Who says home theater seating and other furniture is exclusively for watching movies? With the rise in gaming as both a hobby and a profession in the recent decade, it’s no wonder that some fans have taken to build entire rooms dedicated to the activity, decked out in gaming nostalgia and memorabilia.
Home cinema-oriented furniture and accessories can just as easily be applied to gaming as they can movies—after all, both hobbies are all about kicking back, enjoying a form of media, and elevating that experience.
Find the seating right for your space
Behind every gamer is a great piece of media room seating furniture that supports them and helps bring them to new gaming heights. But, what kind of seating might be right for your space? It all depends on how you like to game, and who you like to game with.
If you’re someone who only carves out maybe an hour or so on average each day to game—and let’s face it, most of us have busy schedules—a one-seater or some budget entertainment chairs might be an appropriate choice if you already don’t have a tremendous amount of time to invest in the hobby each day.
On the flip side, if you’re a pretty hardcore gamer and enter leagues and competitions, spending multiple hours a day doing what you love, you might be inclined to get some seating that will support those intense gaming sessions. Larger seating, like media room couches will give you the opportunity to sprawl out and provide ample room to set snacks and other fuel for those bouts of handheld and console fun.
Gaming is one of those hobbies that you can easily do solo, but most video games these days offer some form of multiplayer options that support at least 4 people—whether it’s go-karting, playing campaigns, or racing through platforming levels with friends, there’s something for everyone. If you want to have friends over for some in-person gaming fun, a curved entertainment couch with 4 seats is a great choice to give all your friends a prime view of what they’re doing on-screen. Beyond a great view, curved seating has a number of other pros that we discuss in our blog post on them.
Shake, rumble, and boom with bass
One of the key draws of gaming, much like movies, is the immersion they provide—when done right, video games have the potential to transport the player and invest them in the fictional world the games take place in. In recent years, this immersion has become even greater with the advent of technologies like virtual reality and haptic feedback from your controllers when big, in-game events take place.
Why not take that rumble factor up a notch with entertainment room accessories like bass-equipped media chairs? Bass shakers are powerful little tools that deliver haptic feedback whenever you experience big, cinematic moments dripping with bass.
Bass shakers can be done a couple of ways—they can be fully integrated into your entertainment room chairs, ready to go out of the box, or, if you’ve already got a tried-and-true chair for your gaming room, a lot of bass shakers are able to be mounted onto that piece of furniture separately. So, why not take your gaming room up a notch in the tech department, and give yourself a truly immersive experience? If you’re wanting to learn more about bass shakers before making the plunge, we’ve got you covered with an article detailing the basics.
A screen fit to game with
It goes without saying for gaming consoles, but even some handheld systems like the Nintendo Switch now have the option to dock and hook up to a TV. Naturally, you’ll want a screen large and powerful enough to deliver views to everyone in the room and put out a crisp, clear image of your favorite games.
Depending on how big your room itself is, how many people you might be gaming with, and how far away your media room seating is from the television, your screen size needs will vary. Typically, a television somewhere between 45-55 inches will do the trick. If you have more wall space to fill, going a touch bigger—somewhere in the upper 60s—might satisfy your needs better proportionally.
When it comes to what kind of television you get, OLED models are some of the hottest on the market right now, and for good reason. With OLED displays, the light output of every single pixel is able to be switched on and off, depending what is being shown onscreen at the time.
This fixes a common issue with other displays, where, even if the image being shown should be mostly black, the light from neighboring pixels will make that black look more grey than anything. To put it simply, OLED panels in televisions deliver the best contrast and color, making everything you view look that much more realistic and immersive.
Pay homage to the classics
You’ve got your gaming systems, your game collection, a dedicated piece of seating, a television worthy of showing off your favorite video games, and all the technology that comes along with it. All that’s left is to decorate your gaming room!
When it comes to entertainment room furnishings—especially gaming rooms—there are a wealth of fun options to think of when decorating to make your gaming abode uniquely you. Some of the following pieces are great media room furniture ideas to think of when beginning to acquire other larger furniture and decorations for your space:
- Bookcases or shelves to house a physical game collection
- Promotional materials from your local gaming store
- Video game-inspired art prints
- Figurines of your favorite characters
- Retro gaming wall decals
- Box art from classic video games
At the end of the day, the above are just suggestions—lead with what type of furniture speaks to you. If you’re not one for arcade-style neon lights, don’t feel compelled to do that just because you saw a photo of it online. There’s a plethora of design inspiration for gaming rooms online, no matter what your personal aesthetic leans towards. With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to building the gaming room of your dreams!