Spydersvenom’s Gaming Rig

All gamers need to have a setup, better known as a gaming rig, which is basically code for the ideal environment for a specific person to play the brunt of their video games in. Some gamers need top of the line televisions, sound systems, and consoles to enjoy a single night of lax gaming. Whereas others have been rocking headshots on a standard def 19″ since the day they got their first console. For each person a gaming rig is like a custom car: something that is designed for you but you hope can be appreciated by your peers. It has taken me an absurd amount of time and money to create my perfect four-part gaming rig.

Part 1: The Man Cave

The man cave is designed specifically to be a location without barriers for the hardcore male gamer. My man cave comes equipped with a 55″ Sony Bravia 1080p LCD TV (that does support 3D gaming and 24 frames per second for blu-rays), a Yamaha 5.1 surround sound system that supports Pro-Logic 2, Dolby Digital, and DTS, a 1080p upconversion DVD player, a Playstation 3 (60 GB fully backwards compatible model), and a Falcon chip Xbox 360 (the one with an HDMI port). Hardware aside, the carpets of my man cave can withstand the toughest stain-inducing food and drink (such as an IPA beer and lasagna dinner) as well as a sectional complete with ottoman and chaise end that comfortably seats at least four. To complete my collection I have added framed posters from the movie The Boondock Saints, the metal band Iron Maiden and even a framed oil print of the video game “American McGee’s Alice”.



Part 2: The Party Room



My living room is located on the main floor and not only does it do a good job of staying warm in the winter, but it is the most common place you will find my wife and friends when they visit. For this reason I have integrated a 42″ 1080p Insignia LCD television, a second PS3 (this model is the 120 gb slim model that is mostly used as a blu-ray player), and of course the faithful Wii. How many nights have I spent playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii with a group of friends over a roaring fire (see directly to the left of this setup).

Part 3: Bedroom

When everyone else has gone to sleep and you just don’t have the time or patience to start up a hefty current generation game, there’s always room for the bedroom setup. A simple Sanyo 32″ 720p LCD TV, upscale DVD player (complete with the entire run of the 80s animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the drawer below), a Panasonic 3DO (with an embarrassingly large library of games in its drawer), and a classic Frankenconsole (not pictured) consisting of the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Sega 32X and you have all the old school early 90s full motion video gaming you could possibly want. PS: my wife hates that these consoles are in the bedroom.

Part 4: The PC

I’m not a huge PC gamer myself, but I am a hardcore retro gamer. Therefore, my PC, while it may not seem like much, comes equipped with a MAME emulator, frontend GUI interface, a cascade of arcade titles, and tons of independent and free games, what more could you ask for? This PC is mostly for my writing projects and business transactions (as proof from the bills scattered around), but I always enjoy picking up my Street Fighter II fighting stick and rocking through the first few levels of Final Fight every now and again.

So that’s the type of gaming setups I have in my house (save for the odd PSP rig in my nightstand) and what I enjoy most of my titles on. If you see me online rocking away at Uncharted 2 or Modern Warfare 2, you can pretty much bet I’m doing it in the Man Cave with a space heater keeping me going. What about all of you? What is the one thing your gaming rig/man cave requires?

Spydersvenom

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