I’m probably going to take some more more heat for this, but I think it’s worth it. Before I continue with this piece, let me explain my methodology for choosing those pictures found in this post. Every once in a while you’ll see a message board thread inviting the community to share their gaming and/or home theater setups. Eager forum users time and time again step up and post their pictures while proudly stating, “this is my setup!” Well, if you’re going to put yourself out there, I’m going to be the jerk that saves your picture, shares it with an audience, and ridicules each and every one of your missteps. To be fair, however, I don’t make fun of people for having poor setups due to financial constraint; everybody is judged according to how well they did within their financial means. It’s all about execution, people! Also, you can click on the images to enlarge them (and believe me, but the final image you’ll want to).

Note: I’ll be adding to this as the need arrives. If you find worthy submissions, email them to me at jar155 [at] gmail dot com.

I’m guessing that there must be a good reason why everything in this person’s room is jammed into this single little shelf unit. I figure that the house was built upon an active volcano and that the floors are indeed made of hot magma. Why else wouldn’t you let your power bricks sit behind everything on the floor? Or maybe they just look great elbowing for space with dusty figurines, smashed game boxes, and whatever else might be on there. One solid bump, and that’s all coming down.

I had a conversation with this guy, and I said, “Hey buddy, why don’t you move some of that stuff into boxes or somewhere else where they won’t be so tightly crammed in?” He said, “Well, now, I can’t do that, can I? I already have the game shelf. It’s the game shelf. I put my game stuff on the game shelf.” In order to avoid a possible British comedy style conversation, I just nodded and left him be.

I’m not certified, and I’m certainly not qualified, but I have to write this guy up for a safety violation. We all can see what’s going to happen here. This guy will asleep in bed and his little brother will be using the bathroom in the next room. Little bro will let the lid drop too hard on the toilet seat and the resulting vibrations will send everything crashing down. Should he survive the initial avalanche, digging out won’t be easy. And how in the world is he getting games out of there to play? Some of those are stacked two deep and several levels high. I want to make friends with him just to ask if I can borrow one of those hard to reach games.

And finally, you don’t need to store your Rock Band drum sticks in the impale position, there’s a holder for them that lets you store them horizontally, also known as the “don’t die” placement.

Keep reading past the jump for more. You know you want to. You know you will.

Wow, this one is special. I figure this is how their buying checklist went when they were moving into what looks to either be a new home or a newly finished room. PS3? Check. HDTV? Check. Gaming-class PC? Check. Cable? Check. So, what’s left to get after we steal our neighbor’s deck furniture? Nothing, right? These guys at VERY LEAST could have put outlet covers on their electrical outlets. They still have the stickers on their windows, floodlights in the room, exposed wiring, and they’re more concerned about getting in a quick picture to show off. Nice priorities, boys. Oh, but that empty paint tray liner does make for a killer remote caddy. Sweet awes!

So…we ask for gaming setup pictures and this guy submits a picture of his Macbook. Macs are fine and all, but can they really be considered a gaming platform? Can any laptop be considered a gaming setup without a mouse?! No sir, it cannot. This entry is invalid. Props for good cord management though. I see that this guy has adopted Apple’s minimalist designs into his desk space usage philosphy as well.

Hey pal, this was a “show your gaming setup” thread, not a “show your gaming setup and 3 weeks of undisposed garbage” thread. The setup is fine, for the most part, but if you’re going to present this to thousands of people, at least scoot the Sunday ads and your empty Hi-C bottles out of the way. My readers don’t ask for much (well, they do, but it goes unheeded), but at least show them the decency it would take to kick that stuff off camera. Oh wait, it looks like Old Navy is having a sale! Neat!

Ropes were made for jumping, not lighting up your PC gaming rig. It’s true, I can figure eight, double dutch, blue bell, and even pull off a mean half twister if I’m particularly loose that day. I also like that the table legs are touching the couch. What, you couldn’t drill holes in the couch to insert the legs directly into it?

