Help! Game room ideas?

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Retro STrife
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Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Retro STrife » January 29th, 2017, 1:16 pm

Here's a progress update. I appreciate all the ideas you guys gave me. Being about half-done with the room, I've used many of them and also came up with some that popped in my head. No matter what the original vision, there is definitely a lot of adjustments that happen along the way. Having a blank canvass to start has definitely helped me stay organized. I can imagine it's much harder for gamers who slowly fill a room over time as they collect. Anyway, while making my version of an ideal room, I also want to try to give back with some tips I learn along the way. I figured I'd give an early preview by starting with my shelf of portable systems. The rest of the room is still unfinished, but I'm comfortable with where this shelf is at at the moment. Here's some pics, and below these I explain some details and tips:

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(Ignore the Odyssey at the top, as that is just sitting there temporarily until I finds its permanent home elsewhere in the room.) The top shelf is larger/older portable systems (Microvision, Lynx, and Game Gear), with Microvision games creating a nice retro "wallpaper" along the back. The second shelf is all Nintendo portables (GB, GB Pocket, GB Color, GB Advance, Advance SP, Pokemon mini, DS, 3DS, an e-Reader, and Virtual Boy). (On this shelf, I don't really like the open space above the systems, so if anyone has ideas for that, let me know!) The third shelf is more miscellaneous portables (Tiger R-Zone, Game.com, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Tapwave Zone, Nokia N-Gage, Gizmondo, Wonder Swan Color, and Sony PSP). The fourth shelf is a selection of my loose portable games, mostly Game Gear, but also Game Boy, NGPC, R-Zone, etc. I put most of my other handheld games on another shelf in the gameroom, because they were mostly complete games and so display better on a media shelf (like DS, PSP, N-Gage, Wonderswan, etc.) The fifth shelf is portable toys, like a Tiger handheld, Tomytronic 3D, and some plug-and-play type games. The bottom shelf is home to my Vectrex (maybe not truly "portable", but due to it's weight I prefer it here where it won't topple over, rather than elsewhere in the room) and a few storage bags for systems. I'm open to throwing those bags in a closet if I acquire new items worth displaying there.

Ok, so here's some tips on what I did, in case anyone would like to use any of these ideas. So first off, I decided that I wanted to display my portables on a bookshelf. That allows the space and depth to display many systems, without having to construct my own shelving. I wanted a sturdy bookshelf with adjustable shelves and at least 6 shelves to maximize space. By far, the hardest part was finding one with 6 shelves that didn't cost a fortune. Trust me, I get almost everything on Amazon, but a 6-shelf bookcase was nowhere to be found there or anywhere else online. Nor Craigslist. I ended up driving an hour to IKEA, and got the Hemnes bookcase for $149. For less cost, IKEA also has the Billy bookcase for $80, which is a similar size and color, but I preferred the look of the Hemnes. Shipping to home from IKEA was like $150 itself, so forget that. But here's a link for the one I picked up:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80245640/


For displaying handheld systems, check out Rose Colored Gaming. Great site. They sell stands for many of the mainstream handheld systems, especially Nintendo systems. The stands are pretty cheap at about $7 each, although they add up quick if you get a bunch. I used their stands for any systems that they make them for. Here's their link:

http://www.rosecoloredgaming.com/


For systems not covered there (and for more cost-minded ppl), I highly recommend Gibson Holders. Check them out on Amazon. They make display holders for things like dishware, and even small ones specifically for electronics. When buying, I was stuck deciding which size to get. But now, trust me, the small version works great for nearly everything... everything from my N-Gage to my Lynx fits on the small displays. I also bought a couple mediums and a large, so I used the mediums for my Game Gears and a large for the Microvision. My only issue with these is that the stand is too visible for smaller systems like the N-Gage. But anyway, here's the link for a 12-pack of the small stands:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NEDHM6A


Next up, it's time to display the loose handheld cartridge games. First off, I really like these 3-tiered shelves by InterDesign, which I bought two of and used them for Game Gear games... it fits 3 rows of carts across and 3 down.. and the two shelves are holding over 50 games there, with room for much more. These plastic shelves are intended for the kitchen or jewelry, but I've repurposed them for gaming. Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BRU8R0


