How do you game on your console?

[Boogahz]

I really want to be able to play more games on my console, but I just can't seem to get comfortable doing so. I have my better TV set up in the bedroom, so that is where I have the console. I could play on the bed, but the bed sits higher than the TV does. I have a chair in the bedroom as well, but it just doesn't seem to work out. I have thought about moving the console to the inferior TV in the living room, but...well...that's an inferior TV.

What kind of setup do y'all use, and where?

[Funkmasterr]

I really want to be able to play more games on my console, but I just can't seem to get comfortable doing so. I have my better TV set up in the bedroom, so that is where I have the console. I could play on the bed, but the bed sits higher than the TV does. I have a chair in the bedroom as well, but it just doesn't seem to work out. I have thought about moving the console to the inferior TV in the living room, but...well...that's an inferior TV.

What kind of setup do y'all use, and where?

I've got everything but my 360 hooked up to my 62" in the living room. I've got a couch, a computer chair, and a recliner. I tend to rotate between the three plus sitting on the floor throughout a night of gaming(I'm weird, I sit on the floor a lot).

In my bedroom I've got the 360 hooked up, and I game on it sometimes but it's primarily for watching Netflix/Amazon.

[Fairweather Pure]

My wife and I are fond of purpose built rooms. We have a dining room that is used for family board game nights, crafting, and things like that (as well as dining during big events!). The table seats 14-16 and the room has no TV or electronics in it.

The Living Room is for general lounging, but has a nice 65" TV and a Pioneer soundbar+subwoofer. This area seats 9 as it stands (there is seating out of shot) but we can fit another 3-4 comfortably. The TV has a Blu Ray player, Cable Box, Apple TV, and a 360 Elite connected. This is primarily where my kids and their friends play video games and watch Netflix as well as where my wife sits at a corner desk for creative writing and some of her other "simpler" hobbies. Generally speaking, I do not play video games here. I use this for quiet times and conversations with wife and friends. The TV usually streams family photos. I just finished redoing this room last month, actually. I put in the TV+electronics, bought furniture, and tore out all the carpet + put in new flooring.




In the basement is our office, where I play PC games, store/charge my 3DSXL/Vita, and binge on Netflix as I do so. The 45" TV above has an Apple TV connected at all times, but I've been known to hook up a console to play in between ques in WoW. I also paint miniatures here and sort/organize my board game collection. This is my escape room really, since all you can do is sit at my computer and play games. We have plenty of other TVs, so this only gets used by me as I game for the most part. Actually, there is an amazing overstuffed chair between our desks and my wife has sat there and read a book/knitted/watched the TV over me as I have gamed on many occasions. It was important for us not to have a sterile office where nobody wanted to be. It's like a little living room actually.



Across the hallway is my "Man Cave". I have a 70" 3D TV and sound system in there, as well as all my family board games, Lego collection, and Nerf guns (20 for parties!). This is where I do 90% of my gaming. It's blackout (ie: no windows), and always a tad on the cool side. My WiiU, PS3/4, 360/One are all here. I have a 44" TV on this bar for when I have a friend over. We bring the 360 down from upstairs or he brings one of his next gen consoles with him. I've also streamed Netflix on that while gaming on the big TV. On the other side of the bar are charging stations for all my controllers and 3D glasses. Everything is hidden. We also keep our theater candy (Around 50 different kinds! We're quite proud!), Popcorn machine, and cotton candy machine down here along with our blu ray collection. This is where we gather as a family to watch any movies together. We try very hard to have 1 family movie night a week. I have huge plans for this room, but they are a year or 2 away. I actually just bought a slot machine at a junk sale, restored it, and stuck it down there. It's quite a crowd pleaser!



(The sot machine is where the games are in this pic. The game collection has moved into a hallway closet)


Finally, we have a 65" projection screen in our master bedroom with a 360 elite and an Apple TV hooked up to it. This gets very little playtime overall and is mainly used to watch Netflix and porn in bed.

