OTHER TECH

PLAYTIME All of his research and installation work behind him, Drew has now had some time to enjoy his system. "The first DVD I watched was Attack of the Clones - of course - which looked amazing on the 62-inch screen. And the first game I played was Star Wars: Republic Commando, which has a really great soundtrack with a choral-heavy score and exciting sound effects."

Drew's Gear

Mitsubishi WD-62525 62-inch DLP rear-projection HDTV Pioneer DV-F727 301-disc DVD megachanger Xbox game console, debug game console Playstation 2 game console Nintendo GameCube game console Monster Power HTS 5100 Reference PowerCenter Klipsch RVX-54 front left/right speakers Klipsch RVX-42 center speaker 4 Klipsch RSX-4 surround speakers Klipsch RW-12 subwoofer Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote control Logitech wireless controllers for Xbox and PS2 Monster Cable interconnects and speaker wire

When he wants to show off the system to friends, Drew cues up the anime scene from Kill Bill, Vol. 1. "They're blown away by the sound - especially when they feel their sleeves flap during the sword fights. I can thank the Klipsch subwoofer for that."

If you can afford to have a professional do the job, and aren't confident in your own ability to execute it, an installer's always the best way to go. But sometimes there just isn't the money to have someone else do the work. For Drew, creating his own home theater was a labor of love that continues to this day. "I'm thinking about upgrading to Mitsubishi's new 62-inch set, since it's a 1080p model. With all Xbox 360 games being either 720p or 1080i, I want to get the best possible picture." Other planned upgrades include adding recessed lights to the platform steps and using X10 lighting controllers that he can operate through the Harmony remote.

Not everybody takes videogames as seriously as Drew does, but that's changing - fast. As movies and games feed on and become more like each other, it's inevitable that videophiles will become as fanatical as gamers about playing games on a first-rate system. His room might be modest, and his system might not be hyper high-end, but Drew's setup provides a glimpse of the home-entertainment future.