Console Shelving/displays

[Ponyponypony]

So, me and my fiancee have been collecting for about a year now, and so far we've amassed about 38 different gaming systems...Right now, we only have "space" to have about 14/15 hooked up to the TV. We're kind of desperate because we want to have everything hooked up, or at least on the same sort of shelving... I had thought of having a bookshelf with the power cable/AV cables next to them, and then just hooking the consoles up as needed. However, I did want to check and see how you veterans have your collections hooked up, or if anyone can recommend anything.

[sheath]

For that many systems I would give up on book shelves and go for those industrial metal racks with the adjustable shelves. That link isn't exactly what I was picturing, I would find the shelving people use for server arrays and go with that. You could even get them with wheels and have each connected to their own switch.

We had to make our own cabinet and shelving system to keep eleven of my consoles hooked up. I could probably add enough shelves to get to fifteen, but short of having the unit go eight feet high (as my games shelf does) I don't think I could get to thirty.

[c0ldb33r]

I gave up having everything hooked up. The simple reality is that some of them were only played a few times per year, so it made more sense just to keep them put away until needed.

I've got a closet with shelves set up, I keep everything in there. My gaming TV has about 5 things hooked up. My main TV has the 3 current gen systems. That's it!

[VACRMH]

Personally, I keep the most used systems hooked up and the others packed away. But I pack them away in an easy to reach location, with all the supplies needed. So I could just reach in, and grab the system, power, video and controller.

If you do want them all at one, I liked how someone here built a custom shelf that wasn't too tall (maybe 2 feet tall), but they put a tiny shelf in it to hold 3 or 4 video switchers that were daisy chained into another switcher that went into the TV.

So for example, they could pick NES from the Nintendo video switcher, and hit the button on the main switcher that went to the Nintendo switcher.

I've seen other little shelves that are made for holding components, but most of them don't have any way to hide the massacre of cables, at least with a shelf like that you could hide them behind it

Good luck! And if you make something, submit it to Flack's new site!

[Ponyponypony]

Yeah, we're violating half of the fire code book right now with our set up. Thanks for the input y'all!

[VACRMH]

Found the picture, it was from "Zach"

[Flack]

Good luck! And if you make something, submit it to Flack's new site!

Woo hoo, LoveThyShelf.com's first plug! Thanks man!

For years I had all my systems hooked up and ready to go at all times. As those of you who have done this know, that requires a lot of shelves, a lot of power strips, and a lot of video switch boxes. I used a Pelican 8-port switchbox, and then hooked 4-port switchboxes into all 8 of the Pelican's ports. I then grouped "like" systems into groups of four. For example, box 1 was my current gen systems. 1-1 was my PS2, 1-2 was my Xbox, 1-3 was my Gamecube, and 1-4 was my Dreamcast. In one box I had all my mono systems like the NES, my C64, etc, and then I used a single Y splitter to split the audio into both channels of my stereo. Yes, things got very confusing very quickly, and I had a master list that explained what to press to get what system.

I originally built my shelves so that they were to my right, so that no matter which system I was playing, the controller would reach. This worked okay with one player games, but with two player games that meant that player two's controller cord was always slapping me on the legs or in my face. Here is a picture of them before I painted them.



I actually drew up the plans and experimented with a rotating coffee table. The table would have had shelves on all four sides of the table, and would be mounted on a rotating pedestal that would have allowed access to many machines. I didn't personally have the knowledge to built the rotating part, but I always thought it sounded like a good idea. The power and video cables would run down through the bottom and not rotate.

This picture was from several years ago. Currently, all I have hooked up are my PS3 and my 360. When I hook up other systems, which isn't too often anymore, I pull them out of the closet and hook them up one at a time. I found that even with 20 or 30 systems hooked up, I could still only play one at a time.

[portnoyd]

For the current incarnation of our gameroom, we opted to get modular type shelves from Walmart as shown here:



Was literally the only way to get the TV in the center. After a year and a half, still holding that heavy ass TV in place. The shelving is a bit wobbly but never even close to tipping over.

We have about 12 systems hooked up and really, that's all we need. Be sure to make use of backwards compability systems (PS2 instead of PS1, Wii instead of Cube, Colecovision with Atari add-on instead of 2600) to get more coverage with less systems up. The Pelican Pro System Selector as Flack mentioned is an absolute must. I would not recommend daisy chaining with 4 port boxes. I've found you get poor signals and confused wiring and it just isn't worth it.

[megasdkirby]

I've found you get poor signals and confused wiring and it just isn't worth it.

You could get around this by adding a coaxial amplifier with at least 25db output.

It clarifies almost anything to a crisp picture. But for some reason, I can see what I can identify as "scrolling magnetic lines" from top to bottom when used. It doesn't affect all consoles, but some (like for instance, the Colecovision).

But it helps, nonetheless.

[sheath]

Rats, I'm just so happy with it right now even though the TV set has changed.

[IMG=640x480]http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/sites/default/files/library_pics/Systems08_000.jpg[/IMG]



I need to update these pics, it's been three years. Wow.

