Welcome to the second installment of our new series where we take a look at some of our site members gaming spaces!  This month we are featuring site member, shane, who has a special affinity for handhelds.  Join us as we explore this member's gaming space and learn more about how and what he collects, and how he makes his space work for his gaming needs.

**If you are a member and have a game room or gaming area that you would like to share, please send a PM to singlebanana and I will add you to our list.**



RF Generation handle:

shane
 
 
Approximate dimensions of your game room (in feet, or meters if you prefer):

13’ x 17’
 
 
Describe your game room in a Tweet (140 characters, include spaces).

Hello, and welcome to my office. My office in a game room. Office… in a game room.


 
How many distinct systems do you own (including handheld)?  What are your favorites?

Exactly 100! I hadn’t realized until now that I hit triple digits. My favorite handheld is my custom purple exterior, white interior GBA SP 101. I’ve got an Everdrive for it so I can play all the GB/GBC games and NES games if I’m too lazy to set up an NES. My favorite home console is the Xbox 360. So many of the games were my kind of game, and since it’s a fixed set of hardware I don’t have to worry about driver compatibility like the PC counterparts. Beyond that system, I think the games focused too much on multiplayer or realism, and that meant sacrificing originality and single player replayability.
 
 
How many systems do you have hooked up right now?  What are they?

That depends on whether you classify modern computers as game systems. I’ll let the reader decide. My hooked up systems are:
Retro Freak
Gamecube
Xbox 360
PS3
WiiU
Windows PC
Mac (with VMs for Windows 98SE and 3.1 to play ancient games)




What are the top 5 biggest collections in your game room? Are any complete?

I’ve recently changed focus to collect hardware, so my collections are down to what I will replay. I have a couple game series that are complete or near complete, though.
Approx. 90 systems
66 DS games
52 Nintendo handhelds
14 Metroid releases (launch Prime, Prime w/ bonus disc, Prime Hunters: First Hunt)
10 Silent Hill releases
 
 
What is your favorite piece in your game room (game and/or non-game)?

The first game one that stands out for me is the Xavix bowling game and controller. It’s a transparent fluorescent green ball that you “throw” like a real bowling ball, but you hold on to it by the finger holes. The cartridge has an infrared sensor on it that picks up the trajectory of the ball and determines how to throw the in-game ball. It feels much more accurate than Wii bowling with the standard Wiimote.
 
As for non-game but still game-related, I’d say my original painting of the Wind Waker crew by Dara Gold. It’s a canvas of a black marker outline drawing and brewed tea based watercolor. I won it at a charity auction in FL years ago.
 
 

What is the rarest piece in your game room?

I think it’s the Singer Izek sewing machine bundle, but I’m not certain because a lot of my gaming periphery is difficult to get production numbers on. I really wanted to pick this particular one up from an eBay seller because it was brand new apart from opening the top flap of the sewing machine box. I had a friend ask me to do some web development work in a last-minute deadline, and instead of payment I had him buy this. The Game Boy Color was unopened, so it still had the screen cover on the handheld and had the batteries wrapped in plastic (no leaking!). I still have to figure out a means of converting the VHS tape to a digital video.
 
 
Do you own any game cabinets/pinball machines?  If so, which one would you like to add next?  If not, which one would you like to be your first?

I don’t anymore. Many years ago, I was in Lake George in NY on the off tourism season, and there was a newspaper classified for a motel that was coming up for sale. They had two arcade cabinets in the lobby they were selling, and one was a PlayChoice cabinet in blue with a Dr. Mario board in it. My wife loves the game, and they had the manual and all of the stickers still on their backing. They wanted $100, but I had very little cash on me. I went back to our cottage and asked my father how much cash he had on hand. We ended up having $40, so I called the couple selling it back and asked if they would take that much. The woman put her hand over the phone, turned to her husband, and said “You’ll take $40 for that arcade game.” and returned to let me know that was acceptable. I drove it 3.5 hours back home and later sold it for $100 when I moved to FL.

