Peter "Nostalgia Nerd" Leigh is one of the UK's best-known retro YouTubers, with a subscriber count of over half a million people. He's been making videos about all aspects of retro gaming and computer for over a decade, but has recently had to devote a lot of his energy on the Barcadia project, which closed down earlier this year.
Backed by a 2023 crowdfunding campaign which raised £27,781, the arcade bar was confirmed as closed for good in May, with Leigh concluding that "in its current format & setting, Barcadia unfortunately just wasn’t viable."
In a new video, entitled "I'm starting again", Leigh's admits that his video output has suffered in recent times:
"Last year, the lease for my previous office expired, and as I was putting all my money and time into other projects, I had no money, or time to find a new permanent filming and storage location. When you've got stresses and people coming at you from multiple directions, it's really easy to lose focus on what is important. You know, and you kinda lose your creative 'buzz' when you're bogged down in that. You kinda go into survival mode, and so, pfft, a lot of stuff has taken a back burner, when really, it shouldn't have, to be honest."
"It's been a while since I gave you a proper update about the channel, so here is the first of a few," says Leigh in the video's description. "For a good while, I was running in survival mode, and it's taken a while for me to get to a place (both physically and mentally) where I can refocus properly on the channel. This new studio and filming space should offer a good foundation to move things forward."
The video shows him unpacking all of his retro gear in the brand-new location, as well as showing off his new studio space. He explains that "this whole new place is a new starting point for Nostalgia Nerd because I really feel like we've disconnected the past few years," before adding:
I've been busy, the past couple of years especially, and time has not been spent well in some instances. I've had to reconnect with myself because I disconnected from myself. I lost myself. I was putting other people first. I was putting other things first. And that's not a good way to live your life for you or anyone around you, especially the ones close to you.
So I think that in reconnecting with myself, I now want to reconnect properly with you guys. And I've missed doing this. I've missed creating lots of content on the fly and making videos about the stuff I love, which is all this crap that surrounds me.
So I hope you've appreciated what this video is about, and I hope you enjoy what videos transpire going forward. And thank you for your support over the years. Thank you for your continued support and for watching this video. And I hope that this is going to be some fun times.