Virgin Media Gamepad at The O2 might eventually be be a streamer’s paradise
If you’re a resident Londoner who enjoys gigging as well as gaming, Virgin Media’s dedicated streaming space may be worth a look.
Early last week – swiftly after checking out all the best indies at EGX 2023 – I was invited to come see what’s called the Virgin Media Gamepad, a newly opened three-tier hub located within the heart of the O2 Arena dedicated entirely to gaming. If you’ve not been to a concert there for a while or are completely oblivious to its existence, the good news is that you won’t struggle to find it. Just look for the bright red space that’s illuminated in the corner, perfectly adjacent to the arena’s entrance. Why does it exist? Well, that’s what I was curious to find out.
Simply put, the Virgin Media Gamepad at The O2 is Virgin Media’s physical attempt to prove to players that it should be your go-to choice for high-speed internet – and that it’s serious about all things gaming. Not that you’ll get an idea of how Virgin Media’s internet speeds will help the streaming quality and ping in your area while visiting, of course. Even still, by being free to visit seven days a week (2pm-8pm every Monday to Saturday, and every Sunday 11am-7pm) to the general public, the Virgin Media Gamepad is a cool place to meet up and play Xbox games with your friends.
Each level of the Virgin Media Gamepad is devoted to a different purpose. The lower floor is a more casual meet-up space with a giant screen perfect for local co-op games; I got to play a bit of Party Animals with other people to put it to the test, and the size of the screen definitely made throwing players off cliffs all the mote enjoyable. Then you have the top floor, decked out with 16 hands-on gaming stations where you can instantly jump on an Xbox Series X to see what Xbox Game Pass has to offer. Most interestingly for the professional or up-and-coming streamer, however, is the dedicated streaming area, The Stage, sandwiched in between.
Pass the pad
Complete with multiple monitors and multiple camera setup, I found the streaming room to be a little intimidating at first as a mainly single-player gamer myself. If you’re into streaming the likes of Call of Duty, Forza Motorsport and Fortnite to fans, though, I can see the appeal. The PC spec wasn’t fully known to me, but when you have the likes of the Outside Xbox crew regularly streaming there every week, I imagine it’s pretty good. Just be wary that, unlike the other two sections, The Stage requires you to pre-book as there’s just one PC available to use.
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Overall, I can see the appeal for a bunch of friends to meet up at the Virgin Media Gamepad after school, or even for an older group who maybe want to compete in a few tournaments before meeting up later at the pub. My major concern is just how popular it’ll be going forward. If you’re not local to Greenwich, for instance, travelling all that way to find that every gaming station is taken will likely be gutting. 16 pods sounds like a lot, but they can quickly fill up.
Then there’s the fact that the Virgin Media Gamepad is very Xbox and PC centric currently. That means it’s useless for anyone wanting to try out the latest PlayStation games like, say, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or Horizon: Forbidden West. Admittedly, such story-centric titles aren’t what you want to play in short bursts, but it does mean that a Gran Turismo 7 tournament is off the cards.
All that said, the amount of tech and resources Virgin Media has dedicated to a single gaming space in London (playable to the public for free) is still extremely impressive. If you’re a local and want somewhere safe to share in your passionate hobby, it’s absolutely well worth a visit. The streaming setup, meanwhile, is similarly striking but far less likely to be of use to the general or average gamer. The Virgin Media Gamepad isn’t the first gaming dedicated space set up in London, yet the appeal to pop your head in is undeniable.
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