Game Room Remodeling Diary, Episode 5

What a day, what a day. Cancelled a planned afternoon of thrifting because I got a call from work that severe weather will more than likely mean I’ll be called in tonight (see here to look at my local radar – I’m in Fort Smith, and red = bad). So I’m watching KTUL do wall-to-wall coverage of a major tornado outbreak near Tulsa, feeling unusually strong breezes blasting through my open window, and wiring up a killer game setup. Sadly, I’ve realized that I’m running out of room for systems and may have to revise some plans – and I still have more consoles en route to me from recent trades and eBay conquests. Sheesh. This room ain’t big enough.
But that’s not gonna stop me.
Today’s shots aren’t very photogenic, but they’ll show you where I’m headed. Some of my least-often-played consoles will live in the bottom of the entertainment center, as well computers which need additional dust protection due to keyboards, vents, etc.

This means the Apple IIc, the 7800, the Atari 400 (still not a single game for the poor thing yet, but ain’t it pretty?), and perhaps the NES will go down there. I have no idea where the Vic-20, C64 or TI 99/4A will go. I’m open to suggestions. I had to find a stable brace to prop up the IIc at an unusual angle so it would fit inside the compartment with its power supply and joystick connected.
You can also see that special sections have been reserved for my frequent flyers, my favorites: the 2600, the Odyssey 2, and the 5200. There’s also some other bric-a-brac sitting there that I’ll find other places for, namely the alarm clock, the stack of VHS tapes, and the TARDIS. On top of the hutch that houses the O2 and the 5200, there will soon be more backlit marquees. The compartment immediately below the 2600 usually has a drawer in it, but the space below that drawer houses a power strip which will drive all of the marquee lights, and will have one slot open at all times for whichever console is currently in action. All of the AC adapters and power cords for all of the consoles and classic computers will live on the same shelf (and yeah, I will be labeling them to avoid things getting too comedic when I try to plug one in and play it). Hopefully it’ll be less of a rat’s nest than it appears to be now. In the shelf below that will sit the dilapidated sound mixer that I now mainly use to monitor audio levels for my video duplication work. It’ll also come in very handy when I start committing direct game footage to DVD-R for use in that mysterious TV project I keep talking about (you see, there is a method to my madness in connecting the games to the A/V gear).
These storms are getting nasty and getting close. Lots of tornado warnings to the west. Hopefully my collection isn’t going to be strewn across the countryside in about three hours, that’d be about my luck.
The home stretch is in sight. More photos soon, hopefully lit up like an arcade and with games up and running. Let me know if you’ve got any ideas for where the Commodore machines can live, ’cause I’m just about out of ideas.