We asked you, the members of the MLG community, to submit your questions to Shibby and the gang over at the Ultimate Gaming House, and wow, did you ever have a lot of questions. Luckily, the guys like to talk as much as they like to make over people’s gaming rooms. Read on for everything you ever wanted to know about the UGH.
JBee: What’s the most fun room makeover you guys have done?
Jon: I liked the very first UGH that I worked. I had a great time learning the ropes, and we played backyard football with the family, ACE and Elamite. It was a great time, and I knew I was involved with something great.
Lenox: Season 2, Episode 5. Instead of flying, we drove in an RV to the winner’s house and we filmed the whole ride. Shibby has a video but it’s too much awesome for us to release to the public. We couldn’t have asked for a better place to work with, either. We had a whole basement and we went all out putting a projector in there and replicating the MLG Main Stage. I even remember playing some street football with the crew and some of the winner’s friends. Yes. We won.
Jokr: For some reason the one we did in Chicago stands out; it might have been the killer BBQ afterwards. Also the one we did in New Jersey last year was really cool because it was right next to where I grew up and I knew the area really well.
Shibby: Oh man that’s a tough question. They are all a lot of fun but I’m going to have to go with Episode 5 of Season 2 in Dallas, TX. One because I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan and got to meet Cowboys LB Victor Butler, and the second reason being because the entire crew, along with Rod, the winner, got to go to the Dr Pepper Ballpark and play some baseball–homerun derby, batting cages, foot races, etc. I love to be active, so I had a blast!
M_2the_isery: What table do you use for the monitors and Xboxes so I can go buy one for my UGH? I have 4-8 monitors LANning at my house.
Jon: At events we use 6’ x 18” tables.
Shibby: For Episode 1 Season 3 (301) I bought the tables from schooloutfitters.com.
DBE_Hydrazine: Shibby, did your team win or did Ryan's team beat you guys?
Jon: Ryan’s team won because I am so awful. He’s lucky we weren’t playing Tecmo Super Bowl.
Lenox: It’s not about who wins or loses… but Ryan won.
Jokr: We let them beat us. Why would we want to put a damper on their day by showing off our superior Halo muscles?
Shibby: Let’s just say it didn’t go according to plan for the UGH crew. If you ever go to an event and want to see some “entertaining” Halo IRL, you can sometimes catch me gaming in the Dr Pepper booth.
KRILLIN: Jon, when do I get to be in an episode of UGH? I am good at carrying stuff.
Jon: You’re good at carrying stuff because you are a BEAST. You can join us anytime you like; you just won’t get paid!
Dan XboxgAmeR1759: Can the Dr Pepper fridges be bought from anywhere or will they be sold in the future?
Shibby: I get the mini fridges from a 3rd party vendor and unfortunately at this time I can’t share it with you. BUT at the end of the season I will tell you guys how to get your own. Just a heads up, they cost $275.
HammerTime: What is the most hysterical moment you guys have had as a crew on any of the sets?
Jon: We have a lot of fun off-camera. We have adventures and usually come up with some pretty amazing situations. I always enjoy watching Jokr do his Russian Cossack dance.
Lenox: Most of it happens off-camera. We always have a blast doing the episodes and we love to goof off.
Jokr: One time we found a neon sign and did our best impressions of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Shibby has some pictures.
Shibby: There’s always tons of laughs, but one thing that sticks out to me right now is duct-taping Lenox’s body cocoon-style while he was sleeping when we were traveling across the country in the RV and watching his reaction when he woke up… priceless. Who sleeps through something like that? Crazy.
girlcanbrsorta: When are you guys going to pick the next room makeover, and how often do you guys pick girls?
Shibby: Since the 1st and 2nd winners have already been selected, that leaves you guys with only one more chance to be the next winner. We will be selecting the next winner in August/September so make sure you get your submissions in. Just a tip–videos increase your chance of winning. So far we have only selected one girl winner and we are definitely open to selecting another one!
MrLooney: What was the best moment you guys had in the show? What are the official monitors for gaming? What’s your favorite Dr Pepper flavor (Shibby)?
Jon: My favorite moment was when we got to go on the field of Dr Pepper’s stadium in Frisco,TX. My favorite flavor is Diet Cherry.
Lenox: Don’t have one best moment but I always look forward to the reactions from the winners.
Shibby: You can buy a MLG certified gaming monitor here.
The best moment is always the reveal or the look on each person’s face when they answer the door and see that we’re there to hook them up. AndDr Pepper Cherry FTW.
Kenshi: Can you list any / all places you bought some of the equipment you provide for the winners? Stands, TVs, etc. (I know some of it was posted before but I'm hoping for MOST if not all.)
Jon & Shibby: IKEA, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes, IKEA, Astro, Gunnar, Wal-Mart.
DSXHalostar: Who's the person that keeps everyone on task so you can get done in the time you're given?
Jon: Obviously Shibby.
Lenox: That would be Shibby for the most part. He knows where everything in the room should go and how it should look.
