Shelving Solutions for the Sophisticated Gamer

[TDIRunner | 2,733]

They also make special blades for those types of cuts.  It's not just the particle board, but the laminate that they put over it that likes to chip with the wrong blade.  Regardless, it looks good.   Those shelves look like they belong in that room.  

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

12 hours ago, Mr. CIB said:

You should be using a table saw for those long cuts vs a hand circular saw. Those cuts should be rather quick however, your end result looks good to me. 

Thanks man. I really need a workshop and some better tools. I was literally just telling my wife I need a table saw. Time to clear out the garage. Hahaha.

In did end up sticking with the cheap white brackets though. I tried to bend them and couldn't. I also realized that almost nothing will sit on top of the shelves because there is no room.

Overall I'm happy, just surprised how much extra work it took.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

11 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

They also make special blades for those types of cuts.  It's not just the particle board, but the laminate that they put over it that likes to chip with the wrong blade.  Regardless, it looks good.   Those shelves look like they belong in that room.  

Thanks! Yeah I read you should use a fine toothed blade for this type of board, but I was too lazy to go get one. Interestingly, the cuts were very smooth on the deep side of the board. I'm guessing that has to do with which part of the saw touched the laminate.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Well, my massive Billy Bookcase upgrade is (mostly) done! I had to custom cut six large Billy Bookcases which added a ton of time, but worked out in the end. I got all the shelving that I could against the walls and moved the short shelves to the middle of the room. I don't plan on keeping those short shelves in that location, but they are nice temporary storage spaces until I accomplish my dream of finishing the walk-in attic. I also need to figure out what to do with all these damn Amiibo. I love them, but they are space hogs. They will probably get put into two rows up top.

From the hallway door

Down and to the left are the short shelves I had left over. These will go away eventually to make sure the room feels open, but they're being used for portables now.

Looking to the left over the short bookcases reveals the Nintendo wall/corner

I need to buy a bunch more shelves and move stuff around still, but I should be able to finish the Gamecube and Wii U sets on these two shelves. SNES and N64 shall have to wait.

This shelf to the left of the attic door is the temporary Sega home base.

Sony and Microsoft make friendly over here. Still need to buy a bunch more shelves for this area.

Poor Quality GIF Tour #1

Poor Quality GIF Tour #2

Here is the secret room behind the door. My goal is to knock down the wall and make this one huge retro game room.

Spoiler

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[TDIRunner | 2,733]

Looks good.  If you are only doing one row of games in each shelf, have you thought about using spacers to bring the games to the front of the shelf so they sit at the edge?  If you do that, you can use the space behind the games to store gaming related stuff that you don't want to display in view.

 

Edit:  I think the short shelves in the middle of the room work pretty well since they aren't very tall.  I would have no problem leaving them there until you can actually expand the room into the unfinished area.  

Edited January 11, 2021 by TDIRunner

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

1 hour ago, TDIRunner said:

Looks good.  If you are only doing one row of games in each shelf, have you thought about using spacers to bring the games to the front of the shelf so they sit at the edge?  If you do that, you can use the space behind the games to store gaming related stuff that you don't want to display in view.

 

Edit:  I think the short shelves in the middle of the room work pretty well since they aren't very tall.  I would have no problem leaving them there until you can actually expand the room into the unfinished area.  

Thanks for the kind words. I actually have considered putting some a spacer behind them to fill out the shelves a little better. The biggest issue with using other gaming stuff as a spacer is standardizing the distance so everything looks clean. I'm sure there is a way to do it, but I have spent enough time looking into it yet.

[TDIRunner | 2,733]

The biggest issue with using other gaming stuff as a spacer is

20 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

the biggest issue with using other gaming stuff as a spacer

What I meant was, use a uniform spacer, such as a 1x6 (or whatever depth you need) that sits across the entire shelf.  When you put your games in, the bottom of the game will hit the board and display on the edge of the shelf.  Since the spacer board is only 3/4" tall, you can store stuff on top of it in the empty space behind the games.  

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

13 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

The biggest issue with using other gaming stuff as a spacer is

What I meant was, use a uniform spacer, such as a 1x6 (or whatever depth you need) that sits across the entire shelf.  When you put your games in, the bottom of the game will hit the board and display on the edge of the shelf.  Since the spacer board is only 3/4" tall, you can store stuff on top of it in the empty space behind the games.  

Yeah, I also considered something like that. I'll also look into acrylic stands for the one awkwardly large shelf in the middle. It might be cool to have some little items displayed above the boxes. That would probably require some LED strips as well, but I don't know if I want to be that fancy. I will update the thread if do that though.

[MiamiSlice | 3,089]

How’s this for a shelving solution?

[croagunk | 798]

56 minutes ago, MiamiSlice said:

How’s this for a shelving solution?

That is awesome!

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

1 hour ago, MiamiSlice said:

How’s this for a shelving solution?

