I've been looking for a house with a basement so that the basement can be an all-in-one entertainment hub with movies, games, music and maybe a pool or fooshockey table. That's the dream.
I’ve literally done bits of all your ideas. I moved two months ago into a new house with a walk out basement complete with a sub pump.
Built ins for my games/collectibles are getting installed soon.
Instead of a pool or air hockey table, I’ve kept a 8ftx8ft area open for unobstructed freestyle Oculus Quest VR usage.
My lights are all color selectable Phillips hue and can be switch or voice activated. I also have led strip accent lighting.
I have an arcade/pinball area, vr area, console gaming area complete with green screen and streaming setup and a table top gaming area. Separate from all that is the home theatre. The basement has double doors for easy pinball/arcade delivery. And the entire outside perimeter of the house has 24/7 active video (motion detection) surveillance and lighting.
Still not my ideal gaming space because one things missing. Friends.
If any of ya’ll (that knew me before this post) are ever in the area hit me up. I also have a guest bedroom. But if you’d rather sleep in the game room... the sofa is a pull out sleeper.
I really like the idea some else here had of dedicated rooms for each era. But my wife would never go for that.
If you see my 1st and second floor it’s like a normal house.
You’d never know I’m a gamer.
One more project we’re working on is a tardis facade for the home theatre.
So in the gaming area you’ll see a tardis against the wall. If you open it up and go in it will open into the home theatre.