Welcome to the third edition our game room series where we take a look at some of our site members gaming spaces!  This month we are featuring site member, zophar53, one of our newest contributors to the front page and from what I understand, an attendee of this years Retro World Expo.  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:

zophar53


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

About 11’ x 11’


Describe your game room in a Tweet (140 characters, include spaces).

Temporarily smaller than it used to be, but a good use of the space available, I’d say. Cozy, with everything I need.


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

27, that’s counting the PC, but not counting things like tablets and cell phones. My preference tends to lean toward PlayStation consoles, but the SNES is my favorite of all time. No other system had such a huge percentage of fantastic games in the same length of time.


How many systems do you have hooked up right now?  What are they?

I usually have current gen and most recent previous gen consoles hooked up at any one time. So right now it’s PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and Switch

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

1.  PC games: 218
2.  PS3 games: 191
3.  PS2 games: 77
4.  NES games: 68
5.  Final Fantasy games: 34

I don’t have any complete sets, I just try to get any game that looks fun, unique, or interesting to me. Come to think of it, it probably wouldn’t be difficult at this point to finish out a full Final Fantasy set. To my knowledge I own a copy of Final Fantasy 1 in every format/re-release it’s ever had. I’ve also been toying with the idea of trying to obtain a set of every main/numbered Mega Man and Mega Man X game. And maybe a full Lunar set. And and and…..ugh.


What is your favorite piece in your game room (game and/or non-game)?

Honestly, as much as I love every piece of gaming gear I have, I’m really partial to my game art. I get a real kick out of seeing games expressed in other forms of media, as long as it’s not tacky or blatantly pandering. The Pac-Man Van Gogh is probably my favorite. I found it online and actually paid to have it blown up, mounted on canvas, and framed. It wasn’t cheap, and since then the *something* Starry Night pics have been done to death, but everyone who’s ever seen my Pac-Man version has really liked it.



What is the rarest piece in your game room?

I’m not really sure. I don’t tend to focus on collecting rare games. That said, I’m pretty proud to own CIB copies of both Suikoden II and Valkyrie Profile. Although, it looks like my CIB copies of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Lunar: Silver Star, Lunar: Eternal Blue, Einhander, Zelda: Minish Cap, Castlevania Chronicles, and Arc the Lad Collection have gotten rare/valuable in some circles, so that’s pretty cool.


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?

That would be awesome, but no. I have neither the space for them, nor the know-how or ambition to care for them properly. That said, I would very much like to own a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga dual cabinet some day. If I’m honest with myself that’s really the only one I would realistically buy. Maybe a PlayChoice machine, but only if I had room for it and after I have my Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga machine.


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

Probably the Jimmy Neutron strips on the wallpaper haha. This room used to belong to my nephew about 10 years ago and I’m not allowed to change it while I’m here.


Who or what was the inspiration for your game room?

The space I had to work with. I’m in the process of saving to buy my dad’s rental property from him, so in about a year and a half, I hope to be able to spread things out more.


If your game room were an animal, which one would it be and why?

Maybe a porcupine? Because it packs a lot of potency into a small space.



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

When I was younger I had dreams of owning a lot of arcade cabinets and a few pinball machines. A friend of the family had a mini-arcade in his basement and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that you could have those in your house. I even told my mom one year that I wanted a Mortal Kombat II arcade machine for my birthday because the SNES version had all the blood replaced with sweat. Eventually I grew up and realized the cost and level of care it takes to maintain old machines like that was something I wasn’t up for. By then, consoles and PCs had eclipsed arcade games in performance and graphics anyway.


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

I’d like to have room to display all my older games on proper shelves instead of the plastic totes in the attic they’re in now. I’d also like to continue building up my game art collection. In terms of games themselves, I’d love full Vectrex and Atari Lynx sets. The Vectrex was the first real console I owned so it’s pretty near and dear to my heart. And Lynx because it was such a weird, cool, powerful little handheld that was underappreciated.


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

I’d put it toward a good surround sound set-up, or maybe a nice sound bar. I haven’t had surround sound in years now, and I’m starting to really miss it.


For may collectors, storing controllers is always an issue due to their cords and sometimes awkward shapes. How do you manage these?

My coffee table has a large drawer in the middle, so I use that for the more recent ones. The older ones I keep in big plastic storage totes with the older consoles I no longer have the boxes for.




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

I’m a born-again bachelor at the moment, so that’s not something I have to deal with right now haha. I’m sure that will change at some point though, so I’ll have to deal with that when I get there.


What was the funniest/coolest thing someone has ever said when they saw your game room for the first time?

A couple weeks ago, right after I’d gotten everything unpacked and set up, my 15-year-old nephew came over and I told him he could play with my stuff. He was pretty blown away, and later told me that his friends didn’t believe him that he has the coolest uncle ever.


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

In my apartment I had a nice comfy recliner. Sadly, there’s no room for it here and my cat had torn it up pretty badly anyway, so I ended up throwing it away. I’m still a fan of the idea of a “man-throne”-style recliner, but my couch is still in great shape and is really comfortable, so it wasn’t that big a deal. I also have a Secret Lab Omega gaming chair that I’m really happy with.

My only complaint with the Omega is that the armrest padding is much too thin and stiff. Other than that I love it.


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

I do. I feel drinks and snacks are essential to a good gaming session. But I’m pretty adamant with guests that under no circumstances are they to handle my controllers or games with hands that are greasy/cheesy/wet/etc. Napkins or paper towels are a must. We’re not savages, after all.



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

Figure out what’s most important to you, whether that’s which systems you want easiest access to, a particular atmosphere you’re going for, or whatever else, and try to find a way to make it work within the space you have available. That way you can try to achieve a killer game room while still keeping things relatively clean and tasteful. Because I guess we’re all supposed to be adults now, right? Also, one of the wisest investments you can make is to get some quality surge protectors. With so many electronics hooked up in close proximity, it would be soul-crushing to have it all fried by one bad lightning storm or blown fuse. Keeping a good inventory of your stuff for insurance purposes is smart too.


Question from previous participant, shane: 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?

Sort of. When I purchased my third monitor (the 43” 4k monster dominating my desk), it didn’t seem all that unwieldy on the store display shelf. But when I actually got it home and set it up, with my face a foot and a half away from it, only then did I realize how much overkill it was. It took some strategic rearranging of my set-up to be able to just get that and my ultra-wide monitor to fit on my desk. Only once I moved into my current space, and put another table next to the desk, did I have room for the full command center you see in the photo. I can practically feel it melting away my retinas, but man does Doom look great on it in 4k


What question would you like to ask the next participant?

Have you ever gotten something for your game room that was really disappointing or unexpectedly really awesome? Explain.


Thanks a ton zophar53. Looking forward to meeting you in person at Retro World Expo in October!

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