Building a game room - looking for opinions

Arthur Dent

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Going to start a thread on my gameroom buildout and log my progress. I can probably use any advice you are willing to offer.

I have the opportunity (read my wife said it was ok) to use part of my basement for an arcade. The most obvious area to use is an area that is 11'x22'. I would be adding a wall that would make an enclosed room. There would be 3 doors. 2 on one of the 22' walls where one is at the very end of the wall and the other is about 4' from the other end. The 3rd door would be added to the wall being built and would be positioned adjacent to the door on the 22' wall so that usable space isn't wasted.

I am wondering how many games I can fit in this space and more importantly, how many of the games I have will I be able to fit. I am also wondering how much power I will need to safely power the games. Then there are the aesthetics like how to paint the room, if I should add carpeting and what kind. Do I use a pad under the carpet, etc.

The games I currently have are:

Defender (has Moon Patrol installed but will be converting back to Defender)
Omega Race
Sinistar
Joust (in a Robotron cab)
Rastan (in a Joust or Moon Patrol cab)
Pac-Man
NeoGeo 2 slot
Carnevil
Battlezone (not working yet)
Tetris (for my wife, in a yet unidentified Data east cab)
Centipede cocktail
Make Trax cocktail
Namco candy cab
Rocky & Bullwinkle pinball

Games I would like to be able to add later:

Robotron
Tempest
Dragon's Lair (have everything but the cabinet)
Qix (have everything but the cabinet)
Tutankham (have boards only)
Gauntlet (have everything but the cabinet)


As I look at this I am questioning whether the space will be enough. I need to measure the cabs and then I am going to make a visio diagram and see.

The room would only have 2 outlets to start. One on the existing 11' wall and the other on the 22' wall without any doors. I figure I can add outlets to the 11' wall I am building and then the other 22' wall has rooms on the other side with outlets on the other side of that wall that I may be able to tie into. there is also an electric wall mounted heater that I plan on removing and turning into an outlet. Thoughts?

For aethetics I was thinking I would paint the walls and ceiling black. I was thinking of using blacklight carpet. I found a place locally that has some with the "confetti" design but it is a little more expensive than I originally anticipated. I am going to try to find a less expensive source. But do you thik I should use a pad as well? I am wondering how difficult it will be to move the games around if I use a pad. (All of the games will have new(ish) leg levelers.

I'm probably forgetting something but this is a good start. I will add more as I think of it.
 
Just a thought, but I try to limit the number of cabinets on each line to about 5-6, so it sounds like you might want to run an extra circuit breaker or two and run them dedicated to the game room.

Otherwise the best plan is to make scale cutouts of the room and the games and just try different setups. When I did my layout, I bought some of the 1"x1" postit notes as the cabinets and scaled the room drawing accordingly. That worked pretty good as the cabinets would stay put when I stuck them on the room drawing.

ken
 
My first thought is that black will make the space seem smaller.

Nice lineup you have there.

Thanks! I'm pretty old school...probably because I am old. No Mortal Kombat for me, Karate Champ maybe. :) Only reason I got the NeoGeo is because my friend gave me the Namco candy cab along with a 1-slot and about 30 carts and 4 Capcom CPS2 games. That kind of rekindled my love of arcade games. I picked up the NeoGeo cab at an auction recently so now I can keep the Capcom games in the Namco cab and have a dedicated cab for the NeoGeo games. Magical Drop 3 is an awesome game when you have a good competitor.

I'll have to think about the color scheme. My goal is for the room to look cool under blacklight when all the games are on. Not too concerned with when the games are off and regular lighting is used. I was originally hoping to utilize this space as a home theater as well with a ceiling projector and retractable screen but if I were to put a loveseat against the 11' wall I think it will limit the number of games too much. Going to try to measure everything tonight.
 
The only thing I can offer that hasn't been offered already is the idea to use UV-light reactive carpet. Since you plan on black-lighting your arcade you will want this carpet. Several KLOVers have it in their arcades.

Also I would recommend against the home theatre idea. I had this idea myself but as you've pointed out, you will drastically limit the amount of space you have for machines. Not to mention, it would possibly be distracting having all the machines around when trying to watch a movie even with the machines off. Food for thought.

