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Trocadero to close

Lord Camomile

Lord Camomile

Yipchaa!
Not sure how late I am to this news, given the imminent closing date.
Sad news guys. Another UK’s arcade scene landmark is going close, and this time for good! In fact London Trocadero (formerly Funland and SegaWorld) is set to permanently close on February 25. It’ll become a hotel (probably a Tokyo-like pods one), landlord announced recently.
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As others have said in the comments and on Facebook (where I caught this from), it's nowhere near what it used to be, but I'm a bit surprised it doesn't appear possible to revamp it as an entertainment centre, given its tourist-heavy location and relative lack of local arcade competition. Do people just play at home these days? I'm sure in Japan and the like public gaming arcades are still doing well?

Not sure quite how far this closure goes though - I presume the likes of Cineworld will still exist there? :confused:
 
Arcades were their most glorious in the 80's when you had track n fields, dragons lair etc , after they had evolved from space invaders, galaxixans etc. Plus the games were usually 10p a go , compared to home machines like the early atari they were amazing.

Now games cost a quid or so and people have better graphics on thier home pc/ consoles , its really not worth it.

It a shame, it was a part of my growing up that arcade, part of my own gaming history. But unfortunately its a thing of the past now and I can see why.
 
ruffneck23 said:
Now games cost a quid or so and people have better graphics on thier home pc/ consoles , its really not worth it.

It a shame, it was a part of my growing up that arcade, part of my own gaming history. But unfortunately its a thing of the past now and I can see why.
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Aye, I think in the most part this is true. Like I say though, aren't they still reasonably popular in Japan? And what about coastal arcades? When I came across my first one on a holiday in Mablethorpe it blew my young mind :eek: :oops: :D

There's the Namco Centre in County Hall near Waterloo/Westminster Bridge, but that's got a lot going on besides arcades.
Numbers said:
Trocadero is an utter shithole. Missus and I were in there in August last year and we're appalled/sad at the fact this was Central London, it was dirty, smelled, over-priced.

Our great city should be serving up much better than that.
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It should, really, but as above - is it viable to be serving stuff like that any more? Maybe I am being a bit rose-tinted, but surely there's a market for an 'entertainment' arcade/centre type thing?
 
I used to take my youngest brother there when he used to visit me in London. Not my thing but it was the most exciting place in the world to him :D
 
Never appealed to me, it was for kids and teens. Used to work right opposite it. It was a great place for shoplifters to hide from security guards
Horrible place though. Las Vegas for Tweens.
 
Considering how much fucking money such building in such location must be worth, I'm surprised it wasn't redeveloped decades ago tbh.
 
It's always been pretty rubbish and overpriced, even when I was of the age to aimlessly hang around central London playing arcade games and wasting time.
 
It was great when it was sega world with that huge escalator.

Then they made it funland or whatever but I think lots of upstairs was empty at this point as it was only the bottom two floors or so. Has the top few floors been empty the last decade?

I think for many years they just had short term leases probably paying not much while they waited for permission and funding to redevelop. It turned into a right dump! I would be interested to see how big the building actually is inside, it seemed like it was much bigger then what was open.
 
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Ah what a shame. Not unexpected sadly but still a shame. I used to DJ there at Planet Hollywood before it moved to Haymarket and have fond memories of going there in my teens. Sega World, arcades, candy shops, cinema that stayed open past midnight, laserquest...awesome :cool:

I've passed by on a few occasions recently and it look very shabby. Just a bunch of short lease tat shops. Losing Planet Hollywood in 2008 was a shame (they hiked the rents up extortionately so got told to fuck off and PH cleared off), it all went quite a bit downhill since. I'm just hoping they don't turn it into a mega exclusive hotel chain or something crap like that godawful M&M land on Leicester Square, so cheesy and american. I know the trocadero isn't anything to get excited about if you're an adult now but I have fond memories of the place.

I hope the Namco center is still going when I get back. Always a good place to play pool, watch footie, do a bit of ten pin bowling and get a pint. Not nearly as crowded with teens either.
 
Oh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Trocadero
A new plan for a 583-bedroom hotel including "pod rooms", apartments, shops and a rooftop bar was approved by Westminster City Council in August 2012.
...
The closing of the centre will make way for renovation and plans to build the hotel will be fully under way by Summer 2014.
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:(
Extra security will be on site to prevent dancers loitering, as before there were various problems such as noise pollution and chronic littering, devaluing the space.
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:eek: :D :facepalm: :rolleyes:
 
Boris Sprinkler said:
Is my mind playing tricks on me or did it have an alien tour. I think I went there with some mates and a few of them kicked the fuck out of one of the aliens
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Yeah I remember going on this way back when. Was great fun. The costumes and sound effects were spot on :)
 
salem said:
It was great when it was sega world with that huge escalator.

Then they made it funland or whatever but I think lots of upstairs was empty at this point as it was only the bottom two floors or so. Has the top few floors been empty the last decade?

I think for many years they just had short term leases probably paying not much while they waited for permission and funding to redevelop. It turned into a right dump! I would be interested to see how big the building actually is inside, it seemed like it was much bigger then what was open.
Click to expand...
The top few floors must have been empty. I can remember it being huge, a good three or four floors full of arcade games. Last time I went it was barely a floor.

I wonder what they have done with all the arcade machines?
 
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