[
Back to the Gameroom page
|
The Room
|
Lighting
|
Carpeting
|
Electrical
|
Sound System
|
To Do
]
The Room
Elevated Floor
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
|
Rather than having a huge open area, I wanted to break up the room a bit. I had an
elevated section of floor installed, complete with a railing. This way we have a row
of games that are "showcased" and able to be seen from across the room. I eventually
plan on having more games up against the railing, or a row of cocktail cabinet games
(notice the electrical sockets under the railing). The elevated section is about
8" above the rest of the room. Not a huge step up, but enough to create the effect.
|
Lighting
Blacklights
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Normal Lights
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
|
One of the things I wanted to have in our arcade was wall-to-wall blacklight sensitive carpeting (see below).
To illuminate the carpet evenly, we had special lighting installed.
We installed 3 rows of 3 flourescent fixtures, each holding 4 flourescent tubes.
The middle row has normal "cool white" bulbs, and the two outer rows both have
blacklight tubes in them. The middle row and the outer rows are on separate
circuits, each with their own wall switch. This way we can turn on normal lighting
(if I am working on the games or whatnot),
or blacklighting if we are playing games.
The blacklight tubes were about $15 a piece, and there are 24 of them (not including the cool white tubes).
Do the math. Ouch! We try to only turn on the blacklights when we are playing games to preserve their life.
I had even thought about installing one of those bathroom timer switches to make sure the games turn off after a
while. For now we just have to remember to turn them off with the games.
|
Carpeting
Carpet Under
Normal Lights
Carpet Under
Blacklights
|
One of the arcades in our area has blacklight carpeting installed. I wanted to do the same thing.
Blacklight carpeting is carpeting that glows, or lights up, under blacklights (see Lighting section, above).
We shopped around and got a bunch of samples from various places, and finally settled on the
"galaxy" theme. With the blacklights on, and the full wall-to-wall carpeting, it give a SUPER cool effect.
It has to be seen to be believed!
For information on blacklight carpeting, see my arcade links page.
|
Electrical
Game Switches
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Outlets
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
|
At our old house, we had to run all the games to various power strips, with extension cords
running all over the place. When we were done playing we had to go unplug a bunch of cords,
some of which were behind games. Then when you wanted to play again, you had to go crawling
behind the games again. Some of the games had bad hum due to the extension cords.
When we built our arcade, I wanted to fix these problems.
We had quad outlets installed every few feet of the gameroom, so we'd never need to use
another nasty power strip!
Every outlet in the room goes to one of three double-pole, double-throw wall switches
so they are completely isolated when they are off (and the switches are on their own breakers).
When we want to play the games, we just hit the switches and all the games come on.
Hit another switch to fire up the blacklights.
Cool!!
|
Sound System
Speakers
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
|
This part of our gameroom is still under construction.
I have all four corners of the room wired for speakers, but I haven't had the time/money to
get the speakers and sound system. The wires all run to a central location (our computer room)
and I plan on setting up an MP3 server (with an '80s arcade playlist of course).
|
To Do
|
Our arcade is very much a work-in-progress. Here are some of the things I still have planned:
- Blacklight curtains
Right now we just have some blankets hung in front of the windows (to keep it dark), but I would
like to get some blacklight material (see my arcade links page) and
make some really cool looking blacklight responsive curtains to use.
- Sound System
See Sound System section, above.
- Wall Decor
I haven't decided what to do here. I definitely need to repaint the walls a more exciting color
and hang up some things.
So far I just have a single "Atari" banner hanging up
(unless you want to count the nifty "Restroom" sign I hung on the bathroom door), but eventually I'd like to decorate the walls with
some sort of '80s arcade theme. I'm thinking of neon signs,
arcade signs typical of arcades in the '80s, high-score sheets, arcade flyers,
arcade game-related posters, etc. I'm also thinking about maybe getting some glow-in-the-dark/blacklight
paint, and painting some "Tron-ish" looking circuit traces all over the walls. Of course, then I'd NEVER be able to sell
my house, LOL.
- Specialty Lighting
Besides the blacklight lighting we currently have, I'd like to have a couple
gobo projectors with arcade patterns,
and maybe some cool "DJ" lighting. Perhaps even a fog-machine, although I'd be a little worried about
the fog damaging the games and such.
See my arcade links page for more information on gobos and other specialty lighting links.
- Snack Bar
Haven't decided where to put it yet, but I would like to build a snack bar with a counter top and a foot railing.
Add in some bar stools, a mini-refridgerator and maybe a popcorn machine.
- Trash Cans
I know, it sounds funny. But every arcade back in the '80s had them. I want to get two for my
gameroom and put one at each exit.
See my arcade links page for some "authentic '80s" looking trash cans (warning - they aren't cheap!).
- More Games!
As anyone who has collected arcade games will tell you, you can never have enough games!
|
[
Back to the Gameroom page
|
The Room
|
Lighting
|
Carpeting
|
Electrical
|
Sound System
|
To Do
]
|
