Console selection advice

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 04:22PM #1

Ok dudes & dudettes (sera), the time has come to start thinking about what consoles to have on permanent display in the attic. I'm estimating I'll have room for about 6 permanent consoles, with a few spaces left to rotate different machines into.

The list to choose the 6 from is...

1) Sony PS1
2) Sony PS2
3) Sony PS3
4) Xbox
5) Xbox 360
6) NES
6) SNES
7) N64 (Both PAL & NTSC)
8) Gamecube
9) Wii
10) Mastersystem 2
11) Megadrive 1
12) Mega CD 1
13) Megadrive 2
14) Mega CD 2
15) 32X (Height becomes a consideration for positioning)
16) Saturn
17) Dreamcast
18) 3DO
19) Atari 2600 Woody
20) Atari 2600 Vader
21) Atari 2600 Junior
22) Atari Jaguar
23) Commodore 64 (both breadbin & slim)
24) Commodore Amiga 600
25) Vectrex
26) Genesis 3

(I think that's it for consoles, but I've a load of handhelds too so may as well get shelfspace recommendations for them. I've space for about 5 of these I'm estimating, for permanent shelf presence, but then I've only a small bit left for rotating)

1) Nintendo Gameboy
2) Nintendo Gameboy Colour
2) Nintendo Gameboy Pocket
3) Gameboy Advance
4) Gameboy Advance SP
5) Nintendo DS
6) Nintendo DS Lite
7) Nintendo DSi XL
8) Sega Gamegear
9) Sega Nomad

Help...I can't choose

Retr0gamer · 08-03-2011 04:24PM

PS3 and 360 have to stay there. You'll make space for the Wii and it can act as a Gamecube. PS2 next, it's essential. I'd personally pick the saturn. Dreamcast as well. Mega Drive and SNES. Unfortunately that leaves no space for an 8-bit machine

Optimus Prime · 08-03-2011 04:25PM

Holy Cr*p, I think your going to need a bigger attic!

Could you not build\Buy some sort of shelving unit to hold them all? Ikea is great for this stuff, ive seen units with about 6 wide by 6 high squares that would be perfect.

pdbhp · 08-03-2011 04:26PM

I shall display those for you at my house, you may visit once a month and play with 1 (one) console per visit for a period of up to 20 (twenty) minutes:P

Optimus Prime · 08-03-2011 04:27PM

eg this type of thing

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/80071357

EDIT: This might be better as the back will hide the wires, but you can cut holes in it, its only cardboard type stuff on the back, we got two of these last week for the kids room and they are only 30 with the family card! they come in different colours plus the shelves are wider then the top thing. very sturdy and can be bolted to the wall at the top.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/80147338

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 04:36PM

Ok firstly I appreciate any input at all, so bare with me...

Retr0 - I need to have NES there at all times, so as you can see, this is why I've made the thread. I just cant bare to make the call without advice

Pdbhp - Lol, nice try buddy :pac:

Keith - They look ideal, perfect even. Problem is I've really no height at the sides so I'd need something that lies horizontally as opposed to vertically. I've also got that behemoth 29" Sony crt to deal with, & will need to mount a 16:9 display for the newer consoles too. It's gonna be a tough call...

o1s1n · 08-03-2011 04:37PM

You'd be suprised how much you can fit in a small space. I have one of those small computer tables in the spare room. You know the ones with the pull out drawer?

Here's what I have on it.

On the top - Megadrive/CD/32X combo & Neo Geo AES
Keyboard Drawer - pulls out to reveal an A1200

The bottom has a shelf thing. On the top part is my Snes with the magic drive, in the lower shelf is the Saturn.

Then to the left on the bottom shelf I had a moment of genius - three consoles piled on top of each other. Looks mental but it works!

Xbox on the bottom, NES on that and then a Megadrive on that. You can access all the game slots perfectly and it's good and solid.

Still doesn't fit nearly everything..but it sure fits more than 6!

EnterNow wrote: »

Ok dudes & dudettes (sera), the time has come to start thinking about what consoles to have on permanent display in the attic. I'm estimating I'll have room for about 6 permanent consoles, with a few spaces left to rotate different machines into.

The list to choose the 6 from is...

1) Sony PS1
2) Sony PS2
3) Sony PS3
4) Xbox
5) Xbox 360
6) NES
6) SNES
7) N64 (Both PAL & NTSC)
8) Gamecube
9) Wii
10) Mastersystem 2
11) Megadrive 1
12) Mega CD 1
13) Megadrive 2
14) Mega CD 2
15) 32X (Height becomes a consideration for positioning)
16) Saturn
17) Dreamcast
18) 3DO
19) Atari 2600 Woody
20) Atari 2600 Vader
21) Atari 2600 Junior
22) Atari Jaguar
23) Commodore 64 (both breadbin & slim)
24) Commodore Amiga 600
25) Vectrex
26) Genesis 3

(I think that's it for consoles, but I've a load of handhelds too so may as well get shelfspace recommendations for them. I've space for about 5 of these I'm estimating, for permanent shelf presence, but then I've only a small bit left for rotating)

