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alright it's time to show you the latest monstrosity
I've created. this is a setup consisting of 44 game systems which are all hooked
up and ready to play at the touch in a few buttons
everything is playable from the center this room where these two chairs are at
I also have it so that I can easily record the footage of anything I'm
playing on TV
which I use for my game reviews. so far
it allowed me to create 50 reviews covering games from a broad range of
systems
today in part 1, I'm going to discuss a few key points regarding this
setup
and I'm gonna tell you a little bit about myself. the first thing I wanna
address
is the TV situation. some systems are hooked up to this 36 inch CRT from the
1990's
while others are hooked up to this brand new 42 inch LED TV
why are they not all hooked up to the newer, technically advanced one?
it's simple, the older systems look better on CRT TVs
because that's what they were originally designed to play on. let me demonstrate
here's Zelda 2 on the NES playing on both TVs
hooked up exactly the same way. the CRT shows the game's natural look
but the new TV has difficulty displaying the edges of objects
everything has a wavy outline on it
here's Adventure Island
with the same result
and here's R-Type on the TurboGrafx 16
same result
another issue with modern TVs is
that the old lightgun games don't work on them, so retro classics like Time
Crisis, Virtual Cop, Duck-Hunt,
and Point Blank cannot be enjoyed on them
this setup is sitting in a room dedicated entirely to gaming
in the past I did have a lot more games in here
but the collection outgrew the space so some of the games have been boxed and
move to another room
until I build adequate shelving. much like the game collection
the system collection started small and gradually grew over time
early on I had envisioned a setup they had
everything hooked up at once, but getting to that point was challenging
the internet gave me some ideas but many I had to think of on my own
it of course took some money to build, some of these systems are cheap.
others are not. I also had the purchase the shelving
extra wiring and all the little gadgets that make this thing work
so in order to pay for it all I had to tighten up spending and other areas of
my life
I am married in my wife supports this hobby
she plays games in this room sometimes, but she doesn't quite have the same
tastes as me
She prefers Peggle, and Peggle, and Peggle.
do you wanna say hi? "hi." as I mentioned
every system is playable from the center the room
the majority of controller cards have extensions on them
that allow them to reach. and they can be tucked into these trays when they're not
in use
keeping everything neat an orderly. a handful older systems cannot have the
controller extensions attached to them
such as the Atari 5200. for those
there is slack in the cords behind the systems, so they can be pulled out onto
the floor
making the controllers reachable from the chairs. of course
systems with wireless controllers don't require any of this stuff
as far as electricity, many people see the number of
cords and instantly think it's dangerous, and that it would make the electrical
bills skyrocket
however, every device in this setup has its own power switch
the only electrical current that's running through it is what is being
consumed by the devices I'm using
typically this would be one system and one TV
so in other words, if you have a one-system set up at your house
you are likely using the same amount of electricity
as me. I do have some additional safeties in place.
the wall outlets are GFCI outlets, and the power panels have fuses in them
as far as getting the signal from the systems to the TV's
that's done through a very complex network of cords and switchboxes
here's a broad overview. there are five separate networks
one for each to five different signal types:
RF, composite, s-video, component, and HDMI
four of those five networks involve switch boxes
which I have to hit buttons on when I go to play something. the RF network,
which is for the older systems, doesn't use switch boxes
instead I simply swap a cord out when I go to play
switch boxes don't handle RF signals very well
which is why I stopped using them for that. so here's a quick runthrough of
what I typically do when I wanna play. I insert the game
turn on the corresponding power switch on the rack
hit the power switch on the system, hit one or two buttons on the switch boxes,
make sure the TV is on the right input
then stretch the controller cord. as I mentioned
some systems involve a wire swap instead of a switch box
for the Virtual Boy and Vectrex, I simply hit the power switches
on the rack, and on the systems. and now for the final discussion a part 1
why did I bother to create this set up at all?
the obvious answer is: for entertainment. many people watch movies, TV shows, and
sporting events
but I prefer gaming over all those because I feel much more enjoyable
naustaltia is also a motivator
at least for the older systems. I have a lot of fond memories from when I own
some of these as a kid
and playing them today connects me to that past, there were also systems I
didn't get to experience back then
and now I get a chance to see what they're all abou.t this setup is
basically a interactive museum that covers 35 years have gaming history
the fact that everything is hooked up at once makes everything convenient to play
it also reduces wear and tear on the systems, since they are not being moved around that
much
some people wonder why someone would play old systems
when there are new ones sitting a few feet away. the best way to explain it
is that the older games have a different style to them, and many are actually more
fun than the games they make today
it's similar to how some people feel about classic cars
they don't make em like they used to. some people also wonder why I don't use
emulators. my personal preference is to have the real thing
I wanna hold a game in my hand, look at the artwork,
read the manual, hold the controller, and I wanna be able to go to a used game
store and browse the selection
it's a fun hobby, a fun set up,
and I wouldn't have it any other way. In parts two and
onward, I'll speak more in depth about how this thing is put together.
for now I encourage you to look around my channel and browse the other gaming
related videos I've created
thanks for watching!