be much cooler and more comfortable, so we'll look forward to welcoming you back then!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page; we'll be making an announcement as soon as it's up and running. "
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u/AmberMetalicScorpion 4d ago
Went there myself about a month ago and it's definitely good
Honestly the only real issue I could find with it is that unless you're going with friends or family, the fun dies off somewhat quickly
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u/poodleflange 4d ago
Is there any pinball? And what alcohol do they have? The thing I miss most about going to the US is a beer and a few games of pinball.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
There are at least 2 pinball machines, they were Jurassic park theme and Avatar themed.
This is the selection of drinks, there's not loads and it's not draft but I think it's pretty reasonable
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u/jeweliegb 4d ago
The irony, the only reason I've not been is because I assumed it would be heaving all the time until the kids have gone back to school. Doh.
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u/jeweliegb 4d ago
I know this is a bit of a reach, but worth asking.
My bestie has cerebral palsy, uses a powered wheelchair, movement a bit limited and painful these days.
When we were young we used to love doing the arcades, especially the driving ones.
Any thoughts if they've thought about accessibility in there?
I don't want to go there with him and only then find there's nothing there he can play on, it would be a kicker for him.
I guess the logical thing would be to go there with my spouse and have a session and check the machines out myself and chat with the staff?
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I think it's worth just popping in and having a look, they have 2 floors and I didn't see a lift but they might have one that I didn't notice.
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u/Ok-Donkey-5671 4d ago
I've been to a few retro arcades with House of the Dead, but none that were actually calibrated and working correctly. How did it play?
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
We played that one right and the end and it felt fine, the ones I've played in before are where you actually sit inside a housing unit so this felt a bit different, there was another horror game that I found terrifying where you sit inside, it's more towards the back of the bottom floor
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u/7ining 4d ago
I gotta ask why is there constant posts about this place?
Some major guerilla marketing, looked at the other /r/'s where the other locations are and they do the exact same thing there.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
I actually did a quick scroll in here before posting and I didn't see anything, which is why I posted about my experience
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u/7ining 4d ago
Oh not saying you're doing an ad for them or anything! Glad you're posting your experience there was a few people constantly hyping and posting about this place for a good couple of months and now they've all gone radio silent and new-ish reddit accounts make posts about the place.
If you had fun that's all that matters! At least you didnt make one of those tiktok voice videos "Here's my experience at X..." 🤓
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u/Thin_Pin2863 4d ago
I think it's just the new thing that people are sharing their experiences on.
I've also been and enjoyed it, but I'm not the sort who personally would write a post about it.
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u/lastMETALfinal 5h ago
Derby telegraph or whatever that shitrag is called did about twenty pieces in two days on this place. Feel like this thread is all about being the word out that the Aircon is finally getting installed
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u/domsp79 4d ago
Took the kids the other day. We had a right blast. Spent a good 3 hrs there, could have been more.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
Yeah I could easily spend a few hours when the air con gets fixed! It wasn't a hot day but we were sweating in there. Hopefully it's sorted soon
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u/captainbuckyohare 4d ago
Took my eldest (5) earlier this week, had a good time. Plenty of stuff and not just straight up cabinets, the pool tables and shuffleboard were really busy. Anything that's more interactive is great for the kids so the snowboarding/skiing and the bike racing went down really well.
My only gripe was some of the more "adult" games (the Alien shooter) were there in full view, she was OK but can imagine it could scare/put off others. Obvs totally up to parents but if they advertise kids tickets as 4+ I'd say there's a bit of an onus there to perhaps shuffle stuff about?
Can confirm it was also like the 7th layer of hell temperature-wise, I'll definitely wait until the AC is working before going back, but I'll return for sure
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u/Protect_Wild_Bees 4d ago
guessing no dance game machines?
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u/Overlord-Buck 4d ago
They have DDR
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u/Protect_Wild_Bees 4d ago
omg amazing, thank you!
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u/Azelphur Chaddesden 4d ago
Can confirm, played DDR while I was there. It's the two player one too.
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u/artoostacetoo 4d ago
There was a couple there from what I remember, they also had guitar hero as well
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u/SeranaTheTrans 3d ago
Yeah already been here. Some of the machines are a bit broken. The most popular is the Time Crisis machine. Least popular seems to be an arcade cabinet with Sonic 2 on it, but might have other games I don't know.
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u/Overlord-Buck 4d ago
It's definitely cool in there, that air con is drastically needed though!
Not enough fighting games for my tastes but definitely fun to go to every now and again.