We’ve seen some great gaming set-ups on Kotaku in the past: Brian Crecente’s High-Def Game Room, galleries of game developer’s game rooms, and even pictures submitted by you guys, which included some of the most awesomely bad setups I’ve ever seen. Almost as bad as when my friend Drew made his own entertainment centre out of four cinderblocks and a piece of rotted plywood. I surround myself with classy people.
However big or small, every gamer has a collection, and every gamer has a set-up.
But say you had to take your entire collection and move it to a new location. What would you change about your set-up? What would stay the same? What would you get rid of? Time to reassess the situation!
That’s exactly what I’m going through. I just moved from my favourite city of Portland, Oregon to sunny (read: hot as hell) Los Angeles, and I have some time to think about a brand new arrangement. As I explained in the video, I wasn’t able to transport my entire game collection to California the first trip. Now I’m surviving with just a well-loved DS Lite (that means I’ve dropped it a lot) and an original Xbox 360, which currently sounds like a malfunctioning hovercraft.
Thank Thor I don’t have to get rid of my games and systems; I’ll eventually transport them down to SoCal to enjoy the smog with me – but not without trimming some fat. The games and memorabilia I’ve collected are a reflection of my personality, and the move gives me a chance to reevaluate what I should ditch and what should take centre stage.
I’ll be keeping my “Tower of Power” just the same because there is something beautiful about having my Wii, 360, and PS3 all stacked on top of one another, each on its own private shelf. But what about the hundreds of posters I’ve collected, my Zelda cardboard cutout that I may or may not kiss before I sleep each night, and the fact that I’ve somehow acquired three PS2s? Where will it all go?!
(On a side note, does anyone need a PS2?)
My game room in Portland is about five more pieces of expo swag away from being an episode of Hoarders. I’m a collector, sure, but I’ve turned into a lazy collector. I’ll keep just about anything game-related – even the roll of No More Heroes 2 toilet paper I stole from a bathroom at PAX 2009. (Don’t tell.) Getting rid of random posters and cheap figurines will thankfully help make my place look less like a toddler-run GameStop, but the real challenge will be narrowing down the games themselves.
Last I counted, I had around 550 total games, but a chunk turned out to be either shovelware or duplicates. I blame some of this on my grandma who has given me Cooking Mama three Christmases in a row because she thinks it’s an instructional video. Stop trying to domesticate me, grandma!
… should she keep these non-classics?
• Donkey Konga with DK Bongos – I want to call this a collector’s item, but the game sucks too much.
• Link’s Crossbow Training – Otherwise known as ‘Fun-For-An-Hour’.
• Devil May Cry 2 – Like Indiana Jones 4, this game never happened.
• The Orange Box (360) – Heresy! I should be playing those games on Steam.
• Rock Band/Guitar Hero Drums -No more banging wooden sticks against plastic at my birthday parties!
• BONUS: Original Steel Battalion Controller – I don’t own it, but if I did, I would get rid of it.
The inevitable is fast approaching: which games to keep, which games to sell, trash or re-gift to unknowing relatives. In time, my nephew will learn to appreciate Aquaman.
Out of my 550 titles, I only brought six to LA. A little Fable, a little Saints Row – games to keep me runnin’ around. Whatever I decide about the rest still has to wait until I can fly back to Portland and commandeer a moving van in 99-degree weather, paying five bucks a gallon for gas, with one of my friends who will likely make me listen to Bruce Springsteen. (I can’t handle it; he’s just so average.)
Though I’m currently separated from most of my games and shiny consoles, I meant what I said in the video. I’ve still found ways to keep up my gaming habits, because I’m a gamer and that’s what we do. The other day, I played Solitaire. With a real deck of cards. Who does that?
Lisa’s Gaming Room: Los Angeles
I’ve also become a master at online Pictionary and my extra free time has been spent helping my mum curb her adult A.D.D. by getting her interested in different DS titles. See? Being away from my multitude of games has made me a little less selfish.
If anyone has any suggestions for my new game set-up, or would like to invite me to any secret underground Los Angeles gamer clubs that may exist, please find me on Twitter before I get redefined as a “casual gamer.” I’m starting to think I can actually win a game of Windows Hearts.
Kotaku columnist Lisa Foiles is best known as the former star of Nickelodeon’s award-winning comedy show, All That. She currently works as a graphic designer and writes for her game site, Save Point. For more info, visit Lisa’s official website.
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