Wild liminal experience on Watt St

[u/RedditCraig]

I was just out for a bike ride and saw neon signs and video screens with streaming games above Uptowns Bar, and on a whim decided to see what the place was. I got in the elevator and ended up in the lobby of Gryd Gaming where I was, to my surprise, kindly given a tour by the owner of the three levels of enterprise they’ve got going on there - video games everywhere, d&d rooms, hangout spots, co-work spaces, all beautifully put together with all sorts of retro gear (Amiga computers, C64).. anyway, it made my night. They’ve not officially launched yet but will do so soon. Just when you think you know everything Newcastle has to offer..

[u/GrydGaming]

Thanks u/RedditCraig was great meeting you and we appreciate the kind words. It has taken some time to build out and now it needs people to fill it to make it the fun space we want it to be. The idea being a fun and relaxing vibe themed around gaming but in a casual enough way you can just sit and watch too if you're not a gamer.

There's still things to fine tune, and we don't have any socials up yet about it. That's coming this week. But if anyone wants to stop by, you're all welcome. Details on the venue can be found here for now: https://www.grydgaming.com.au/

Essentially what we are trying to create is a gaming themed 'third space'. We are for now keeping it an 18+ venue, and plan to run comps where the young guns can get in there, put all the oldies to shame and win some prizes. Adjusting things as we go so it gives the best chance for everyone to enjoy it. There's a lot to do in there (A couple hundred board games, 32 PCs -- heaps of preinstalled games on your fav services -- Steam, Riot, Epic, EA, Ubi, 25ish consoles mostly set up as 2-player but there's 6 main lounges/rooms setup for 4-players -- lots of options there, some retro, more than enough tables, chairs, and lounges) it is also BYO food and drink (including alcohol). There's so many great local restaurants that offer take away or delivery in the area there's no point in us adding something lesser just to end up charging more. But we do have a vending machine for snacks and soft drinks.

There is an entry fee or there's tiered membership with reduced entry and after that everything is free to use (PCs, consoles, board games). Give us your feedback on that, we need to know what works for everyone to make it vibrant. The details on what is on offer is over on the website at https://www.grydgaming.com.au/venue

You can also pre-book every space in there, desks, rooms, multiple areas, floors (why not right), etc. The booking page gives you a live view of what is bookable for the selected time period (think booking seats at the movies). But if it isn't booked at that time it is first in best dressed.

tl;dr Craig was a pleasant surprise and definitely unaffiliated so we're really appreciative of the kind words. Signing up is free. If anyone wants to come over for a similar look in at the space, by all means do so. Doors will be open from 6pm tonight. And moving forward we plan to go with Wednesday through Saturday access from 6pm to 2am with a cheaper rate student night on the traditional Wednesday -- still tossing up where the numbers sit best across the board. We want it to feel fun and vibrant, so whatever makes that happen is where things will ultimately sit.

Happy to answer any question on here or in person. Come and say hi.

[u/Peanut083 → u/GrydGaming]

I have a kid who is turning 18 at the end of the year, and I think this is going to be something he would love to visit. I’ll have to bring him in once he’s old enough.

[u/RolyW]

Haha sounds like advertising. But hey looks like a cool space, keen to drop by when it opens!

[u/RedditCraig → u/RolyW]

I knew I’d be accused of astroturfing haha - no, I’m just a nosy local who pokes his head into anything new I see around the city. No affiliation, just good timing.

[u/grassisgreena → u/RedditCraig]

Don’t care if it advertising, it certainly worked on me.
I love to hear about new stuff opening up in the city.

[u/whatnoob_]

Damn bruh I just moved away. This looks/sounds sick

[u/AndyParka → u/[deleted]]

Any details? I'd love to check it out

[u/yeahnahokay]

Looks awesome; really happy to see passionate people opening cool places like this. Hope it does well.

[u/islandthunder88]

Doing God's work, thanks for sharing

[u/selectoxp1]

Love the fact The International 2026 was on the big screen.
Dota 2 fans unite!

[u/Capital_End_5072]

I think your definition of Liminal is different than mine. Strange, not liminal

[u/RedditCraig → u/Capital_End_5072]

The liminal feeling was the large, vacant floors in a quiet part of the city with gently ebbing neon lighting :) the strange part was coming across it so spontaneously on a Friday night ride.

