Pittyful Attempt: New Game Room

[RubbarDucklin]

In case we havent gotten to meet yet, Im The Rubbar Ducklin. I just got into the collecting thing blah blah blah and I would like to start work on these coveted gamerooms that I have seen. My collection is pretty miniscule but I have enough systems to fill the bill I think. Atari 5200, NES (soon to come), SNES, Sega Genisis, N64 and PS2. The toom is about 14 by 16 feet and pretty messy. I would supply a picture but camera is on the fritz. Any suggestions for a statrting uo gameroom (btw, 2 Tvs. One for older systems, 1 for newer.)
HAppy Gaming,
The Rubbar Ducklin

[punkoffgirl]

I'm gonna move this over to the gaming forum, where you'll probably get more of the answers you're looking to recieve!

>>schlooooop<<

[digitalpress]

Cool. I love these game room projects!

Give us some details. Does the room have shelves? Drawers? Tables? How much surface area do you have and how flexible are you to adding furniture (like tables or shelf units) to the existing room?

[RubbarDucklin]

I tell ya what. Ill get pictures of the room in detail. Yeah the roommis gona be messy but all the better for improvment. Captions and such will be included. So let me get those pictures and we cam make this a group effort
Happy Gaming,
The Rubbar Ducklin
PS: My shelves are bare, games for sale? :P

[chadtower]

I have an area in my basement I'm going to turn into a gaming area... unfortunately, I have more work to do than shelves and furniture... I have to start with framing and electrical outlets! :-D

[RubbarDucklin]

I cleaned out the room more. I feel pretty useless trying to do this because i have pretty much NO games. Lets say, less than 30 for some consoles, less than 10 for others. Well, that will be changing because I am looking foreward to buying mass amounts of Sega, SNES and NES games. Lemme know :D. Also, digital cameras don;t like taking picutres. I HAVE TO DO 290823404832 THINGS TO GET IT TO TAKE A PICTURE. Lame. I'll try to get pictures up. in the mean time, if any one has alot of NES, SNES or sega games they need to unload, feel free to PM me :D we can discuss a price.

[chadtower]

That's not NO games, that's actually quite a few and probably way more than I have. I do work for Kodak in the consumer digital imaging division, though... want to list some of those billion steps? :D

[Sylentwulf]

Best bet is to take a look at the game room photo's, Basically anything I suggest is already done in my game room photo's listed on this site :)

[chadtower]

I'll take a look... I'm figuring that since I'm starting with a completely unfinished area I can probably do some really cool things... as I actually get started on it I'll solicit more ideas here. It may have to wait until after football season, which means it's not until next year.

[RubbarDucklin]

Step 1: Turn on camera
Step 2: Click Button
Step 3: Button wont work
Step 4: Go to menu mode
Step 5: Menu mode wont work
Step 6: Go to picture mode
Step 7: Click button
Step 8: Button not do anything
Step 9: look for other buttons
Step 10: Don;t find buttons
Step 11: Cry

[chadtower]

Looks like some serious operator error... :/

[digitalpress]

@RubberDuck: guess the camera's broken, but it's all good.

My first recommendation is to change your perception of a game room. You don't have a lot of games? That's PERFECT. It's a lot easier to fill in a room with a collection than it is to build a room AROUND a collection. Let it look empty - that will only increase your satisfaction as it fills in over time.

You didn't answer the questions about shelving, tables, etc. And now that someone mentioned it, what's the electrical situation in the room? And how about the lighting?

[RubbarDucklin]

Heres the furnitiure/lighting situation. There is a counter that runs allt he way through the room. I have shelves I can bring in that can hold about 200+ NES games each. ALOT of room for shelves/televisions/chairs. Lighting could be better. In the morning the sun peirces right thru the window and the window is behind the TVs. Fliurecent lighting on the roof. As for the electical situation. I have lots of outlets and lots of power strips (afraid of blowing a fuse in the middle of the night and the cursed doll getting me :xThe counter has lots of room for things. To the right of the TV's/counter/shelving area is my computer desk. To the left of the counter is parents computer desk. Opposite from the Counter is a closet and the door outa there :P. Leme know if you got suggestions. The closets i REALLY hope to find out some places to get some of the arcade machines you guys were talking about. A tear came to my eye when I got the idea. Let me know what kinds of places have them and what they go for.
Happy Gaming,
The Rubbar Rucklin
PS. parents dont use room alot, so its practially mine

[digitalpress]

Heres the furnitiure/lighting situation. There is a counter that runs allt he way through the room.

I have a counter-top across two sides of my room and I love it. I use it to show off the new stuff on the lower one and the higher one is perfect for gaming on - my Vectrex and some tabletop stuff are up there, for example.


I have shelves I can bring in that can hold about 200+ NES games each. ALOT of room for shelves/televisions/chairs.

Also excellent. You can never have too many shelves. Put a shelf everywhere you can - unless you plan on putting arcade machines in that room, in which case I'd leave one wall free for those in future.


Lighting could be better. In the morning the sun peirces right thru the window and the window is behind the TVs. Fliurecent lighting on the roof.

