A little overview of where my console collection is at as of August 2016. I’m currently on a mission to downsize the collection to one console from each generation, from each major player in the 1990s / early 2000s.

So far, I’ve cut a fair amount of consoles out, but there’s always more! What does one do with dev units? They don’t fit on my bookshelf, actually neither do the TeraDrives for that matter… or the Amstrad Mega PC! Decisions, decisions… :)

Before we get to the collection, there’s my Raspberry Pi 3 running McRetro.net. It’s sitting somewhere rather less discreet than usual while I’m moving things around. Hopefully nobody trips over that ethernet cable, because that would be a rather unfortunate end to the website for the afternoon!

Now, the collection. I’ve been sorting through everything and attempting to keep one favourite console from each generation. That sounds easy enough until you start comparing all the different hardware revisions, case designs and accessories.

The upper shelf has some rather lovely software and development bits and pieces. We’ve got Sega Saturn System Discs, Dreamcast GD-ROMs, some recordable media and various other curiosities. There are also Mega Drive games, a few Nintendo cartridges and an assortment of EverDrives.

One of my PlayStations is particularly special because it’s the first one I ever modified. There are technically better consoles out there, but some things are worth keeping because of their history rather than their specifications.

The PlayStation section has a few different models to choose between, and there’s also a PocketStation, which I hadn’t really paid much attention to before. It’s like a little handheld accessory crossed with a memory card. Rather wonderful!

Then come the Dreamcasts. I’m trying to decide between a fairly ordinary white console and another fitted with a rather nice smokey aftermarket shell. Both have their advantages, and naturally I’ve managed to make the decision more difficult by fitting a Broadband Adapter. The smokey shell needed a little persuasion with a chisel because its modem opening was too small for the adapter. So much for simply plugging everything together!

The Sega shelf has the usual favourites. A Mega Drive, Mega-CD, 32X and some of the other hardware that I really don’t want to part with. The Karaoke unit is particularly lovely, although I’ve long since stopped pretending all this equipment is going to fit neatly together.

I’ve also got a rather beautiful Saturn that deserves its place on the shelf. The Nintendo section includes a Game Boy, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64 and GameCube. I’d quite like to add a PC Engine eventually, but that’s another machine that would have to fit somewhere.

The Xbox collection presents its own little dilemma. The Kasumi Blue console is magnificent, and I’ve also got development hardware that is much too large for the ordinary shelves. It’s hard to justify keeping everything when I’m trying to make the collection smaller!

Around the room there are still unfinished projects, including TeraDrive hard drives, more Nintendo consoles and other equipment waiting for repairs. The desk seems to be where all the things that don’t fit on the bookshelf eventually end up.

Part of my plan is to go through the machines I’m keeping and give them some proper preventative maintenance. That means investigating capacitors, cleaning things up and hopefully making sure they remain usable for a good while yet.

Of course, there’s also the question of what to do with all the development hardware. It doesn’t fit neatly into the idea of one retail console from each generation, and some of it is far too interesting to simply move along.

So that’s where we stand in August 2016. Fewer consoles than before, but still a rather ridiculous amount of hardware for somebody supposedly trying to downsize.

One of each generation. That’s the plan, anyway!