My take aways for comfortable, long term gaming are:

-A dedicated, customized space if that is an option.
-Make sure you can keep everything close together within the same space (games, charging controllers, ect)
-Personally, I like an inviting space where lots of other people can watch or participate.
-Viewing distance and eye level should be natural.
-Complete darkness when you want it.
-Make it your own by personalizing the area in some way.
-For god's sake, have a few spare outlets around for charging devices like phones or tablets!

[Spang]

MTV Cribs: VeeshanVault Edition

[Spang]

My PS3 is connected to my 32" flatscreen. I sit in a comfy office chair. There's a desk with my MacBook Pro. There's also a PC that doesn't work--the monitor still works. My iPhone and mini-fridge are both within arms reach.

[Spang]

Not sure of source:

[Show]

[Winnow]

I took my time researching office chairs and then spent 1K on a nice one that's very comfortable that I had shipped from somewhere in Canada. The thing weights about 75-100 pounds and has a memory foam seat cushion that is like a spa for your ass every time you sit in it. You can marathon game sitting in it for 12-14 hours straight and still be comfy. Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4 and PC are all hooked up to my main 46" TV with another 46" Screen beside it to the right. High quality 46" inch screens close to you are fantastic for gaming as well as for PC monitors. To the left is a 27" iMac (used mostly for Netflix and Spotify) and then a 27" PC LCD to the left of it. I give up my main PC screen to the Consoles when playing them which still gives me 2 more PC screens and the iMac screen to use while gaming. My desk is basically surrounded by monitors but both 46" Inch screens swivel to face another part of the living room if needed. Eventually all of these screens will be replaced by 4K screens but I'm in no rush.

I don't have a traditional living room setup. Never understood why people hide away their PCs in dens, etc. PCs are the central lifeblood of media entertainment these days. Also don't understand why people face their desks against a wall. I set mine up to face outward to view a large open area. Who wants to stare at a wall? It still seems like 90% of people have crappy desks and desk chairs for their PC setups. They're like an afterthought. Thankfully my significant other likes the same things I do when it comes to tech/game/nerdy stuff. Tech equipment > decorative pillows

Pretty sure my Video Card can run 4 monitors so I'll have my Oculus Rift hooked up to the 4th port when it arrives. My desk chair has great adjustments and a head rest so I can veg out in Virtual Reality land in comfort.

I don't game in bed or even have a TV in the bedroom. Two iPads a (3 and Air) are used in the bedroom. It's not good to watch TV or game in the bedroom for healthy sleeping pattern reasons. iPad Air works awesome for movies streamed, Netflix, Comic Reading, web browsing, music, etc if/when desired outside of the living room.

More important is your NFL football Sunday setup. I stream 4 games on my right 46" screen and have the Redzone going on the main 46" screen unless the Arizona Cardinals are playing in which case I stream 4 games and have the Cardinals on my main screen. I don't use my two 120" HD projectors anymore. iMac is used to track fantasy football scoring. Final PC screen is used for whatever else.

I really have no need for larger screens than 46". The way my setup is, they are huge as they are close to the seats. I've been there, done that, with the big screen thing, with the 10 foot projector screens. Bigger is better only if you're sitting far away from your screen. While it will be anti social, VR headsets will blow away any big screen you get soon. There are already 4K 7" inch screens and when slightly smaller versions of those end up being used in VR headsets the screen size, legit 3D, picture quality, etc of will be mind blowing with your own IMAX theater.

Also have setup for day trading but won't bore you with that!

BTW, I don't see how anyone could possibly use a single PC monitor. All three of my PC screens are used heavily. They don't go to waste. iMac, if anything is the most wasted. Tabs on browsers are nice and all, and I have a ton open most of the time but having three screens to spread the windows around beats switching tabs any day. Although I am not a fan of iMacs, it's nice to have the second PC available if/when there's issues with the main PC, or if it's tied up with CPU heavy stuff. Also nice having very fast LTE service in my area as a back up for the rare times my cable is out.