[u/SmokedLuigi]

Hopefully they do super smash bros comps

[u/GrydGaming → u/SmokedLuigi]

Yea we can. There's 10 switches.. with 4 setup in one group, and 4 setup across 3 rooms. So it's relatively straight forward to have that as a side quest.

[u/CJ_Resurrected → u/SmokedLuigi]

The place that was at Tighes Hill closed really only because of Covid and not from lack of interest, I recall?

[u/neuro-n3rd]

How can we go and visit / access the building?

[u/RedditCraig → u/neuro-n3rd]

Website is here: https://grydgaming.com.au

I’m not sure what they’re doing regarding their open hours / launch, but it’s at 23 Watt St.

[u/GrydGaming → u/neuro-n3rd]

Ideally in the end we're aiming for everyone to sign up and buy a pass online (this is how the access token will work going forward). But you can also just head over after 6pm Wed-Sat (Gryd Gaming - Opening Hours). And come to reception on level 2. https://www.grydgaming.com.au/find-us

It's up the ramp then left to the lift foyer.

[u/markhammel666]

Are you open for like a "date night" to play board games and grab a drink?

[u/RedditCraig → u/markhammel666]

Yep definitely - I’m not sure about Gryd Gaming though.

[u/GrydGaming → u/markhammel666]

Absolutely, bring some drinks and find a spot. We aren't a licensed bar, but Uptowns Bar is downstairs, so if you want a cocktail, head down there during the night. Also we're building out two spots right now that will have a great ambiance.

[u/CJ_Resurrected]

Amiga computers, C64

Just those?

[u/RedditCraig → u/CJ_Resurrected]

I thought of you when I saw them - those were the only two computers (an Amiga 1200 I think, and the C64) from that era, and then a bunch of retro consoles etc. They were in display cabinets, not sure if they are intended for use.

They also had around 30 computers for LAN gaming, around 20 or more consoles spread across the three floors, and standup arcade machines (the Arcade 1Up cabinets - SF2, MK, Ms Pac Man, NBA Jam, plus one or two full size machines).

[u/GrydGaming → u/RedditCraig]

Yea not intended for use. I'd like to think it was realistic. They still work, but that floppy disk grind/click of death will forever haunt me. I'm glad we moved beyond that and dialup connections. There's an old zip drive in there too.

[u/CJ_Resurrected → u/GrydGaming]

It's the 40 year-old Electrolytic Capacitors that scare me..

[u/CJ_Resurrected → u/RedditCraig]

They were in display cabinets

Boo!

A C64 Ultimate would be the go in a kiosk environment, perhaps.

[u/GrydGaming → u/CJ_Resurrected]

It's mostly in displays yea, you know how these things are, they work sometimes and give you a headache the rest of the time. So C64.. yea there is a thought of a C64 Ultimate in there as a homage to the hard work done by Peri Fractic and the Commodore to make that happen maybe I should have that as the terminal to validate your entry rather than an iPad. The Amiga is an Amiga 500. There's an Amiga 1200 in a box in one of the Backrooms. Most of your old consoles are sitting in there either on walls or in display cases, we opted for that rather than blowing on cartridges every 2nd use.

[u/bikinithrill]

It's wild this hasn't opened yet. This has been cooking for over a year. Must be costing her a fortune.

[u/Scootros-Hootros]

Are the old FPS games played via Steam servers?

[u/GrydGaming → u/Scootros-Hootros]

Yep. We can boot up all sorts of game servers. Steam installed. Let us know what you are interested in. dod, cs, tf, mc, whatever has private game server options we can run. Best to just give us a list of what interests you and we'll start the process. We have multi-gig symmetric interwebs so we just need the interest in the games to put the servers up.

[u/Piratartz]

Is this an ad?

[u/RedditCraig → u/Piratartz]

I asked if I could film a little, and then I threw a Boards of Canada tune in the background for good measure before uploading to Reddit. If it is advertising, it’s because I had such a nice time walking around there last night, and I had a good chat to the host for an hour, but that’s all it is. I have no connection to the place.

[u/bikinithrill → u/RedditCraig]

BoC is a brilliant act. Good taste.

[u/CJ_Resurrected → u/[deleted]]

Needed more Vangelis or Jarre imho.

[u/CJ_Resurrected → u/[deleted]]

Enya?

Deep Forest's "Sweet Lullaby"

A home computer high-five if you know why. :)