You don't really need light, in fact, I'd put a curtain on that window. The only time I ever have any kind of bright light in my game room is when I'm cleaning it up or when someone wants to get a good look at something. Otherwise it's a dimly lit room, monitors facing away from any possible light source (no glare) and all lighting is indirect (pointing up, down, or at least away from anyone in the room).


As for the electical situation. I have lots of outlets and lots of power strips (afraid of blowing a fuse in the middle of the night and the cursed doll getting me :x

Dude, you're in good shape all around! Just make sure you've got surge protectors to ... well... PROTECT you. And your stuff. Mainly your stuff.


The counter has lots of room for things. To the right of the TV's/counter/shelving area is my computer desk. To the left of the counter is parents computer desk. Opposite from the Counter is a closet and the door outa there :P.

Computer desks are OK but I prefer the table/desk or even stand-up gaming experience. If you're planning on playing in this room they should be OK for now but you'll certainly want to try out a few different configurations. One thing we had going for awhile was two monitors facing away from each other on a table in the center of the room. Each player sat on their respective right-hand side of the table with the monitor in front of them (so the monitors were back to back but diagonal), so the players could see each other but not each other's monitor. AWESOME for head to head "link" games - we did this in the PlayStation heyday for quite some time before reconfiguring the room again.


Leme know if you got suggestions.

Given. And more if you get pics up!

[RubbarDucklin]

When my mommy :P gets home I will try my best to get the pictures taken. Cleaning is my biggest priority. I wish to have a somewhat clean gaming room.

The computer desks have computers on them by the by. Thats what im typing to you on :P

Surge protectors...good thing i live 2 min away from radio shack. I should also get splitters so i dont have to go back to hook in n64 or Ps2. SNES and sega had the right idea witht he extra plug on the adapter.

Also, let me know about the arcade stly games. Do i buy them from arcades that aren't doing so well? :x

[chadtower]

Consider UPS rather than surge protectors. They offer better protection than surge protectors and lower end UPS cost the same as decent surge protectors...

[RubbarDucklin]

I got the pictures. The links arent attached so im gong post all four pages:

http://www.geocities.com/rubbarducklin/project.html
http://www.geocities.com/rubbarducklin/project2.html
http://www.geocities.com/rubbarducklin/project3.html
http://www.geocities.com/rubbarducklin/project4.html

Any suggestions?
Happy Gaming,
The Rubbar Ducklin

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Hmmmm. I see much possibility here. Any chance you could sketch out a quick overhead floor plan?

Sounds crazy, but as much as I love my new lighting scheme, one thing I'd recommend would be underlighting the long counter/shelf with some rope lights. Push 'em back as far as they'll go, as long as they're not squeezed up real tight against anything flammable (i.e. the wallpaper). The object is to see the glow thrown by the rope lights, and not the lights themselves. I did this with my PC desk (photos forthcoming, though it's kinda hard to get a decent picture of a red glow) and it's a neat effect (which Mrs. PDF refers to as my "red hot crotch lighting" since that's what it winds up, erm, shining on). The rope lights can be found at Wal-Mart for about $7.** per rope, and they can be connected end to end. (I think someone else said Target has 'em as well, if you're not up for shopping at Wally World.)

As for arranging the games...hmmmmm. Let's see what Joe and some of the others have to say. I'm really the "lighting guy" myself (or a "set the place on fire guy" on my off days).

[RubbarDucklin]

I can absolutly make a sketch for you. Infact, HERE IT IS :D
http://www.geocities.com/rubbarducklin/projectsketch.html
I think its pretty self explanitory

[Sylentwulf]

Cable ties. Lots of em.

[stargate]

The room has tons of potential. You already have lots of shelf space so that is a big plus. Here are some of my suggestions:

- you need lots more games (obviously). I have found that you can actually get lots of games for cheap if you buy them on ebay with the systems. For example, buy a Genesis system that comes with like 15 games, then sell the system alone on ebay and keep the games. It usually works out cheaper this way.
- You can buy plastic game cases online for about $40 per hundred (rental places use these). This will keep your games without cases nice and clean and you can store them easier.
- buy a few video game related posters, display units, cardboard cutouts, etc on ebay and hang them up to add some color/ ambiance to the room.

Good luck and make sure you post pics when the room is completed.

[RubbarDucklin]

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully I ill get more feedback on this topic because it is an everchanging subject IMO :x

[Tom61]

The best place to find arcade games is the newsgroups rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=rec.games.video.arcade.collecting&spell=1) and rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace)

Post a WTB (Wanting To Buy) Post on there with your location, and what type of game you're looking for. You may have to wait awhile, but a collector in your area should get in touch with you. You probably don't want to pay shipping from somewhere far away since shipping will be more than $100. If you have a truck or can borrow one, it's best to pick one up local (which posting on rgvac and m should help with finding one close).

Prices vary on the game and condition. Anywhere from $50 for a beat up working one to over $1000 for a classic in great condion, or a newer game with a big screen that still makes money in an arcade. The one I bought a few years ago cost $125, and was an OK deal.

Other places to get one:Also look in the 'amusment' section in the Yellow pages, they might want to sell you one. I've seen arcades that had a list of the games they were retiring for sell next to the counter where you brought tickets from games to trade for toys. I've seen one in a Flea Market once. Also, I've heard putting an ad in a newspaper asking to buy games sometimes works.