Those of you who have been following Hookshot Media's network of sites for a few years will no doubt recall our periodic coverage of Leicester's Retro Computer Museum. It's a short drive from where we're based in the United Kingdom, and, over the years, we've been fortunate to strike up a friendly with its founder, Andy Spencer.
The RCM recently moved premises, and we decided the time was right to pay a visit – even more so when you consider that it was holding one of its "Awesome World Famous Legendary Gatherings."
The new building is located a stone's throw from the original premises (which RCM continues to inhabit; it's now used for storage) and benefits from more floor space. The bottom floor is home to all of the machines which are on display and in active use; these include home computers like the Atari ST, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, as well as consoles like the Vectrex, SNES, Xbox and N64.
Upstairs is RCM's library, which has floor-to-ceiling shelves full of games, books, magazines and much more besides. There was also a bar serving drinks and food during the course of the event, which kicked off at 10 AM and lasted until 8 PM. Also, as part of the new building is a fully functional recording studio in which founder Andy Spencer creates his own tunes (it's his music you can hear in the video above).
Right next door to the main building is another unit which is home to RCM's arcade machines and Virtuality units. Featured machines include OutRun 2, Street Fighter II, a Nintendo PlayChoice unit and X The Ball – Rare's first arcade machine (which was sadly non-functional during our visit, but might be in action again soon).
The four Virtuality machines were of particular interest because the early '90s VR pioneer was actually based in Leicester (an information board outside of the RCM details its history). Two stand-up and two sit-down pods were on display, and it was amusing to see young kids battle their way through crude 3D environments running at less than 15 FPS.
Everywhere you turn within RCM's new home, there is something of interest; a rare PSX unit sits atop a cabinet which contains Rare's Playboy handheld (and two super-rare GameCube development kits), while the wall next to this is filled with home computers, all signed by notable members of the British video game scene, including Simon Butler, the Oliver Twins and the late, great Oli Frey.
Furthermore, there was a genuine video game celebrity on hand in the shape of Jim Bagley, whose coding credits include the likes of Hudson Hawk, Midnight Resistance (Spectrum / Amstrad), Cabal (Spectrum / Amstrad), Doom (Saturn) and Super Dropzone (GBA / PS1).
If you're ever in the area, then the RCM is an essential visit. You can check out its location and opening times here.
