How Do You Keep Your Gaming Room Organized?

[Josh]

I need open space so I can break dance.

[Brisco Bold]

I need open space so I can break dance.

I have some flattened refrigerator boxes I can give you.

[icarusfall]

I need excess shit I'll never use again out of my life.

Arcade games aside, I don't think I've ever replayed a game I've beaten.

[Diff-chan]

clearly you do.

I realize I'm getting dragged into a professor buttcheeks argument and it's impossible to win that, but I will just say I really don't. However, I do think anyone who has more shit that they know what to do with should at least consider getting rid of it. I did it, post-college, and it was great. Having a "collection" of movies and games was a burden and it was awesome to get rid of it.

This is America, a capitalist, consumer-focused country, and we spend our lives being told we need a bunch of shit to feel good about ourselves. 95% of the time we actually don't need any of it. If you think walls of amps, old tools, and Kim Kardashian workout videos are what you need in your pad I really don't care. But if you were going to start bitching about how it's all a cluttered mess I would tell you to at least think about cutting down on the stuff you own.

[Fe 26]

This is America, a capitalist, consumer-focused country, and we spend our lives being told we need a bunch of shit to feel good about ourselves. 95% of the time we actually don't need any of it. If you think walls of amps, old tools, and Kim Kardashian workout videos are what you need in your pad I really don't care.

But if you were going to start bitching about how it's all a cluttered mess I would tell you to at least think about cutting down on the stuff you own.

oh the hyperbole.

I didn't really take it as "bitching." Just a lead in for the conversation. Like "hey, I don't like this, want to organize shit. What do you use to organize shit?"

Had he not had a lead in, and just made a thread with "Hey I want to organize shit, what do the rest of you use to organize shit' ten of you would have gave him a tiny url with a google search for shelves.

[Nash]

When these topics devolve into the "clear it out" vrs "preserve it" arguments I always wonder, what do the people who clear out their game collections do with the space?

Are you making all this extra space so you have more room for other things you enjoy more? Like did you clear out the game shelves so you could have room for a better stereo and maybe a nice shelf to hold records?

Or do you just want the empty space? Do you find empty rooms pleasing to the eye? Are you insane and material objects nag at you and tell you to kill your cat?


And why is it always games and movies? Are you people really that boring? Do you do anything else with your time? I don't really think much about the size of my game collection. It is such a small part of any room. My shelves of books easily dwarf it. The wall of amps dwarf it. The 8 foot tall shop shelf full of tools and meters, dwarf it.


I've never seen people care so much about making a space into a void. What is the motivator for this zealous anti-materal wealth?

We need the extra space because your mom likes to roll around during sex.

[Drewbacca]

It's not just TNL, but people are super super insecure. I'm always reading about techniques to hide game collections, or sad justifications for paying rip-off DD prices because "now my guests won't have to see my embarrassing shelves of video game boxes." Who are all these people traipsing around your house all the time that you're absolutely terrified of finding out you like video games?

I guess some people play a lifelong identity shell game. Must be taxing.

My place looks good and it's much easier to keep clean without boxes of stuff I don't use (even under the guise of "i'll get to it someday"). "Someday" never comes. Whether wanting to play a game or pursue a dream. So there are some reasons for you.

It isn't much of one. Its about on par with me not liking the taste of squash and then telling others to not eat squash when they ask about how to cook it.

I don't treat my living space like a storage locker. I find that shit depressing to look at - like an unfinished project staring you in the face every day. Cluttering up the room removes the space I have to work and move around in my house. What do I do with the space? I have sculptures on some tables tops, a few books, and art up on my walls. From Egypt, Russia, Montreal, Toronto, Some i've made, etc. I also have a banjo and a ukele mounted on a cradenza (removable for when I want to play around). I could have 40 instruments all over my house in one giant clusterfuck. But I only like 2. So I have 2. And that's it. It's just a tidy, easy to maintain space to live that's clean and comfortable to do things in. When people come over we can all find a place to sit comfortably (and play games, even!)

If you want to have a collection more power to you. But in my experience when people have these collections it's just a colossal waste of money. You buy something for 10 - 20 bucks 1000 times and 90% of that stuff is never used. Thousands of dollars for what?

[Fe 26]

My place looks good and it's much easier to keep clean without boxes of stuff I don't use (even under the guise of "i'll get to it someday"). "Someday" never comes. Whether wanting to play a game or pursue a dream. So there are some reasons for you.

That sounds like a pretty shitty way to live. Like you are removing expectations or goals to avoid disappointment. "I'll never get to this, so why bother"

You sound like a beaten man, rationalizing life under the guise of being sensible.

I find that shit depressing to look at...comfortable

further proving my point that the people who live this way are doing it for emotional reasons, not necessarily logical ones.

Thousands of dollars for what?

I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing with the money you are saving? What are you doing that is giving you greater returns than the person who collects?

But you ask for what? What do people who collect get?

I collect books, music related things, antique electronics, and a couple games.

I rarely buy fiction. Most of the books I buy are technical. And on material not easily found online. This is an investment into myself. It increases both my skill and knowledge base.

The fiction that I do own, I will lump in with movies or rpgs. They either have a sentimental attachment or a link to a thought process that is helpful. I'd probably lump related objects into this category as well. Looking at an old toy on a shelf or seeing an old movie might make me think back to some random day in my childhood. It might also remind me of the moment of a story to boost my morale for the day. These things serve to take me out of the current moment and step outside of myself. And/or frame a moment from within another moment.

The music stuff I own is both work and art related. I can work on it to learn skills. I can build new music stuff, to learn skills. These skills in turn can make money. The music made with it is enriching, even if my playing is horrible. As horrible as I am at it, I still enjoy the act. Not to be all art fag, but the music stuff, is like my mind and soul. It is the bread I make and the bread I eat. This covers gear, guitars, records, cds, etc. The records and cds have the added benefit of what I said about fiction. Records not only give back drops to day dreaming, but also have spatial connections in my memory.

tools, well that should be self evident. Fuck, I wish I had more tools. I could never own enough fancy tools. The things I could make. Endless possibilities from tools

Then there is the added benefits of human bonding. I can have people over and play music. I can have people over and watch movies. I can have people over and play multiplayer games. And I can go to people's houses and do the same thing. I can't always do that with backed up media. They might not have anything to play avi files with.


And I buy most of this stuff at lower than the market value. And I know how to flip it. When I went to Europe, $2000-$3000 of my money came from reselling shit I didn't have to own or just dug up.


I get something out of everything I own.

EDIT: I don't know why I bothered to give an honest reply. A lot of this comes down to the type of memory people have and how dominant each form is. Like Spatial or temporal. Where one person may see simple objects another might see information and potential for other task. Which I guess is why people who don't think like I do on this issue, bug me. It is like watching someone throw resources away. Like they are shooting themselves in the foot because they are limiting the potential around them.

[YellerDog]

You can't take it with you.

[Fe 26]

irrelevant