[Animalor]

We have a pretty standard living room with the main, 50" TV that my wife, kids and I share. I also have the PC in the other corver of the room. We have a nice set of wireless headphones hooked for when when we don't want to noise pollute the other's activity.

The consoles are hooked up to the TV but I have an HDMI switch with a long cable that hooks up to the secondary input of my PC monitor. I use my Surface Pro if I need a secondary display for anything.

It's a nice, functional setup until we can finish our basement and have more functional space.

[Boogahz]

I mainly wondered how consoles fit into everyone's living space. I have a nice setup for my 2 pcs/3 monitors/tv in the dining/living area, but I haven't moved the PS3 because it isn't 720p like the poor TV in the living room. I have it hooked up to the better one in the bedroom. Guess I can try moving it over the weekend to see if it is more comfortable from the couch/desk chair. Glare in the bedroom is an issue I might have left out before. The only wall large enough for it faces windows in two corners. Real pita unless I play on the bed in a back corner, lol. I think the living room can get dark enough during the day, and any windows would be either to the side or behind the tv stand.

[Fairweather Pure]

I mainly wondered how consoles fit into everyone's living space. I have a nice setup for my 2 pcs/3 monitors/tv in the dining/living area, but I haven't moved the PS3 because it isn't 720p like the poor TV in the living room. I have it hooked up to the better one in the bedroom. Guess I can try moving it over the weekend to see if it is more comfortable from the couch/desk chair. Glare in the bedroom is an issue I might have left out before. The only wall large enough for it faces windows in two corners. Real pita unless I play on the bed in a back corner, lol. I think the living room can get dark enough during the day, and any windows would be either to the side or behind the tv stand.

My last house had unreal glare issues so I empathize. We had a 56" rear projection that wasn't bright enough to fight off all that direct sunlight. I actually couldn't see the screen during certain times of the afternoon. We replaced that with a LCD and there were no more issues. We had a plasma briefly, but the screen reflection was worse than having the rear projection. No issues at all in my new house, thanks in large part to TV placement, type of TV, and blackout curtains for the bedroom french doors.

[Funkmasterr]

I mainly wondered how consoles fit into everyone's living space. I have a nice setup for my 2 pcs/3 monitors/tv in the dining/living area, but I haven't moved the PS3 because it isn't 720p like the poor TV in the living room. I have it hooked up to the better one in the bedroom. Guess I can try moving it over the weekend to see if it is more comfortable from the couch/desk chair. Glare in the bedroom is an issue I might have left out before. The only wall large enough for it faces windows in two corners. Real pita unless I play on the bed in a back corner, lol. I think the living room can get dark enough during the day, and any windows would be either to the side or behind the tv stand.

I'll take a picture of mine when I get home tonight and toss it up here, I've kinda gotten creative about fitting everything in.

[Fairweather Pure]

Never understood why people hide away their PCs in dens, etc. PCs are the central lifeblood of media entertainment these days.

It's not good to watch TV or game in the bedroom for healthy sleeping pattern reasons.

PCs stream anything I need to my other sets. Having a PC anywhere but my office would be redundant to the extreme. All my areas have Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, lots more, and can stream my music, videos, and pics from the PC. Why would you ever need the PC front and center? For PC gaming? I'd rather do that on my PC in my office. It feels a bit more intimate, which coincides with the types of games I play on PC anyway (RTS/MMO/Strategy/Simulation). The home office is actually a work place for many people, so they want it separated from the rest of the house for a very good reason. That's why we do it, but even if it wasn't I would still give it it's own space.

Sleeping patterns? Where do you come up with this stuff? Do you think everyone just stares at a TV until they go to sleep every night? I haven't done that in 15-20 years. I love having that TV in there. We usually do just end up reading on our ipads every night in bed though!

Everyone is different and every home is different. Some people don't have the space or funds and make do with what they have which results in all sorts of interesting and unique set ups.

