Norwich Gaming Festival (2014)

Norwich Gaming Festival was the first Norwich Games Festival. It was a ten-day gaming festival that was held from April 7th, 2014 to April 16th, 2014, during the Easter holidays in the United Kingdom, where it was held, at The Forum. It was open from 10:00am-4:30pm every day it happened. It cost nothing to attend, and anyone was able to attend it. As with all Norwich Games Festivals after it, it featured the Indie Showcase, a showcase of indie games from around the world, the Retro Arcade, an assortment of retro consoles running retro games, and multi-game arcade cabinets, and talks, which always tie in with the topic the Norwich Games Festival is about. In this Norwich Gaming Festival only, there was also another showcase of games called the Made In East Anglia Showcase, which was a showcase of then-upcoming games made in East Anglia, the geographical area of England the festival was taking place in. Since Norwich Gaming Festival 2015, the Made In East Anglia Showcase has been merged into the Indie Showcase.

History
In 2010, Norwich Games Festival originated as Retro Arcade, an event that allowed young people and adults to play retro games on retro game consoles. It was started to give young people and adults something free, interactive and unique to do during the Easter holidays in the United Kingdom, where it was based. The event started out in The Fusion with a few consoles before later expanding to feature a couple of multi-game arcade cabinets and multimedia presentations using a multi-projector display and sound systems.

In 2014, Retro Arcade was replaced with Norwich Gaming Festival. However, the Retro Arcade component remained, remaining in The Fusion, where Retro Arcade started. Norwich Gaming Festival expanded the event to The Atrium, the entrance to the rebuilt Norwich central library, BBC studios, visitor centre, a couple of restaurants, and the underground car park.