RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.

Posted on Jan 29th 2016 at 01:00:00 PM by (wildbil52)
Posted under Organization, Video Games


Getting and staying organized is a constant endeavor.  As a parent, there seems to be a never ending sea of plastic toys in every room of the house.  As a homeowner, there is a never ending list of maintenance and upgrade tasks.  As a game collector, there is an accumulation of more and more awesome video games that are added on a regular basis.  How do we keep them all organized and why is it important?



Why bother organizing at all?

Seems like an odd question, but seriously, why?  I can only speak for myself when I say that I find great joy in cleanliness, order, and the ability to present a beautiful collection.  My wife is constantly rolling her eyes at me when I go on a "cleaning spree" at 2 a.m. because clutter in my house gives me anxiety and I can't sleep until it is cleaned up.  That's not to say that I am super clean and my wife is messy, far from it.  I just can't let the clutter go for very long before addressing it.  We could spend some time exploring the psychology of why we are the way we are, but the short answer is that I just love a clean room and organization.  I love knowing where everything is and being able to access things quickly.  If I can't find something I'm looking for I get a little nutty.

How do I get organized?

I find it very helpful to have a routine.  I don't acquire games nearly as often as I used to so the routine has become easier to maintain.  It's really quite simple:

-Acquire new games/systems
-If the games/systems require cleaning, add them to the game cleaning area of the house (Yes, I have one of these).  Once they are clean, move on
-If keeping the game, add to RFGeneration Collection and add to shelf
-If selling/trading, add to sell/trade shelf.

Simple.  I'm going to be adding one more step to the routine the next time I acquire a game.  If RFGen doesn't have a box, manual, or cart scan, submit the scan to RFGen Wink

That routine helps me keep all of my INCOMING items organized.  Once they are in the collection or on the shelf, I'm always looking for ways to tweak the organization of the collection.  One of the first things I did with my boxed NES collection was to put all of the Black Box games together.

Classic

This looked awesome, so I moved on to one of my other favorite subsets, Konami Silver Box Games. 

I don't get any cell Service near my collection, the calls are positively Silent

OOH! This is fun!  What else can I group together?

Nintendo non Black Box:


Capcom:


If I had a bigger Genesis collection I would organize those by box art type also.  System boxes are a bit of a chore.  I use Ikea Billy bookcases for the bulk of my collection, so the tops are deep enough to accommodate most system boxes.  I've been thinking a lot about replacing the Billys with a more shallow bookcase like the Atlantic one holding my boxed NES games.  If I do that, I will probably end up installing some kind of floating shelf above the bookcases for system boxes.


What about systems themselves?

Another toughie.  The ultimate goal would be to have as many systems as possible hooked up and functional.  That's a bit of a chore in itself with the number of available power connections and A/V ports necessary to get everything hooked up from 2600-360.  Here is my current solution:


This is a piece of furniture from Ikea called the Kallax.  What I really liked about it was the different sized compartments.  It used to be filled with more systems, but the turntable and records bumped a few systems out.  This is just the secondary gaming location.  I still have to figure out a system storage solution for the primary site which is currently a big mess of systems, wires, and Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes filled with controllers.

Speaking of controllers Wink

How do you keep dozens of controllers organized?

This one has been bugging me for a while.  I've tried flat rate boxes, Sterilite plastic drawers, coiling the controllers on top or near the systems.  None of these methods met my desire of cleanliness, presentation, and accessibility.  The solution came from our very own singlebanana who has his controllers organized on peg board in his gaming room.  I didn't think I could convince my wife to allow a pegboard wall of gaming controllers in a semi-common area but she agreed. 

Here is the wooden frame I build to keep the pegboard off the wall:


And here is it with the classy white pegboard mounted:


I'll be adding a decorative trim after our next trip to Lowes which will make it even classier.  Big thanks to Rich for reminding me of his awesome pegboard idea.  Now my controllers are accessible and presentable.  Speaking of controllers, here is an oft overlooked and VERY good third party Genesis controller.


That's all on staying organized for now.  If you have a system that works for you, please share.  I'm always looking for organizational tweaks and so are many other folks around here.




