Power Up for a fun-filled gaming extravaganza

Are you ready for the Power Up gaming festival?

Retro gaming festival Power Up is set to return to Manchester with more consoles than ever before.

The two-week extravaganza will be at the Museum of Science and Industry from August 3.

Household names PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch sit alongside iconic retro consoles including the SNES, SEGA Dreamcast and the original educational computer, the BBC Micro.

There are also specialists areas for Pacman, Minecraft and – for the first time in Manchester – multiplayer online game Fortnite.

Visitors will be able to relive the 80s and 90s with classics including games from the Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog series, plus movie games such as Batman, Robocop vs Terminator, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring.

For those who love driving games, there’ll be Destruction Derby and Road Rash, or players can try their hand at the ever-popular Lego series, a host of football games and – of course – Pac-Man.

It’s not all about solo play – visitors can tackle multiplayer classics of the retro and modern era like Goldeneye, Mario Kart 8 and Minecraft; immerse themselves in the world of virtual reality; play on the latest big releases, or tackle some arcade classics on special bartop arcade machines like Metal Slug, Frogger and the Street Fighter series.

Visitors to Power UP can see for themselves how far gaming technology has advanced in the four decades since early games like Pong carved out their place in pop culture. Modern innovations like PlayStation VR will provide a glimpse into what the future may hold.

Evening-only sessions will take place on Friday, August 10 and Friday, August 17, giving the opportunity to play 18-only games including DOOM, Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto.

Ticket prices vary, visit: msimanchester.org.uk/powerup for more information.

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