Retro gaming has moved out of the attic. People who grew up with cartridges and tube televisions are hunting down the consoles of their childhood, and younger players are finding them for the first time. A collection like that deserves better than a cardboard box. A shelf, an old television and the right things on the wall make a corner that is a pleasure to sit in.
This guide covers how to set one up, and how to make it look as good as it plays.
Decide what the corner is for
- To play. One or two consoles wired up and ready, a screen, a seat. Everything within reach.
- To display. A collection on show: consoles, boxed games, handhelds. Arranged to be looked at.
- Both. Most corners are a mixture. Keep the things you play at hand height and the things you only admire higher up.
The screen
Why a CRT
Games of the 1980s and 1990s were drawn for cathode ray tube televisions. Artists relied on the way a CRT softens and blends pixels. On a tube, the scan lines and the glow smooth the picture, and colours run slightly into each other. On a modern flat screen, the same game looks blocky and harsh. A CRT also shows the picture with almost no delay, which matters for old games that need exact timing, and some accessories, such as light guns, work only with one. See CRT and glitch art explained.
Finding and placing one
- Size: 13 to 20 inches suits a shelf or a desk. Larger sets are very heavy.
- Weight: a 20-inch CRT can weigh 50 pounds or more, and a 27-inch one well over 80. Use a low, solid piece of furniture. Never put one on a flimsy shelf or high up. Lift with two people.
- Depth: a CRT is as deep as it is wide. Measure the furniture.
- Air: leave space round the vents at the back and top.
- Never open the case. A CRT holds a dangerous electrical charge long after it is unplugged. Repairs are for people trained to do them.
If you don't want a CRT
A small modern screen with an upscaler or a scan-line filter is a fair substitute, and it is lighter and easier to live with.
The shelf
- Strong and deep enough. Consoles are heavier and deeper than they look. Cube shelving, a low media unit or a solid bookcase all work.
- Open at the back, or with holes for cables and air.
- Consoles at the bottom or the middle, where you can reach the slots and switches. Leave space above each one. They need air, and cartridges load from the top.
- Games on the upper shelves, spines out, like books. Group them by system.
- Controllers on hooks, on a stand, or in a drawer or a basket.
- Handhelds and small things on little stands at eye level.
Leave some space empty. A shelf packed edge to edge looks like storage. A shelf with gaps looks like a display.
The wall
This is where the corner gets its character. The art should feel as though it comes from the same world as the hardware.
- Pixel and glitch art. Retro Ice Cave, a cave in blocky cyan pixels with a small red figure, looks like a frame from an old game. See the poster.
- Grids and wireframes. Cyber Wave Escape is the wireframe landscape of early 3D games.
- CRT effects. Scanline Spaceman, Earth Glitched and CRT Lion Retro Wave all use scan lines and signal faults.
- An old computer. Electric Water shows a beige CRT monitor adrift in a still sea. It could have been made for this corner.
- Neon cities, for the arcade feeling. Japanese City Punk FX.3.
See vaporwave vs synthwave vs outrun and what is Heisei Retro for the styles.
Where to hang it
- Above the shelf. A single piece centred over it, or a row of three small prints. Leave 6 to 10 inches above the top of the unit, or above the television if it stands on top.
- Beside the screen, not directly above a CRT. The top of a tube set gets warm.
- On the side wall, as a small gallery. Posters suit this corner. A poster on the wall is true to the period.
- Among the games. A small print leaning at the back of a shelf, between consoles.
Posters in plain black frames look tidy. Clipped to a rail or pinned, they look like a bedroom wall of 1995, which may be what you want. See how to hang posters without frames or wall damage.
Colour
Old consoles are grey, black and beige. That is a neutral base, and it lets you choose the accent.
- Teal and purple: the colours of 1990s graphics and packaging.
- Pink and blue neon: the arcade.
- Red, yellow and blue: the bright primaries of early home consoles.
- Green on black: the old monochrome monitor.
Choose one of these and carry it through the art, the lights and a few small objects.
Lighting
- Keep the room dim. A CRT looks best in low light, as it did in a living room in the evening.
- No light falling on the screen. Curved glass reflects everything.
- LED strips under each shelf light the collection below. Warm white for a homely look, or one accent colour.
- A strip behind the unit gives a glow on the wall.
- One small lamp for finding cartridges.
- A neon-style LED sign suits the arcade look. One is enough.
See RGB lighting and neon art.
Looking after old hardware
- Sunlight yellows old plastic and fades box art and labels. Keep the corner out of direct sun. See sun fading.
- Dust gets into cartridge slots and vents. Dust weekly, and cover consoles you seldom use.
- Heat and damp are bad for old electronics. Avoid radiators, and avoid a damp basement unless you run a dehumidifier.
- Batteries. Take batteries out of handhelds and controllers that are on display. Old ones leak.
- Power. Use a surge-protected strip, and switch it off when you finish.
Cables
Old consoles mean many cables and bulky power adapters. Label each one. Fix a power strip to the back of the unit. Use a switch box so that several consoles share the television without re-plugging. Tie the slack behind the shelf. See the console gaming corner.
Seating
Old games were played on the floor, close to the screen. A floor cushion, a beanbag or a low chair suits a small CRT at shelf height. Sit so that the middle of the screen is near eye level.
If you play on a desk
A small CRT or a retro computer on a desk benefits from a desk mat under the keyboard and controllers. Cyber Wave Escape and Retro Ice Cave both come as mats. See the desk mat size guide.
A small version
You don't need a room. One cube shelf, one console, a 14-inch television, a poster above it and a strip of light makes a complete corner in three feet of wall.
For more, see game room and den wall art. Browse the poster prints collection.