Racketboy

Sometimes it can be a challenge to find high-quality gaming artwork that you don’t have to import from Japan and/or doesn’t look like something a 12-year-old would have in their bedroom.

So far ,the most original and more affordable (but mostly unknown) way to accomplish a modern and sophisticated look with gaming artwork is a photography of game-inspired toys and figures.



What makes this technique so appealing?

• With even an entry-level digital camera, you can achieve high enough resolution pictures for large prints worthy of framing.
• You can arrange your objects in creative ways to achieve all sorts of reactions — from the dramatic to the comedic.
• If photographed correctly, your pictures will have some shadowing and depth-of-field effects that will make your gaming characters looks like they are living in “real life”. This is something that even the most cutting-edge gaming graphics can achieve.
• With digital photography, you can experiment with a million different variations and then play around with them in Photoshop to create exactly the result you were looking for (or better)

So what do you do if…

1. You suck at photography or…
2. You are too poor to afford and/or can’t find any cool gaming figures?

If you can create your own unique photography image, you can always scout out Flickr or other sources for interesting photographs that accomplish the same goal.

Here are some interesting examples that I have hand-picked from Flickr that you can either use as inspiration or as your own target for printing.

• Link in the Mushroom Kingdom
• Mario and Luigi’s Escape From Giant Koopa
• Chun Li in the Forest
• Sakura at School
• A Sweaty Akuma
• A Slime in Dangerous Territory
• Link’s Exploration

As you can see, there are lots of interesting possibilities.

If you would like something a bit more in the hardware sector, you can also pull off some nice photography of your consoles or handhelds. Here are some more examples…

• The Sega Dreamcast
• The DS Lite
• The Sega Saturn
• Gamecube Controller
• NES Controller

It is easy to see that they is some beautiful industrial design to be found in the subtle curves of both the commercially successful and unsuccessful gaming hardware.

With these simple tips and examples I hope that you will now be empowered to decorate your gaming room or maybe even your cubicle with game-inspired artwork that even the most sophisticated adult could appreciate.

If you find any other great photographs (or have some of your own), that you’d like to share, please post some links — I’d love to see them.

I’d like to finish up with some additional resources to get you pointed in the right direction…

Some Flickr Photo Pools to Explore:

• Japenese Toys
• Japanese Figures and Models
• Video Game Fetishism

Other Room Decoration Ideas:

• Video Game Stenciling
• Punch-Out Inspired Paintings
• Model Your Room After A Console

Photography Tips That Might Come In Handy:

• Depth of Field in Digital Photography
• Planning Your Photographic Composition
• Finding Fresh Angles to Shoot From
• Fill your Frame
• The Rule of Thirds
• Give your Subjects Space to Look into

There is no doubt that the Nintendo Wii is a much-needed innovation in the console gaming industry. Instead of concentrating on bleeding-edge graphics and high-definition, Nintendo focused on making games more fun and interactive.

Even though the Wii’s strong-point is not the high-resolution graphics and surround sound, the Wii can still make a huge impact on a home theater. B. Greenway from the Home Theater Blog got a Wii for an early Christmas present and confirms that the Wii is a blast on the big screen.

Wii Sports seems like an excellent demonstration of what kind of impact a large screen can make. The larger area around a big screen would definitely prevent people from running into each other while playing a mean game of tennis. I imagine it would also be much more exciting to have your Mii be a bit closer to your actual size.

If you are fortunate enough to have both a Wii and a large screen TV, you most definitely want to look into getting a Wii Component Video cable. As I write this, the cables from Nintendo are still quite rare and/or expensive due to limited supplies (there is supposedly a third-party cable on the way and you can also make your own Wii Component cable ).

Since there have been numerous complaints about how crappy the Wii looks on a high-definition TV with the standard Composite video cables (although many diggers will state that this is blown out of proportion), you may want to start giving some serious thought about upgrading your video connection. There are also a couple of comparisons (here and here) that have been posted to show you the difference in video quality of the different cables.

While I realize that Nintendo wants to concentrate on bringing an affordable alternative to the XBox 360 and PS3 and delivering killer gameplay, I do hope that in the near future they will bring some good options for optimizing the audio and video.

Rumor has it that Nintendo is already developing a new version of the Wii that will have DVD support and possibly some other nice features. (Kinda like the transition from the original DS to the DS Lite). Maybe we will see more AV developments then…

When you are multi-console gamer like myself, one of the largest challenges is keeping all of my different controllers organized along with the consoles.

Once again, a Flickr member comes to the rescue with a game room design solution. kriseattle22 posted a detailed photoset of their new cabinet for their console collection.

In addition to functioning as an attractive shelving unit for their consoles (their drool-worthy collection of new-gen systems along with a top-loading NES), they also added some simple pegs to serve as controller holders for each console.

I really appreciate the controller stations for two reasons…

• It gives you a consistent place to store the controllers — helping you find them every time you want to play.
• It adds a stylist element — especially with wireless controllers.

Older, wired controllers would be a bit more of a challenge to tidy up, but here are some thoughts if you want to build a similar project…

• Add additional pegs to wrap the cords around — much like winding up a garden hose
• You could also hang them straight down and as long as they are spaced out enough and arranged properly, they might actually look presentable.

Anyway, I was really impressed by the project (although I could go with more subtle lighting) and I think the serves as excellent inspiration.

Thanks to both Lifehacker and MAKE for sharing this photoset!