[Funkmasterr]

Never understood why people hide away their PCs in dens, etc. PCs are the central lifeblood of media entertainment these days.

It's not good to watch TV or game in the bedroom for healthy sleeping pattern reasons.

PCs stream anything I need to my other sets. Having a PC anywhere but my office would be redundant to the extreme. All my areas have Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, lots more, and can stream my music, videos, and pics from the PC. Why would you ever need the PC front and center? For PC gaming? I'd rather do that on my PC in my office. It feels a bit more intimate, which coincides with the types of games I play on PC anyway (RTS/MMO/Strategy/Simulation). The home office is actually a work place for many people, so they want it separated from the rest of the house for a very good reason. That's why we do it, but even if it wasn't I would still give it it's own space.

Sleeping patterns? Where do you come up with this stuff? Do you think everyone just stares at a TV until they go to sleep every night? I haven't done that in 15-20 years. I love having that TV in there. We usually do just end up reading on our ipads every night in bed though!

Everyone is different and every home is different. Some people don't have the space or funds and make do with what they have which results in all sorts of interesting and unique set ups.

As much as agreeing with winnow makes me feel dirty, he's right on that. Article on topic Whether it's a TV or a phone/tablet, viewing them within an hour or so before bed is bad, plain and simple.

[Fairweather Pure]

I don't disagree. I guess I worded my response incorrectly.

I think it's rediculous to assume that if someone has a TV in a bedroom that the people must be watching it at bedtime. My bedroom gets used for all sorts of activities throughout the day, from folding laundry to naps in the afternoons. Furthermore, it's the dedicated "sick room" for when one of my family needs to be segregated from the others due to illness. It's an awesome sick room too. My kids live sick days a little too much, lol.

[Winnow]

I don't disagree. I guess I worded my response incorrectly.

I think it's rediculous to assume that if someone has a TV in a bedroom that the people must be watching it at bedtime. My bedroom gets used for all sorts of activities throughout the day, from folding laundry to naps in the afternoons. Furthermore, it's the dedicated "sick room" for when one of my family needs to be segregated from the others due to illness. It's an awesome sick room too. My kids live sick days a little too much, lol.

I didn't assume anything and would still use an iPad in the bedroom (and do) when sick. With an iPad you can place it anywhere. For example, lying on your side, you can prop it up with a pillow and watch the picture vertically right in front of you without having to twist your head to see a properly oriented picture. You can also flip the iPad to the other side of you as you toss and turn (you know, sick like) without having to face the same direction to see a stationary TV. You can lie on your back and hold the iPad up over your head (with the Air because it's so damn light) for quite awhile with just one hand. You can even completely cover your head and body in blankets and still have the iPad underneath watching shows, etc. iPad is the perfect sick person media device.

As for taking naps, well, same no TV/LCD blue light in your face applies to those as well. Laundry, don't know about that. If I'm actually doing something that I don't want to do (chores of any sort), I tend to focus and get them done as fast as possible to then go back to what I really want to be doing so watching TV isn't a priority, maybe audiobook/radio/music.

My comment about not understanding why people do things was more for the computer desks, etc. I don't care if someone has a TV in their bedroom. I didn't say anywhere that it was ridiculous to have a TV in a bedroom. It's not ridiculous to have a computer desk facing a wall in a separate room. There are reasons to do that. I don't have kids and am an introvert. I do need plenty of alone time. With two adults, it is possible to have two people in the same room and not have to talk constantly. With kids, not so much.

If you lack imagination, I suppose you could have porn going while having sex with a spouse in the bedroom, etc...but there again, VR will take over that role soon as you will be able to see anyone you want while having sex so a TV on a wall doesn't have a bright future for that as well...and eventually entire walls, ceilings (and maybe floors) will become like virtual windows, when that happens, eye tracking will probably also be enabled so if you are watching a movie, the movie would move to whatever surface you're viewing, ceiling or wall...but you still wouldn't be able to bury yourself under the covers when sick like with an iPad or VR headset.