The Best Video Game Storage Options for Your Collection

Published:Sun, 25 Feb 2024 / Source:https://www.ign.com/articles/best-video-game-storage-ideas

In an age when people are increasingly choosing digital purchases of video games, an actual, physical collection is becoming a rare and special thing. Rare and special enough that it’s something owners will want to take care of and display for reasons above and beyond not having game slipcases littering the rug in front of the TV.

Top Video Game Storage Options

While pretty much any shelving unit will do the job of letting you organise your games, a dedicated solution is often superior. Standard shelves tend to be too deep for video games, which get lost on the cavernous shelves, and they lack versatile options like portability. Of course, there are dozens of different dedicated systems to choose from instead, so here are our picks for the best options.

Ikea Kallax

Best Storage System

Kallax might not be made specifically for video game storage, but there are good reasons it’s such a popular generic storage option. The cubic cubbyholes are a great size for all sorts of things, including video games, and make it easy to separate and organise your collection. If you want to shut them away, it’s easy to add doors or storage boxes tailored to fit.

In fact, this flexibility is exactly what makes Kallax a top pick. The units come in all sorts of different sizes, and even if there isn’t one to exactly suit your needs, they look great stood side-by-side. You can even tailor the system to work in tight spaces like an under-stairs nook, or repurpose it as a great TV stand with storage surround. Truly a minor modern miracle.

Atlantic Oskar 1080 Media Storage Cabinet

Best for Big Collections

If you’ve got a lot of games, and you want something that fits those slip cases more precisely, then Atlantic has you covered with this superb storage cabinet. At only nine inches deep it won’t eat into your floor space, yet it can hold almost 600 game cases, nearly separated into different cubbyholes. And in the likely event you don’t have 600 games, you can raise or lower the shelf heights to store whatever you need.

It’s a stylish-looking unit, too, in an attractive wood veneer. And it comes in two colours, light maple and dark espresso, so you can tailor it to match your interior.

Sisma Storage Bag

Best for Travel

Not all gamers want to display their games front and centre, and not everyone has space next to their PC or console for shelves. If either of those apply to you, then this zippable storage bag sized specially for game cases might fit the bill. It’ll fit up to 27 games, depending on their size, and packs them away neatly behind a stylish nylon mesh exterior.

Once the lid is zipped shut, it reveals another advantage: a carry handle. So if you want to pack the bag away out of sight somewhere else, or take them to a friend’s house to play together, it’s a fantastic portable storage solution, too.

You Have Space Floating Organizer

Best Floating Shelves

Floating shelves, which attach to the wall with minimal imprint, are a stylish and popular storage option. And they’re idea for games, since the main drawback is that they can’t generally hold a lot of weight, which isn’t an issue if you’re just storing discs or cartridges in cases.

You Have Space offers this dedicated option for video games, sized just the right height to take game or DVD cases. It can be installed vertically or horizontally and uses metal frames to have an absolutely minimal physical presence, putting all eyes on your game collection instead.

Monarch Specialties Dark Taupe TV Stand

Best TV Stand for the PS5 and Xbox Series X

What’s better than a video game storage organiser? One that’s also designed to hold your gaming TV, consoles and controllers as well. There’s a surprising dearth of dedicated options, but this combined storage and stand option from Monarch Specialties is one of the best TV stands for gamers specifically..

The Monarch Specialties TV Stand features a unique cutout section below where you place a TV. Thanks to this shelving gap, there’s enough space to accommodate either PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch consoles. There's also an open section on the right side provides the room you need for a second console. To round out this TV stand, a small drawer is built-in and ready to hide away all of your controller saccessories.

Nargos Storage Tower

Best Compact Option

Sometimes, smaller is better. Especially when smaller can quite easily become bigger. This super-versatile rack solves almost any storage option you might have. It will hold smaller Switch games just as neatly as standard DVD-sized cases. It works stood on its end or on its side. And multiple units will stand on top of each other in both orientations if needed.

As a bonus, it also comes with end slots that will tidy away controllers or serve as a hanging space for headphones. It’s an excellent shortcut to de-cluttering your gaming space.

Mitsu Media Rack

Best Stylish Option

If you want something simple and stylish to grace your home while holding your games, this clear plastic media rack is the business. The diamond sides and angled storage are both neat and attractive, and it’s easy to fold and unfold and move around.

It’s sized for media cases, made from hard-wearing plastic, and comes with a set of shelf dividers you can attach to help organise your games. It’s also extensible if you need to buy multiple units to hold a bigger collection.

Stock Your Home Storage Box

Best Storage Tray

Trays are a neat midway point between boxing your games away and keeping them visible. While you can still display your collection, a tray also offers portability so you can move your games around with ease, or segregate them from other items you’ve got on your shelves. They’re also sturdy, so can hold controllers or other gaming accessories while keeping them out of sight.

This particular tray is particularly well-made, with a stylish faux-leather exterior but also an eye for convenience. There are carry handles to make it easy to move around, and the front is magnetic, so it flips down for easy access. The trays also stack neatly, so you can have just as many as you need to hold all your games.

Symple Stuff Multimedia Cabinet

Best Cabinet

Shelves are absolute dust magnets and require regular cleaning to keep your games spick and span. And you don’t always want what’s on your shelves to be easily visible. A closable cabinet solves both problems, tucking everything away behind doors.

Many cabinets are massive, but Symple Stuff make this option which is ideally sized for a game collection, as well as being good-value and featuring a stylish glass door. It’s easy to assemble, but also lightweight to move around.

Fotosok Media Tower

Best Media Tower

Media towers were once the go-to option for storing games, CDs or DVDs and while they’ve fallen out of fashion a bit, they still have a lot of advantages. Most notably, their tall height but narrow depth and width allow you to hold a lot of cases with an absolutely minimal room footprint.

They’re less common in furniture outlets than they used to be, but this is a particularly good option. It’s marginally wider than some other options, making it more stable, although it’ll still need securing to a wall. It’s also good-looking, easy to put together, and multiple towers will stand neatly side-by-side to hold larger collections.

Looking for more storage options? Check out our guide to the best board game storage.

Source:https://www.ign.com/articles/best-video-game-storage-ideas

More