In 2024, Clint Basinger, better known as Lazy Game Reviewer, was hit by Hurricane Helene. While the storm tore through North Carolina, Basinger and his family were thankfully safe. Like many other families, they experienced significant damage to their home, and longtime fans were worried about his collection of PC gaming oddities and ephemera which he’d amassed as part of a decade-plus project. While some of it was lost in the flood, most survived. Now Basinger and fans alike will sleep easier, as the legendary computer cache has been given its own dedicated bunker.
“What have I done,” introduces Basinger in a YouTube video showing off the space. “This has grown in scope as I’ve gotten into this project. The past several months now… have been me and contractors and builders and designers and stuff putting all this together. It’s been a heck of a thing.”
Basinger says the building has been a dream of his for a while now, but the fallout of Helene made the project more pressing. After the destruction of his home, he had been paying $900 a month in storage units just to find shelter for his famous collection. Now with 1,800 square feet of insulated concrete, his base of operations has grown significantly more sophisticated. It is a decidedly un-lazy accomplishment.
For nearly 20 years, Basinger has been making videos not just about video game esoterica, but niche consumer hardware as well, from surreal novelty mice to elusive Hot Wheels computer towers. His friendly and gentle demeanor has made him a sunny spot in the YouTube gaming environment. When Helene hit, he directed fans towards places they could help fund the local community. Basinger said that only 5 percent of his collection was damaged beyond repair, and that most of his gaming gear destroyed in the storm was modern.
While the space is not much to look it, its construction required careful decluttering of trees and debris, concrete laying and considerations for a gamer’s version of a global seed vault. Gaming preservation can be filled with pitfalls, of both the natural and unnatural kind. The room is empty now, but in due time will become a wonderland of gaming strangeness.
“Pretty darn good,” says Basinger of his new structure. “I think it’s better than parts of my house.”