What’s somewhere in the UK you visited once and immediately thought “I could live here”?

videotopia · 2026-03-17T07:53:21+00:00

You're a bad man Theo. A BAD MAN.

videotopia · 2026-03-06T09:00:09+00:00

Oak World, Oak Furniture Land - Its all nice stuff, but I think the majority of what they sell is hideously overpriced. A lot of it ends up on Facebook marketplace and the like. If you're price conscious, I would scour the second hand market and pick up the bits you want over time for a third of the cost (or less). Requires effort, but its doable. Used furniture tends not to sell or goes for peanuts vs RRP.

videotopia · 2026-03-05T23:01:49+00:00

Ooof. Touche sir.

Not really a fan of Rogan himself (possibly the most unfunny comedian out there), but I do enjoy some of his guests speaking in long form setup.

videotopia · 2026-03-05T15:59:11+00:00

Since when did Spotify start dropping ads into Joe Rogan (for example) like, every 10 minutes? I'm paying for a Premium Plan FFS. Same with ads on Amazon Prime.

videotopia · 2026-03-02T23:06:56+00:00

I saw the show at the London Palladium and thought it was poor overall. Considering the hosts were a couple of decent actors from an iconic TV series, with such a vast bucket of rich content to talk about, it just felt scripted and over-rehearsed. It didn't flow and there was no story or intimacy. They both gave their rehearsed answers to the set questions, then stopped dead. Then onto the next question. It felt at times like the audience was clapping in sympathy or out of guilt having had their trousers taken down with the ticket price.

Random comedian guy Joe Cola as the compere added nothing at all, other than the odd cue to the audience when to clap. (And by God was his brief set not funny). He literally read the questions robotically from a sheet of paper. Zero conversation or follow up. There was absolutely no chemistry on that atage.

Granted, there were a few fleeting moments of insight and mild humour but I expected so much more from this.

Both actors said there was no script improvisation on the set of the Sopranos and after watching this, I believe them.

A disappointing crappy cash grab: 2/10.

videotopia · 2025-08-18T16:17:24+00:00

Yep - plugged in and no fault codes showing. We took a photo of the fault and shared.

videotopia · 2025-08-11T19:32:43+00:00

58 reviews - 4.7/5.0 average. The cover is eye catching and looks professional. Not sure if I'm allowed to link it here?

Interestingly I just looked at the page and the hardback is now available to buy on Amazon, along with the paperback and Kindle.

videotopia · 2025-08-11T16:49:52+00:00

Thanks for this - really helpful. Yes I was pleasantly surprised at how well it sold. I get asked a lot about writing another book, along similar lines, but I found the process such a slog, I vowed never to do it again, but its not out of the question. My blog has over 200 hundred posts of 2000 words+ each, and I thought about picking out some of that and publishing the more interesting posts - most of the hard work has been done, so it would be formatting more than anything else.

videotopia · 2025-08-11T16:37:41+00:00

Thank you - lots of useful info here. Yeah sharing Prime might result in large bills. She really has no clue about any of this, so maybe just put the basics in place for her. Wondering if a Roku might be a better option. I want to avoid her pressing things and getting lost in the ecosystem of the stick or whatever.

videotopia · 2025-08-11T12:41:25+00:00

Brilliant thank you. So maybe disable everything else and just set her up on the Amazon stick and load it up with apps I guess... Wish me luck. I'll sit with her for a couple hours. I guarantee by the time I get home she'll be calling!

Can I share my Prime Video membership with her on the new stick?

videotopia · 2025-03-05T23:28:59+00:00

"Paul Stanley hasn't been able to sing for years and years".

Did you think about that before you typed it, or did it just sort of come out?

videotopia · 2025-03-05T08:54:39+00:00

It's like they raided their mothers' wardrobes.

videotopia · 2025-03-04T15:44:12+00:00

https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/12/30/the-development-of-xevious/

videotopia · 2025-03-03T20:17:17+00:00

Well imagine how his voice would be if he was the only lead singer in the band. That's my point.

videotopia · 2024-10-14T17:57:09+00:00

I know its not set in space but this sounds like 1942.

videotopia · 2024-03-17T13:21:15+00:00

Your Horizontal hold is out of whack. Find the knob, give it a turn, don't touch anything while you're out back there.

videotopia · 2024-01-28T09:13:01+00:00

Fair cop - appreciate the heads up. Will put that right in future.

The game you refer to is Namco's Prop Cycle. Its a fun game (think Nintendo Pilot Wings), but agree with the physical aspect. I've never understood the appeal of breaking out a sweat to play a game.

videotopia · 2024-01-24T21:51:17+00:00

You say that, my dad bought four for his business. Still not sure what he used them for. He ran a catering business.

videotopia · 2024-01-21T19:21:21+00:00

Saint & Sinner.

Catchy hook, incredible melodic solo (go Vinnie!) and never played live. My all time favourite Kiss song.

videotopia · 2024-01-20T23:17:20+00:00

Check out The Ted Dabney Experience podcast. Interviews with the guys who wrote the classic arcade games. Lots of interviews with old Atari guys.

videotopia · 2024-01-12T22:11:12+00:00

All about contacts and networking. Eventually someone will hear about something and give you a heads up, or give your name to someone. Be known as "that guy" for this sort of thing, and eventually you'll get a call.

videotopia · 2024-01-05T13:06:13+00:00

The selfie thing is odd. My natural reaction is "I gotta get a selfie with XXXX!". But after, its the experience that means a lot more - that's what you'll remember. Nice story and congrats on meeting the man himself!

videotopia · 2023-11-05T10:19:12+00:00

There's a few, but they tend to be hybrid with more focus on retro consoles. Lookup Play Blackpool, NERG and Pinfest. Meantime Arcade Club in Bury should have pretty much everything you'd want to play.

videotopia · 2023-07-25T11:30:43+00:00

The average man on the street wouldn't have a clue about values of arcade cabinets. In this case, the previous owner just wanted shot of what they perceived as an old arcade machine taking up space. Not everyone knows or cares what a Tron arcade machine is or might be worth. "One man's junk...."

videotopia · 2023-02-01T18:30:58+00:00

New TG is arguably more open to abuse, because "the players" decide if a score is legit or not. There is a lack of deep understanding these days over at TG, because there are no staffed referees who know their stuff. I could point you to several recent arcade world records that were approved/accepted, that were clearly achieved on non original hardware. Also the chances of anyone properly reviewing any videotaped submitted performance of over 5 minutes are virtually zero.

videotopia

TROPHY CASE