Homemade Arcade Game Room

Corner Arcade Machines

• The old stand-up arcade machines that feed on quarters can now be purchased from game room stores, varying in price depending on the game they play and hardware associated with playing them. If you have the money to purchase one of these stand-up games new, you can have it delivered and simply plugged in to one corner of the room. The downside to these games is that they take up a bit of floor space, but they may be one of the cooler ways to play a video game. You can also build your own stand-up arcade machine with an old computer monitor and computer, a shelf, some simple wiring to a PC keyboard and the shell of one of those arcade machines. This takes a bit of construction and know-how to properly hook it up, but it can be done for a fraction of the cost of actually purchasing one of those machines.
  
  

New Arcade System

• The leaps video game technology has made over the last three decades is amazing and the newer games should be available in any home arcade, as they are cheap and easy to stock, as long as the proper TV is available. A good HD flat screen TV and a couch or two on which up to four people can comfortably sit should be provided, along with a few different types of game consoles, like the Nintendo Wii, the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. Games should be stocked beside each console or stored in the console itself (because you can now simply download games to the console's hard disk.) One or two controllers will be provided with each console, but it is probably best to provide four, because many of the best games allow four people to play at one time. This setup will concentrate a large number of people in one section of the room, so this should be the centerpiece of the arcade game room.
  
  

Portable Arcade Games

• There have also been a large number of portable arcade games created by console companies over the past few decades. To have a complete arcade game room, these small handheld devices should be provided in one section of the room, maybe for people to play while they are waiting to play the other, bigger games. These games can be played by simply holding them in your hands and pressing the buttons, because the controller is integrated into the body of the handheld device itself. A basket of batteries should be readily available.