Televisions - The Crux of the Gaming Experience

Every gamer knows that the foundation if any gaming experience is the television.  For modern gamers, who wants to play a PS3 on a 30 year old TV that doesn't even support composite A/V hook ups?  For retro gamers, though, an LCD HDTV can pose even more of a problem.  Sure, playing an HD console on an SDTV via an RF Adapter would suck, but at least you can play that way.  For the pan-generational gamer like me, one TV simply isn't enough.

Who doesn't want a huge 72 inch 1080p 3D plasma screen TV?  I mean, I'd LOVE to have Pong take up six feet of my wall (I'm not even kidding, that would kick ass).  But that alone wouldn't work for me.  I'm using a 32 inch LCD HDTV, and I can't play Duck Hunt or Lethal Enforcers on it.  Why?  Those are light gun games, and light guns only work on old CRT TVs.  I'm not sure exactly why - something about the nature of a cathode ray tube - but it won't work.  Granted, I do have a 24 inch SD CRT TV beside it into which I usually keep my NES plugged, but until I buy a longer composite cable, my Genesis won't reach that far.

Gamers who don't just play new games or old games need two TVs side by side.  Normally, I like having my NES connected to my widescreen LCD TV.  If I want to play Duck Hunt, though, that HDTV is useless.  I've got to dust off the old CRT.  For an example, here is my set-up.

As you can see, I have my big HDTV in the middle of things as the centerpiece of my set up, but I also have the CRT TV right beside it so I (once I get a longer cable from my A/V hub) can play games on it, too.  This is what I suggest for all gamers who play both newer and older games if you can afford it and have room for it.