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Best Way To Manage Growing Console Clutter?
An anonymous reader writes "Being the owner of several actively-used consoles, I have found myself in a perpetual state of tangled cords and controller 'land mines' when it comes to my living room. With each console supporting four controllers, and a couple of games having their own unique peripherals, this is becoming more and more of a problem. It's not so much that there isn't a place for all of this. as it is that there isn't a place that's visually pleasing, big enough to survive the growing collection, easy to use, and most importantly, cheap. I find myself having to untangle cords or digging through a box/drawer. no matter what solution I try. What have Slashdot readers resorted to when it comes to keeping all of this in check?"
You could go out and buy yourself wireless controllers. Other than those wires, the power and A/V plugs should be able to be routed through the back of any reasonable entertainment center furniture.
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Give me your consoles. You can't have console clutter without consoles.
I have 3 consoles and a DVD player running on 1 TV. For all the AV cabling, I have a junction box which deals with that quite nicely. They run around $20 at a Best Buy or some other gaming store. For Controllers, I usually have them all stored unless they are actually in use, with the exception of my GCN. I have Wavebirds for that. I'd like to go the wireless route with controllers for the other 2 systems, but Sony and MS have yet to put out a decent wireless controller. Currently they are all IR based, which tends to be exceptionally laggy, short on range, and the controllers themselves lose the feel of the original controller. When they get a Wavebird equivilent, I'll probably grab those to deal with the rest. Oh, and for power cables, Belkin sells a set of velcro ties for cable management for $5 or so. A PC supply shop should carry those.
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If you're only using one TV, I greatly recommend you get a multi-RCA switcher, and plug all the consoles into it, and it into the TV. Then just make sure your cables are neat and the switcher is moderately easy to get to to switch to a different console.
As for controller woes, I might suggest a shelving unit (maybe a smallish bookcase). Each console gets a shelf and then lay down the law about rolling controllers up and putting them on the shelf when done. Otherwise go cordless, as others have suggested. Another thing that would greatly help is color-coding the controllers - get a couple pieces of colored tape (or paint or something) and stick some on both ends of the cord. So the first player controller gets a piece of red on the console side of the cord and the controller side of the cord. This makes finding the right controller oh so much easier than tracing the tangle.
Maybe/Maybe not an issue with the various cordless models, if they have a visible switch (for switching broadcast channels) on the top I wouldn't bother, but if it's on the back or inside (like my Firestorm PC gamepad, in between the batteries) then stick something on the front.
Each console has a single Wireless Controller if only because even having 3 chargers is a big deal in a cabinet. However, if your cabinet has a free drawer you could probably get 6-7 chargers in a 32 inch TV cabinet drawer. I don't have a whole lot of room for even chargers so having friends over to be able to use the extra 3 slots on my consoles is a big deal, so I just pull the cords outa the closet for the time being, and the ensuing spiderweb traps all from passing through the living room.
If chargers were smaller, or perhaps even controllers smaller this wouldn't be such a big deal. But having to put the whole controller into a charging station is a passive waste of space, as opposed to the active waste of space of cords (wrap up controller, store in cabinet/desk/etc etc.)
It really depends on your situation.
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Slashdot: Which portable gaming system is the best?
Asshole: Get a life, fatass, and stop playing games. Oh yeah, and I have a girlfriend!
Slashdot: New Dreamcast games available!
Asshole: Well, you shouldn't be playing videobasketball anyway! Play the real one instead, fatass! Did I mention that I have a girlfriend?
Slashdot: I have a simple question, one which, surprisingly does NOT require innane social commentary... how can I make the growing amount of wires cluttering up my console slightly neater?
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