Jokr: Shibby does a pretty good job of it. Definitely keeps us focused. Every once in awhile he gets too absorbed in the details and we have to nudge him on one direction or another so we can keep moving.
Shibby: We all know what our goal is and what needs to be done; I just make sure we stay focused and maintain the fun while getting to that goal.
The_R3medy: What is the worst thing you ever found in one of the winners rooms?
Jon: Oh my. I would have to go with the poop of a mouse/rat.
Shibby: You know I thought we would have come across something crazy by now but honestly nothing too shocking as of yet. There’s always tons of random broken stuff but nothing that has ever made me scratch my head. Well… I take that back, one winner did have five broken air conditioning units in his room, all stacked on top of each other.
Vilcomb9 KC5422: Who chooses the winners for the UGH?
Shibby: It’s a group of us here at the MLG office that makes the final selection, but I’m in charge of narrowing down the finalists. It’s not easy and I really wish I could hook everyone up.
Pr0tohypE: How many people actually work on the room off-camera and how long does it take?
Lenox: From the clearing of the room to the painting to the setting up of the equipment, the UGH Crew always manages to get it all done in about one or two days time. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people off-camera doing things also. There’s a crew of about five to seven people who do things like getting us food and making sure we look cool on camera. Shout out to George! He knows exactly at what temperature I like my water.
Jon: Just the UGH Crew.
Jokr: We do all the work ourselves. We're also surprisingly quick about it. On the earlier episodes our producers used to purposefully break stuff and to slow us down and create drama. No one really enjoyed that.
Makaveli623: What do you guys do during the down time?
Jon: Lenox sleeps. Jokr looks at Reddit. I like to go outside and get some air; it gets a little steamy in the rooms, especially in summer.
Lenox: I sleep. I don’t know what the others do since I’m sleeping.
Jokr: Downtime? What's that? We actually have our own trailer. It seats 16 people comfortably and comes with air conditioning.
Shibby: Hah I wish Jokr were telling the truth. We usually just do improv and goof around. Well, besides Lenox, he sleeps–I think something’s wrong with him.
CaspuR: How old do you have to be to be the winner on UGH?
Shibby: 16
UnlivedDarkness: Do you guys ever choose someone outside the US ?
Jon: I wish.
Shibby: I really wish we could but with the way the rules are set up, its US-only.
Myth_: Little bit nerdy but, where do you guys get the chairs for where they sit down and game? I have been looking all over for some chairs because my chair sucks and I would like to use the ones from MLG Columbus.
Jon: Those are convention services chairs, they are bought in bulk. You can buy similar ones at Wal-Mart or IKEA.
Renegade94: What is your favorite reaction out of all the lucky people who got their rooms swagged out?
Jon: I like Rod, our winner from Dallas,TX. His expression of surprise and his laughing were priceless.
Lenox: Had to be Season 2, Episode 1. James is a really cool guy and he was so happy to see the room after we swagged it out. I think he almost fell over when we took the blindfold off of him.
Shibby: James Ellis, Episode 1 of Season 2 – he almost passed out [laughs]. You could just truly feel how much he appreciated the room.
JokrCantSpell: How good is Jokr at the Russian dance?
Jon: AMAZING.
Lenox: I heard if you ask him to show you the Russian dance at an event, he’ll do it right on the spot.
Jokr: Jokr is an extremely talented individual whose abilities never cease to amaze. Among his many flawless skills is the Russian dance. He is adept at flips and squats, and has an impeccable sense of rhythm.
Shibby: It just has to be witnessed. It shall be documented and shared!
I_BombeR_I: Do your rooms compare to the rooms you guys create? If not, do you wish you could have rooms like the contest winners?
Jon: I wish that I had anything similar to what we gave our winners. I am never in my room, so it’s very plain and messy.
Lenox: Of course! I would love to build one of these rooms in my house one day. Nothing would be better than watching some Halo/StarCraft 2 on the big screen hooked up with surround sound and some friends over to LAN. Only thing missing is a popcorn machine.
Jokr: My room is sweet. They actually model all the UGH rooms after what I did for my own room. However instead of having only eight TVs I've decked out three out of my four walls with monitors. It helps me keep track of Reddit posts better.
Shibby: I wish. I have a pretty solid setup but it’s nowhere near what these winners are hooked up with.
KrazeR-: Did Jokr get sick in this last UGH?
Jon: He probably wishes he did, so he could sit back and let us do all the work.
Lenox: Nah. He was just really shy on camera.
Jokr: I did not get sick at the last UGH. Krazer, it sucked being sick in Michigan…. I hope you had some sympathy for me.
Shibby: Jokr is throwing up as you read this.
Solarith: How does somebody whose house burned down (losing all his gaming equipment) not win the UGH even when there is a four page petition supporting him?
Shibby: Although the UGH crew has the ability to make over any game room, we don’t have the ability to rebuild a house. We are set on a budget and we are only capable of so much.
You still have a chance to win an Ultimate Gaming House of your own! Submit your entry videos now, and maybe your makeover will become the crew’s next favorite moment.
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