Now that's a sophisticated solution. Add 20 more of those and you've got a Pokemon wall!

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

1 hour ago, MiamiSlice said:

 

Double post.

Edited January 16, 2021 by DoctorEncore
Double post

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

I’m really at a loss on picking out shelving. I used to have some Billy bookcases but they were taken over by the family. Ideally, I’d like something that isn’t quite as deep as a Billy but doesn’t cause my games to hang over the ledge. I’ve debated trying to get an old entertainment center with bookcases. I’m just not sure. I’ve also thought about bookcases with glass as most of my carts are loose. I just don’t know what to do.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,520]

Custom.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

5 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Custom.

How do I go about getting started on something like that? I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of doing that. I’m not the most handy, but I’ve learned since owning a house for a few years. I’m decent at things, but I definitely am cautious and take a long time to make things perfect.

[MiamiSlice | 3,089]

1 hour ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

How do I go about getting started on something like that? I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of doing that. I’m not the most handy, but I’ve learned since owning a house for a few years. I’m decent at things, but I definitely am cautious and take a long time to make things perfect.

If you don't want to have to go custom, the Atlantic brand media shelves are great for typical NES / DVD-style / CD-style game boxes. I use these for my DS / 3DS / GameCube / PS2 and even Switch shelving: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-DrawBridge-Storage-Organization-Cabinet/dp/B0058O8F7I

There's a bigger one, Atlantic Oskar, that would be great for a large space. I use Drawbridge because I have these under windows and didn't want to block the windows. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

18 hours ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

I’m really at a loss on picking out shelving. I used to have some Billy bookcases but they were taken over by the family. Ideally, I’d like something that isn’t quite as deep as a Billy but doesn’t cause my games to hang over the ledge. I’ve debated trying to get an old entertainment center with bookcases. I’m just not sure. I’ve also thought about bookcases with glass as most of my carts are loose. I just don’t know what to do.

 

16 hours ago, MiamiSlice said:

If you don't want to have to go custom, the Atlantic brand media shelves are great for typical NES / DVD-style / CD-style game boxes. I use these for my DS / 3DS / GameCube / PS2 and even Switch shelving: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-DrawBridge-Storage-Organization-Cabinet/dp/B0058O8F7I

There's a bigger one, Atlantic Oskar, that would be great for a large space. I use Drawbridge because I have these under windows and didn't want to block the windows. 

I was gonna say this exact thing. The dimensions on the Oskars are pretty much perfect for video game display and they hold a ton of games. I actually ordered a few Oskars but canceled because of all the bad reviews regarding quality of the components. I then looked more closely at Billy Bookcases and realized there is no better value or quality for mass market shelving. The big Oskar is $110 while a large white Billy is $49! Alternatively, you can experiment with more unusual shelving setups like I did earlier in this thread with things like the Furrino organizers. There are a lot of fun things you can do with shelves that weren't meant for games if you're willing to a little customization.

In the end, custom is clearly the best in terms of usability, but it's a lot of work, can still be costly, and may actually hurt the value of your home. If you do go that route, there are thousands of YouTube videos to get you started though.

My suggestion? Order one of the smallest type of shelf you're considering and see how you like it. Then either switch to another brand or buy more of the biggest size available. Good luck!

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

On 1/11/2021 at 2:06 PM, DoctorEncore said:

This shelf to the left of the attic door is the temporary Sega home base.

Sony and Microsoft make friendly over here. Still need to buy a bunch more shelves for this area.

 

Looks great but you should look at the narrow Billy bookcase for the corners, it looks much better .Here it is in black with games and in white with Transformers.

 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

[Gloves | 11,776]

I've gotta stay out of these threads y'all make me feel poor every single time. Nice shelf work @Code Monkey.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

3 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Are your loose NES carts just pushed toward the front of the shelves?

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

Just now, ICrappedMyPants said:

Are your loose NES carts just pushed toward the front of the shelves?

Yes, they're a little uneven at the moment, I was doing a massive rearrange last night to try and fit 15 more NES boxes on the shelf but every time I finish another rearrange, I always go and pull each game out to exactly match the one next to it. I like about an inch overhang.

[Gloves | 11,776]

Just now, Code Monkey said:

Yes, they're a little uneven at the moment, I was doing a massive rearrange last night to try and fit 15 more NES boxes on the shelf but every time I finish another rearrange, I always go and pull each game out to exactly match the one next to it. I like about an inch overhang.

I use a curtain rod behind the games w/ a spring that keeps it in place to create an easy consistency across the shelf.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

11 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Looks great but you should look at the narrow Billy bookcase for the corners, it looks much better .Here it is in black with games and in white with Transformers.

 

 

Thanks, man. I completely agree. I had actually planned to have angled shelves in the corners, but couldn't make it work with the space I have in this room. I actually have a setup in my movie room that uses the corner shelf and it looks pretty good. Thanks for sharing your pics.