Gameroom Pics

[twiztor]

the "how often do you play your old consoles" topic got me thinking and feeling nostalgic, so wanted to share pics of my gameroom.

my basement is cut directly in half by the staircase. on one side is my bar and the other side is games.

here's a wide shot, showing the couch, console TV and the shelf i built to hold my NES games.

also noteworthy is the pixelated Luigi art behind the tv and a Hylian shield/sword display beside it.

a closeup of the TV so you can see the systems that are hooked up. i'm working on building a corner shelf to house the atari, to give the other systems room to breathe.

and here's a picture of the shelf with my Nintendo games (168):

stacked on top are the SNES (8) and Genesis (7) games. both of these collections are growing and will need a shelf soon.to the

left you can see my R.O.B. with a plush Mario. the box they're sitting on houses the Atari games (approx 60)

hope you enjoy!

[aloram]

Nice, thanks for sharing. Where did you get that Luigi art?

[Areala]

Nice top-loader NES, and double-nice for the CRT television so you can use the Zapper and R.O.B. Although I'm inclined to deduct a few points for covering your Atari games with the Power Pad.

*huggles*

Areala

[miketheratguy]

the "how often do you play your old consoles" topic got me thinking and feeling nostalgic, so wanted to share pics of my gameroom.

Hmm, I see Maniac Mansion, Startropics, and Castlevania III. You're doing alright. You're missing the Dragon Warrior games though. And you need many, many more SNES games!

I also like that you've got the top-loading NES. I love that thing and will never get rid of it. And it's kind of hard to tell from the pictures but is that a knob dial television? If so, you're really rocking the old-school proper. Nice cozy-looking setup!

[twiztor]

thanks for the kind words everyone!

Where did you get that Luigi art?

made it myself. just cut a bunch of 2"x2" squares of construction paper and glued them on poster board. super easy and it gets lots of comments!

Nice top-loader NES, and double-nice for the CRT television so you can use the Zapper and R.O.B. Although I'm inclined to deduct a few points for covering your Atari games with the Power Pad.

i have a really cool plan to display the Atari games, although it will be awhile before i get around to it.

i'm going to build a wall-hanging shelf to hold them. the stacks of games will form the Atari logo. it looks really cool in my head, but my construction skills aren't always up to my imagination's levels, so only time will tell. if/when i get it finished i'll be sure to post more pics.

Hmm, I see Maniac Mansion, Startropics, and Castlevania III. You're doing alright. You're missing the Dragon Warrior games though. And you need many, many more SNES games!

I also like that you've got the top-loading NES. I love that thing and will never get rid of it. And it's kind of hard to tell from the pictures but is that a knob dial television? If so, you're really rocking the old-school proper. Nice cozy-looking setup!

not much into RPGs but definitely plan on picking up the first Dragon Warrior game at some point. i've only had a SNES for a short while so i'm still in the beginning stages of the collection.
no knobs on the tv. no complaints here tho, since it came free with the house!

[shadefaster]

Gotta have a luigi in there for good measure XD. You have quite the collection for new but why not snes?

[shadefaster]

Gotta have a luigi in there for good measure XD. You have quite the collection for new but why not snes?

I meant nes for (new) I'm not a big fan of autocorrect.

[twiztor]

Gotta have a luigi in there for good measure XD. You have quite the collection for nes but why not snes?

the NES is my favorite system of all time, i've had one since i was a wee lad. the collection has built up over 25+ years.

i just (re)acquired a SNES last year, and picked up a few essentials, but it's my secondary motivation. Got a Genesis at the same time, so i'm splitting my time between the two.

not to worry, the SNES (and Genesis) won't be neglected forever! i'm finishing up my Virtual Boy collection then hopping back in to the 16 bit systems!

[twiztor]

Project: Virtual Boy is a success! all 14 US games!!

[miketheratguy]

Project: Virtual Boy is a success! all 14 US games!!

Impressive. Not many people want to even touch a Virtual Boy, let alone buy one as well as its entire library of games! That's dedication.

[DPsx7]

Cheers Twiz, me too. But then you want more and start buying repros.

[miketheratguy]

These three pictures show more Virtual Boy merchandise than was sold during the console's actual retail lifespan.

[Areala]

I think Virtual Boy collecting is more common than some of the other systems for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it's inexpensive, at least if you're sticking to US-only games. It's also very easy to acquire a complete set for the system, since again, limiting yourself to US releases means you only need to track down a little over a dozen carts in addition to the hardware.

*huggles*
Areala

[DPsx7]

Yeah. It's definitely unique and other than a couple games pretty cheap to collect for. The JP set is a lot more expensive and adds another handful of games that didn't make it to the US. I bought mine many years ago at a hobby shop. I assume they were trying to clear it out since it cost like $60 for 6 games, the system, box, and AC adapter. I bought the rest on Ebay and the homebrew on a little tinkerers site.

There's also 2 demo carts, a hard shell case, and I think some headphones too.

[marktrade]

I enjoyed VirtualBoy. My cousin rented one over Thanksgiving when we came to visit and there was no shortage of people wanting to play it. I remember finding it very soothing, easy on the eyes. It doesn't deserve the hate it gets and should not have been as big a flop as it was. It could have been a niche market, like LaserDisc or something. Almost no one had LaserDisc except for a few nuts out in the woods but it survived as a format for two decades and spawned the CD and from that the DVD, etc. VirtualBoy could have spawned some really great VR products if they kept with it.