For the other loose handheld cartridges, I highly recommend US Acrylic holders on Amazon. InterDesign also makes some. Again, these are not made for games, but they work perfect. The trays are 3" wide, which is perfect for most handheld carts. They come in various lengths (3", 6", 9", or 12") depending on how many games you want in them. In my photo, I have GB games in a 9" tray, NGPC games in 6" trays, and GB Advance in a 3" tray. I'd avoid 12" trays as I think your games get more unwieldy at that point.. just go with two 6" trays for that many games. InterDesign also does a 3"x3" tray, which is just slightly spacier and slightly nicer looking. I used those for my R-Zone carts, because it fit one extra cart. (Side tip: These trays also work great for certain loose console games--I use them to display my loose TurboGrafx cards on one of my media shelves.) Here's some links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D06SIP4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D06SK6G

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BKODXMG

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WSO18SE



That's everything. Thanks again everyone for the help. Any questions or any thoughts on improving this display are more than welcome. And if you buy any of these Amazon items, I recommend using the VGC's Amazon links to support the site!

GTS
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Joined: January 29th, 2017, 2:43 pm

Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby GTS » January 29th, 2017, 2:55 pm

Here's how I did my room, though I had a larger room to work with. I broke with a lot of the norms of game room building.

https://youtu.be/Z84_aP_5ChM

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Retro STrife
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Retro STrife » January 29th, 2017, 4:43 pm

GTS wrote:Here's how I did my room, though I had a larger room to work with. I broke with a lot of the norms of game room building.

https://youtu.be/Z84_aP_5ChM



This is excellent...maybe my favorite gaming set-up that I've seen. Definitely way too complicated for me, but it's amazing that you pulled that off. And I'm a system collector over a game collector, so I like the focus on systems in your room. Personally, I plan to have all my systems readily accessible on wall shelves, with several hooked to the TV, and I'll just have to rotate out as needed.

Like you, I've viewed tons of photos of game set-ups on the internet, and never found one that worked well for me. So I'm taking a few ideas, but most of it involves a consideration of what I have and finding the best way to maximize my space, while still looking uncluttered and remaining functional. It's involved a lot of Amazon browsing, and looking at stores like Home Depot and IKEA, just to get ideas of what items I can repurpose for gaming. When I look at other gamerooms, a few issues that I commonly see that I'm hoping to avoid are excessive clutter, a lack of flow or reason to the room setup, and a lack of functionality. As an example, here's a photo of a gameroom that people drool over on the internet: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/56 ... 5c45fb.jpg. Looks great, but all I see there are endless problems with functionality and expandability. In fact, I'm against cube storage for that very reason, but it seems to be all the rage in most gamerooms today. I'm not saying my room will be better than that one..but it will be better for me personally. And with your room, I like that you're setup avoids all of those issues, while still looking good.

And thanks for joining the boards...glad this topic prompted it.

GTS
Posts: 232
Joined: January 29th, 2017, 2:43 pm

Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby GTS » February 5th, 2017, 9:47 pm

Retro STrife wrote:
GTS wrote:Here's how I did my room, though I had a larger room to work with. I broke with a lot of the norms of game room building.

https://youtu.be/Z84_aP_5ChM
And thanks for joining the boards...glad this topic prompted it.


I've been a member of the boards here before, but lost my sign-on info. I was called Orion. I'm a veteran of this site, though I don't have the heart for it as much anymore. The Critic is too against online play. As someone who plays some modern FPS's, I can say that the online multiplayer has 10 times the enjoyment of the single player modes.

Getting back on topic, I have also seen that room that you linked to. It looks great, but I can't imagine trying to play anything on it. Maybe by now he has changed it.

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pacman000
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby pacman000 » February 6th, 2017, 2:15 pm

Very nice. If you made little tags with the history of each system this could be a museum display.

The Pokemon Mini's larger than I expected.

I would suggest getting more in-box GameBoy games & using those for a backdrop on the Nintendo shelf. Maybe put the VirtualBoy on it's stand, if it'll fit.

