AD, Gifted| A few week’s ago Aaron and I were invited to the Bristol Gaming Market*, held in Bristol City Centre. The market is in its 2nd year and saw over 2000 attendees last year, so as lovers of all things gaming, we jumped at the opportunity.
Location
The Bristol Gaming Market is ideally located at The Passenger Shed, which is right on the doorstep of Bristol Temple Meads train station, making
it ideal for those using public transport. Although, as we are only an hour away by car we opted to drive, and parked near Brisol Aquarium (about a 15 minute walk away).
Address: The Passenger Shed, Station Approach, Bristol BS1 6QH
Google Maps
It took us a few attempts to find The Passenger Shed (having never been there before), and I think the market could have done with better signposting. If only for those that aren’t too familiar with the area.
What to expect at the Bristol Gaming Market
Once inside we were greeted by the two sales staff who scanned our tickets and gave us a hand stamp. The hand stamp entitled you to re-entry throughout the day, which was ideal when
we ran out of cash(!) and needed to use the cash machine within the train station. Another reason The Passenger Shed was a great location for the event.
Inside the market were tables and tables of gaming related items including retro games, computers,
consoles, handhelds, artwork, apparel, import games, arcade machines, merchandise (like these controller holders), and so much more. It really was a gamers parasdise.
Tickets* to the gaming market this year were a bargain at just £2 for 12pm entry, or £5 for early bird at 11am. If you’re thinking of bringing children, under 16s can enter for free when accompanied by a paying adult. So it has the makings of the perfect day out in Bristol City Centre. Of course the majority of the attendees were male but we also saw mamy families there, along with solo females, which was great to see.
While walking around the stalls we were hit with a wave of nostalgia as we stumbled upon games we played when we were younger, like Altered Beast for the Sega Mega Drive, Pokémon Yellow for the Gameboy, and even the Buffy game for the Xbox.
Adding to our collection
Aaron had his heart set on a new retro console and ultimately decided on the N64. This was after I mentioned how much I loved my Pikachu one when I was little – long story short my sister sold it for 50p at a car boot sale when we were kids!
Luckily for us there were plenty to choose from ranging between £45 to £100, depending on the amount of memory and whether they came boxed or not. Although we didn’t find a Pikachu one we did manage to snap up a grey one and a couple of controllers for £40(!), after a bit of haggling.
I can’t wait to dig out my old N64 games and play Pokémon Snap! again. 💗
Have you ever been to a gaming market? What’s your favourite video game or console? Let me know in the comments.
11 Comments
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[…] stalls upon stalls of collectable even more so. From vintage Star Wars to fantasy model kits, to retro video games and, the highlight for me, Buffy collectables! I came away with a large selection of Buffy the […]
Jaya Avendel
October 13, 2019 at 22:06
How happy I was when a game shop opened in our little town. Seeing this is like the game shop tenfold! What a collection of games. 🙂
Amie Cadwallader
October 13, 2019 at 17:31
Oh my gosh this looks amazing, and my husband and would love this!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
All things liv
October 13, 2019 at 14:30
Wow this sounds like my kinda place! Got a great Buy for that N64, would love to seen all the old Pokemon games
Jack
October 13, 2019 at 13:22
This looks like a geeks heaven! I’d love to find a N64 again!
Marie
October 13, 2019 at 13:05
Looks like fun!
Caz / InvisiblyMe
October 12, 2019 at 09:45
Oooo this is so awesome! I had no idea Bristol even had a Gaming Market, will have to keep an eye out in future. Very cool finds! xx
Anna Nicholson
October 11, 2019 at 15:46
This sounds like a great experience! It’s sometimes hard to find things to go with old gaming consoles, so that would be great! I can also totally understand your feeling of nostalgia when you saw games from your childhood. Glad you guys had fun!
Britt
October 11, 2019 at 15:18
Oh wow, I’ve never been to a gaming market myself because I don’t really get into the gaming but this would be an amazing opportunity to pick stuff up for those in my life that do! There seems to be an incredible availability there!