Creating a games room can be a fun task with many perpetual rewards, but it should be taken very seriously. Your gaming experience depends on your atmosphere, so instead of using the same sofa and TV screen you use to watch the prosaic and depressing news, why not create a whole new gaming world by converting a spare room or shed? With a little imagination and creativity you can recreate something similar to an arcade experience at home.
Choosing the room
The first thing to consider is where you want the room to be located. If you have the freedom of choice, the walk to your games room will be as important as a boxer’s peregrination from dressing room to ring. The feeling you want as you proceed to the room will influence where you locate the room. If you want a feeling of ascension, adapt the attic or a room upstairs. If you want the feeling of going underground into a different world convert a basement. You may feel you need to step outside of your house to leave everything behind, therefore a walk to a shed may provide you with such focus.
Depending on whether or not you want to shut yourself away from the world or not, a conservatory maybe a fantastic option, especially on summer nights where you can see and feel the sun go down and come up again during those all important all night sessions. Remember to consider heating and lighting requirements for all seasons and how easy these will be to apply to your chosen location. Portable heaters may be an option for winter months rather than having to install or connect to your central heating.
Designing the room
To create the right atmosphere it is important to have the right colour scheme and lighting. If you play a diverse range of games such as sports, shoot ‘em up and fantasy, create a colour scheme that will reflect all appropriate moods or at least be neutral (without having to paint the walls a prosaic white). Have a variety of lighting options too to alter the atmosphere. You might want to have a dimly lit lamp or light some candles when playing those intense fantasy games late at night.
If the room is designed to host large numbers of people and parties you may want to consider sound-proofing to avoid upsetting co-habitants.
What to include
This will depend on your budget and to be honest, it is best you have a large one. Have a variety of consoles and also have shelves to stack your games. In addition, you may want to include specific games furniture. The coolest thing to have is a games pod. Two on the market at the moment include the Playpod and the Ovei. The latter comes with a LED lighting and air conditioning matched by an expected heavy price tag of £50,000.
Other gadgets to include are the Thrustmaster Ferrari steering wheel for your Xbox racing games, wireless controllers for your consoles and the CTA Buzz Shotgun for your shoot ‘em up games.
You don’t just need console or computer games. Pool tables and dart boards can suffice for your friends in between tournament Fifa games and the like. You can also include a section for traditional board games like Chess and Monopoly.
Also remember to include a comfortable sofa where you can take power naps in between levels of World of Warcraft!
Rules
Games rooms should be like the games played in them. They should have rules. Rules set by your higher self and applicable to your lower lazy self and all guests. You may decide to allow a maximum number of people in at any one time, have limited times of access so you don’t become a games hermit and have strict discipline around cleanliness and hygiene. Whatever the rules are make them visible in the most appealing manner. Perhaps you can paint them onto the walls in a calligraphic style for example.
With imagination and creativity, creating, maintaining and updating a games room could become a fun game in and of itself. Happy gaming from now on; to the games room it is!
Many thanks to Ladbrokes Games for their assistance in putting together this useful guide to building an exciting and interactive games room!
