Monday 7 October 2019

#Blogtober 7 - Halloween Bloggery - Alien War

Short one today, as I have a few other things going on, I just want to share something very cool I found on YouTube.  So this weekend, amongst other things, I had a good time at the Namco Station arcade in London; nice evening, I won enough tickets to get a stuffed Pac-Man ghost, but that got me thinking about the fact that there just aren't a lot of good arcades anymore.  I know why, rise of online multiplayer games and such, but it's still a shame, video arcades were great social venues.  One I used to go to a lot was the top of the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus, Funland.  As I'm writing this, I'm actually getting a bit nostalgic for a day when Street Fighter IV had just been launched; I remember the line for the arcade cabinets, the guys who had obviously already figured out all the combos and supermoves, and getting my arse handed to me first time I got on.  Good times, but it's not that exhibit at the Trocadero I want to talk about today.

No, what I want to talk about was something very cool, but was before my time; well OK, not before my time entirely, but certainly not something I knew of or had easy access to then.  Alien War was an immersive experience that ran from 1993 to 1996, and basically was a sort of Haunted House style experience in the universe of Alien.  Basically, you'd be on a "tour of a Weyland Yutani facility" where of course Xenomorphs pop-out and some marines would escort you to safety.  It looks like it would have been good fun, and the format of having someone else be the ones to actively interact with the guys in monster costumes probably avoided quite a few problems with, erm, unintended audience interaction some of these attractions have.  (Of course, the guys in costume would have a lot of foam rubber protecting them, but still.)  Sadly, it got closed due to a flood, never reopened, and the Trocadero as a whole is just a shell of what it was.  Still, I did find something cool; this very cheesy and neat promo video for the experience!  So enjoy; it's definitely a better watch than Alien Covenant at any rate...


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