Officially hosted my first "gameroom" party

[shardian]

Ok, technically that would have been my daughters 1st birthday party, but the basement wasn't done and I only had a generic 48-1 cabinet available.

This time, I had the basement set up as a true gameroom, and had real life adults (and kids) playing the games instead of just a niece and nephew.

I let my father-in-law handle picture duties, so all I have for now is 2 crappy cell phone pics showing my setup (see below). I spent all weekend cleaning the garage, finishing the Narc MAME, and cleaning/setting up the basement. I would have had the Xevious up and running too, but I accidentally let the magic smoke out of the monitor when rotating it to vertical.  Originally, I was going to keep the party outdoors and in the garage, but the temperature was 90+ and 100% humidity.

Everything went well, and everyone had a great time. Maybe for my Birthday next month I will have a few more games ready and have the Gar-Cade in full swing.

[patrickl]

Cool 

Do people go in there on a birthday? I mean not everybody will fit or want to go in the game room, so the people would have to split up.

[Hoopz]

Very nice.  Everything looks good.

[shardian]

We didn't have a really large group, so overcrowding wasn't an issue. If needed, we also had the garage setup for games/seating, and the back yard patio.

[ChadTower]

Nice!  That has to feel good considering how much work you've put in on both the basement and the games.  Which smoke did you let out of the monitor?  Was it the board or the tube?

[shardian]

Nice!  That has to feel good considering how much work you've put in on both the basement and the games.  Which smoke did you let out of the monitor?  Was it the board or the tube?

I snapped off the neckboard of the G07 in the Xevious. Rotating that thing is a real ---smurfette---. I rotated it successfully, but it appeared I should have rotated it the other way (the chassis stuck out the back a bit, ). I had this feeling that I should have left it alone, but I went ahead with it. Sure enough, I caught the neck board on the way back in. I have a spare G07 chassis, and Wade is gonna hook me up with a beater tube.

[Paul Olson]

It is nice to be able to separate a larger group. I have noticed that people have a short attention span for games that they don't know how to play.  I keep the MAME cab in my office, the arcade is out in the garage, and the Wii and 360 are in the living room. With this setup, about a dozen people can pretty much stay out of each others way. The Wii is especially good for little kids who get tired of dying really quick on the arcade games. Mario Cart is almost better than a babysitter.

Doesn't it suck that the one providing all of the games has to spend so much time preparing? Everything seems to have problems just before and during a get together. 

[Ummon]

Doesn't it suck that the one providing all of the games has to spend so much time preparing? Everything seems to have problems just before and during a get together. 

That's just how it is hosting - unless you keep your place like my grandmas. Then all they had to do was cook.

shar: why did you have to rotate the monitor? I woulda thought it would come that way. 

[shardian]

shar: why did you have to rotate the monitor? I woulda thought it would come that way. 

I got it as a thoroughly converted Relief Pitcher, which is a horizontal game.