~Lanky Kong
 
Our house has fairly small rooms. One of the tricks we have used in the rooms is to paint one wall of the room a contrasting color. I have seen this done on the ceiling, as well. It doesn't make the rooms feel cavernous, but it adds a little bit. In our living room we painted a "stripe" as a border along where the walls and ceiling fade together, on account of coved ceilings.

If you're not into making scale models, I recommend learning how to use Google Sketchup. It helped me a ton when I was laying out the basement. It's kind of weird to get used to, but works great.
 
If you're not into making scale models, I recommend learning how to use Google Sketchup. It helped me a ton when I was laying out the basement. It's kind of weird to get used to, but works great.

Google SketchUp FTW! With all the video game and pinball models, it's easy to plan your room.
 
Just a thought, but I try to limit the number of cabinets on each line to about 5-6, so it sounds like you might want to run an extra circuit breaker or two and run them dedicated to the game room.

ken

Agreed. Though most games (at least the ones I have) are generally between 2-2.5 amp, you're better off planning for more power than you think you need. I also recommend wiring them up to a switches (lamp plugs) rather than just killing the breaker. Most of my game time I end up play a game or a few games in a session, it's only every few weeks that I light up the full arcade.

For the record: I have 1 wall with 6 plugs, and another with 8, but that wall is split up 4 and 4 between 2 breakers because I plan on having some sit down racers linked (like RUSH) and they draw a lot of juice. I also have both plugs on the switch in case I need to "share them".

best of luck.
 
Got the wall built tonight. I will post some pics soon. Here is the layout I have of game placement. It should be to scale so hopefully it all fits. Make Trax and Centipede are cocktails and I had a hard time placing them where there would be room for chairs or stools so I kind of have them sharing a stool.
 

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Make Trax and Centipede are cocktails and I had a hard time placing them where there would be room for chairs or stools so I kind of have them sharing a stool.

Great solution! Just orient them so the corner stool is for player 2 (ie single player games could happen simultaneously).
 
I see 14 games in that layout...missing a few, aren't you?

Rule of thumb: 4-6 games per 15 amp circuit. Your room will need at least 3 circuits to run all those games without issues.

If you're gonna run new circuits, just run 12/2 romex and run 20 amp circuits while you're at it. Then you can run at least 6 games per circuit with plenty of headroom.

Rent/borrow a kill-o-watt meter and take a measurement of your games amp draw, or do some googling. I believe Frizz metered quite a few games a few years back. Here's his thread:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=209416
 
Pretty nice game room layout! I have been working on updating my game room for several months myself (slowly!), and here are a few of my findings to share:

1) I have been told a decent rule of thumb is to expect about 2 amps of power per game, or up to 3 amps per pin. Also, try not to use over 80% of the rated amperage on your circuit breaker. This means consume no more than 12 amps for a 15 amp breaker, or 16 amps for a 20 amp breaker.

2) I found RadioShack carries the "kill-a-watt" meters for about $25. Their catalog number is 22-129 and most stores around where I live seem to have it. For that kind of money, it's definitely a worthwhile investment.

3) Lowe's has nice power strips that are like 3 feet long with 10 outlets for about $30 (I think maybe they are now $25?). I don't have the sku number handy right now. Also worthwhile, but they have a 15 amp breaker in them, so it may not let you maximize 20 amp circuits. It does, however fit really nicely within an island of 6 machines.

4) I personally like islands of games. It also allows you to show off side art on more of your games. When doing your floorplan, remember to consider which games have nice sideart. Also keep in mind if you have games where sideart looks great on one side, but is torn up on the other side. It's worthwhile to have the best looking sideart facing the front of the gameroom.

5) I found a blacklight carpet remnant that works well (and in a pattern I have never seen before that I really like). Blacklight carpet, is commercial, and is designed to be glued down, so padding is typically not offered. For me, realizing I may not be in the house forever, or that I may want to change gameroom locations, I decided to get my blacklight carpet bound into a rug. Most carpet stores can accommodate that request, but it can be pricey (my binding was more than the remnant itself, but I did also get a hell of a deal on the remnant). For a rug, however, it can sometimes be a little tricky to roll machines across it without bunching it up. Once you weigh it down with a few games though, the problem is not as bad.

