How has your ideal gaming setup or room changed over time?

[Xeogred]

Have you guys tried the cloth idea that Metal Jesus does? For unused consoles sitting on the shelf to try and keep them a bit cleaner. I just picked up some small red cloths and think it'll be a good idea to throw one over my slim PS2, since those get dust trapped inside over time. The red kind of meshes well with my black shelves and consoles.

[Sano]

I have to say I never really had a setup of any sort in mind when it comes down to the basics. I dwell in my room where I live (in a condo with my mother and sister). I have a PS4 and a Wii-U for newer generation stuff. Then I have a PS2 and a RetroDuo. I have a EverDrive for my RetroDuo and a modded memory card for my PS2. They all connect to my 32" Samsung LCD via a couple of switches (so I can use my DVD player and such with the flick of a switch ). Basically this setup works for me!

[KalessinDB]

My collection was originally console only, and so the room would have befitted that. Heck, I semi-mocked (more out of jealousy than anything) my friend who first bought a Neo Geo maybe 5-6 years ago.

Then I thought "Maybe I'll build a basic wooden cabinet or get a gutted one and put a MAME box inside".

Then I went off the deep end and got my own Big Red Neo and have almost 70 games and counting for it -- and my buddy who started me down this path still has the 2 he bought with it originally. I've come around to the japanese way of thinking on cabinets and got 2 candies last month and am looking forward to cleaning them up and getting them perfect.

Now I'm looking at paring down a few of the consoles that truly never get play (2nd gen consoles I didn't have growing up, I'm looking at you) because they can get emulated perfectly and with better controls (I'm all for accuracy, but 5200 controllers just flat out suck and Coleco ones aren't much better even though I have nostalgia for that one). 5 years ago, selling any console would have been anathema as I was trying for every US released console, period.

Today, ideally? I'd have a CRT with all my PS2 and before systems hooked up or able to be hooked up, and a flatscreen for the PS3 and beyond systems. Check and check. I'd have a not only the cabinets I already have (which I'm very happy with) but also a Pac-Man cocktail cab, a Nintendo Vs Red Tent, and a Capcom Big Blue as well as maybe a 31Khz candy cab. And I really want a bar-quality electronic dart board (there's a few for sale on my local craigslist, but more than I'm willing to pay... and I'm not sure where I'd put it) and if I could figure out where to fit it in a HyperPin machine -- pending real-world testing of one and seeing if it has that je ne sais quoi that makes it feel right or not.

With my current house, which is likely to be my forever house, it's unlikely I add anything besides maybe the cocktail cabs without massively reducing the number of systems and/or games I have. Space man, space.

[fastbilly1]

Ofcourse it has. Growing up I wanted to devote a good sized room to gaming, one tv for each console setup in stations. Then I wanted dozens of arcade cabinets. Then a PC lab with 8 gaming pcs. Well over the years I have had most of these things setup either in my home or at a convention.

Now I want the easiest setup that we (my wife, myself, and our friends) can game on. So I have two cabs running emulators - Astro City and Nintendo Vs Tent, and soon I will have two quasi cabs also running emulators or consoles to CRTs (I have a write up for how this is all going that will be posted up in my gameroom topic soon). I have my wife and I's gaming pcs, and then we have portables. Emulation has hit a point where I have little desire to use original hardware now. The blissbox 4 play has made that even more obvious. So while I would love to have a dedicated retro room, I know it wont happen anytime soon, and space is always a concern. Sure we live in a sizable house now, but my wife wants to move into a smaller one in the next few years. Considering most of my games live in a closet right now, I dont really see a reason to keep around most of them.

[Anapan]

Captain Brenten says it best - Bigger is better!

[Droid party]

Captain Brenten says it best - Bigger is better!

I thought "wetter" was better.

[chuckster]

For me, it's been the struggle of real hardware (the best look and feel at high cost) versus emulation (convenient, versatile, but fiddly to get right).

When I was first getting back into old games a few years ago, I was emulation all the way. I spend hours tweaking and setting everything up just right, then testing and doing it all over until I found what worked best. I thought OG purists were bonkers. Then, about two years ago, I hooked my old consoles to a flat 20" Sanyo I still had, and a year later I had 3 20" PVMs. It was great, and just felt "right".

It wasn't long until I felt the burden of all this though. I just couldn't afford the price of old games. Even flash carts would be hundreds of dollars all together. The breaking point came when I decided I wanted to play Earthbound. I realized I had three options:

1) Buy the cart - $150-300 (Say $20-50 on average for games)
2) Buy a flash cart - $100-200 (Should probably still do this anyway)
or
3) Emulate - $0-6.99 (From VC)

So now I'm in between. I love my CRTs, so I modded my Wii to emulate any pre-PS1 game I don't already have. This approach has pros and cons, so if I do have a game for an older system, I always prefer original hardware. I'll even buy the occasional game for Saturn or Dreamcast because emulation is a hassle for those. For everything else, I emulate on PC (more versatile, better controllers, and shaders make it look pretty good) or have newer consoles hooked straight to the HDTV.

From here, there's not much I will change without a major influx of disposable income. I'd love a BVM but can't justify the price, same with Flash carts. A cab is even crazier. I will probably just continue with this

[aaron]

i have my playstation systems and my arcade cabs and even that is too much, sometimes. i try to stay focused but i'm always in a constant state of reassessment and planning, if not buying and selling.

i'm thinking about dropping everything but PS4, PS2 w/ HD loader, and my four candy cabs and two pins. that's probably good enough.

idk. i'll regret it and buy a bunch of it back later... stupid video games.

[TSTR]

sell low
buy high
rinse and repeat

[mas]

My initial set up was to have a 80's/90's retro room with vintage toys and memorabilia and classic stuff. all I cared was consoles and games and I finally had my set up. Then I decided that I want more for the house and to have nice things for the house like patio furniture other nice things for the house.
As I turned 40 my outlook in gaming has just changed in a big way. For me collecting isn't a big thing anymore. I am just keeping my systems with everdrives downstairs and putting in a bar and having a bar arcade system with a raspberry pie installed.

I will still have a dreamcast because of the burned games I have for it. Upstairs in my bedroom I have a Wii and a 360. Then I have my handhelds which I'm focus and play more on.
I finally get the game room I love and then once I get it I realize that I no longer have the desire for games like I used to, and I would rather do things that I need for the house and do projects than collect for games.