Organize your collection! (was: Respect for the games...)

[CMoon]

This might seem like such a minor thing but I completely rearranged my gaming corner (pictures forthcoming) and found the same tiresome precidents dictating where things could go--namely, DC games were with the DC games, PSX games were with the PSX games, PS2 games were also isolated (heaven forbid they touch a GC, DC or even a PSX game!), and so forth.

Why? I never asked myself this. I do tend to play one console for a while, then move on to another despite having set up my 'entertainment area' to allow for consoles (and even yoko and tate tvs) to be switched out rapidly. Perhaps it all came to head having finished an epic run of MUSHA (Genesis), despite my time mostly being dedicated to Dragon Blaze (PS2) and Trizeal (DC). Were there artificial divisions in my mind that was dictating how I play games?

Anyway, today I reorganized all my shooters alphabetically without distinction by system. Although games in DVD boxes had to be seperated from jewel cases--but they were still TOUCHING each other (haha!), and then I did the same with fighters/brawlers. This wasn't really possible to do with the Genesis titles, but that was the only exception. All other non-shmup/non-fighter game got organized alphabetically, regardless of console type.

No more segregation!

Will this change the way I play games? I can now easily glance through all my shmups (despite there being around 60 titles) at once, playing what I feel like playing, regardless of system. I could do this before, but I did not.

Well, perhaps everyone is several steps ahead of me, but I feel like I've made some sort of breakthrough...

[Ganelon]

Actually, the need to get a system set up actually knowingly influences what I play. But if you want to try and give all your shooters an equal chance, you go right ahead.

But here's a question: why separate by genres when you can rearrange all games of all genres together as well, making everything a single but huge game arrangement.

Anyway, I vary on my arrangement. Always by system. Always by domestic and import. Sometimes purely by name and sometimes by genre. Sometimes between games obtained new and used.

[FatCobra]

I tend to arrange games by console, although all of them are right next to each other so a PC game may be touching a PSX game!

It depends on what kind of box they sit in. Carts can stand up on their own, so they are separate from CDs. DVD Cases come first and then jewel cases, then lastly, small PC boxes.

[CMoon]

But here's a question: why separate by genres when you can rearrange all games of all genres together as well, making everything a single but huge game arrangement.

I thought about that, but came to the same problem in music. With a couple thousand titles of music, it becomes overwhelming to not have some catagorization, but one can also OVER catagorize.

With the games, this catagorization (which is personal) makes sense to me--shooters, fighters, other. It works because over half the games I own are shooters, and over half of those remaining are fighters. To be able to see all the shooters at once, and play them freely without restriction based on console type makes sense to me.

In other words, what two types of games have more in common, two dreamcast games or two shooters? I know when I want to play a shooter but I don't typically say 'I want to play a dreamcast game'. This understanding of how I play games should be reflected in the way I organize my games.

I'm suggesting that there are great games I am no doubt not playing (I'm certainly not playing MUSHA enough!), because the organization isn't the way I play.

What I am curious about is if the new organization will change the way I play games.

[FatCobra]

I guess that does make sense...I do have a couple PSX shmups myself, but they all go into the PS2 the same way as PS2 shmups, maybe I should stick Gradius V in a jewel case so it can hang out with its PSX buddies?

[marcus12024]

I've never really given this idea much thought, to be honest.

My games are always arranged by system, and often times alphabetically, simply because when I buy a new one I put it in the right place alphabetically.

My collection is much more organized now that I picked up a nice shelving unit. It houses my PS2, GC, and XBox games on three shelves, and my boxed N64, SNES, NES, GB, and GBA games on another three shelves. I like this stand, it works very well. Will upload a pic later today, if I remember.

Then, because I ran out of room, I have sealed tupperware containers that house all of my boxed and unboxed Genesis games. They also house my Sega CD and Saturn games.

Then I've got a myriad of unboxed NES carts, and they find their homes in several NES cart holders, so that they're ready to be played at any time.

Oh, I also have a few CD racks that house all my PS One and Dreamcast games...how could I forget you till last?

And a bit off-topic, I've got a 27 inch Zenith TV tated in my room, next to my computer desk, with a PS2 and computer hooked up to it. On top of that sits a 12" Commodore monitor, and an NES. There are always loose games laying around here. Then, in the living room, I've got the 32" JVC surrounded by consoles and stereo equipment.

Even more off-topic, I used to (FOR SHAME!!) have many "backup" copies kickin' around...these came about from my university days, when I was terribly poor, and had morally-loose friends with CD burners! Since then (a short 2 years), I've replaced a good half of them with legit copies that I've tracked down via local stores or online, thrown out another quarter of them, and have the remaining quarter that sit around while I find real versions of them. As I acquire a real version, I throw out the "backup". I feel so much better these days The reason I've mentioned this here is that storing these backups, and organizing them, was not much fun. No pretty artwork, no cases, just labelled discs. It drove me crazy, and I found I could never figure out what to play...whereas when I look at "the shelf", it's a lot easier to decide on something. Does that make any sense?

