Whether your favorite childhood arcade game was pinball, Pac Man or PlayStation, there’s no denying the continuing—and cross-generational—appeal of electronic games. And who among us hasn’t whiled away the hours playing cards, Monopoly or Scrabble? You’ll still find well-holed dart boards in pubs around the world, Pin the Tail on the Donkey lives on at children’s parties, and eggs still get tossed at family reunion picnics.
The ability of games to break the ice, entertain and bring together kids of all ages hasn’t changed. And our interest in playing them is at an all-time high, according to industry experts, pointing to the current popularity of computer-based video games and celebrity poker.
Add the draw of game-playing to the consumer “hiving” trend—referring to our growing interest in creating a home that’s the center of activity for family and friends—and it’s not a surprise that personal games rooms are on many home owners’ wish lists.
At one large U.S. home and garden show last fall, retailers discussed the growth in sales of home video games, while the U.S.-based Consumer Electronics Association pointed to interactive gaming as one of the top five “technologies to watch” in 2006.
The trend toward building home games rooms isn’t entirely new—we’ve been playing pool in the basement or cards the garage for decades. What is changing, however, is the focus people are putting on those game spaces. No longer content to shoot stick among the motor oil and power tools, homeowners want to create specialty rooms devoted to a variety of games. And simply setting up the card table and chairs for the weekly poker game simply won’t do for today’s players. "The last two years has just seen an explosion in poker," said Bob Jones Jr., president of American Sale, a recreational furnishings business, in a recent interview. "We are seeing a lot of people come into the stores and look for chip sets. They want the reality, the feel of Las Vegas. A few years ago we started selling inexpensive plastic chips, and quite frankly, they just don't sell anymore. Customers want the realism they see on TV."
New arcade games are also rapidly rising in popularity, as are so called “extreme home additions,” which include climbing walls, shuffleboard, basketball courts, bowling alleys, even personal firing ranges. Clearly, the majority of these are being built in multi-million-dollar homes where space and budget are seemingly limitless, but they are growing trends.
These highly specialized home additions may be popular now, but what effect will a games room have on the long-term value of your home? That’s debatable, say experts. In a recent article posted on MSN.com’s Real Estate site, one real-estate pro described creating a specialty room at home as being a safer long-term investment than the stock market. But customized spaces can be limiting factors for home sellers, appealing to a narrow segment of potential buyers. And demographers point to our aging population as evidence that home games rooms are not likely to be hot in decades to come.
The key is to create a space that can be converted back into its original form or used for another purpose when necessary—and that comes down to thoughtful room selection and careful planning.
Ready to get started? For more on creating your personal play space, read on through our site —and let the games begin…