$4 million video game cultural center to be built in Nottingham

A £2.5 million ($4.0 million) video game gallery and exhibition will be built in Nottingham, UK, providing what the organisers are calling the world's first cultural center for video games. The National Videogame Arcade, due to open in March 2015, will feature more than 12,000 displays over five floors, reports the Nottingham Post, and will include a gallery, exhibition space, and education facilities for kids. The Arcade, as envisioned by the organisers of the GameCity festival, will also provide research and learning facilities for those people looking to make it in the creative industries. The funding for the space is being provided by Nottingham Trent University, Confetti, Nottingham City Council and the Nottingham Technology Grant Fund, with additional help from the Science Museum in London. Nottingham City Council hopes that the opening of the National Videogame Arcade will help the city grow as a notable digital business sector. "Digital design and games development are growing industries for the city," said Nottingham councillor Nick McDonald. "A network of entrepreneurial tech start-ups based around the Creative Quarter and linked through events and business connections makes the city a hotbed of activity in the digital sector, and the decision to locate the National Videogame Arcade in the city cements the importance of this creative ecosystem."