we’ve made changes
The venue looks a little different these days… but maybe you can’t put your finger on it. You feel like you’re walking into a different zone, a different phase, yet, things feel familiar. There’s an extra zing, an extra tang… what is that? Why is it encompassing your very soul. Welcome to the Barcadia aesthetic. Allow me to run through the details with you…
Welcome to Barcadia, Norwich. Welcome to Popcorn…
You wander into Barcadia and grab some popcorn, you’re hungry, but you don’t know why; you ate 2 hours ago. You’ll come back to this popcorn often, mainly as you’ll need it on your quest.
You look around at the arcade machines, and make a mental note to play them later. One of them stands out.
You see it next to you…
That machine is F355 Challenge. You seem to recall it from a hazy dream some twenty years ago. You played it. It was fun. You recall feeling like you were racing an actual Ferrari; no doubt because F355 Challenge was supposed to be the most realistic driving simulator possible.
That’s great, but what’s going on over there?…
It’s a huge wall of 80s video games!
You look up and down, each cassette triggering a memory held dark in the recesses of your mind. Was this even your memory? Did you even own a ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64? Did people actually play these games? How??
A million questions race through your mind before something else catches your attention…
My word, it’s a projector, and it’s currently projecting something.
Red bricks? The windows icon? Grey floors? What is this place. Again it feels familiar, but you can’t quite place it.
A zing in your mind takes you back to your family’s Windows 95 computer. Sometimes, if left for a while, this exact thing would happen. A maze would appear!
A comforting sense of nostalgia drifts over you as you hazily make your way over to the bar…
Is this? Is this the actual TV from your childhood bedroom??
It can’t be… can it? But surely no one else owned a bright yellow television. No one definitely owned a bright yellow television showing a roaring fire.
Somehow, the flickering flames give you a sense of warmth that you’d long forgotten. This feels like home, it feels like peace…
A banana grabs your attention!
Why is it there?
Why is it shimmering?
Why is it glowing?
Have you had a banana today? You probably should have. Bananas are great, and they count as one of your five a day. They even have their own protective case.
You should find a banana.
But you don’t….
What you find is a vaporwave drape, by Mizucat, and it’s sitting right next to an arcade machine, Toobin’.
This name sounds familiar. Did you play it on an… Ami… Yes! An Amiga?
Good times fill your senses as you continue on. You hear voices in the distance.
What are these folks doing?
They seem to be placing various stickers onto the wall. Did someone give them permission for this? Can I place stickers on the wall too?
You cautiously step up and start peeling the backs off stickers. Doing that gives you a sense of freedom, a sense of youth, a sense of joy that you haven’t felt since you slapped a disgusting sticker on your mate’s locker at High School.
A shimmering blue drink focusses into your vision.
It takes a while, because it’s so bright, and because your eyes need a minute to focus, for some unknown reason.
You take a sip.
Immediately you feel like you’re drifting through the streets of Tokyo. You stagger backwards, concerned with what’s happening, but yet, you can’t resist another sip. Another. Soon you’ve finished the entire glass, and you’re feeling good about it.
You decide to wander around Barcadia, check out the new cocktail menu and see exactly what else is on offer…