This is either extreme dedication or insanity. There’s no gray here. So the guy has enough scratch to put a Wii, 360, and a PS3 under his (nice) TV, but he doesn’t have enough to put in better shelves/storage above it? It’s like a perverted game of reverse Jenga going on up there. I get that sometimes we need to stack things, but is it a good idea to not line things up properly or to put thinner things on the bottom? How does one walk away from this and think that the way that they’re leaving things is not just acceptable, but also worth showing off online? It was considerate of the robbers to leave the shelves when they took the dresser though.

Home Depot Salesman: Speaker wire? Sure, I can cut some for you. How far are your speakers from your receiver?

Champ: About 3 feet.

Home Depot Salesman: Ok, good, so you probably need about 5 feet for each speaker.

Champ: Can we make it an even 50? That would be best.

What you see pictured here are the results of the above conversation.

It has to be nice to be able to sit down in your computer chair, give yourself a good, hard spin, and just be able to open your eyes up to a different computer to use each time. In fact, I’m about 99% sure this is how he decides where his hardcore gaming will take place each day.

I’m pretty sure it’s a crime in 43 states to have a PlayStation 3 hooked up to a 13″ Aiwa TV set through composite cables. Check Craigslist and you’ll see at least 50 TVs within driving range that you can use as  a replacement for less than the cost of that wicked rad and almost completely concealed wall scroll up there. Now, you will have a better TV, but you won’t have the scroll. Tough choice, I’m sure. Seriously though, I Just looked and there were several 27″ TVs to be had for under $25 (some free!). Do the right thing; stop the PS3 abuse.

I included this one not for the ridicule, but simply because it kind of blows me away. Yes, there are issues with what you and I are seeing, but the sheer craziness of it is almost inspiring. You’re seeing pretty much every gaming console from the Atari 2600 up to the current generation all hooked up to a single TV. Look at that highway of cords running to the back of that stand. I am seeing several switchers to accommodate the cause, so these are readily playable. There’s now way this guys plays all of those systems regularly, but man, at least he can. I do have to give props for Tempest 2000 sticking out of the Jaguar, too.

Oh who am I kidding? This is ridiculous! Yeah, neat, you have a ton of systems, but would it kill you to stick one of them in a shoebox? Also, close your NES cartridge door, it’s firing off my OCD triggers.

Past iterations of The Gaming Setup Hall of Shame (Parts 1-3 are much funnier, I think I’m running out of material here).

Part Three - Where the jerkfaced criticisms should have ended.

Part Two - Where the jerkfaced criticisms continued.

Part One – Where the jerkfaced criticisms got started.

Note: I’ll be adding to this as the need arrives. If you find worthy submissions, email them to me at jar155 [at] gmail dot com.

Ok, now I figure somebody that’s capable of travelling into the future to buy a 360 and making it back to 2003 would be more capable of a sensible setup. How does one even play this thing? Unless you’re 50 feet back from the screen, you’re going to have a sore neck in just a few short minutes of gaming. That’s just problem number one. Number two: THERE IS MORE STUFF CRAMMED IN THERE THAN IN ALL OF CHINA! I mean, I’m glad that he has several highlighters to choose from when needed, but the rest is a bit excessive. Problems three through fifty are your challenge to discover. It’s like Where’s Waldo, except for that nothing is hidden.

So when paying the money for the custom Jessica Alba faceplate, did the guy realize that her attributes would be hidden behind the disc slot, memory card slots, and common sense? Couldn’t this guy have gone the cheaper route and just printed the picture out and pinned it on the wall? Oh wait, he probably didn’t want to mess up that killer static noise paint job going on back there. I stand corrected. By corrected I mean for short periods of time. Gaming for such long hours has weakened my legs to the point where they serve more as window dressing than anything else.

This is another example where the guy got close but made a few stupid mistakes. The most obvious is the fact that his entertainment center is belching cords foward. I know that most of us do that “crazy” thing and just hide our cables behind everything, but this guy is truly a shining example of why we’re wrong.

The day that I boot my 360 out of my media center to make way for a killer VCR is the day that you’re invited to pound my face. In fact, just let me know that I’ve crossed that line and I’ll do it myself. At least the clocks on his devices are synced. In the end, that’s probably enough to make up for the cardboard box stand for the 360, right? Nope.

Looks ok, doesn’t it?

Words fail me.

