While my wife an son were away on summer vacation I had a lot of time to myself.  I had planned to finish updating CoordEx to .NET, add a few tweaks to Xinha Here, and release one or two of the dozen other projects I've been working on.  But instead I spent my time relaxing and playing games.  One thing I did was organize my gaming setup.

Some time ago I bought a used 32" wide screen LCD HDTV/Monitor that I planned on using as my primary TV.  However, my wife prefers our tiny 27" SDTV CRT.  So I now use the 32" HDTV for my gaming monitor.  The best thing about this TV is it has several AV inputs, including standard Audio Video, HDTV YCbCr, and PC VGA.  So I'm able to connect all my gaming machines at the same time (well except for my N64 that has been put into storage).

If you can't tell from the picture below I have a PS2 (the really old thick one), a Wii, and a cheap PC all hocked up to the TV.  The PS2 controllers and Wii controllers are wireless.  Unfortunately, my GameCube controller for the Wii is wired.  The PS2 has a HD installed that allows me to load games without swapping disks using HDAdvance (super fast loading is sweet).   The PC boots directly into the AdvancedMENU front end for MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator).  An X-Arcade Dual is connected to the PC for "authentic" arcade play.  There is a power strip in the back that powers on/off the entire system.

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The TV is sitting on two wooden drawers from a discarded desk (I know, it's a little low class but it works).  This leaves the TV pretty close to the ground but most of the time my son and I are sitting on the rug in front so it works out ok.  The rug helps me keep my son at a safe eye-friendly distance.  He knows that if he is off the rug the game gets turned off.

The nice thing about this setup is that when it is not in use it is pretty compact.  All the consoles fit nicely between the drawers.  The cabinet on the left stores all my games and accessories.

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Best of all my son loves it!

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Thanks to Patrick Pattamanuch for the great photos.