[kitsunebi]

Development costs on a laserdisc (none, really) and development costs on a game make for completely different profitability margins. But you're right that Nintendo could have surely come up with some interesting applications of the technology if only it had been financially viable for them to do so.

[DPsx7]

I wouldn't have gotten mine if I didn't like it. A friend rented one and that's how I first tried it. Later a neighbor bought one that I used a few times.

There were a few things working against it. Many never took the time to set it up properly and got headaches. Running on batteries wasn't a great idea since it wasn't truly a mobile unit. Then the fact it was limited to just red shows it was a little too early for such a device. Lots of things need to come together to make a successful console. Look how long it took the GB line to get a real backlight. The Gamegear tried long before but was a major battery hog.

It's great the 3DS caught on although I don't know how many play with the 3D off. Now that we're moving into VR I have to think they've solved a number of the problems and will work out the rest of the kinks as we go. Will Nin try again?

[miketheratguy]

it cost like $60 for 6 games, the system, box, and AC adapter.

That actually shocks me. Getting another console from that time in a bundle that packed would probably cost a couple hundred dollars, at least.

I'm definitely not trying to crap on you guys for collecting the Virtual Boy. There's nothing wrong with it so more power to you. I'm just surprised that anyone would have any interest in owning one, since apparently no one even wanted one when it was widely available.

As for my own experience with the Virtual Boy, it was about twenty seconds with a promotional unit that sat on the counter of the Funco that I worked at in 1995. That was about all that I needed.

[DPsx7]

When I saw that price I would have bought it even if I didn't want it. Ha. Again it was many years ago, sitting on the top shelf at a store before it moved into a smaller place where they began focusing on comics and CCG's over gaming and airsoft/paintball. They weren't the valuable games, stuff like pinball, tennis, or boxer. I had to go online to find my faves Wario Land and Panic Bomber. Now that retro is popular and collecting has become a thing the VB has risen in value. Plus you can say it's Nin's only actual failure.

Lol, no I didn't take it that way. It's easy to make jokes about it. Lots have interest now, especially if the homebrew market continues. In that second pic you'll see something called the Flashboy. It's a flash memory cart that lets you play translated import games and all the rest on actual hardware. I probably don't have to tell ya this is one of those platforms you really can't emulate on a PC.

You know I don't ever recall seeing a demo unit. Speaking of which those are very collectible if you can find one.

One last thing. Is your VB working well Twiz? After years of light use I set it up again when I found that homebrew site. I guess there's a problem with the glue that holds the ribbon cables to the LED's and eventually it gets glitchy. I sent mine out to be repaired since it was finer work than I was used to doing. Just something to be aware of for later.

[twiztor]

yep, mine works like a charm. bought it at least 10 years ago from a pawn shop with 5-6 games for $48. its been through a couple of moves with me across the state and back and i've never had a problem. it doesn't get played much, but i do break it out a few times a year.

speaking if homebrews, do you have a VB link cable DP? i've got a buddy thay has vb also and its something we've discussed.

[DPsx7]

yep, mine works like a charm. bought it at least 10 years ago from a pawn shop with 5-6 games for $48. its been through a couple of moves with me across the state and back and i've never had a problem. it doesn't get played much, but i do break it out a few times a year.

speaking if homebrews, do you have a VB link cable DP? i've got a buddy thay has vb also and its something we've discussed.

Keep a watch then. When the glue weakens (yeah, it's glued not soldered) it'll get spotty. The ribbon cables had to remain loose so you could adjust the lenses so there's a slight outward pressure pulling them from the displays. If you've had it that long then I doubt it was ever opened. Maybe it doesn't affect all consoles. I was one of the lucky ones to get a SNES that didn't turn yellow.

Nah, never had another VB to link to. Only a couple games used it.

[twiztor]

i was just reading about that issue a month or two back, had never heard of it before. well, at least now when something goes wrong i'll at least have an idea how to fix it.

[DPsx7]

It was news to me too. I feel like other VB owners should know. Not that I expect them to throw it away but at least it is fixable. The pads are very small though, I didn't have the right tools for that kind of work. You also need a special driver to open the console.

I found some time to put new pics on my site over the weekend. There's more that hasn't been pictured yet and I should try to consolidate some of the shots too. The PS3 spilled over into a third row.

http://dpsx7.net46.net/main.html

[marktrade]

It was news to me too. I feel like other VB owners should know. Not that I expect them to throw it away but at least it is fixable. The pads are very small though, I didn't have the right tools for that kind of work. You also need a special driver to open the console.

I found some time to put new pics on my site over the weekend. There's more that hasn't been pictured yet and I should try to consolidate some of the shots too. The PS3 spilled over into a third row.

http://dpsx7.net46.net/main.html

It looks like that Saturn collection started with the "3-for-free" deal, a $200 bundle that included Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA. Probably the greatest game bundle of all time! Then the Nights+Analog controller bundle and the Virtua Cop 2+Light gun bundle. Pretty great.

[miketheratguy]

It looks like that Saturn collection started with the "3-for-free" deal, a $200 bundle that included Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA. Probably the greatest game bundle of all time! Then the Nights+Analog controller bundle and the Virtua Cop 2+Light gun bundle. Pretty great.

Man, I barely remember when consoles came a second controller, let alone three games.