Shelving for gaming consoles? Cable management hacks?

[Windfish]

I have 8 or so consoles that need to be connected to my tv, and I am wondering what you all are doing for shelving. I am looking for something that will help with cable management, in particular. Maybe there is something out there with compartments that will help, haha!

[the Goat]

I have a few of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015Q0JQ58 (purchased when they were significantly cheaper)
The wide side of the shelf is the perfect width for a Sega CD 2. Basically every other console fits without issue. My SuperGrafx with SSDS3 is the deepest console and extends off the back of the shelf.

There is no cable management built in. But I've considered using zip ties to lash cables to the frame. I have a gscartsw on each book case that all the consoles connect to. The gscartsw then outputs one SCART cable to an Extron matrix switch that feeds the CRT and audio receiver.

[Bratwurst]

If aesthetics aren't that important I recommend a wire shelving unit. I got mine (48" by 72" I think) for $50 from a Lowes under a combination of promotions and sales. You can pretty much run your cabling however you please and eventually route it to the support posts at any of the four corners, attached with velcro strips. Easy to clean, doesn't collect dust as much.

Looks hideous and industrial. This was preliminary setup, I'll take a more recent picture later.

[Triple Lei]

Ikea Kallax with H-shaped cube shelf dividers.

Up to you to figure out the cabling situation, though. I started with good intentions but it went to hell pretty quickly...

[nmalinoski]

Interesting that a similar question was asked by a writer for Kotaku just yesterday.

My suggestion, if you have money and/or don't have a lot of space, would be a server cabinet and several shelves. You can fit a couple smaller consoles (Dreamcast, TG/PCE, GameCube) side-by-side on one shelf, while larger ones (Xbox) will need their own, and several vertically-orientable consoles (PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One S/X) can fit on one shelf. A 4-post rack will allow for decent cable management (Separation of power, video, network), will accommodate any rackmount gear you might have/end up with (CrossPoints, AV converters/decoders/etc., PDUs, UPSes), and, if you get one with casters, you can roll it out of place for easy access/maintenance.

[Wolf_]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VECNTO
I use this $70 bookshelf with free 2 day shipping if you have amazon prime (seriously get prime). The bookcase itself is decent quality for the price and it looks pretty good, especially for $70. The only place where corners were cut (that's a pun) is the backing which is basically just cardboard with wallpaper on it which is good because in the corners of each shelf I cut a cable management hole to route wires to all my consoles. The one issue I have is that the ps4 pro is ~14 inches long making it the longest console by far and the shelves are just under 12 inches deep so it hangs out about 2 inches from the bottom shelf. Luckily the ps5 will be out soon and is backwards compatible so fingers crossed it won't be as long as the ps4 pro. (Even the og xbox fits)

Currently I have it holding:
Saturn
PS1
PS2
PSP
Xbox
Cdi
MiSTer
Mega Sg + Sega Sd
Dreamcast
GBA (placeholder for Analogue Pocket)
N64
Wii
Wii U
Switch
Xbox 360
PSTV
PS3
PS4
Xbox1
3DS

And it is filled. I'd say that's probably as much as you're going to fit on it so if you're not using a MiSTer and have more consoles than me you'll need a second to hold them all.

[KonradKlaus]

I have a coffee table with a bottom shelf. On there I fit a Dreamcast, nes, snes, Genesis 1 with Sega cd 2 and 32x, N64, ps1, Saturn, and a PC engine with ssds3. All are hooked up via rgb scary into a gscartsw that sits under the coffee table along with a power strip. Two cables, one power and one scary go to my TV stand. I have a short throw rug over the two cables so my daughter doesn't trip over them nor my wife complain of cables.

On a shelf on a nearby wall I have my component and HDMI consoles (PS2,ps3,PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii u, and GameCube. I just did long cables along the wall, nothing fancy.

If I wasn't posting this on my phone, I'd post a pic. I am pretty happy with it

[nmalinoski]

I have a coffee table with a bottom shelf. On there I fit a Dreamcast, nes, snes, Genesis 1 with Sega cd 2 and 32x, N64, ps1, Saturn, and a PC engine with ssds3. All are hooked up via rgb scary into a gscartsw that sits under the coffee table along with a power strip. Two cables, one power and one scary go to my TV stand. I have a short throw rug over the two cables so my daughter doesn't trip over them nor my wife complain of cables.

