New York Man converts his Apartment into Arcade, Loses Fiancee

A 37-year-old man by the name of Chris Kooluris recently decided to convert his lovely apartment into a 1980s style Arcade after going through what many would consider to be a mid-life crisis, at least it would seem to be that way by the looks of his new pad and loss of his Fiancee who apparently couldnt handle the conversion.

It began with Kooluris and his former fiancée moving into her place in Brooklyn which left his place up for grabs.  The problem is the apartment didnt sell and he began to feel claustrophobic living with his fiancée and all of her girly belongings.  So at one point Kooluris picked up a Sci-Fi novel titled Ready Player One that provided an overview of the 80s gaming culture and he stated;

"The book just blew me away," he remembers. "It awakened something in me and I started thinking that I can't believe I'm not surrounded by all these things that I grew up loving."

Which then lead to the conversion and him scouring town for literally every arcade related item he could get his hands on from Pac-Man to Mike Tysons Punch Out to Street Fighter II and even a number of actions figures to line his shelves with! He actually spent $26,000 in total on the entire game room!  Sadly, at around the halfway point of the build is when his lady left him.



The interesting fact about all of this is that Kooluris isnt some jobless smuck.  Hes actually a Senior VP for a global public relations firm! His only problem is he just happens to love video games and Ninja Turtle Bed Covers!

Whoops...



But of course it cant all be bad right?  His friends come over for game nights that are probably the most fun theyve had in years as one states;

"It's like a 'Field of Dreams' for geeks," says Josh Shabtai, 35. "From the outside it seems like Noah building an ark. It's easy to think, 'Oh man, this guy is a lunatic.' But when you see how happy it makes it him, and how it provides a place for his friends to come together, it turns out to something really cool."

So is Kooluris really happy or is he living with regret?

"Now that my fiancée and I are no longer together, it's hard to enjoy the room as much as I want to," he says. "I always end up thinking about her."

Sounds like a bit of regret!  But hey, we've all been there at some point in our lives in making potentially unwise decisions in our lives, right? The only difference is that not all of us have $26 grand to blow on games.  For Kooluris, my advice would be to find a girl that shares your common interest in gaming and you might be living the dream without any regret.



Source: nydailynews.com