Author Topic: Gaming Chair Woes (halp pleez!) (Read 1189 times)

Malific · « **on:** August 06, 2011, 11:30:23 PM »

I'm a hardcore gamer, as I'm sure many of us are. And long time gaming requires the perfect place to put your butt.
As such I've been using an AK Rocker 200 (pictured) for the last 5-6 years now, but it's finally time to say good bye to it because the plastic base 'legs' have finally split beyond the ability to hold the chair up when I sit in it.

My immediate thoughts were of course "I'll just get a new one." Sadly this no longer seems to be possible. The Company that was at www.ak.com no longer is and even ebay and amazon are turning up only the 100 series of AK rockers.

If you look at this picture you'll see the AK 200 has legs on the back of it that prevent over tipping and they stop the chair at almost exactly 45 degrees the perfect angle for my gaming set-up. This is very important to me as I tend to lean back quite far and all the other gaming chairs which don't have a back stop (like the AK 100) always tip me over at the worst possible moment forcing me to save the world by fruitlessly waggling my feet at my enemies.

So this is where you come in, I can't seem to find any chairs with backstops on them. I'm looking for one that basically sits on the floor leans back about 50-40 degrees and then stops. I've been looking for a solid week now and can't seem to find a gaming chair that isn't intent on putting me in the shuttle launch position at every opportunity. Just hoping some one out there might already own one or have seen one recently.

Please help! The fate off all those fictional people I must save now rests on your shoulders!

AceHigh · « **Reply #1 on:** August 06, 2011, 11:41:49 PM »

When I see the design of that chair, I notice how low you will sit. So then I think, it can't be possible to handle a keyboard and a mouse like that.

Soon I realized that this is perfect for sitting in front of TV with a gamepad. Then I got into this conflict about the claim that you are a hardcore gamer...

Also, if googling is too hard for you, this is what I found:
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=668180011

Malific · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2011, 12:00:12 AM »

I own: NES, SNES, GameCube, Wii, Genesis, PSX, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox360 x2, PC x4, Laptop x2, all in working order and currently hooked up to TV's/Monitors and used frequently. Yes, I am a hardcore gamer. I'm simply replacing one small piece of a nearly $15,000 gaming set-up that sprawls through multiple rooms of my household.

I'm quite capable of using Google and Amazon, and if you were capable of actually paying attention to my post and browsing the link you supplied you'll notice none of those chairs meet the requirements I'm asking for.

Thank you for attempting to belittle me and my call for help but if all you have to offer is thinly veiled criticisms please refrain from posting.

Now that the obligatory "use google" post has been made and dealt with, let's move along to useful information. Hopefully I'm not looking for something that doesn't exist.

blubart · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2011, 12:03:23 AM »

just glue a brick or something on the back of the 100 model?

Malific · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2011, 12:05:54 AM »

Lol, That would probably work but I'd rather not go with any jerry-rigging.

Micharus · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2011, 01:04:50 AM »

From the picture of the chair, it looks like the legs are removable. They probably aren't though.

Maybe you could have the 'legs' of the chair replaced, possibly with some some sort of metal in the same shape as the original legs, you could even get them made in some sort of hard wood.

You would get to keep the chair that you are comfortable with, plus it would be a 'custom' model, which would make it that much cooler.

Failing that you could always try Sumo, although it's probably not what you are looking for.

Malific · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2011, 01:17:32 AM »

Yeah, we live in PA and me and my wife were actually thinking about giving one of the chairs to an Amish carpenter and seeing if they could replicate it in cherry or oak. The chairs are actually in 4 pieces the two side 'legs' the back and the seat bottom, so yes they are removable but the attachment is very specific. It's actually the rocker portion of the legs that are going bad, being hollow the plastic finally split and gave way, the backstop legs are actually still solid since they rarely get any serious weight put on them.

As to Sumo, I've tried bean bag styles in the past and never really liked them, plus I have cats and get the feeling they would split the lining on me.

Micharus · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2011, 06:46:32 AM »

Quote from: Malific on August 07, 2011, 01:17:32 AM

Yeah, we live in PA and me and my wife were actually thinking about giving one of the chairs to an Amish carpenter and seeing if they could replicate it in cherry or oak. The chairs are actually in 4 pieces the two side 'legs' the back and the seat bottom, so yes they are removable but the attachment is very specific. It's actually the rocker portion of the legs that are going bad, being hollow the plastic finally split and gave way, the backstop legs are actually still solid since they rarely get any serious weight put on them.

As to Sumo, I've tried bean bag styles in the past and never really liked them, plus I have cats and get the feeling they would split the lining on me.

Doooo eeeet, as they say.
Take the chair to the Amish carpenter, it will definitely be worth your money I reckon, with the added bonus of it being an idea your wife agrees with.

I can see those legs in Oak and being a 'dark' wood, it won't look out of place and it may very well be a thing of beauty when it is done.

The Sumo thing was just another option, I keep seeing the ads for them on the Ctrl-Alt-Del web comic site.

If you go that way, I want to see photos of the finished product!

Malific · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2011, 07:06:41 AM »

Yeah it would be sweet, but a custom rocker like that will probably cost me about 200-500, that's IF they can even do it, plus I'll need two of them. So it'll be a few months before that route is really a viable option.

