Vancouver Rental Opportunity: Become Roommates with an Arcade Machine

As fall semester is about to start, rental listings are unsurprisingly spiking in price as students grow more desperate to find housing. In Vancouver, though, a rare gem has appeared: an opportunity to share a cramped bedroom with an arcade game.

At only $1,050 for one person (or $1,250 for two people)—plus a security deposit, lest you think about harming that dear arcade—you can snatch the "great deal!' this listing is purporting to offer. According to the Craigslist post, it's "suitable for backpackers, hostelers, students, and esl students, looking to share room" and includes a shared kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry, and wifi.

If you look closely at the photos in the listing, you'll see the furniture in the bedroom—arcade included—appear to have been arranged with Tetris expert-level precision, unable to be moved another way without blocking the door or window. Even with the obvious Tetris skill being displayed, a twin-sized bed overlaps with a closet.

Estimating that the room is about 100 square feet, that means (shared living spaces aside) about $63 of your rent a month is going toward that two-by-three foot arcade box footprint. Let's hope it doesn't steal your quarters too.

To be fair, the arcade ( Street Fighter II Champion Edition, btw) boasts over 600 games. However, all that fun comes at the expense of a convenient place to put your water or phone when it's charging as this behemoth is placed exactly where a bedside table should go.

The room is available month to month, with short term preferred—because duh, the owner of that arcade probably wants to be able to play with it. I mean, why put your arcade box in storage when you can just charge someone over $1,000 to share a room with it in this rental market?