It was hard to be a child in the 70's and 80's and not be excited by the pace at which computers, and in particular, video games were evolving. Video games sprung up everywhere but the video arcade, filled with bright lights and the noise of electronic beeps and the bashing of buttons, was the holy grail. It was where you'd excitedly spend every last cent of your pocket money trying to stop endless alien invasions.

The Arcade Project is the brainchild of John-Paul Pochin and Chris Mason who have a shared interest in pinball machines and retro arcade games. Together with a group of like minded people they hope to create an environment that encourages creativity, experimentation and to blur the boundaries between the fields of art, science and technology based on inspirations from their childhood.

The Arcade looks back to a time when computers and games were far simpler. In doing so we remind ourselves that simple can still be enormous fun and that often through limited resources comes innovative ideas.

The Arcade Project has so far spawned three main events in 2015, 2017 and 2026 (with some smaller events in between). The Arcade events are not static exhibitions, instead projects continue to develop throughout. This provides an opportunity to show how ideas evolve and that through collaboration we can go on new and interesting paths. By developing projects in the open, we show the problems that we face as we go on these journeys and we open ourselves up to the possibility of 'failure', an important and often overlooked part of the design process.

The Arcade Project receives no sponsorship or funding except through the volunteers who generously donate their time, money and resources to the project.

Our aims are:

• To foster the free sharing of knowledge.
• To show what can be achieved if we work together, not in competition.
• To inspire others through creative ideas (to be creators/thinkers, not just consumers).
• To blur the lines between art, science and technology.
• To ensure everything we do has a low impact on the environment (promoting reduce/reuse/repurpose/recycle and resilience through knowledge).
• To bring people together.
• To have fun.