Micharus · « **Reply #9 on:** August 07, 2011, 03:28:15 PM »

Quote from: Chiyachan on August 07, 2011, 03:08:01 PM

Hardcore gamer rofl.

Heh, he's more hardcore than I am, I don't even own a console of any sort, unless you want to count an ancient Megadrive.

I only own a PC and my chair is a pretty ordinary office type chair with an adjustable back and armrests.

After a few hours in it, I HAVE to get up and move around otherwise my butt thinks my legs have been cut off.

At least Malifc's seat looks like it's pretty comfy, even if it's no good for the sort of gaming I do.

fohfoh · « **Reply #10 on:** August 09, 2011, 02:43:26 AM »

Build your own. No seriously. Figure out a way to maybe build the bottom out of wood, then rip out an old seat from a car and attach the two together and see if it works. If it does, sell for profit.

Or just repair the old one with a lot of duct tape.

Micharus · « **Reply #11 on:** August 09, 2011, 06:12:33 AM »

Quote from: fohfoh on August 09, 2011, 02:43:26 AM

Build your own. No seriously. Figure out a way to maybe build the bottom out of wood, then rip out an old seat from a car and attach the two together and see if it works. If it does, sell for profit.

Or just repair the old one with a lot of duct tape.

Take it from me, making that sort of curve and getting it to work using wood is more complicated that it looks.

Get it right and it'll last forever more or less, get it wrong and it'll be junk inside of a few weeks.

As for the duct tape thing, I've seen some pretty odd things repaired temporarily with it and after seeing the "Myth Busters" episode where they made/did various things using duct tape, I've kept a roll in the boot of my car.

vuzedome · « **Reply #12 on:** August 09, 2011, 07:39:53 AM »

No wonder you console gamers get fat or lose weight so easily, all you do is sit on that kind of a chair all day long.
Say hello to good China quality plastic mould chairs, it'll last longer than any silly gamer chair and it's just as comfortable.

mgz · « **Reply #13 on:** August 09, 2011, 11:01:01 PM »

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=72880&CatID=72880&Grptyp=PRD&ItemId=1a75ec4&sisearchengine=182&siproduct=Google&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-Google-_-Furniture-_-Ace%20Bayou%20Big%20Kahuna%20Beanbag%20Chair%20%20Black&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=728801a75ec4

thats just a 2 second google look, but i honestly suggest you consider a beanbag chair replacement super comfy

undetz · « **Reply #14 on:** August 10, 2011, 12:38:24 AM »

Quote from: mgz on August 09, 2011, 11:01:01 PM

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=72880&CatID=72880&Grptyp=PRD&ItemId=1a75ec4&sisearchengine=182&siproduct=Google&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-Google-_-Furniture-_-Ace%20Bayou%20Big%20Kahuna%20Beanbag%20Chair%20%20Black&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=728801a75ec4

thats just a 2 second google look, but i honestly suggest you consider a beanbag chair replacement super comfy

The problem with that one is that Samuel L. Jackson will enter your home uninvited while you're having breakfast, take a big bite out of your gaming chair and proceed to shoot you because you cannot speak English properly.

Malific · « **Reply #15 on:** August 10, 2011, 05:48:26 AM »

@fohfoh
Duct tape is how I'm rolling right now given my current lack of satisfactory options.

@Vuze
Console gaming has no more to do with weight gain/loss than PC gaming does, and if you read my second post you'll notice I'm a 'Gamer', not a 'Console Gamer.' With the 'mould' chairs... I rock in my chairs when I game regardless of if the chair is supposed to or not and I've snapped/collapsed a number of those guys' back legs in the past.

@mgz
I have done bean bag chairs before and while they're great for relaxing I can never get that "just right" feel while I'm gaming in one. Plus my cats would destroy it within a couple months >,<.

@undetz
That would be a big problem for me and my chair.

vuzedome · « **Reply #16 on:** August 10, 2011, 08:00:42 AM »

Well I'm giving you my best recommendation, generic plastic moulds, sit up straight and save your back for old age.
Or just get a boss chair and game like a boss.

fohfoh · « **Reply #17 on:** August 10, 2011, 11:30:08 PM »

@Malific: My choice for replacement? Consider a moon chair. A real one and not one of those fake mounted ones.

Malific · « **Reply #18 on:** August 13, 2011, 07:03:26 PM »

@Vuze
Yeah, I know I shouldn't rock, but it's a habit I've built up over 24 years of gaming, it's simply a subconscious action now so I'm looking for a chair that can handle it (and save my back in the process (which is why that AK200 was so perfect). I have a nice microfiber 'boss' chair for my PC set-up (which also gets rocked constantly sometimes to the point of lifting half the wheels off the ground), but I'd rather not have something that large for my console area since I have to move it out of the way when not in use.

@fohfoh
I'm assuming you're referring to chairs like these?: Amazon.com
In which case it may work out, I've used them before and I seem to recall I didn't like the way the frame applied pressure on the top of my back but some of these have some pretty heavy duty cushioning there. Also the legs seem like they would allow me to rock without risking major breakage. Though the folding action may cause issues with that.

If that's not the style you mean could you pass me a link?

fohfoh · « **Reply #19 on:** August 15, 2011, 02:46:59 AM »

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/385007662/rattan_moon_chair_for_living_room.html

Most of those look like they're mounted. This one looks closer, but I don't know if the top and bottom are connected or if it's just a "bowl" sitting on the top of a pedestal.