How Many Consoles Do You Have Hooked Up? And How Did You Do it?

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

Thanks!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

 

Thanks!

cosmostein77

36... I don't manage :(

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

 

Thanks!

waflerevolution

36... I don't manage :(

Are you using AV selector boxes? and how many RF consoles do you have daisy chained? 

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

 

Thanks!

waflerevolution

36... I don't manage :(

Holy **** man :shock: I have 3 and that's between 2 TV's :P Your bills must be crazy! Do they all have surge protectors? I imagine they would wouldnt want to lose any. 

Here is my setup. First, our 42 inch 1080p flatscreen in the living room. A PS3 Slim is on the left of the TV, hooked up via HDMI. The Wii is on the right, hooked up by composite video cables. You can just barely see our Wii Balance Board hiding under the entertainment center.

Next is the office TV, with an N64, SNES, GameCube and Dreamcast. The top shelf has a leapster for the kids (although they actually play Mario Galaxy and Burnout Paradise more often), DirectTV box, and a 4-way AV switch for the consoles. Note the cables to the bottom right hiding behind the TV stand; they are detailed in the next picture.

Here are the power cords for the four consoles above. I leave them unplugged until I want to use them in order to save on energy. Each cord is labled to prevent confusion. Of course they're typically tucked away behind the TV stand next to the power strip. Note the cloth bin in the top left of the image, it's in the next pic.

I have four cloth bins next to the TV in the office to store controllers, cables and systems I don't currently have set up. I pulled a few out of the bins just for the picture. The Genesis, Saturn, and two out-of-picture NES systems are hooked up via RF so they aren't compatible with the AV switch which does component video only. I don't have any room in the TV stand anyway. I hook them up on the fly when I want to play them. (The Game Gear was purchased at Goodwill recently for $12; it also came with Sonic 2.)

Below is the master bedroom TV. An NTSC PS2 and Japanese PS2 sit next to each other although neither are currently plugged in; I haven't been playing much PS2 lately. I'll probably get another AV switch for this TV pretty soon and hook up the PS2s and a few other of my spare systems.

I hope you enjoyed this tour!

I hope you enjoyed this tour!

inkwolf

Sure did :P Labelling power cords... good idea :)

This is an old shot but it's gives you and idea.

I've moved some stuff around a bit and I now have and Onkyo Receiver instead of the Samsung HTIB.

I'm using a Psyclone switcher to hookup the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and GameCube, all of which run component and digital to the Psyclone and then component to the TV and digital to the Reciever (except for the GC that runs audio directly to the TV).  The PS3 is HDMI directly to the TV, with digtial audio to the reciever.   The N64 goes S-video directly to the TV.  Wii is directly hooked via component to the TV as well as the audio.  I have an audio out from the TV to the receiver so I get the GC, N64 and Wii audio to the reciever that way.  In total then that means I currently have 7 (8 if you count the GBA Player hooked to the GC) consoles hooked to my TV (a 50" Plasma for anyone who cares to know).  I'm currently looking at adding a SNES-2 that I recently picked up but I think rather than worry about running more cables, I'll just swap the AV jack with the N64.  I'll still count that as hooked up all at once tho.

Check out some of the pics in the thread for a way to do lots at once.  Right now, I have a PC and Sega CDX attached to my monitor and a 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2 hooked up at the main TV.  Everything else is shelved at present. 

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=21297697&union_id=859

[QUOTE="waflerevolution"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

 

Thanks!

cosmostein77

36... I don't manage :(

Are you using AV selector boxes? and how many RF consoles do you have daisy chained? 

sometimes and lots but none daisy'd.

[QUOTE="waflerevolution"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to the media room, the problem however is coming down to console management.

Just wanted to touch base with all of you as to what you have running as standard fare?

How many consoles are ready to roll and hooked up at any given time on your TV?

And how did you wire them? And Did you run into any problems doing so? 

 

Thanks!

clubhaxor

36... I don't manage :(

Holy **** man :shock: I have 3 and that's between 2 TV's :P Your bills must be crazy! Do they all have surge protectors? I imagine they would wouldnt want to lose any. 

no, I only plug in what I'm using to prevent wear. yes, who DOESN'T have protectors...

Well I'll only count my room, although downstairs there is a Wii set up and in my sisters room there is a PS3 (Original) set up.

Well I have 4 consoles in my room, a PS1 (The White Model), a SNES, a N64 and a Wii. I always have 2 consoles set up onto a...14 inch TV (Do not mock the awsomness of my TV!). At the moement I have the Wii set up as my main console and my Wii as my secondary, the main console goes directly next to my TV while the secondary one goes on the otheer side but on a lower shelf. Soon I'll get rid of my Wii and put the PS1 there methinks though

inkwolf

AMAZING IDEA, 

I think I need to officially hand you the Alfred Nobel Prize for Video Game Innovation for 2009. 

Check out some of the pics in the thread for a way to do lots at once.  Right now, I have a PC and Sega CDX attached to my monitor and a 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2 hooked up at the main TV.  Everything else is shelved at present. 

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=21297697&union_id=859

gmsnpr

The Saturn on top of the FZ-1 3DO, 

That is brilliant! 