 


What, if anything, makes your game room or setup distinguishable?

I believe it’s the disguising of the fact that it does double duty as an office and a game room, having most of my actual consoles and systems in closet storage away from view. But it could be the awesome fake metal tile floor that changes color from silver to rust brown depending on what direction the light hits it. Or maybe the deck off of it that looks out onto the NH mountains.
 
 
Who or what was the inspiration for your game room?

I didn’t really have any inspiration for this iteration of my game room. My setup is purely the result of having three tiny built-in closets in our house. The Ikea closet does a great job of holding a lot of stuff and keeping it mostly out of view, so the room doesn’t look cluttered and cramped. And the console setup next to my work computer is purely a matter of limited space requiring me to use the Windows display as an LED television. I’ve had traditional game room setups in the past, and they’ve always made the rooms feel a lot smaller than they are.
 
 
If your game room were an animal, which one would it be and why?

Snow leopard. If you know where to look, you can spot the games, but it doesn’t come right out and announce itself.



 
Did you have any plans for your game room that became too ambitious or expensive to implement?

About a decade ago I envisioned my ideal game room to be a bar running along the entire perimeter of the room with CRTs and consoles all hooked up, but that was towards the end of the CRT television’s life and that would have pushed my game and peripheral storage out to another room. There was no shortage of free CRTs at the time, though.

What new section or set would you like to eventually add to your game room?

I’d like to have a set of the NA Gamecube consoles. It was the first console my wife fell in love with, at my prodding to get her to try Animal Crossing.
 

If someone handed you $100 and you HAD to spend it on your game room (not on games or systems), what would you buy?

A room divider to shield the systems in my closet from the sun.
 
 
For may collectors, storing controllers is always an issue due to their cords and sometimes awkward shapes. How do you manage these?

My most used are all in a shoe tree on the back of the door. I think that’s become more common now, but I’ve been using various closet organizers from Target for as long as I’ve been collecting.



What does your significant other or other housemate(s) think about your game room?

My wife is more accepting of it now that it’s not a big wall of shelves and cramped closets. She also knows that since I’ve sold off games that I don’t actually play, everything I have is what I actually enjoy having and using.
 
 
What was the funniest/coolest thing someone has ever said when they saw your game room for the first time?

Is it sad that I haven’t had others in my game room yet? We live in the woods in a tiny town in NH, so we haven’t had any friends to the house. They’re all back in previous states we’ve lived in.
 



Tell us about your game room seating.  Do you have a preferred spot?

I sit in my Herman Miller office chair. It’s got some recline to it without being too far, and the arm rests are very flexible on their positioning, making it easy to prevent wrist and elbow strain.
 

Do you allow drinks and/or snacks in your game room?  Explain.

Absolutely. I have no problem repairing my electronics, so if for some reason I damaged something from food or drink I’m pretty confident I can repair it.


What advice would you give to someone getting ready to set up their own game room?

I’d start with a means of swapping out connected consoles easily. I use an inexpensive composite/s-video to HDMI upscaler that I can quickly connect a console to. This eliminates the need to get behind your entertainment center and deal with the nest of cords that’s inevitable to be there. After that, start with an organization theme and pull out any items you want to spotlight. Organize the bulk of the collection, then set out your spotlight pieces.



Question from previous participant, NeoMagicWarrior: Why is your game room laid out the way it is? (form, function, esthetics, etc.)

Mine’s organized this way out of necessity. I want everything in one room, but don’t want the busy walls of shelves that are typical of game rooms. I guess I prefer having as uncluttered of a room as possible. If that means having to pack up a console and peripherals when I’m done, I’m ok with that.
 
 
What question would you like to ask the next participant?

Have you ever had a situation where you purchased an item and couldn’t figure out a way to make it fit within your game room?


Last, but not least, some pics of shane's incredible handheld collection!


Amazing game room shane!  Thank you for sharing.

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