Herschie
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Herschie » November 28th, 2018, 7:42 pm

Got the perfect stoner game room:

https://youtu.be/JlSnUFEnFHY

What you can't see:
Playstations 2, 3 and 4, which means I also have 1.
NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii U, and Switch.
Original Xbox and Xbox 360. I have absolutely zero need for Xbox One.
Sega Master System, Genesis and Dreamcast.
Atari 2600.
Colecovision.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Retro STrife » November 28th, 2018, 9:32 pm

Herschie wrote:Got the perfect stoner game room:

https://youtu.be/JlSnUFEnFHY

What you can't see:
Playstations 2, 3 and 4, which means I also have 1.
NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii U, and Switch.
Original Xbox and Xbox 360. I have absolutely zero need for Xbox One.
Sega Master System, Genesis and Dreamcast.
Atari 2600.
Colecovision.


Nice room! Can't really see any of the gaming stuff, but I dig the Christmas and sports vibe anyway!

Since I started this thread about 2 years ago, and finished my game room over a year ago, hopefully I'll eventually take a video of it too and post it here. I came up with a lot of nifty ideas along the way, which I'd like to share for fellow gamers to use, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. My general setup: I have most of my consoles displayed on one wall right above my CRT HDTV (probably like 30 or 40 systems fit there), games on shelves all around the 3 other walls, a bookshelf filled with all my portables (like 20 or so handhelds I think), a bookshelf with most of my gaming books, a computer desk with my Apple IIe set up, and two nice chairs in the middle of the room for lounging and playing. Simple, cozy, practical. And despite all that, weirdly enough, my favorite part is the closet, which has the most intuitive storage system for cords, accessories, etc.

I still have a ton of overflow stuff that I'm storing in an extra bedroom...some of it will end up in the gameroom and some will end up in the basement. But I lost a lot of motivation to clean it all up once I was happy with how the game room looked. My wife is totally fine with the game room, but needless to say, she is not happy about all the overflow stuff in other rooms...

Herschie
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Herschie » January 5th, 2019, 4:53 pm

Swiffer makes these dusters that you can put on a stick. Believe me when I say that they are a godsend. It's easy to get over, under, and between everything. I can't possibly be the only one in a constant battle with dust in his game room.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Retro STrife » January 7th, 2019, 9:11 am

Herschie wrote:Swiffer makes these dusters that you can put on a stick. Believe me when I say that they are a godsend. It's easy to get over, under, and between everything. I can't possibly be the only one in a constant battle with dust in his game room.


I've been pretty lucky I guess. I haven't really had any dust issues in my game room, or my house in general. Not sure the reason. The room has hardwood floors rather than carpets, and pretty much all the shelving and furniture in it was new... not sure if that makes a difference, but I haven't had to do any dusting in there in the 2 years I've had it up and running.

But I also haven't been in there too often. I use the game room for retro gaming, and I use my living room for modern gaming on the big HDTV. And I use my PS4 more than any other system by far, so I mostly game in the living room. I only pop in my game room once in a while, if I want to try out an old game or to play a few rounds of Tecmo Super Bowl.

Herschie
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Re: Help! Game room ideas?

Postby Herschie » February 13th, 2019, 1:39 pm

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Many years ago, I was watching an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", the one where Ray tries to replace old jazz records of Frank's that he had ruined many years ago with newer CDs. The CDs, of course, had much better sound, could hold more music, and were easier to use. But Frank didn't like them. What Frank did like was when Robert bought him the actual records, complete with all the static and popping.

Nowadays, I really understand where Frank was coming from. I have a dedicated game room, complete with surround sound, 4K, a nice recliner. And yet, I liked this setup better. Hastily thrown together by storage in the basement. Teeny tiny CRT. No fancy-schmancy SCART cables, just good old-fashioned RF, just like we had as kids.

Because as kids, our parents threw our games into the attic or downstairs into the basement, or into a corner of a bedroom so that we wouldn't bother during the game or during General Hospital. We sat on the floor, though at 37, my back would have much against that.

Above all, we played on a CRT, and while the Framemeister gets an "A" for effort, nothing quite brings me back like a good old-fashioned CRT.


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