On a shelf on a nearby wall I have my component and HDMI consoles (PS2,ps3,PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii u, and GameCube. I just did long cables along the wall, nothing fancy.

If I wasn't posting this on my phone, I'd post a pic. I am pretty happy with it

I kind of want part of my setup to be like this, mainly because it's an approach that makes it easier to deal with the limited reach of wired controllers (especially if we have people over and we want to play something like Mario Party 1, 2, or 3); though I would want my table to have a lift top, with consoles and controller/peripheral storage inside, and a shallow cutout on the seating side so controllers can be used with the lid down.

One thing I would suggest for your setup is one of these rubber cable protectors, so your cables don't get crushed from people repeatedly stepping on them. I had to run five speaker wires, HDMI, and Cat5e across a doorway, and I was able to shove all of that through one of these things. It's just rubber, so you can cut it to the length you need. If you do get one of these, you might want to forego the rug, or put this on top; since it'll be easier to spot than if it were hidden under the rug.

[SamIAm]

If aesthetics aren't that important I recommend a wire shelving unit.

I second this.

Below is a shot of my bonkers game space. It's not exactly beautiful, but it's extremely efficient. The metal racks are both deep and wide-open in the back, making it easy to place monitors on them and run cabling behind the scenes. They're also rated for a reassuring 200kg per shelf.

The space behind the matrix switch is a jungle, there's little avoiding that, but it does help if you buy some white electrical tape and use it to make labels for the ends of each cable. Also, if you have a lot of extra slack in any cable, you can wrap it with a velcro strap.

The biggest weakness of this setup is that no matter which monitor you're looking at, the speakers aren't centered around your ears. Had I a lot more space to use, I'd probably try to centralize one or two "star" monitors and maybe put the speakers behind the player. And in that case, yeah, I'd probably want to get some more visually appealing shelves. For the space I have, however, I can't imagine anything better.

Spoiler

[strygo]

I've personally never been a big fan of going the zip tie route. My setup evolves over time and the relative permanence of the zip ties is too much of a hassle for me. As my most recent example, I needed more space on my modern era shelf to make room for the Genesis Mini so I moved and reoriented my PS3 and Xbox 360 to the vertical position.

I went down a path that I've grown to like. When organizing my collection, I repurposed a couple of bookshelves that I'd gotten from Home Depot previously. They're on the cheap side, which had the benefit of having a thick cardboard backing as opposed to something thicker. This has allowed me to use an X-Acto knife to cut out square holes to feed the cables through. My AV switches reside on a middle shelf, so the various systems' cables run to that one. The cables are not tied down, which means it is a bit unsightly behind the shelf, but it's far enough away from a wall that I have access to everything. I did this first with a retro shelf and repeated it again with a modern (HDMI) shelf. The former shelf runs to the latter.

The pros of this approach:

- The cables aren't visible, yet are accessible
- The systems can be moved around as your needs change
- The holes you cut serve as lightweight fasteners since they loosely hold cables in place
- These bookshelves are relatively cheap (~$50) or turn up on craigslist for free

The cons:

- The bookshelves are cheap looking (especially compared to nicer Ikea or furniture store ones)
- If you move systems around (which I have), you'll end up with empty holes since the profiles of the systems vary

On that last point, I've contemplated getting white cardboard and cutting it to size to cover some of the empty holes.

[Bratwurst]

Below is a shot of my bonkers game space. It's not exactly beautiful, but it's extremely efficient. The metal racks are both deep and wide-open in the back, making it easy to place monitors on them and run cabling behind the scenes. They're also rated for a reassuring 200kg per shelf.

Yeah, that is hot. I really dig the underhangs you added, I gotta steal that idea.

I was thinking about contacting the rack manufacturer about purchasing more of the shelf layers but it would cut into how many monitors I could put on the rack. Underhangs would cooperate way better I think.

I've personally never been a big fan of going the zip tie route.