1) Nintendo Gameboy
2) Nintendo Gameboy Colour
2) Nintendo Gameboy Pocket
3) Gameboy Advance
4) Gameboy Advance SP
5) Nintendo DS
6) Nintendo DS Lite
7) Nintendo DSi XL
8) Sega Gamegear
9) Sega Nomad

Help...I can't choose

o1s1n · 08-03-2011 04:40PM

What I'm on about is one of these. Should be small enough to fit in an attic.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6179571/Trail/searchtext%3ECOMPUTER+DESK.htm

pdbhp · 08-03-2011 04:46PM

1. NES
2. Megadrive + CD add on
3. Saturn or Dreamcast
4. PS2
5. Vectrex

Optimus Prime · 08-03-2011 04:51PM

its a pity you cant build little alcoves into the walls to house the consoles.

Andrew76 · 08-03-2011 04:53PM

For the 6 consoles I'd go with: NES, SNES, MD1 and the 3 current gen machines, 360, PS3 (if it's backwards compatible then there's your PS2 too) and the Wii (as retr0 says this can act as your GameCube). Assuming you have a decent selection of games for all of them ofc. I'd also defo make space for the Amiga, especially if/when you get the compact flash hdd for it.

For handhelds I'd go with: Nomad, DS Lite and GameBoy original if you have the carts for it.

Have you thought about how you're going to setup the CRT and the Plasma/LCD/possible Projector?

justsomebloke · 08-03-2011 05:03PM

EnterNow wrote: »

Keith - They look ideal, perfect even. Problem is I've really no height at the sides so I'd need something that lies horizontally as opposed to vertically. I've also got that behemoth 29" Sony crt to deal with, & will need to mount a 16:9 display for the newer consoles too. It's gonna be a tough call...

Ok I really think you need to take measurements at this point so we have an idea of the amount of space actually available for putting in stuff, from the pics of the attic it should be possible to get some cheap enough shelves in Ikea that could be laid on there side that would also hold the weight of both TV's. Also what other equipment would you want to house in the units

Shapey Fiend · 08-03-2011 05:36PM

Blatant "I have a lot of consoles to brag about" thread.

I'd keep the ones downstairs that had the least dust on them.

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 05:42PM

Joe the Santa wrote: »

Ok I really think you need to take measurements at this point so we have an idea of the amount of space actually available for putting in stuff, from the pics of the attic it should be possible to get some cheap enough shelves in Ikea that could be laid on there side that would also hold the weight of both TV's. Also what other equipment would you want to house in the units

Don't forget the sides have those opening doors at the side of the attic which will need to be accessible, so that only really leaves the end wall which is the chimney breast wall. As high up as possible will be the lcd, under that will be that Sony tv which belive me needs proper support (it weights so much more than it looks). So either I position the tv off to one side, or leave it in the middle with two smaller spaces either side of it.

I do need to get proper measurements alright, but the dilemma just dawned on me when I started thinking about shelf space & which consoles to have out.

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

Blatant "I have a lot of consoles to brag about" thread.

I'd keep the ones downstairs that had the least dust on them.

Yeah, troll somewhere else. We done all our bragging in the pics thread :rolleyes:

CiDeRmAn · 08-03-2011 06:05PM

Well, what do you play the most?
The MD would seem to be a must have.
How about the Snes?
Then, then PS2 gives you two consoles in one, but do you play PS/2 games these days?
The Saturn or DC would seem important, I would lean towards the Saturn.
The Nes is great, but do you play it often? If it was out would you play with it more (thats the Nes, not your member)
I would have the 360 on permanent duty too, but have the broadband and hdmi in within easy reach for swapping out with the PS3.
To have a dedicated display for the handhelds would be tres cool, perhaps something mountable on one of the flat walls, you could built it yourself with your newfound carpentry skills!

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 06:39PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well, what do you play the most?
The MD would seem to be a must have.
How about the Snes?
Then, then PS2 gives you two consoles in one, but do you play PS/2 games these days?
The Saturn or DC would seem important, I would lean towards the Saturn.
The Nes is great, but do you play it often? If it was out would you play with it more (thats the Nes, not your member)
I would have the 360 on permanent duty too, but have the broadband and hdmi in within easy reach for swapping out with the PS3.
To have a dedicated display for the handhelds would be tres cool, perhaps something mountable on one of the flat walls, you could built it yourself with your newfound carpentry skills!

It's kinda hard to say man, I feel I'd play all of them if they were more accessible. I'm gonna have to have the SNES & MD on active duty at all times, prob the NES too. Regards the Playstations, I'd kinda need the PS2 there as it has most of my games on the internal hdd, but then I'd also need a PS1 seperately.

Actually I might look at mounting smaller shelves along the sides & do something like what you done with your rca's (didn't you run them the lenght of your attic & have then accessible at certain intersections?). If I can bring the consoles away from the end wall, but not block the access doors, I may get more of them on display.

Also note, there's a ton of Lego heading up there too.