What brand of A/V Selectors did you go with? and how do you like them? 

While Surge Protection as been raised, what are you folks using?

Originally I was using some of the 20 dollar ****** "home" protectors, and recently swapped out to the APC P8VT3's. Not as much for the cable and phone protection as my new house was built in 2002 and the wiring in pretty sound but more for the quick shutdown feature

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=P8VT3

If anyone is interested, 

Also, I am somewhat interested to know if anyone else went overboard in terms of protecting from brown-outs by attaching some of their consoles to a UPS? 

I am not using anything to fancy just a APC UPS CS500, but thus far its saved me once

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BK500

[QUOTE="gmsnpr"]

Check out some of the pics in the thread for a way to do lots at once. Right now, I have a PC and Sega CDX attached to my monitor and a 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2 hooked up at the main TV. Everything else is shelved at present.

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=21297697&union_id=859

cosmostein77

The Saturn on top of the FZ-1 3DO,

That is brilliant!

What brand of A/V Selectors did you go with? and how do you like them?

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="gmsnpr"]

Check out some of the pics in the thread for a way to do lots at once. Right now, I have a PC and Sega CDX attached to my monitor and a 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2 hooked up at the main TV. Everything else is shelved at present.

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=21297697&union_id=859

gmsnpr

The Saturn on top of the FZ-1 3DO,

That is brilliant!

What brand of A/V Selectors did you go with? and how do you like them?

I am glad to hear some positive feedback in regards to the Psyclones. 

I opted for a pair of Psyclone PSC-01's which do your basic RCA/Comp, and I may add a third as I have been pretty happy with them accept the problem I am finding is the remote that comes with them works on both of them (IE if I hit power, they both come on) 

What I need now is something similar that will address my HDMI issue. 

I opted for a pair of Psyclone PSC-01's which do your basic RCA/Comp, and I may add a third as I have been pretty happy with them accept the problem I am finding is the remote that comes with them works on both of them (IE if I hit power, they both come on)

What I need now is something similar that will address my HDMI issue.

cosmostein77

Nothing grand here, but it works for my purposes.

I use a cheapy Philips 4 in 1 Gaming Switcher with my PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube/w/GBA player plugged into 3 of the 4 inputs...and then I use another cheapy 3-way splitter plugged into the 4th input. And my Dreamcast and Yobo FC3 Plus are plugged into the 3-way. And all of this is plugged into and played on our 42" Philips LCD.

I'm sure I'm losing vid quality somewhere, but meh, it all works...so I'm happy. The only two systems I don't have hooked up at the moment are my TurboGraphx 16 and PS1.

TurboGraphx 16 mijahi

That's the next system I really want to get. But I haven't even seen one since they were current.

[QUOTE="mijahi"] TurboGraphx 16 inkwolf

That's the next system I really want to get. But I haven't even seen one since they were current.

Its one of those eBay consoles that comes in waves. 

There are weeks where there are ten listed and the price gets up there, then there are weeks where they are 20 and you can score it in a box for 50 bones. 

[QUOTE="inkwolf"]

[QUOTE="mijahi"] TurboGraphx 16 cosmostein77

That's the next system I really want to get. But I haven't even seen one since they were current.

Its one of those eBay consoles that comes in waves. 

There are weeks where there are ten listed and the price gets up there, then there are weeks where they are 20 and you can score it in a box for 50 bones. 

My mom actually bought mine for me from her friend back in the early '90s (that and one of those ancient top-loading VCRs :P). It came with all the TG16 games I have now...can't remember off the top of my head...7 or  8 maybe? But none of them had their case. But I did play the heck out of Splatterhouse, Hit the Ice, and Final Lap Twin (the story mode was awesome!!).

Any suggestions on an HDMI splitter?

I would rather not run it through my surround receiver, what are you all using? 

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

Hizang

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda. 

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources. 

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment. 

[QUOTE="Hizang"]

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

cosmostein77

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda. 

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources. 

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment. 

It's more than that.  If you have any game that can run in progressive scan mode (480p), you have to have component cables for it to work.  For a standard def signal (480i) you will some difference between S-Video and Component, but not nearly the same jump as you get from composite to S-video.

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="Hizang"]

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

duncanr2n

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda. 

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources. 

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment. 

It's more than that.  If you have any game that can run in progressive scan mode (480p), you have to have component cables for it to work.  For a standard def signal (480i) you will some difference between S-Video and Component, but not nearly the same jump as you get from composite to S-video.

Were there a lot of PS2 games that opted for the progressive video option? 

[QUOTE="duncanr2n"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="Hizang"]

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

cosmostein77

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda.

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources.

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment.

It's more than that. If you have any game that can run in progressive scan mode (480p), you have to have component cables for it to work. For a standard def signal (480i) you will some difference between S-Video and Component, but not nearly the same jump as you get from composite to S-video.

Were there a lot of PS2 games that opted for the progressive video option?

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="duncanr2n"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="Hizang"]

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

gmsnpr

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda.

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources.

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment.

