furnitre advice for room of doom

[Godzilla]

I just moved into a new place and I'd like to set up many of my hojillion systems in a nice way (right now, they are in tupper ware and sit on top of filing cabinets,) and was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience with furniture or arrangements in this area... any help, ideas or advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

[DickNixonArisen]

There's a wire rack that Wal-mart or target will sell you, it's about 3.5 feet tall and has three shelves you fit together. These are nice for systems - on a single shelf you can fit a whole CV, or an NES and a GEN2, or a GEN1 and INTV2. They're cheap.

 

As far as game/cart storage, I advocate a nice shallow bookcase. Boxed games store nicely like books, while loose carts stack 10-12 high and are easy to access.

 

Beanbag chairs are THE game chairs!

 

Don't forget a nice switchbox setup so you're not on your knees plugging and unplugging all the time. Either that or take a big pulltie or twisttie and bunch your RF/RCA cords, then label them - so you can switch systems easily without entering the jungle.

 

And - you will need one remarkable piece of memorabilia for visitors to comment on. I suggest a nice arcade marquee, framed. A Cebus lamp wouldn't be bad.

Edited June 1, 2010 by DickNixonArisen

[godslabrat]

I just moved into a new place and I'd like to set up many of my hojillion systems in a nice way (right now, they are in tupper ware and sit on top of filing cabinets,) and was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience with furniture or arrangements in this area... any help, ideas or advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

1) ALWAYS set up the game shelves, TV, and speakers at least a foot from the wall. It helps immensely when you need to crawl back there to find one wire that needs to be jiggled.

 

1a) No matter how expertly you've set this up, at some point, you WILL need to jiggle a cable.

 

2) Get quality chairs for the people who live in the house, and have lightweight, movable chairs for guests. Beanbags work well, as do fold-out chairs. I've got some great hammock-style chairs that my guests fight over... and when I'm alone, they don't get in the way.

 

3) Unless your room is huge, TV trays are way better than coffee tables, since you can move them around to accomodate Rock Band or DDR.

 

Here's a pic of my old apartment. Note the game systems set into a stereo cabinet. It's a lot of trouble to set up, but it works well for me.

 

Edited June 1, 2010 by godslabrat

[Godzilla]

good advice all (especially the 'room to get behind,' that is something I always do. (Or have a breakout box wired where I can get to it...))

 

Any ideas as far as something that would look more a part of the room, maybe with more of a wood look to it?

[fiddlepaddle]

I like shelves with no back as mentioned above, and yes, keeping them a couple of feet away from the wall makes it simple when "jiggling" cords, or setting up new game systems and generally changing things around, which I seem to be doing on a regular basis (a symptom of always bringing something new home from the thrift stores and flea markets)

 

...I've got some great hammock-style chairs that my guests fight over...

Great idea. I'd like to set up a few hammocks in my living room, but the potted trees I've been hanging them between keep falling over.

[DickNixonArisen]

Wood, you say? wallywort sells what they call "TV tables" or "entertainment centers" or somesuch that are about 3-4 feet tall, essentially just shelves on casters. They come with a (lousy) cardboard back you're supposed to tack onto it, but you could get a few of those, and just throw the back parts out. They're not super sturdy, but they're cheap, and a few cheap brackets would fix them up easy. The casters would help you get behind there.

[godslabrat]

 

...I've got some great hammock-style chairs that my guests fight over...

Great idea. I'd like to set up a few hammocks in my living room, but the potted trees I've been hanging them between keep falling over.

 

Here's an example of my chairs. They don't look like much, but they're popular:

 

[pinball22]

The shoe holder for controllers is a clever idea!

 

I have all my consoles set up on a Metro rack and there are wire baskets hanging on the fronts of the shelves to hold controllers.

[fiddlepaddle]

Here's an example of my chairs. They don't look like much, but they're popular

They look comfortable, actually.

[Eltigro]

Here's an example of my chairs. They don't look like much, but they're popular

They look comfortable, actually.

 

I used to have a chair like that. But the canvas cover ripped and I never could find a replacement. I ended up just throwing away the frame.