So now I have this awesome cabinet and I never play it...

[Ginsu Victim]

My "game room" was a very tiny room without enough space for more than one cabinet, so giving her that room was no problem. I traded with her: I get the MAME cab in the living room and she got to set up a crafts area in the former game room.

[javeryh]

My "game room" was a very tiny room without enough space for more than one cabinet, so giving her that room was no problem. I traded with her: I get the MAME cab in the living room and she got to set up a crafts area in the former game room.

You are lucky she has a hobby.  My wife likes to read but that's about it - no real "hobbies" to speak of so I can't do any trade-offs.  I'm lucky she's cool though.

[atomikbohm]

My trade off with the wife is if I do some house work usually something that has a big visual impact (with as little time investment as I can get) I get some time to go "...do arcade stuff".  Marriage is all about compromises and way more work than this cab can ever be.  But it's worth it, my wife is HOT!!!

[Benevolance]

I think if we had set up a separate, out-of-the-way game room for the cabinet like I'd originally intended, it wouldn't get used nearly as much as it does. Instead, my wife suggested we keep it in the kitchen and it gets used almost daily. I do all the cooking, and I can usually grab some play time while stuff heats/simmers. Plus she's got a craft table set up adjacent and she'll often sit and tinker with her D&D characters while I play Bersek. I guess it helps that she's a gamer, too.

Edit: I guess the moral of my story is put the cabinet somewhere it's going to get used.

[Epyx]

The other nice thing is once your kids hit their teens...sure I bring my daughter to martial arts and we go cycling and play video games together but for the most part after our family dinner and her chores shes in her bedroom (just like I was at that age)...then the wife and I will usually do our own thing where she surfs/watches tv and I play or build.  Some nights we watch together. On weekends I always outlast her as she passes out by 10pm and that provides me with another 4 hours stretch...Saturdays we have  date day and then she usually watches her pvr'd trash shows for a few hours etc etc

Lots of time, no need to be joined at the hip every hour of the day. We spend a *lot* of time together but that still leaves a *lot* of me time.