You shouldn't ever use zipties for cable management. Monoprice sells velcro straps at very reasonable prices:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6457

I bought two bags of 50 and I still haven't touched the second bag.

[strygo]

You shouldn't ever use zipties for cable management. Monoprice sells velcro straps at very reasonable prices:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6457

I bought two bags of 50 and I still haven't touched the second bag.

My issue isn't so much the zip ties themselves, although they are super annoying. My primary concern is ensuring that there aren't unneeded dependencies between unrelated systems. I want to be able to change things out without touching a bunch of other stuff. In some of the tightly bound setups I've seen, if you need to move one system, you're stuck messing with a bunch of others.

[HDgaming42]

If you space your consoles close enough together you don't need to worry about cable management!

I'd second the use of velcro--but use the tape so you can cut off just the length(s) you need. I personally found the strips were too long, and cutting them down just ended up with left-over bits that were either too long or not long enough.

I started with my systems in an equipment/server rack but the 19' shelf spacing is really not ideal for game consoles. There were systems that just couldn't share with others, and although they looked great on their own, the number of systems I have (not all pictured) meant stacking multiple consoles together where possible--and that really didn't look nice in constrast.

The above...it drives me nuts TBH but it's the best I could come up with in the space available. PS3 era onward are housed in the rack with a shelf each. Cable management in a rack is clean and easy...I just haven't gotten back to cleaning up since the last re-arrangement.

edit: loops--they do serve a purpose

[nmalinoski]

I personally found the strips were too long, and many come with a loop that is pointless for the diameter(s)/weights we're dealing with.

I agree many of them are a tad long for wrapping a couple cables; but I don't quite follow on the loops. My understanding is the loops are intended to keep the cable tie attached to the cable or the tie-down point; how is that pointless?

[the Goat]

If you space your consoles close enough together you don't need to worry about cable management!

Excuse me for being blunt, that looks horrible. There is no airflow for cooling. How do you get disks and cartridges in/out of the consoles (NES cartridge door cannot open, PSX CD door cannot open, etc.)

[HDgaming42]

I personally found the strips were too long, and many come with a loop that is pointless for the diameter(s)/weights we're dealing with.

I agree many of them are a tad long for wrapping a couple cables; but I don't quite follow on the loops. My understanding is the loops are intended to keep the cable tie attached to the cable or the tie-down point; how is that pointless?

LOL, no you're absolutely correct. I didn't end up needing/using the loops in my rack or shelving unit but they're handy for tie-downs.

[HDgaming42]

Excuse me for being blunt, that looks horrible.

Yah think? Huh, I should have mentioned that...

If you've got a better method to fit that many consoles in that amount of space I'm all ears.

There is no airflow for cooling. How do you get disks and cartridges in/out of the consoles (NES cartridge door cannot open, PSX CD door cannot open, etc.)

The ambient temperature in my Canadian basement means overheating isn't a big concern. That, coupled with the fact I don't get much time for gaming, LOL.

The PSX has a loose loop that allows it to be pushed 2" backward to enable loading of NES cartridges (rare, now with my N8), and pull forward and out to allow loading of discs. The 360, before you ask, can be rotated clockwise to allow the disc drawer to extend.

[ldeveraux]

Excuse me for being blunt, that looks horrible. There is no airflow for cooling. How do you get disks and cartridges in/out of the consoles (NES cartridge door cannot open, PSX CD door cannot open, etc.)

Except for the Microsoft consoles, none of those required ventilation. And those only overheated because they were designed with poor cooling! There's a reason we can still buy an inexpensive, 40 year old console that still works.

[Wolf_]

As long as you are not blocking vents on a console that is enough space for ventilation.

And it looks like this person is an everdrive user so they probably don't need to open the consoles.

[the Goat]

Excuse me for being blunt, that looks horrible. There is no airflow for cooling. How do you get disks and cartridges in/out of the consoles (NES cartridge door cannot open, PSX CD door cannot open, etc.)

Except for the Microsoft consoles, none of those required ventilation.

The original PSX is famous for overheating and warping the plastic gears driving the CD-ROM laser sled.

Irregardless I'm happy he has a solution that works for him.