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Comments
 
I have been wanting to do this, my biggest issue is the cost of all the storage and the fact I have so much crap.
 
Yes, cost of storage is a huge factor.  For what I've spent on storage, I could have pulled down a complete Earthbound and then some.    But, when it's all said and done, you just have to have these games organized or you can't enjoy them, so it becomes a necessary evil.

 
That's a good point, The furniture to organize a medium sized collection or larger is not cheap.  I currently have 4 Billy Bookcases ($80 each), the Kallax ($100), and a couple of bookcases I took home from work for free.  The peg board for the controllers was probably under $20.  It's best to spread it out over time if you don't want to spend that much dough up front.  Or you could build your own custom cabinets.
 
I have to admit that I am distracted by the impressive display of game boxes, bil.  Black, silver, bluuuuue. What were you talking about again?  Organizing?  Like, for added benefits and off days?  Oh.  Never mind.

I love that peg board idea for controllers.  Most of us have more controllers, controllers, and then some, but this would be a great functional display option for multiplayer days/nights ("Pick your weapon, gentlemen!"), and a great alternative to the "box of tangled/tightly wound controllers" that I imagine most of us have.

I wish there was really a cheaper alternative for the shelves.  The only way I can see is if you come across cheap or spare lumber (and have the skill to craft).  I'm thinking specifically about those "loose wood tubs" that I used to see at Lowes and Home Depot in the lumber departments.  You know, the ones full of mismatched pieces that are dirt cheap?  I built the cp for the arcade cabinets from those buckets for less than $1.  I'm thinking of raiding them (if they still exist) for matching or semi-matching pieces for a future cabinet or shelf.

Thanks, bil.  Great article.
 
I'm diggin the 32X love.
 
My black shelves from Walmart are $25 each, so you can find ways to be more economical if you choose. Still, you have to spend some money if you want to create a great space.
 
Great article.  I woefully admit, my collection is a complete disaster right now, because everything is sort of shoved haphazardly onto a single shelf, then some stuff is located in plastic tubs under the bed.  Once I have the time and inclination to get my "media closet" set up for all my music CD's and gaming stuff, then I'll be able to actually organize it.  I like the aesthetic of the black box games together, Konami silverbox, Capcom, etc. but that would drive me absolutely BONKERS to not have the games in alphabetical order for each system.  I would go nuts, not being able to quickly identify what I wanted strictly by name Tongue
 
Thanks everyone. Fro:  Taking games out of alphabetical order was one of my initial hangups but as it turns out, The association iin my mind between game and publisher is so en grained that I have never not been able to find a game within a few seconds of looking for it.  In some cases it actually helps.  I don't have to scan from k, to l, to M to find mega man, i just go to the purples;)
 
I like the pegboard idea, but it won't work for last gen, or current gen controllers (just a thought).  My system is to keep one of each console in a plastic bin with the A/V cable, power cord, and 2-4 controllers.  These are stored in an old media center.  Yes I have to setup the system each time I put it away, but it is such a breeze when you literally plop the box down, unload the contents, and off you go.  Same with putting it away, so easy when it is one to one console to box. 

Recently, I put up some shelves that were just kicking around the house doing nothing, which has cleaned up my media room quite a bit, however, my end game will be a dedicated space in the basement with more storage than I could ever imagine using, along with a giant screen or projection, tons of comfy seating, and eventually a few select Arcade cabinets.  When I get to building that space, I will put it on my blog.  In the meantime, just adding some shelves helped as everything on the shelves was stuck in a corner cabinet stacked in such a way as to be a pain to access.
 
@Gamer4Lyfe: I'd love to see some pics of that storage solution, Gamer. You're right that HOOKS on peg board won't work for current gen/wireless controllers but there are small shelves that can be attached to peg board walls.  That's how I have my Dreamcast keyboard on my pegboard Wink

Again, would love to see game room pics!
 
Sure the peg board will work for wireless controllers. Put pegs closer together and slide them in instead of hanging them. Besides, they make tons of other mounting options for pegboards.

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