One problem I do find is finding shelf space to accommodate all of the different-sized boxes/cases that games have come in over the years. Genesis cases seem to be the worst, as they don't really fit in with anything else I have - at least most Nintendo games have similarly shaped boxes (NES, SNES, and N64.....and then GB, GBC, GBA, and DS). I somewhat like the DVD case standard that companies use now, it's easier to deal with.

[CMoon]

I'm not going so far as changing the boxes. Perhaps later today I'll have a chance to take a photo of the setup; I'm very happy with it. Still, jewel cases and dvd boxes are still seperate, but there is a definite shmuppy section. It is sort of like a library how they throw the oversized books on top, but they are still in the right section!

[CMoon]

And a bit off-topic, I've got a 27 inch Zenith TV tated in my room, next to my computer desk, with a PS2 and computer hooked up to it. On top of that sits a 12" Commodore monitor, and an NES. There are always loose games laying around here. Then, in the living room, I've got the 32" JVC surrounded by consoles and stereo equipment.

I don't know if anyone has done this but I wired a standard switch box in reverse--IE input goes in the output and vice versa, so that a signal can be directed to the yoko or tate TV by the push of a button. It isn't terribly clever, but I hate the idea of having to rewire or even change a cable everytime you want to play a different game. There's probably a slight loss in quality that I haven't been able to distinguish, but it takes that hesitation out of your mind about playing a certain game coz it is in tate or yoko. When I only had one TV for gaming, I used to switch it once a month and play nothing but yoko or tate games until it was switching time again.

Now it is organized to switch between either without much thought.

[marcus12024]

I don't know if anyone has done this but I wired a standard switch box in reverse--IE input goes in the output and vice versa, so that a signal can be directed to the yoko or tate TV by the push of a button.

That's a good idea CMoon, I think I'll give it a shot, seeing as I can pick up an A/V switcher for less than 10 bucks now. Right now I hook up my systems that are "more tate" to one tv, and all others to the other one. For example, my NES doesn't need to be played in tate

[Kiken]

I used to have everything organised by system and then by order of purchase (believe it or not, but I could recall the order in which I bought my games).

This format worked for me, but it was ridiculously archaic. A friend had suggested that I simply try alpahbetizing everything. So I did. The problem then came in having multiple case-types all next to each other (which causes space issues and just looks awkward).

In the end, I chose to alphabetize by case-type.

My first cabinet contains standard CD case games (Hu-Cards too), double-CD case games, N64 Cart boxes, NGPC games and GBA boxes.

My second cabinet holds DVD case games (and replay DVDs), Neo Geo AES cart boxes, Neo Geo MVS carts (just the carts themselves), Sony wide (single and double) cases, Sega wide cases (those cases that are 1.5 times thicker than standard jewel cases), SFC cart boxes and MD cart boxes.

[CMoon]

Yeah, I have all my systems that are s-video compatable (which is all of the ones that I own short of the genesis) going into a gamestop 5 system switcher--the output from that goes to another switcher but the input is going into the designated output of the box, and depending on which switch I use, it sends it to the 'input' for TV1 or TV2. Humerously, I can send it to both TVs at once, but then it acts like a switcher and the signal is noticably reduced in quality.

Again, I feel like taking a photo (much like the thread on the old forum where people showed off their set-ups). One nice thing is that the shelving I'm using has posts sticking up on each corner and I can dangle the controllers around these, reducing clutter. I'm currently very happy about it.

[raiden]

I have one cab-shaped shelf for tate PCBs with a mounted joystick and another shelf for everything yoko, i.e. MVS, CPS2 Gigawing and Megadrive. My music CDs are hanging at the wall so I can see all covers at once. The reason I mention this is the fact I found the backs of CDs and DVDs too small to read the title comfortably, so I just got rid of the DVDs, but if I still had a console with CD or DVD games, I´d use the same method as for the music CDs. Seeing all the covers at once is sort of overwhelming, but it eliminates cases where I´d just forget a title completely due to poor lighting, and if I happen to own a CD I don´t want any longer, being confronted with it every day makes me want to get rid of it that much faster.
I have to say my ideal for games is an arcade: having a completely separate, dedicated setup for each game instead of multi-switchboxes. Right now, it´s not feasible, but in case I´m going to live in a bigger flat at some point, I´ll build a cab for each game I want to keep and get rid of the rest. Each monitor will be adjusted to the game that´s running on it, and I´ll try to find the ideal joystick for each game, too. Not to mention all the artwork on the cabs.

[iatneH]

I have mine grouped by system, and then in alphabetical order from right to left. I throw loose carts in a box, but they are still roughly arranged by system and alphabetically within a system.
I used to have many game systems out at once on a multi-tiered shelf next to my monitor hooked up to a 5 way switchbox, but now I keep most of them in my closet and just take a few minutes to swap cables since I don't spend much time playing anymore.

[alpha5099]

I enjoy over-organizing. I'm such a slob, it's nice to have at least one facet of my life I can act anal over.

