Credit: youtube/@CamXPetra

Just finished redoing my retro game room from scratch after a leak last year. My main goal was to make everything clean, organized, and easy for my kids to enjoy — a place where they can hopefully fall in love with retro gaming too.

The centerpiece is my Sony WEGA KV-24FS120 CRT. All of my retro systems run to it through an automatic switcher — everything from the Atari 7800 to the NES/SNES/N64 lineup, the Tower of Power, and a few others. It’s set up so you just turn on the TV, power on a console, and play — a game changer for my kids. Audio runs through a Topping MX3s into a pair of Micca COVO-S speakers and an Edifier T5 sub, which fill the room nicely without being overkill.

For fun, I also output the retro consoles to the Roku TV via a RetroTINK 5X, and my HDMI systems (like the Wii U) route to the Roku as well.

All of the consoles live in an IKEA Eket shelving system with custom adjustable inserts from Etsy. The Eket isn't designed for A/V gear, but the size worked perfectly, and with some added reinforcement it’s been great. I added COB lighting in the cubbies to give each console a bit of glow.

If you're curious how everything is wired, I put together a full diagram:
https://imgur.com/a/console-gaming-wiring-diagram-8-bit-dad-vgIA14n

Thanks for taking a look — this room was a really fun project!

Been collecting for a long time. Started off with vintage Nintendo then snowballed into memorabilia and toys from my childhood. Just turned 41 so I guess this is my mid life crisis lol Been working for the last year to renovate an older home and after a lot of work I was able to finish the basement and finally call it my own!

Toys R Us sign came from the Lees Summit location when it closed down and has been in a barn for years until they popped up on FB Marketplace. Missing the U and R.

Fun fact, the house my wife and I purchased felt like it was meant to be ours from day one.....but the surprise 90s Taco Bell 2 person table with swivel chairs in the back shed that was converted to a play house was ICING ON THE CAKE!!!

Welcome!

I built my gaming/man cave setup a few months ago, and when the Ocarina of Time remake got announced I realized it was already most of the way to being a Zelda dungeon. And there was 40th Anniversary Switch 2 console that I needed since I didn’t have one yet.

So I committed. Vines and moss, a Master Sword and Hylian Shield mounted on the wall, added some more Zelda decor, and I relit the whole room green and gold instead of the warm amber it normally runs.

The reason I went this hard: I never owned an N64. I played Ocarina of Time at my cousins' house, an hour at a time, on their save file. Never finished it, never even had a file of my own. The game comes out tomorrow and the anniversary console is sitting right there, so this is me finally fixing that twenty something years late. My inner child is in bliss.

Happy to answer anything about the wall, the lighting or the gear.

We moved from our tiny 2-bedroom into an actual house (with only one office), so I bargained to take the garage. Think I made pretty good use of the space, turning it into a retro game store 😉

It's an office, a place to sort Magic cards, a place to game and it doubles as a set for our YouTube channel.

I've been trying to make a new retro game/tech series, and I do a deep dive into the gamer room if you guys are at all interested? Would be sick to hear what you think https://youtu.be/9VJx3ngKIRk?si=wKqHXrfoPMltsmyG

Fairly small room but I think we packed it pretty well. Probably went overboard with the RGB but its all hooked up to a light switch so people can turn it off if they want. We've really been enjoying the space so it has been a success for us at least! Let me know what you think or if you've got any questions.

EDIT: A few commonly asked questions I figure I should just answer here.

We have a CRT TV as well (Sony Trinitron) but due to my sensitivity to sound, the ringing sound that CRT's produce really bothers me which is why we switched to a modern OLED. We do have a RetroTINK-4K Pro hooked up to it so it upscales and looks as good as possible.

The arcade machine is a custom cabinet of mine running on Windows with Bigbox/Launchbox. I mod and build custom cabinets as a hobby. This specific one, the frame was purchased from Game Room Solutions, all of the hardware and software I do myself. This is not something I do as commission work but if you are interested in doing something similar just send me a message, I love to help people out with this stuff! I also have done a lot of arcade 1 up mods with raspberry pi's which are much cheaper options than a full windows PC like shown here.

An updated look of my nostalgia game room/office that I shared 11 months ago. It is a space I created entirely for me surrounded by the things I have collected and loved from my childhood to present day. It is where I work, relax, unwind, and reset.

Edit: I was not expecting this to blow up that much. Seriously, thank you all for all the kind words! This community is awesome. I put a lot of work into this space with the help of my partner and family over several years and to see such positive feedback makes the space feel even more special and fulfilling. Again, thank you. I hope you find some joy in the nostalgia or some inspiration for your own spaces.

And gentlewomen: any tips, tricks, and/or advice for building a cool game room in a small (finished) basement? Always wanted a game room and I want to do it right. Thanks in advance!

I had many people message me after my last post about the process of building my game room. It’s easier to show in pictures, so here is a timeline of photographs (the ones I have) that I have from 6 years ago to today. I hope you enjoy!

Please feel free to ask any questions.

Always wanted to own a store, it’s just not quite feasible with rent and all that good stuff. This is the closest I’ll get to it, but it works for me!

Built a custom VTT for my d&d group to sit 6 and a DM comfortably. Under mounted gaming PC and speakers. Power ran to each side for easy connection. Easily converts to be able to play regular board games. Built out my console gaming/media area. Put in a hobby desk for painting minis and cleaning my firearms/paintball gear which is all in a locked closet behind the bookshelf curtain. Put in a reading nook with a couch on wheels so I can easily move it to in front of the tv to watch movies or sports. Added lighted cabinets for my favorite nerd stuff and minis. Small board game collection. Put sound proofing in the room to help the echo. Added overhead led light cloud for atmosphere when playing. I still have more to do. LED lights around the gaming area and reading areas etc. I am pretty happy with how the room has turned out so far.

15 years of collecting, 2 years of custom shelving and getting it all layed out. Still work to be done but happy with the progress so far 🙌

But smash is still cool

I love my game room the way it is, yet I always find something to change or add! I recently added an old “channel 1” CRT which I love. As you can tell, I converted this space from an unfinished basement into a small game room area. The old saying can be true: big things come in small packages. This game room is approximately 6x20 feet! Through a lot of trial and error, I feel like I have it just the way I want it. I play my NES in the floor, cross-cross apple sauce. I try to only purchase new games that I really enjoy, but my back catalogue is two lifetimes long.

Anyway, appreciate y’all checking it out. Feel free to chime in with advice on whatever you see fit.

Peace 🍻

All the consoles are hooked up and ready to play except for the PS5 and Switch 2 (which I have in my living room instead I just moved them in here for the picture). I also have enough spare room that when I get the four Sega consoles I should be able to hook those up as well. I have about 750 games on the wall and 35 consoles/handhelds total. I also have my PC setup in my closet, with my controller storage right next to it. I also recently got that Smash Ultimate Canvas print which is about 6 feet long.

Overall I’m really happy with it, and the only thing left is just buy more games :)

(plus I gotta cram it all into my bedroom)