Remember to catch parts one and two of this feature. Also, I’ll keep adding to this part and creating more parts as necessary. Remember, you can submit pics to me for inclusion to jar155 [at] gmail dot com.

Note: I’ll be adding to this as the need arrives. If you find worthy submissions, email them to me at jar155 [at] gmail dot com.

I really hope this is a case of a clever photoshopper playing a joke. What’s the point of buying a $600 console capable of 1080p resolutions only to hook it up to a TV that Goodwill stores wouldn’t even try to sell? Seriously, this TV probably predates videogaming itself. I don’t even know how the guy managed to make the thing display on that set. I suspect this guy and the Radio Shack employees a few blocks away became good friends. Possibly even friends with benefits, I don’t know.

So either this guy doesn’t have legs or he’s constantly sitting cross-legged while gaming. If there’s any way to eek out even an inch of extra space here, I’d recommend doing it. Imagine, with a push push here and a shove shove there, the guy could literally triple his distance from seat to set. You’re probably wondering why I’m not commenting on the mess, right? Yeah, me too, actually. The whole situation was just so depressing I couldn’t muster the strength.

I’m glad to see that little Billy made his bed this morning…or is it his chair? I’m not sure what’s going on here. Unless this room literally ends a couple of feet to the left, there’s absolutely no way he could have found a more uncomfortable way to set this up. He either is forced to lay down to game, or to well, lay down. I seriously can’t think of a single reason why this could be comfortable for longer than it takes a 360 to boot to dash.

Does everybody else see what’s going on here? As Finding Nemo plays out on the left of this image, this guy’s 360 is engaged in a balancing act that would make a highwire act nervous. I really don’t know what possesses people to play stack ‘em with their consoles and electronics, but one day, it must come to an end.

This is great. Not only do you have a crapload of wires to trip over, you can also weigh yourself on that bathroo-er, home theater scale. Also, if you’re going to buy a TV that’s 40″ wide, you should probably get a stand that’s at least 15″ wide. I don’t know, that’s just my opinion though. There might be some facts to support my belief, but it’s a sketchy notion at best, I’m sure.

Jeez, if I’m going to show the world my gaming setup, I’d at least remove one or two pieces of trash from the heap before doing so. Again, we see another example of the dual-screen setup. What’s this all about anyway? I imagine it’s so gamer dude can get his Metroid Prime on while not missing any of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? I do have that same set in the background in my home as my secondary TV set. It’s great. I haven’t seen if it’s better watching it with a hojillion pounds of landfill in the area though.

This guy almost had it. He was close, except for ripping out the TV set from a Barbie Dream House and throwing it into a media shelf the size of Lithuania. The placement of the stereo speakers is pretty great too. I love that whole unbalanced effect you get from your sound while straining to see a single freaking thing that’s going on on the TV set.

You got your PS2, you got your Wii, now get some fresh paint and touch that embodiment of sadness up that they reside upon. Maybe you were shooting for the rustic look, but it looks more like rat’s nest than anything else. And wait, I think I see what appears to be bedding for a cat in the bottom left of the cabinet. That’s great. If I had a cat, I’d probably want them shedding around my gaming systems. I hear that cat hair is great for cleaning out your system once it gets sucked up into the air intakes.

Much like the Native American and the bison they hunted, this inventive chap doesn’t waste any part of his TV purchase, including the box it was sold to him in. While it doesn’t look like much, this guy is saving a tree, or small bush, while simultaneously creating the most stable TV stand of our time. Props for a tidy room too!

I have to wonder if the image you see while sitting on that couch is large enough that it’s worth your time. Maybe the guy sits on that comfy looking ottoman to get a little closer. It definitely gets him closer to his stack o’ gaming goods so neatly laid out on the coffee table. I’m guessing that February 12, 2006 was inscribed upon the floor to commemorate the passing of their first Xbox 360, which is buried under the floorboards.

Make sure to catch both Part One of the Hall of Shame and Part Three.

Note: I’ll be adding to this as the need arrives. If you find worthy submissions, email them to me at jar155 [at] gmail dot com.

