Getting Down to Business Playing Games
Game Room Systems Move from an Afterthought to the Forefront
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Video games are big business. According to the Entertainment Software Association, nearly threequarters of all American households play video games. They spent $25.1 billion on them and their related hardware and accessories in 2010. Not surprisingly, more American households are allocating more space to game playing, and that’s become an opportunity for residential AV systems professionals, who are finding ways to integrate gaming systems into home designs, particularly home theaters.
“More of our clients are asking about how they can get video game playing into their homes,” reported Josh Christian, vice president of marketing at DSI Entertainment Systems in the Los Angeles area, who adds that his company has included video games as part of its checklist for customers during the design phase of projects. “Games have become a very good business, especially at the high end of the market.”
Most of the time, the home theater is called upon to share space with video games. As a result, Christian said, “The biggest challenge has been how best to integrate video games with home theaters but without compromising the performance of either one.”
Moving the Front Row Back
The three major game platforms, Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Wii, and Sony’s Playstation, have sensor systems that allow gesture recognition and interpretation. The Xbox’s Kinect system, for instance, uses Rare’s Light Coding 3D scanner range camera technology that allows hands-free control via an IR projector and camera, CMOS sensor, and a special microchip to track the movement of objects and individuals in three dimensions. The Kinect sensor itself is a horizontal bar connected to a small base with a motorized pivot and is designed for positioning lengthwise above or below the video display. The device features a camera, depth sensor, and multiarray microphone running proprietary software that provides full-body motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition capabilities. Thus, a clear and unimpeded line of sight between their optical receptors and the game players is crucial.
Some AV integrators will either move the first row of theater seating back or utilize removable seating for the first row, to allow sufficient space for game playing in front of the main screen, and to provide a clear field of view for the sensor system in the front portion of the theater. According to a website that posted some reverse-engineered data on the Kinect’s performance, the Kinect sensor has a practical range limit of 3.9 to 11 feet, with an area required to play of roughly 64 square feet, although the sensor can maintain tracking through an extended range of up to approximately 20 feet. The sensor has an angular field of view of 57 degrees horizontally and 43 degrees vertically, while the motorized pivot is capable of tilting the sensor up to 27 degrees either up or down. Fortunately, the Kinect is designed to operate under minimal lighting conditions. The sensing range of the CMOS depth sensor is adjustable, and the Kinect software is capable of automatically calibrating the sensor based on gameplay and the player’s physical environment, accommodating for the presence of furniture or other obstacles.
Peter Cook, president and owner of Automation Design + Entertainment in Portage, MI, said the Kinect and other advanced gaming systems with remote sensors have special power needs for their USB connections. Because the Kinect sensor’s motorized tilt mechanism requires more power than the Xbox 360’s USB ports can supply, the device makes use of a proprietary connector combining USB communication with additional power. Redesigned models include a special AUX port for accommodating the connector, while older models use a special power supply cable (included with the sensor) that splits the connection into separate USB and power connections; power is supplied from the mains by way of an AC adapter.
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With game players located in front of the theater’s main screen in front-projection environments, it can be difficult for them to have sufficient perspective to see each other projected on it, and there are shadow issues created by front projection. Christian says one solution is to employ LCD displays mounted on the sidewalls toward the front of the theater, allowing gamers to see each other over their opponent’s shoulders. This won’t be an issue for theaters that use LCDs or plasma displays as the main screen, or for rear-projection theaters.
Audio Challenges
Home theater multichannel audio is a good fit for contemporary video games, which increasingly come equipped with 5.1 sound encoded for Dolby ProLogic II decoding, meaning it is compatible with fold-down to stereo, and the game consoles are connectable via standard HDMI cables However, there is the perspective issue between theater users that are sitting for movies but standing for gaming to contend with. Cook suggested that the center channel’s height may want to be made adjustable to accommodate standing gamers in front of the screen. “I’ve also found that gamers like to have the low frequencies amped up for game play, more so than for movies,” he said. “That’s especially so for games like Dance Revolution. When used for gaming, the theater can be made to act more like a club environment, especially for younger users.”
Other Spaces
Not every home gaming environment needs to be shared with the home theater. Just as so-called second and third theaters are cropping up to address more informal needs for viewing, such as for kids, game room spaces can be cobbled together as part of larger residential AV projects for fun (the client’s) and profit (yours).
David Jasak, owner of audio-video systems installation company AV Design Associates in Austin, TX, recommends placing the stereo and center-channel speakers at ear level and mounting the surround speakers behind the field of play 24 inches higher than the front array. “Home-theater-in-a-box systems are fine for most game rooms,” he said, “but place the subwoofer in a corner to maximize the bass response.”
Despite news reports that game sales are down in recent years, gaming remains a huge pastime and has become integral to the home entertainment matrix. In 2010 game companies sold 257.2 million units. Of the $25.1 billion in revenue they brought in, nearly $10 billion was in hardware such as game consoles, so gaming shouldn’t be an afterthought for home theater or overall residential entertainment system design.
Game Player Demographics
Data from the Entertainment Software Association suggests why residential AV integrators will want to keep video games in the mix of systems they offer clients:
• Seventy-two percent of American households play computer or video games, and those consumers spent $25.1 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories in 2010.
• The average game player is 37 years old and has been playing games for 12 years, while the average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 41 years old.
• Wife Acceptance Factor is very high: 42 percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the gameplaying population (37 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (13 percent).
• In 2011, 29 percent of Americans over the age of 50 play video games, an increase from nine percent in 1999.
–Dan Daley
Dan Daley is a freelance writer in Nashville, TN.
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Smarthome & Theater Systems install LCD, LED, Plasma screens and full home theaters. We also design and install home automation, lighting control and music throughout the home. We install primarily in the state of Connecticut. We cover the entire state from the Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Fairfield area up north to Farmington, West Hartford, Glastonbury area and up the shoreline to Branford, Guilford, Madison and Clinton.