Arcade Games

House furnishings for the generation that grew up on CDs…

When I was a kid I would play Mario Bros. until my thumb pads went raw. I’m older now and (reportedly) wiser but sometimes I still day dream about those days. Fortunately for me, there are designers that cater to retro-game reminiscence and make furniture that amalgamates the past and the present. Here are 23 such designs:

1. Tetris furniture

Take the 10 tetrominoes and build the perfect flat shelf. Comes crafted from Finland plywood, and you can choose either white or natural. Oh, and the level ends when you hit the ceiling.

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2. The Tetris Cube Desk

Matthias Pugin may be a genius. He designed The Cube, which you see above, to be the messy workers sliver of heaven. Every single one of The Cube’s tetrominoes can be made into storage space; simply press down the block and it’ll pop up to reveal an opening… similar to how a ballpoint pen works. Pretty cool, huh?

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3. Another Tetris Table

This design isn’t as cool as The Cube, but what can I say? I’m a sucker for Tetris. The table isn’t actually real (yet) but I still commend designer Jared Kohn leveling up kitchen furniture.

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4. Tetris Chair by Gabriel Cañas

Unless you’re still in college don’t even consider buying this chair. Girls don’t dig Tetris enough to excuse Technicolor furniture. Plus these chairs are made of fiberglass… apparently the designers didn’t get the memo that chairs are supposed to be comfortable.

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5. Minimalist Tetris Bio Fireplace

Now this, on the other hand, is something the fairer sex might appreciate. I’m pretty sure a coffee stand with a built in fireplace will get you brownie points. And its Tetris so you, if you’re the nostalgic type, won’t mind owning it so much either.

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6. Tat-ris Modular Furniture

Kids can move this furniture around like building blocks, learning teamwork in the process. That means the Tat-ris is mildly entertaining… and an absolute godsend if you have hyper-active children that never want to sit down during mommy’s quiet time.

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7. Puzzle Tetris Furniture Items

Apparently artists Diego Silverio and Helder Filipov are as about Tetris as I am. Except while I’m, you know, playing Tetris they’re usually busy creating Tetris-inspired furniture pieces like the one you see above. The furniture set is a desk, drawers, table, seat, storage and shelves all in one and can be concatenated just like real Tetris tetriminoes.

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8. Hidden Tetris Kitchen by June He

This wall is designed to look like a stack of Tetris blocks. That’s cool in itself, but it gets cooler when you realize it’s a kitchen incognito. Every section of the kitchen (table, microwave, etc.) and be pulled out or hidden within the wall itself… including the kitchen sink!

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9. Super Mario Shelves

Don’t expect to find this at Ikea; one man’s amazingly talented girlfriend built this from scratch. That’s one of the perks of dating a mechanical engineering game lover; they build warp tunnels out of trash cans and point boxes turned shelves out of wood.

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10. Mario Mushroom Lamps

You don’t have to be a hippy to appreciate glowing mushrooms, just a connoisseur of great video games. $12 gets you a lamp of your own. I strongly discourage eating the green one… it might give Mario or Luigi an extra life, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work for anybody else.

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11. Donkey Kong Shelves

Amazing. Donkey Kong shelves that, true to form, slope to a degree that makes them absolutely useless beyond eye candy. But they’re still sweet to the eyes of this aging gamer’s irises… so I’d give this design two calloused thumbs up.

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12. Donkey Kong Wall

And then you have the entire wall. The shelf slope isn’t as drastic so you can actually, you know, use them to shelve things. Plus, the designer made each self durable enough to hold 60 pounds. I reckon you could put your entire retro console collection on a single shelf with no problems.

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13. Pacman Chair

Personally, I’m not a big fan of being mock-eaten by Pacman but I admire Jose Jorge Hinojosa Primo’s design nonetheless. And the tongue stitched into the seat covering is a nice touch. Add this one to the engorging list of the retro-arcade inspired furniture hitting the market.

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14. Puckman Bookcase

Maybe having a book holding Pac-man will inspire your kids to devour novels like the golden one devours ghosts. Maybe not, but it’s worth a try right? At the very least, having Pac-man on your wall is much cooler than a traditional oak shelf. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the furniture setup pictured is intentionally ironic.

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15. Pacman Multi-Purpose Furniture

What’s cool about this furniture set is you can change the pieces into whatever you need them to bee. Chair becomes table, tables become bookstands, bookstands breakdown into computer stands. Designer Cho Hyung Suk took Pac-man love to an entirely new (and useful) level.

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16. Poufman living room set

Namco, a Japanese amusement company, gave us Pac-man. Qayot, an Italian furniture company, took that idea and gave us Poufman. The seats are fully customizable, and much more comfortable than running from ghosts while eating pac-dots.

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17. Vauni Globe – Pacman Fireplace

Burn baby burn, Pac-man inferno! The Vauni Globe is an ethanol-powered fireplace that’s safe for both indoor and outdoor use. And, of course, it bears a canny resemblance to one particular yellow video game character.

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18. Pacman Lamp by DesignLab

So, these lamps are supposed to be mini Pac-men… where the eyes are, I have no idea. They also emit an aromatic scent as the light bulb heats them up although I’m not so sure the original Pac-man wore cologne.

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19. Pacman Ghost Shades

I start looking for big pills in the corners of my house whenever I see this picture. Brazilian designer Anderson Horta is behind the concept, and he deserves a medal of honor if you ask me. Once these lamp shades produced, don’t be shocked if every 70’s baby you know goes out and buys a pack for them and their siblings.

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20. Space Invader Couch

Space Invaders never die, no matter how many lasers you sprayed them with in the 80’s. Instead of dying, they turn into modernistic leather furniture (picture above). This couch is actually still only a (good) idea; the designer is currently seeking investment to put it in production.

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21. Space Intruderz Lamps

The Space Intruderz lamp is like the 1978’s Space Invaders game character in every way except name (an attempt to avoid copyright issues?) Smart really… designer Yensen Paez is capturing dollars from retro gamers without throwing up too many red flags. A single lamp costs the equivalent of $48, more or less, and is sold exclusively by Unison Idea Studio of Chile.

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22. Arcade Game Coffee Table

This cabinet/gaming console rocks and we can thank Surface Tension for the creation. It comes stock with an LCD screen, PC, speakers and joystick but you can buy the cabinet gutted if you already have your own machine. Expect to drop good money to get one though; last I checked prices for the barebones setup (without PC) ran at $4,000.

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23. hangUP Arcade Coat Hooks

This isn’t the most creative idea I’ve ever seen, but pretty cool nonetheless for any. The coat hooks are real arcade joysticks and the decorative start button is genuine. Kind of geeky and a bit hokey, but anybody born during the arcade years (like me) can appreciate the idea even if the final product is weak.

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