Optimus Prime · 08-03-2011 06:46PM

You could use cable ties and strap them to the walls! or build desks from the lego :pac:

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 06:49PM

keithgeo wrote: »

You could use cable ties and strap them to the walls! or build desks from the lego :pac:

Cables shall be banished, it's my one goal up there. I'm gonna avoid cable hell at all costs. I want whatever's chosen to be ready for use, without having to untangle rubix type knots that appeared out of nowhere

Re the Lego...oooh cool way to free up space :pac:

Retr0gamer · 08-03-2011 07:03PM

There's no avoiding a cable nightmare as I found out with my old set up:

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 07:06PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's no avoiding a cable nightmare as I found out with my old set up:

Ugh, that's the crap I'm talking about. There is a way to avoid it, but it's cable tie city & then god help if something needs to be changed etc. Having to untangle that lot would just make me not bother really, so I have to make a concerted effort to keep cabling mess to a bare minimum.

Retr0gamer · 08-03-2011 07:09PM

I just threw labels on the RGB cables what looked similar and it was fine. RGB cables and power plugs is all that needed to be plugged in.

pdbhp · 08-03-2011 07:11PM

Well in my mothers house I had a great setup going and I tried to solve the cable issue by....
A) winding or looping lenghty cables to keep them neat,

Cable tying the cables together
C) never looking behind the TV area so as not to upset myself.

None of these ideas worked at all and when I had to move all my stuff the cables were magically tangled in such a way that it took all evening to untie

Myrddin · 08-03-2011 07:17PM

pdbhp wrote: »

Well in my mothers house I had a great setup going and I tried to solve the cable issue by....
A) winding or looping lenghty cables to keep them neat,
Cable tying the cables together
C) never looking behind the TV area so as not to upset myself.

None of these ideas worked at all and when I had to move all my stuff the cables were magically tangled in such a way that it took all evening to untie

It really is bizarre how they manage to knot up when you move something 6 inches to one side. Sailors would be even left scratching their heads at some of the knots I've seen.

pdbhp · 08-03-2011 07:26PM

EnterNow wrote: »

It really is bizarre how they manage to knot up when you move something 6 inches to one side. Sailors would be even left scratching their heads at some of the knots I've seen.

Whats really crazy about it is that I constructed this behemoth of wires in a single sitting and never moved anything after that, then came the day when I moved them and good lord the wires were fouled up, I had to use all my scouting skillz to rectify it

Atavan-Halen · 08-03-2011 08:57PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's no avoiding a cable nightmare as I found out with my old set up:

Absolutely atrocious that is. Wii sports of all things!

EnterNow whatever you do definitely put out the MD 1 + MegaCD 1. Absolute sex in console form those two are together.

CiDeRmAn · 08-03-2011 09:11PM

Well, a shelf running the length of the available space, deep enough to take the console, not forgetting the cables popping out the back of them could generate a lot of extra display space.
Also, given then amount of room you have, would you consider trying to go wireless?
A couple of sets of wireless Snes and MD controllers, maybe even Nes.
Pick up a Wavebird etc.
I reckon it could go a long way to make it all more usable and keep the space uncluttered.
Truly, clutter is the worst thing in a gamesroom and requires a certain amount of self discipline to maintain a tidy space.

justsomebloke · 09-03-2011 11:44AM

EnterNow wrote: »

Don't forget the sides have those opening doors at the side of the attic which will need to be accessible, so that only really leaves the end wall which is the chimney breast wall. As high up as possible will be the lcd, under that will be that Sony tv which belive me needs proper support (it weights so much more than it looks). So either I position the tv off to one side, or leave it in the middle with two smaller spaces either side of it.

I hadn't forgotten about the side panels however having just relooked at the progress pics it looks like the CRT is a couple of inches too deep to fit behind it. However given the size of the LCD it should be able to fit on a side bookcase that will fit behind the door when it is brought down(as an LCD isn't as heavy as the CRT weight shouldn't be a problem sitting on it.

Rather then try and describe how I would do it I just drew a picture (obviously scale is something that doesn't exist in said picture)

This sort of layout may give you more options to get more consoles then just the six in.

Myrddin · 09-03-2011 11:50AM

Wow, that actually looks f'ing great! Way more utilisation of the space than what I had in my mind...this could be a happy ending after all

Thank you! I'll measure it up to check

Edit - If the doors drop out in front of the crt, then I'm good to go with the above.

justsomebloke · 09-03-2011 12:03PM

ye measurements will be the key and then trying to get units to fit those spaces maybe also an issue, but at least it gives you ideas.

Truthfully if the doors where to drop out in front of the crt meaning you could put that behind the door you may have even better options open to you

Myrddin · 09-03-2011 07:33PM

Ok the doors can't clear the tv (b0ll0x anyway :mad:). BUT...if in the middle of the floor, both doors can open & there's enough space for the tv. So essentially the crt has to be in the middle, or else....ugh...I move it on & get a smaller crt

which is looking more likely, I simply don't have the space up there.

Retr0gamer · 09-03-2011 08:15PM

All you need is a PC with emulators and but the consoles into storage or sell them :P

Console selection advice

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