Surround sound only works if, you know, it SURROUNDS YOU. Unless this gamer is planning on pressing his nose against that LCD display, there’s absolutely no possible way that he’s going to benefit from a 5.1 system. In fact, it’s going to sound as confusing as all get out when footsteps that should sound like they’re coming from behind come from in front of you and up in the air. Ridiculous. This is like that time when I thought I’d be clever and use a bar of soap to wash my hair instead of shampoo so I could just start at the top and work down. Well, actually, it’s nothing like that, but both things are pretty stupid. At least my decision was recognized and never repeated. This chump actually is proud of what’s going on in the pic above.

The madness continues after the jump…

I understand that by hooking your consoles up to your computer monitor that you can take advantage of HD resolutions without having to spring for a costly TV set. Maybe, however, you should make just a few inches of space on your desk before throwing more crap on there. I can’t wait to check back in with this guy in 6 months only to see that he’s added a gerbil cage, an anvil, and a few weather vanes.

I don’t know if the guy’s right leg is four feet longer than his left leg, or if he meant to take this shot at this angle. Either way, it makes me nauseous. On top of the wonderful photography skills, it might help…ah forget it, give me a shot that doesn’t make me ill and I’ll comment on the setup.

BEHOLD THE TOWER OF POWER! Holy mother of Wal-Mart! I have a real hard time believing that the heaviest piece of equipment is meant to be on the tip top of this atrocity. I’d say that this is like trying to balance a candy apple on the stick’s end, but that’s gotta be at least four times a stable as what this guy is sporting. I guarantee he tip-toes to his bed every night, kind of like when Elmer Fudd is hunting Bugs Bunny. I bet it’s great watching it from that couch to the left too. There’s nothing more relaxing than looking straight up and to the left while playing a game or enjoying a quality film.

Here we are dealing with almost the exact opposite as what’s going on above. It’s like this guy looked around for the absolute best way to get his setup as low to the ground as possible and ran with it. If this guy’s pet rat ran across the floor, he’d better slap the pause button to avoid getting blocked off. Oh, and yeah, pump those weights, er, weight dude.

Can somebody, I mean anybody, tell me why in the world this picture showed up in a “show your gaming setup” message board thread? not only is it too dark to see what the setup is made of, it’s of two PCs displaying the same image. Ok, I can appreciate the cheesecake, but c’mon, it’s time to stop giggling at half-naked girls and focus. Oh look, a bird! Hee hee!

I wouldn’t normally dare of asking a guy to drill into high quality wood paneling, but he’s got so much wire running around that I’m willing to bet that getting a radio signal or cell phone reception in that paradise of panels is nigh impossible. I dig the dirty laundry sitting next to the set too. I’m sure his pals enjoy bouts of Halo on the ‘box while catching random whiffs of his socks and boxers.

This is a popular post that floats around the Internet and nobody is quite sure if it’s real or not. By not including it, however, it would have been a great disservice to everybody reading this post. If this is a real setup…well, I’m truly speechless. I wonder how often mom and dad let the kid out. I bet it’s real fun whenever that central vacuum gets fired up right next to the gamer’s face. Sweet needle-nosed pliers, by the way.

I know that may times in life we mi ght lack space, but you’ve got to be pretty bold if you want me to believe that there wasn’t a wall any bigger than this for the gaming setup. I bet it’s pretty awesome to come stumbling out of that bedroom at 3:00am only to walk right into a pile of entertainment joy.

Let’s go through the standard questions here of who, what, when, why, how, and where. Who connects their 360 to a tiny LCD screen when they have a massive screen right above it? What sort of person lays a speaker on the ground? Is that to pick up that neat-o vibration effect? When this guy got the idea for this setup, did he do rush into it as quickly as possible before spending the necessary couple of seconds to reconsider? Why is the 360 on the ground? Is that to encourage the intake of dust? How did this guy learn the voodoo necessary to make those shelves hold still without any support? Any takers on how long before they come crashing down? Where in the world is this place? Bizzaro Toys ‘R Us? There are odd figurines everywhere, but my favorite has to be Vampire Jerry Seinfeld in the foreground.

Check out Part Two and Three of this feature. I decided to split them up to keep 56k users from gagging on their fat connections.