6) As far as carpet padding goes, it does make it more difficult to roll or drag machines across it, but if you have a floor you care about beneath the carpet (i.e. hardwood), then padding is an ok idea. My gameroom, for instance, already has padded carpet under the blacklight rug, which exponentially enhances the suckiness of rolling machines across it. I'll remove the underlying carpet/padding one day, but right now everything is already in place, so I'm not doing it now. One more suggestion is that you can get blacklight carpet bound into rugs that are small enough where no machines would have to sit on it. Then you can roll it up and out of the way when it comes time to move machines around. If I had it to do over, I would have likely had mine bound into smaller rugs that I could roll out after all games were in place. But remember, more binding means more rug perimeter that has to be bound, which makes it more expensive (binding is usually priced by linear foot). Live and learn I guess.

Anyway, I hope the advice here is helpful to you. Good luck, and post some pics when you're done!
 
I see 14 games in that layout...missing a few, aren't you?

Thanks for rubbing it in! ;-) Well, I managed to fit everything I currently own a cab for. Surprised I managed to do that since I did not plan it out at all. It just worked out that way. Not sure what I am going to do for the others I want yet...although a JROK in the future would allow me to combine the Joust and Defender that I have and add the Robotron that I want. Although I hate the idea that people would not be able to play one game while someone else played another.

I'll worry about that when I get there. I may have to have an arcade annex. ;-)

As for the electric, there are two dedicated circuits in the room now. I am running a 3rd to the new wall. Then I will remove a wall heater and convert that to an outlet too. And I may tie into a circuit on the other side of a shared wall between the 2 doors for the games there or else I would have to run a cord over the doorway.
 
Pretty nice game room layout! I have been working on updating my game room for several months myself (slowly!), and here are a few of my findings to share:

1) I have been told a decent rule of thumb is to expect about 2 amps of power per game, or up to 3 amps per pin. Also, try not to use over 80% of the rated amperage on your circuit breaker. This means consume no more than 12 amps for a 15 amp breaker, or 16 amps for a 20 amp breaker.

In my personal experience that's a low estimate. I've checked every one of my vids and the majority are between 2 and 3 amps. My Afterburner upright spikes as high as 3.9 amps when the force feedback engages. As he mentions, it's best to buy a meter and check your own games to see what they are really drawing.

I put an amp meter on and waited until the initial surge is over (some can spike as high as 50% during the that first 10 seconds or so) and after that I watched the meter and looked for the highest number it came up with and added that to a spreadsheet, and kept my games sorted by circuit so if I decide to move them I know how much power is available (I also keep information like physical dimensions, and monitor type handy too).

I like the idea of only using 80% capacity that helps with the surges, and if you're running new power lines I think it makes the most sense to just run 12/2 cable and 20 amp breakers. Take what you think you might need then round up and add more power. While the walls are open is the best time to do it and you don't want to catch yourself unprepared for future expansion. I did my 1 wall with 8 plugs between two 20 amp breakers because that's where my racing games will go. I've heard a sit down RUSH 2049 can spike as high as 5 amps so that's what I ran. When in doubt run MORE than you think you'll need. Romex is cheap.

PS - I can't say enough about wiring them up like lamp plugs. It makes everything VERY convenient.

2) I found RadioShack carries the "kill-a-watt" meters for about $25. Their catalog number is 22-129 and most stores around where I live seem to have it. For that kind of money, it's definitely a worthwhile investment.

YUP! I got one at Lowes that's similar for $30. Worth every penny.

3) Lowe's has nice power strips that are like 3 feet long with 10 outlets for about $30 (I think maybe they are now $25?). I don't have the sku number handy right now. Also worthwhile, but they have a 15 amp breaker in them, so it may not let you maximize 20 amp circuits. It does, however fit really nicely within an island of 6 machines.

I was originally using 2 rack mounted power strips I got from a DJ supply chain on ebay. They have 8 outlets and a 15 amp breaker in it, and what I liked about them was they had a separate switch for each plug. When I started out with my games this was very helpful because I had enough power to run them all, but not turn them on at the same time due to the surge so I more or less had a "launch sequence" I had to perform or I would blow a breaker.
 
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