[HDgaming42]

The original PSX is famous for overheating and warping the plastic gears driving the CD-ROM laser sled.

Appreciate the concern, but that's an SCPH-5501 (signed by Melanie C of the Spice Girls, because, hey, why not?).

As far as I'm aware, it's the SCPH-1001 that suffered from warped gears (which I'm thinking is probably what you mean by "original", as opposed to all versions prior to the PSOne).

[Dochartaigh]

I've personally never been a big fan of going the zip tie route. My setup evolves over time and the relative permanence of the zip ties is too much of a hassle for me.

You shouldn't ever use zipties for cable management.

My issue isn't so much the zip ties themselves, although they are super annoying. My primary concern is ensuring that there aren't unneeded dependencies between unrelated systems. I want to be able to change things out without touching a bunch of other stuff. In some of the tightly bound setups I've seen, if you need to move one system, you're stuck messing with a bunch of others.

Oh ye of little faith. Not to brag (just being truthful) but I probably have the most mile(s?) of wire running in my retro gaming setup than most anybody else - especially if you count how all that fits in a single 19" wide, regular height, server rack, which is somehow still nice and clean and organized (with room for CD lids to open and remove cartridges even!). And 'all that' is up to 16 systems, 5 switchers and/or splitters, 3 upscalers, 2 downscalers, 6 transcoders/converters, 3 power switches; all running to up to 10x CRT's, 2x PC CRT monitors, a 4K flatscreen, all run by a touchscreen iPad (ok, and several remote controls too).

So needless to say (well, besides saying that I'm crazy I've found though an obscene amount of trial and error that velcro is absolutely horrible for most more-complex setups where you REALLY need to get some proper wire management going on (and by complex I mean like even a half dozen-ish consoles, a couple converters, running to a couple screens). Here's a quasi copy and paste I've posted several times before in regards to cable management:

For starters there's easily releasable/reusable zip ties. You can still cut them to length, but can release and reuse them at will. I personally use bulk packs of regular zip ties which comes out to ~2 cents each (velcro is almost triple that).

Even if you use regular non-removable zip ties, and need to remove a shelfs' worth of zip ties (where maybe 2, possibly 3 consoles are housed), or a row on my Crosspoint 32x32 switcher (which is 4x inputs or outputs) at a time, there's only going to be 3-4 zip ties at most I'll ever have to remove at once. That literally takes maybe 5 seconds with a pair of wire cutters to remove ALL of those (I prefer side-cutting cutters I got for maybe $4 – never even nicked a wire with those).
---try to undo a single velcro strip, where it's wrapped around maybe 3-5 times, in that same period of time....then repeat multiple times.
---try to undo a single velcro wrap where there's a bunch of wire bundles surrounding it (i.e. on a matrix switcher, or anywhere where multiple bundles come together) and you'll see how not-easy that is - just fitting in a couple fingers to unwrap a velcro strip multiple times and/or even finding that hidden end of the velcro is a chore.

Zip ties can fit into spaces where velcro strips can't. I can run zip ties through screw holes, through small crevices, jam it between the bars of a wire rack (not have to use a tool to poke a floppy velcro strip through a similar sized hole/slit), I can even bend the end of the zip tie so it's a "U" shape and run it in and out of a vent (handy for server racks, and even putting LED backlighting on the back of my TV's where there's no other anchor place). You can't (well, even remotely as easily) do this with velcro strips.

Zip ties can be pulled tight with ease. Velcro can't. Well, velcro can, but that little tab on velcro always rips if pulled too taunt, or you have to keep constant pressure on a velcro strip to wrap it tight, and they really like to rotate as you do that (and will nearly never be as-tight as zips).

Zip ties being pulled taunt lets them do STRUCTURAL things. I have numerous amounts of extra length of wire coiled (uber shielded, professional type, no problems with interference) off the back of a shelf where it's held perfectly horizontal so you don't even see it from the front. I even use these coils as little shelves for things like the Toro hanging off the back of a Dreamcast, a composite break-out box for light guns, etc.

