Westwood's Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun video game came out back in 2000, and has got to be one of the best entertainment purchases I've ever made.
Nine years have passed, but I still play this game on a regular basis. In fact, I've spent entire weekends fending off adversaries while I build huge fortresses, create choke points, assemble enormous air squadrons. Then, once I've finished preparing the battlefield I unleash my armies and mercilessly crush my enemies.
It's a blast!
One of my favorite classic video games is Williams Joust from 1982.
I play it several times a week on my MAME cabinet. It's always a favorite when we have company too, because two people can play simultaneously instead of taking turns.
Maybe someday I'll pick up the Joust pinball machine too. It's one of the rarest pinballs out there, so fat chance, but a geek can hope right?
My home was built in 2000 and had a large unfinished basement with decent ceiling height. In late 2007, after years of putting it off, my wife and I finally decided to turn it into finished living space. We did most of the work ourselves with the assistance of my father-in-law Bob and his huge colection of power tools.
Now, after a year and a half of weekends and evenings, it's about 90% finished. The bathroom is incomplete and there's much more decorating to be done, but it's close enough to be enjoyed and finally looks good enough for me to share some pics with my blog buddies, so here goes.
THE GAME ROOM - This is the main room you enter when coming down the steps. There's a foosball table, an arcade game, some pinball machines, a slot machine, a dartboard and a variety of fun and funky decorations.
We chose a commercial grade vinyl plank for the floor. It's very rustic looking, durable and waterproof. Together with the greenish color on the walls it gives the room a cozy Irish pub vibe that my wife really likes.
THE PINBALL COLLECTION - From left to right we have Black Hole, Haunted House, Sorcerer and Dungeons & Dragons.
THE ARCADE GAME - This is my MAME cabinet custom built for me by Dream Authentics. It's a full size arcade machine packed with over 70,000 roms (games). Yes, that's right 70,000! I have nearly every arcade game, every Nintendo game, every Super Nintendo game, every Nintendo 64 game, every Gamecube game, every Sega Genesis game, every Atari game etc. etc.
Never in my life will I play them all, but if you were over and remembered one from the old days we'd be able to play it within minutes. That's all kinds of awesome when you're having a party. My favorites right now are Joust, Gyruss, Tempest, and Galaga.
DEPECHE MODE "SHRINE" - I'm a huge Depeche Mode fan, so I decided to display some of my memorabilia and favorite albums in this 5'x5' corner spot. My uncle Jimbo even helped me replicate the BONG 13 loudspeaker from the band's Strangelove record cover. Thanks again Jimbo!
POSTERS, POSTERS, POSTERS - It's a cheap way to add some life to the room and show off some things that I enjoy. From a Dragon's Lair video game poster autographed by Don Bluth, to Led Zeppelin's iconic Stairway To Heaven door poster from the 70's, to Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan, I cover a lot of ground (and walls) with posters.
THE THEATER - The theater is set up and pre-wired for a 92" projection screen and wall mounted Bose surround sound speaker system, BUT... I ran out of cash. So for now we're making due with a little 27" flatscreen and an old Sony speaker set up I had laying around. The TV and DVD's are run from a Dell Media Center PC, which also makes this an excellent spot to enjoy my MP3 collection.
Movie posters adorn the walls and cover several decades and genres. We selected: The Matrix, Titanic, The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Godfather, Pirates Of The Carribean, Star Wars, Tombstone, The Lord Of The Rings, Ferris Buehler's Day Off and Herbie Fully Loaded. FYI: I found that Movie Posters USA had reasonable prices, great selection, and remarkable after sale service. I can't recommend them enough.
We used futons because they were inexpensive (out of cash), and also because they are versatile. You can make two rows of seating, or fold down the first row and make a huge chaise, or fold down both rows and make a huge bed for my daughter's sleepovers. It works out great for us.
The back of the room is dominated by a custom built media shelf to hold our CD and DVD collection along with various books, LP's and boardgames.
UPDATE: The theater is now complete! CLICK HERE for details.
THE OFFICE - My office subterranean lair features a nice desk setup, a Dell PC running Windows Vista, a bookshelf for my Dungeons & Dragons collection, a futon sleeper sofa, and my musical equipment.
We really enjoy the new basement! Everytime my daughter has a new friend over you can hear them freak out when they get to the bottom of the steps, and when she had a sleepover last fall, I overheard her friends telling one another that it was the best sleepover they'd ever been to.
That was a big part of the reason for doing this, so our daughter has a safe place to hang out with her friends as she enters her teen years. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. (-:
I'll change out these pictures and/or add more to this post as things progress towards perfection.
UPDATE: Here's a picture I found of me and Bob amidst the forest of lumber we'd built.
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