It's more than that. If you have any game that can run in progressive scan mode (480p), you have to have component cables for it to work. For a standard def signal (480i) you will some difference between S-Video and Component, but not nearly the same jump as you get from composite to S-video.

Were there a lot of PS2 games that opted for the progressive video option?

Not all games that support Progressive scan list it on the back of the box.  Here's a pretty good list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_games_with_HD_support

[QUOTE="gmsnpr"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="duncanr2n"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="Hizang"]

My PS2 I bid on comes with an RGB Scart Lead, will that make it better?

(Oh and theres a question above me too tech heads)

duncanr2n

By RGB you mean Componant Connection cables?

If so, the short answer is a resounding...kinda.

The perk with Componant over composite (RCA's) and S-Video is that it broke the video source signal into three different signals which traveled along their own cable till put together on your screen which provided a crisper and sharper image on even non-HD video sources.

I had my PS2 briefly connected using Componant (RGB) and there was certainly some difference in terms of the crispness of the image but it wasn't a huge improvment.

It's more than that. If you have any game that can run in progressive scan mode (480p), you have to have component cables for it to work. For a standard def signal (480i) you will some difference between S-Video and Component, but not nearly the same jump as you get from composite to S-video.

Were there a lot of PS2 games that opted for the progressive video option?

Not all games that support Progressive scan list it on the back of the box.  Here's a pretty good list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_2_games_with_HD_support

That is an impressive list, 

Anyone have a list of consoles that supported 16:9 and 480p (or better) in general?

I may need to go hunting for Componant cables...

Anyone have a list of consoles that supported 16:9 and 480p (or better) in general?

I may need to go hunting for Componant cables...

cosmostein77

But, not all 16:9 support is really that great.  Some games (like the Ratchet and Clank and God of War I) will chop off the top and bottom of the 4:3 image to achieve widescreen.  So you are actually seeing less when you run widescreen rather than more.  There's a few games I know that do it right like God of War II, Kya, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but for the most part you'd have to just test it out yourself.

I'd rather see more, so for game like Ratchet and Clank, I turn on progressive scan but leave widescreen off.

Run into a little bit of a snag,

The SMS via Composites seems to have a very strange white line through the middle, 

I have tried different cables, and different interfaces but this tiny fuzzy white line remains, anyone else have this problem? Via RF it seems to work perfect? 

Wii is in family/living room and my PS3 and 360 are hooked up in my bedroom using an AV System selector. i got lucky and found one with labels, so i can easily remember which is which

Let's see...

In the living room I have an Xbox 360 hooked up via HDMI, plus DVD/HDD player and digibox.

In the spare room I have a Wii, PS2 Slim and SNES hooked up, all via gold plated SCARTs or composites with an A/V selector box, with my Blu-ray player hooked up through HDMI.

In my bedroom I have a NES hooked up via composites and a ZX Spectrum + and a Commodore Plus/4 hooked up via RF with a selector box.

The only things that aren't hooked up right now are my N64 and Channel F.

Everything is plugged into these including my PCs, I've used this model for years and they've saved me a few times.  I guess this is the same thing for those on t'other side of the pond.

Let's see...

In the living room I have an Xbox 360 hooked up via HDMI, plus DVD/HDD player and digibox.

In the spare room I have a Wii, PS2 Slim and SNES hooked up, all via gold plated SCARTs or composites with an A/V selector box, with my Blu-ray player hooked up through HDMI.

In my bedroom I have a NES hooked up via composites and a ZX Spectrum + and a Commodore Plus/4 hooked up via RF with a selector box.

The only things that aren't hooked up right now are my N64 and Channel F.

Everything is plugged into these including my PCs, I've used this model for years and they've saved me a few times. I guess this is the same thing for those on t'other side of the pond.

totalgridlock

would love to see a pic of your setups

i got 12 consoles hooked up but 6 are on a HDTV and 6 are on an EDTV with a system swich that carries 4 connections. the n64 and GCN are sharing one set of wires and one is through RF, because i dont have the RCA A/V cables. i got 15 total for consoles. i have 7 handhelds too.bigM10231

wow, would love to see pics of all that

[QUOTE="bigM10231"]
i got 12 consoles hooked up but 6 are on a HDTV and 6 are on an EDTV with a system swich that carries 4 connections. the n64 and GCN are sharing one set of wires and one is through RF, because i dont have the RCA A/V cables. i got 15 total for consoles. i have 7 handhelds too.Big_Evil666

wow, would love to see pics of all that

90% of the way there.

PS3 - Samsung Blu-Ray - Toshiba HD DVD Player - Scientific Atlanta Cable Box via Rocketfish HDMI Box -----> HDMI 1

Xbox 360 --- Comp 1

Samsung DVD Changer Comp 2

Gamecube, Sega Gen/CD/32x, Turbographix, Neo Geo CD ---Pelican---- Video 1 

Xbox, PS2, PS1, Sega Saturn ----- Psyclone Box ---- Video 2

Jaguar, 3d0, CDi, Sega Dreamcast ---- Psyclone Box ---- Video 3

Nintendo Wii --- S-Video 1

NES, SNES, Various Atari's, and Visions consoles, and the SMS all connected via Coax

The problem is as I suspected, one of energy management.