-edit-

Until I find a way to show a smaller picture here, that first link should suffice for those who care to see.

-edit-edit-

I finally got around to taking some current pictures of My Library. Here are some small shots, click the link above for access to full size pictures.

[Trebuken]

I used to have a large Sauder entertainment center which held a 32" TV in the middle. I added shelves to it and was eventually able to get near 30 systems on it.

I would put systems like the Dreamcast and SNES on one shelf, larger systems like the Atari 5200 got there own shelf. Systems with wireless controllers went above the TV.

I'm currently am without a setup, but my plan in the future is to have several TV's in place of having everything tied to one.

[Polygon]

Right now I have all my systems hooked up except my 32X and the Wii is in a larger room. It's not too hard to have all my systems hooked up since I don't have that many. At least compared to a lot of people here. I'm not too happy with the way things are set up right now. When I move I'm going to have a room just for the systems. One side of the room will have an LCD for the newer systems and the other side will have a CRT for the older systems. I would like to build two T.V. stands with space for the systems below. Then below that, drawers to hold all the controllers and accessories.

Anyhow, here's I have it set up right now. It works but it isn't ideal.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I set mine up so that the controllers are always plugged in, and everything's ready to go. Click the link in my sig to see the details.

http://roomofdoom.powweb.com/gallery..._itemId=264487

[Collector_Gaming]

i know thats not the point of the thread but i love these pics of displays.. you guys are giving me ideas. very very cool!

[Goodwill Hunter]

This is an older picture, but I have about 2 dozen systems hooked up at once.



I hooked up as many systems as I could with RCA jacks to multiple switchboxes. Just a few of the older systems require an RF switch connection. The unit in the center of the wall is a standard entertainment center, but the console rack next to it is one of my first custom shelving projects. Custom work is the only way to go when you're trying to pack as much in as possible....good luck!

Rich

[sheath]

I set mine up so that the controllers are always plugged in, and everything's ready to go. I describe everything in detail here:

http://roomofdoom.powweb.com/gallery..._itemId=264487

This is awesome! I am bookmarking this and saving it for future reference.

[JSoup]

Dammit I wish my house wasn't so damn small, I'd love to build nice rooms like those. That lovethyshelf blog is making my OCD eat my brain.

[Emperor Megas]

I like to keep my set up really clean, and clutter free.



I built my own cabinet and shelfs out of plywood and MDF. I'm not very experienced at making cabinets, but they're really simple, so they only took me a few hours each to make. The shelves on the cabinet unit can be slid out to vent the consoles, and to dust easily. I also run all of the wires into the wall behind the unit. I really hate seeing wires and cords. Here's what it looks like without anything in it:



My entertainment center cabinet and shelves are all just 28" high, so they aren't very cumbersome or overwhelming. I have sloped walls in my game room, so it was important to have a storage solution that took advantage of the all the limited space available.



I have all of the main consoles I play hooked up via 2 A/V selectors (and HDMI for the modern ones) which are tucked away behind the cabinet, and labeled. I usually just set any additional system I wish to play on top of the cabinet since there's free A/V port on the side of the television.

Dammit I wish my house wasn't so damn small, I'd love to build nice rooms like those.

My space is limited as well. I have the whole attic to use as my game room, but the awkward walls limit the amount of usable space -- still, I managed to build storage that holds tons of games. I think that having low and shallow storage, rather than tall, deep bookshelf style shelves, helps a lot when you don't have very much room and want/need to keep it (relatively) minimal.

[jrokshady]

i set mine up so that the controllers are always plugged in, and everything's ready to go. I describe everything in detail here:

http://roomofdoom.powweb.com/gallery..._itemid=264487

epic!

[JSoup]

I like to keep my set up really clean, and clutter free.



I built my own cabinet and shelfs out of plywood and MDF. I'm not very experienced at making cabinets, but they're really simple, so they only took me a few hours each to make. The shelves on the cabinet unit can be slid out to vent the consoles, and to dust easily. I also run all of the wires into the wall behind the unit. I really hate seeing wires and cords. Here's what it looks like without anything in it:



My entertainment center cabinet and shelves are all just 28" high, so they aren't very cumbersome or overwhelming. I have sloped walls in my game room, so it was important to have a storage solution that took advantage of the all the limited space available.



I have all of the main consoles I play hooked up via 2 A/V selectors (and HDMI for the modern ones) which are tucked away behind the cabinet, and labeled. I usually just set any additional system I wish to play on top of the cabinet since there's free A/V port on the side of the television.

My space is limited as well. I have the whole attic to use as my game room, but the awkward walls limit the amount of usable space -- still, I managed to build storage that holds tons of games. I think that having low and shallow storage, rather than tall, deep bookshelf style shelves, helps a lot when you don't have very much room and want/need to keep it (relatively) minimal.

Oh, hey, I like those! It's nice to know that a small amount of space is manageable for large collections. I've been thinking for a while about cleaning out my office space and putting up a set of inexpensive 4x4 shelves. At the moment, I've got a shelve bolted to the wall that was once part of a waterbed.