Retro gaming paradise to open in Burnley

Grayco Entertainment Gaming Centre will open in Yorkshire Street on December 7th complete with four rooms of classic consoles and thousands of games, courtesy of Burnley gaming ethusiast Damien Ellison.

The new business represents a labour of love for gamer Damien - as well as an opportunity to create some space in his home by transferring his 8,000 games from the last three decades into the centre for the public to use.

Fans of classic games from the late 80s to now can book rooms at the centre and play favourites such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot on consoles such as PlayStations, X-Boxes, Nintendos and Segas.

Damien (31) said: "I have always loved gaming but I was starting to run out of space at home! I completed a business and management degree at Burnley College and applied for a job at the start of the year but didn't get it. Thankfully, this pushed me on to set up this centre and now I can't wait to open.

"We were due to open in March but then the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns has kept pushing us back. It's an exciting chance to do something I love, which I'm sure a lot of people in Burnley will also love."

The cost to book a room will be £6 per person per hour with discounts for longer sessions. Damien is also planning to install arcade machines and sell hot drinks and snacks.

He added: "Fans of classic consoles will be able to find everything they want here. We have everything from Nintendo 64, Atari, GameCube, Sega Saturn, Megadrive and Genesis, plus various PlayStations and X-Boxes.

"I've been working with Burnley College to get the word out to students because I think they will be our main target market but I'm sure there will be lots of others interested too."