Big screen gaming: Super Effective Sunday

Mass retro gaming tournaments? On cinema screens? In Liverpool? Yes please...

Time was SevenStreets would pass a Saturday afternoon with a few friends, a plate of sandwiches and Street Fighter 2; Sonic Booming and Yoga Flaming the day away as young men are wont to do.

Over the years the games and consoles have changed but as a past-time it must rank as one of the great masculine pursuits. Well, alongside the obvious (we hasten to add that ladies have been known to enjoy both recreations, and good on ‘em).

What’s interesting, however, is that the current generation of people who grew up with gaming will be the first not to abandon a pursuit still viewed by some as childish when they get out of short trousers. Indeed, the idea of an 80-year-old man firing up the PS44 for a couple of hours on Grand Theft Hartlepool is a bizarre one.

Nevertheless, that’s where many of us will be in a few decade’s time. But we digress. We’re flagging up Super Effective Sundays, a new monthly event at the CUC that will lay down no less than a “gaming challenge of cinematic proportions”.

Consoles will including NES, SNES and Sega Master Systems amongst others while the game of choice for the tournament is a Mario Cart marathon.

“We started Super Effective Sundays as a way of allowing gamers, like me, a totally new gaming experience in an environment that is unique,” says Tom Lox, Organiser of Super Effective Sundays.

“The event attracts around 50 people now; bringing like-minded people together to socialise and have a laugh doing the hobby we love. And playing on a cinema screen with full Dolby surround sound is an amazing experience no one ever gets tired of.”

The event is sponsored by CALM, which aims to engage with young men feeling overwhelmed by life. We reckon it’s a smart move, as gaming has always been a comfort for young men and, increasingly, older men, though we’re sure the event is unisex.

When it’s matched to such a great event, we can’t fail to commend it to you. Red tortoises at the ready.

Super Effective Sunday
Contemporary Urban Centre
Sunday 28 August, 12pm-5pm
Free