Video games come to light

Forget the image of the teenager who locks himself in a sad and dark room to take refuge in the opaque world of video games. The game has freed itself and the space where we play too, so much so that video game spaces today deserve all the respects of design.

Pierre-Marc Durivage
Press

Ergonomic leather chairs with red or yellow stitching, LED light strips, articulated wooden supports for the headphones, colored sound-absorbing panels with matching posters, these are just a few examples of what is offered at IKEA, which has just launched headfirst into design. spaces for players. The Swedish multinational has even teamed up with Republic of Gamers, a subsidiary of computer giant ASUS, to develop a range of products that meet the needs of this vast clientele.

“We have the experience of layout, functionality, but not the expertise of gaming, which is very specific, explains Myle Rockens, communications manager at IKEA in Boucherville. ROG engineers therefore worked with our engineers to develop suitable products. ”

With the pandemic, many people today find themselves working during the day in the space where they play at night. “With teleworking, you can spend 16 hours in the same room, so it’s fun to have something beautiful,” says Joey Kryszewski, federal official who also started broadcasting on Twitch – his nickname of streamer is ZFjoink – and which is followed by almost 10,000 people.

“I started in a basement, with a sofa all upside down in the background, but I was being told, it looks like it was bothering people a bit, continues the young 29-year-old computer scientist from Notre. -Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, in Mauricie. Basically, playing in a beautiful environment is good for the mind. the gaming intense and the streaming, you live in it, so you want to be well. ”

“Customer needs have now changed,” adds Myle Rockens. At the beginning, we had the image of the geek who speaks to no one, withdrawn into himself, but the years have passed and this is no longer the case. ”

A trend that is asserting itself

Designer Karine Matte was able to see that the trend had reached a new level when she was recently asked to develop spaces for video games.

“I have seen the trend take shape from afar, especially with the YouTubers that our young people follow,” explains the designer, who is also the mother of young adolescents. We see that they evolve in environments with calculated aesthetics, it’s beautiful. There are no posters hanging on the wall with scotch tape ! ”

“We play a lot with chiaroscuro effects, there are a lot of contrasts,” she continues. We also pay particular attention to comfort, especially with the chairs and neck cushions. Also, you have to be sensitive to everything related to sound, because the players need to be in their bubble. Parents, however, do not want them to isolate themselves too much, so we want to create sub-privacy, so we set up open areas that give the effect of being in a cocoon. ”

This is the idea behind her project carried out at Hélène Grandmaison, in Saint-Hubert: “We had thought of moving, but we finally decided to redevelop several rooms in the house,” explains the wealth management advisor. We thought we could set up a space for the boys, something like their headquarters, actually. “

“That said, I’m not overly keen on video games, but there’s no point in preventing it, they’ll do it anyway,” adds M^me Grandmaison reflecting under the amused gaze of his eldest, Samuel, aged 16. As long as I installed my boys, I wanted to do it. We still wanted to have a basement that we find interesting. ”

A great fan and basketball player himself, the teenager participated in the decoration of the room, choosing several accents and accessories reminiscent of his favorite sport. “It made me happy that my mother offered to furnish a room like this, it’s much better than playing on a folding table with empty white walls,” he says.

Samuel Coulombe also insisted on installing LED light strips on the ceiling, as a reminder of the bright colors that surround the players’ keyboards, mice and computers.

“We therefore favor the fact of painting the walls in white because that is what best reflects the colors”, explains M.^me Matte, yet known for its colorful and flamboyant designs.

“Obviously, there are no plants, everything is rectilinear, futuristic, there is not a lot of fluidity in the decor. For my part, I honestly admit that I am not a big fan of video games, but when my guy saw what I did, he blew up! It really takes me out of my comfort zone, I find it fun. “

Limited offer

For his part, Joey Kryszewski welcomes the fact that more and more people are waking up to the design of these spaces. “For a lot of people, it was way too expensive until now,” he says. My installation cost me $ 1000, not counting my computer equipment. I had to buy soundproofing panels in Ukraine, because there is currently almost nothing offered in Quebec, while the choice is much wider in Europe. ”

Obviously, ZFjoink will not stop there: he plans to improve his play space, which he currently shares with his spouse, streamer him too. In addition to improving his space with a black wall and colored lines, he is also planning the construction of a garage, with a room upstairs devoted to his activities.

“I’m not the most artistic guy in the world, but I like it when it’s beautiful. It might not always be the most beautiful design, but I have a sensitivity for it and I’m comfortable with what I create, ”he says.