All my games are by system, and organized by genre. But then within the genres, I organize by developer, grouping related developers together, so that Batsugun is next to DonPachi, and Sonic Wings Special is next to GunBird. Beyond that, within the developer categories, the games are grouped in rough chronological order.

There are some exceptions. Within the Saturn/Shmups/Konami section, all the Parodius games are together, with the other three Deluxe Packs preceding it.

Because so many of my Genesis games are loose carts, I just have them all sitting in two plastic boxes. One box is shmups, the other is everything else. I'll have to come up with a better storage solution in the future, as I plan to greatly expand my Genesis collection.

[Shatterhand]

Well, I have just 2 systems set up now. My PSX, and my Saturn.

This topic came in a very interesting point of my life, as we are "reorganizing" the whole house. This led to me thinking about "Do I really need 3 different MSXs?"... "Should I keep all those Amiga disks, if I don't even know they are working anymore, and my Amiga is not working anymore?"

And by the way, I ended up throwing my Amiga on the garabage... with a very strong pain in the heart. I want to buy another someday though.

I've been thinking about setting my MSX 2.0 + again... I got all the disks that were spread in different boxes and put them all together in a single box, so they occupy less space, though there's no organization whatsoeve on them.

The master systems cartridges are all in a box too, with no organization either. I mean, it's just 12 cartridiges, it's not like I take hours to find what I am looking for

Now, both PSX and Saturn cds are organized. I have around 150 PSX cds and 90 Saturn cds. What I do is store the original cases somewhere else, and just put the CDs in a cheaper cover. All Saturn games are in green covers, and the PSX ones are in white covers. And I organize in alphabetical order, and the name of the game in the CD is always upwards, so I can quickly read it.

And while I find this to be a real simple way to organize (I can find any game I want very quickly), some people say I am too anal about it.... people are weird.

[Ex_Mosquito]

hah my collection used to be in a mess until i filtered down. I file my dvd collection roughly by genre though - Comedy stand-up/series, film, Game related. Before i sorted them out it took me ages to find anything, now its a little easier.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.stevens53/col1.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.stevens53/col2.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark9/set-up.jpg

[CMoon]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark9/set-up.jpg

That DC joystick with the pink buttons and clear knob is awfully pretty. Wish I still had one of those DC sticks (ended up getting a custom made one.

[MadSteelDarkness]

Some good organizational ideas there, CMoon.

Myself, I have mine organized by genre, then by series, then dev. co., then by how old they are. Oh, and then I have my shmups divided into verts and horis, with borderliners placed next to them. Fighters are divided up between 2-D and 3-D games, with brawlers set next to the 3-D fighters (SNK and Capcom fighters being segregated, of course). But that's only for CD and DVD-based games. Carts are a whole other matter (mass confusion reigns there, with a few select titles in stacks near my consoles).

Man, am I a freak!

[SheSaidDutch]

I just stack them

I used to be abit anal but I no longer care.

[FRO]

I'm of the anal-retentive variety that MUST have them separated by console, and each console section by alphabetical order, then by release date (if there are remakes or multiple versions). My CD collection is the same way - all alphabetical, then by year.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Anal retentive?


So that's what I'm called.

I have my games by system and alphabetical order. It looks a lot more neat that simply arranging in alphabetical order.

[it290]

I have mine sorted by console, but also by case type -- for instance, black box Genesis games are all together (next to white box SMS games -- nice combo), then red box Genesis games, then 32X games, etc. I also sort by manufacturer -- all my Neo Geo stuff is on one shelf, and all my Nintendo (NES, SNES, GC, GB) stuff is on another shelf. Most of my games are for Sega systems, so those take up three shelves.

[Diabollokus]

I sorted up mine the other week.#

I separate them into sections by different systems, then each section per system is alphabetized, however imports and domestic are separated.

I also keep what I call ''The Ebay Shelve'' all the games I'm going to sell cos I've played em hate them and want them to torture another soul.

[FatCobra]

I was thinking of building a container out of legos to hold NES and SNES carts.

I also have a boring white CD holder that I use to hold various CDs, I am thinking of painting it black and putting PS1 games in it.

[CMoon]

OK, here it is at last...

http://www.lastvisibledog.com/images/gallery/setup.jpg

I've actually altered the setup a bit seen here, moving out the PS2 (it is now where the GC is in this picture), and the saturn and DC are side by side (the way I always wanted it!)

So, what I was trying to get at originally is that all the shmups (save the genny titles) are organized together, and though I haven't labeled it, so are the fighters (right next to the GC in that picture).

I'm also still in the process of setting up that room, so things like the crate just holding empty jewel cases will no doubt soon have something in it.

A couple other things--note how great those little posts are on that shelf for dangling controllers from! I love it!

But I also want to say, there is a cheaper form of that shelving that could never hold a TV (that one pictured is rated at 750 pounds, but I've seen others that couldn't hold my own weight!) Be careful about putting your TV on plastic shelving!

[Neon]

CMoon: We have the same tate TV

fun fact

I just keep all my saturn games in a box, english side up so I know which from which (they're all japanese, hardcore omg)