Zip ties are LOAD BEARING. I have ~40 pounds worth of SCART to BNC adapters held up with 5 zip ties connected together like a clothes-line so the wires don't get stressed by that weight pulling on them. I hold up in-line transcoders so they almost magically float in the air to get routed to where the other end needs to be because those zip ties have some strength to them and don't flex of flop around.

Oh, and for the neat freaks out there, zip ties don't like to collect cat and dog hair and dust like velcro ties do either.

[/end my stupid rant about how awesome zip ties are lol]

[ldeveraux]

Excuse me for being blunt, that looks horrible. There is no airflow for cooling. How do you get disks and cartridges in/out of the consoles (NES cartridge door cannot open, PSX CD door cannot open, etc.)

Except for the Microsoft consoles, none of those required ventilation.

The original PSX is famous for overheating and warping the plastic gears driving the CD-ROM laser sled.

Irregardless I'm happy he has a solution that works for him.

The PS1 didn't have active cooling. I assume you meant PS1 and not an actual PSX?

[nmalinoski]

Except for the Microsoft consoles, none of those required ventilation.

The original PSX is famous for overheating and warping the plastic gears driving the CD-ROM laser sled.

Irregardless I'm happy he has a solution that works for him.

The PS1 didn't have active cooling. I assume you meant PS1 and not an actual PSX?

I believe they're referring to how the CD-ROM drive in the SCPH-100x was positioned adjacent to the PSU and would suffer long-term heat damage, and, because of that, later models had the CD-ROM drive rotated 180 degrees to the other side.

[the Goat]

The PS1 didn't have active cooling.

Just because a device doesn't have active cooling doesn't mean it doesn't require ventilation. (There are a lot of "doesn't"s in that statement.)

I assume you meant PS1 and not an actual PSX?

PSX is the abbreviation for the original PlayStation based on its development codename.

[ldeveraux]

Just because a device doesn't have active cooling doesn't mean it doesn't require ventilation. (There are a lot of "doesn't"s in that statement.)

Quote editing is so painful here on Shmups! I understand what you're saying, but that's not my point. There's no active cooling, also no ventilation in the PS1. I don't even think there were side vents to allow air flow, let alone flow specifications from Sony. Because of this, I can't think of a reason to create space around the unit.

PSX is the abbreviation for the original PlayStation based on its development codename.

This is a PSX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSX_(digi ... _recorder)
I understand when downloading ROMs, PSX is used to indicate a PS1 ROM, but that's not quite accurate in this reference. I'm not trying to nitpick, I just wasn't clear on which console you actually meant. I've never seen an actual PSX in the wild, so not sure if the OP had one on those shelves!

[nmalinoski]

There's no active cooling, also no ventilation in the PS1. I don't even think there were side vents to allow air flow, let alone flow specifications from Sony. Because of this, I can't think of a reason to create space around the unit.

This is not accurate. The left and right sides of the PS1 are ventilated.

Spoiler

[HDgaming42]

Oh ye of little faith. (epic post snip)

You make a compelling case for zip-ties my friend. Thanks for sharing!

[Windfish]

I need your honest opinion, guys. I have taken in what has been said in this thread, and I have, over the past few days, scrutinized every option. Here is what I have found:

You need furniture with backboard, absolutely. Furniture without backboards, such as Ikea's popular Kallax shelving, make it very difficult to do cable management. With a backboard, you can mount wiring and other components, such as power bricks and surge protectors, with strong, double-sided adhesive. That's the way to go, in my opinion. With the help of cable clips and adhesive, you can mount all the wiring on the backboard, nothing hits the ground.

Now, this is where I need your guys' opinion. It requires a little imagination, but how about something like this unit:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hemnes-sto ... -30382210/

The shelves have enough clearance for top-loading consoles, more than enough. And if you drill holes through the backboard, you can do all the cable management stuff. The very bottom shelf, you can put cube storage.

Be honest, tell me what you guys think. I am enthusiastic about its utility, but I am less sure on its appearance. It actually looks fine, but perhaps it may look off in the context of your living room as an electronic rig. I dunno, but try to imagine stocked with gaming swag and consoles, tell me what you think.

[Windfish]

I imagine a pairing with this TV stand, for instance:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hemnes-cor ... -90424976/