ARCADE 2020 – Play BIG!
With a new focus on mental health and wellbeing and gaming, we lit up the town with giant, building-sized video projections of much loved new, classic and retro video games.
Thousands attended the free fun across Dumfries town centre during our 3-day festival from 30th January to 1st February.
Some of the action was also captured by BBC News Online.
2020 Programme
DIGITAL SQUARE
Why do we game? Does gaming help or hinder wellbeing? We wanted to know! We presented our 2020 audience survey live as a colourful, animated, interactive artwork across The Stove facade. Read about the survey results and how we made DIGITAL SQUARE.
HEADSPACE
Battlestations brought their mobile gaming hang-out to Queensberry Square. We packed it out with top chillout and VR relaxation titles and projected live gameplay onto the historic Trades Hall (thanks Santander). Support in Mind Scotland’s ‘C U Thru’ project staff were on hand for informal blethers with parents and young people about mental health and wellbeing.
AVATAR II
Artist Jo Hodges and her crack team of makeup and costume artists returned for second year to transform people into their very own game avatars. A wee bit of tech wizardry, and morphing before-and-after video clips flashed up as pop-up projections on buildings around the High Street.
THE STREAM
Our second, 48-hour game-a-thon featured wellbeing-themed ‘sofa chats’ with invited guests including politicians, staff from C U Thru and top local gamers - streamed live online from The Oven.
GAMESTANES
Music, dance and sports antics with Dance Central, Guitar Hero and Wii Sports beneath the central Plainstanes canopy.
GAME BUS
Family-friendly, animation-based games aboard a classic, red double-decker bus in Fountain Square, with live gameplay projected onto River Island and Clydesdale Bank.
RETRO ALLEY
Arcade classics from the 80’s presented on proper old-style tellies.
D-LUX BEYOND
Far-out puzzlers, VR and space games in The Stove café, with a special ‘Portal’ installation by local young artist and propmaker Thomas Logan.
MEGA JOY
Classic space-shooter action projected onto Starbucks gable end, controlled via a giant joystick.