August 2009 Archives

Orbital Comics - Great Newport Street

By
Memetic Engineer
on August 22, 2009 11:42 AM |

Just off the Charing Cross Road, one block north of Leicester Square Tube station is Great Newport Street.

What used to be The Photographer's Gallery, is the new location of Orbital Comics, which has dozens of boxes of US Marvel and DC comics (and a few independents) in plastic storage bags for collectors.

The former art gallery extends quite far back from the main road, and is much more spacious than their old basement premises, in the now demolished block near Centre Point.

Orbital_Comics_Great_Newport_Street_450.jpg

8 Gt Newport Street
London WC2H 7JA
Tel: 0207 2400591

Orbital_Comics_map.gif

Latitude: N51:30:43 (51.511995)
Longitude: W0:07:40 (-0.127825)

London Gathering Hall for Monster Hunter players (Sony PSP WiFi games console) - a Temporary Autonomous Zone ?- now closed

By
Memetic Engineer
on August 21, 2009 8:31 PM |

Near to Foyles and Borders (closed in December 2009), opposite the junction of Charing Cross road with Denmark Street, is a curious, advertising campaign funded ,Temporary Autonomous Zone

Gathering_Hall_450.jpg
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite preview

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is Japan's most popular video game and with multiplayer games being played all over the streets of Japan, the game has even been described by some as a phenomenon. According to Capcom, in Japan this PSP game is bigger than Pokemon and Wii Fit!

Now Capcom, with the help of a very large advertising campaign hope to replicate that success in the UK

[...]

In London there are many places where you would not want to answer your mobile phone in public, let alone get your PSP our for a 20 minute gaming session. To kickstart online Gameplay in the UK, Capcom have setup a 'Gathering Hall', a kind of Monster Hunter drop in center where players can meet and play Monster Hunter together. They can also download exclusive quests, attend tutorial nights and maybe even meet some of the game's developers.

London Gathering Hall for Monster Hunter players

The Gathering Hall, open 7 days a week from the 3rd of July, is located in a three story building, just one minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station on Charing Cross Road. Entrance is free (and exclusive) to anyone with a PSP and a copy of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

Address:
121 Charing Cross Road
Westminster
London
WC2H 0EW

[...]

Google StreetView / Map

StreetMap.co.uk map:

Gathering_Hall_map.gif

Latitude: N51:30:54 (51.515038)
Longitude: W0:07:49 (-0.130337)


It is very strange to see half a dozen "gamers" (all male, not teenagers but 20 - 30 year olds) lounging in multi-coloured armchairs, playing this Sony PSP game over WiFi, for free on the Charing Cross Road.

Do all three floors get filled with people playing this game ?

This is not even a "cyber café" - no beverages seem to be on offer.

How long will this last ?

UPDATE 10th November 2009 - the premises now seem to have reverted to a "normal" shop:


Gathering_Hall_no_more_450.jpg

Centre Point

By
Memetic Engineer
on August 20, 2009 9:55 PM |

Centre Point is the 35 storey 325 foot high skyscraper office block, at the corner of Charing Cross Road, and New Oxford Street, which is the most easily visible landmark in the area.

For years after, Centre Point was was at the centre of controversy, as greedy property tycoon Harry Hyams intentionally kept it unoccupied as values soared against its potential rent yield.

It's construction cost in 1964 was £5.5 million whilst its estimated market value in 1973 was £20 million. Moreover, by keeping it empty it was not liable for rates!

Centre_Point_300.jpg

Centre_Point_map.gif

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:58 ( 51.516128 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:48 ( -0.129875 )

See also this semi-live BBC Jam cam traffic camera image (usually updated every few minutes, unless there is actually some interesting incident, when the feed is censored) from the Oxford Street / Centre Point camera, which usually points south, with the notorious "stinkie" subway corner visible in the top left..

UPDATE 20th August 2009 - everything from Andew Bordes Street to what was the Internet Lounge has been demolished as part of the new Tottenham Court Road Tube and Cross Rail station development..

Charing_Cross_Road_Orbital_Comics_and_Stinkie_subway_300.jpg

The subway on the corner, leads into the Tottenham Court Road Tube station, and is ok during the day time, but this whole corner of Andrew Bordes Street is somewhere to avoid if you are on your own at night, as the "Stinkies", crackheads, drunks , and other addicts, trend to gather, just as their ancestors did during the time of William Hogarth.

Update 20th August 2009: this whole block has now been demolished as part of the re-development of Tottenham Court Road Tube Station

Tottenham_Court_Road_Tube_Station_redevelopment_450.jpg


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