Do you lock down your consoles?

[Master Phruby]

Do you guys lock down your video game consoles?

[+Random Terrain]

What does that mean? Put them in a safe? Glue them to the floor?

[Master Phruby]

Chain then up like you do with a laptop.

[NinjaWarrior]

Care to explain what you mean

[+Charlie Cat]

Sure do

 

https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8o.mIipTdnoA5ZmJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIzZnU1aHVkBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANiYTYwYTA2ODlkNDE0Njg1YTlkNDI3YTkyNDA0ZTI3OARncG9zAzM1BGl0A2Jpbmc-?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dgun%2Bprotection%2Blabel%2Bsticker%26fr%3Dyfp-t-950%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D35&w=600&h=464&imgurl=www.compliancesigns.com%2Fmedia%2FZOOM%2FNHE-18625_600.gif&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.compliancesigns.com%2Fgun-warning-signs.shtml&size=21.3KB&name=Click+to+view+a+larger+image&p=gun+protection+label+sticker&oid=ba60a0689d414685a9d427a92404e278&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t-950&tt=Click+to+view+a+larger+image&b=0&ni=120&no=35&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11mm2qb8a&sigb=13mkt2ll6&sigi=11k1ddoq3&sigt=10spbuuk4&sign=10spbuuk4&.crumb=QSp8PCx/DgE&fr=yfp-t-950

 

Anthony...

Edited March 19, 2014 by fdurso224

[+Random Terrain]

Chain then up like you do with a laptop.

 

I never chained up a laptop and wouldn't know how if I wanted to. Do laptops come with chain loops or little hands in the back for tiny handcuffs?

[Rex Dart]

No but I should've locked my games up when I was sharing a house

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

If you mean by password or other protection? Sometimes.. Password on my PC's of course but not on consoles..

 

Physically, I have no reason to... but I do have my house secured, security cameras, firearms, etc..

My house was broken into a few years ago and my PS2 games got stolen along with some other things.

 

Haha my lockout chip on my NES, I haven't disabled it yet . Trying to keep that original.

[SoulBlazer]

I never saw this on consoles, but it was quite common that when you bought a new PC it would have a lock on the front and a mini key, and if you didn't want anyone to open the door and turn it on you'd just lock it. I haven't seen that in a desktop for years, though.

 

There's other ways you can prevent someone from playing a console -- take a part that is needed to make it worth (like the HDMI cable or power supply), use parent protection or parental mode on the settings so that they can't play it, or put it into a container and lock it.

 

I've never had reason to do any of these things, but I'm sure it would work.

[Osgeld]

 

I never chained up a laptop and wouldn't know how if I wanted to. Do laptops come with chain loops or little hands in the back for tiny handcuffs?

 

they have for decades

 

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

 

Edited March 20, 2014 by Osgeld

[Seob]

No need to do so. I can imagine that you would lock it when displaying at a fair.

The O2 cartridges are great to secure because of the handle.

[roland p]

We locked Atari lynxes when displaying them at a fair. With a thin steel cable attached to them.

Edited March 20, 2014 by roland p

[Master Phruby]

Right. Have you ever attached a locking steel cable to consoles so that a burglar doesn't steal then?

[Reaperman]

I can't say that's a thought I've ever had before. I say no, mostly because the lack of mobility would only hurt me. I'd imagine it would take a lot to get a whole bunch of them keyed alike, so I'd be fumbling around with lots of keys. It would also cost quite a lot, and I still haven't finished buying them all scart cables yet...come to think of it those don't lock and they're worth more than most of the systems I have them for.

 

I thought laptop and PC locks were for use mainly in shared spaces, anyway. My game room isn't a shared space. There's one chair, and even the wife rarely goes in there.

I have a front door on my house, bars on the only first floor window and an 8 foot iron fence with another lock on it. If I were maybe setting up in a public space, I might consider it for a few minutes.

 

I will say that every so often I've considered buying a new lock for my mvs, but that it's been over 10 years, and I still haven't done it yet, pretty much says where that is on my priority list. The reason I want one being to fill the hole in the door and keep it from swinging partway open.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Reaperman

[Master Phruby]

Here is a security case for an Atari Flashback 2,3,4. Granted the case costs more than the Flashback does.

 

http://clearpc.ca/store/products/atari-flashback-2-3-and-4-security-case/#

 

[fiddlepaddle]

What for? If what I had was extremely valuable, I'd lock up the room or the building (my home). Or insure.

 

Even today, the actual replacement value of any given console is still very low; almost any North American market mass produced console can be had for less than $100, most less than $20. Probably some of the cables are the hardest things to replace.

[JamesD]

Cable locks may defeat crimes of opportunity but any real thief would have no issue.

Even heavy cables can be cut with a small set of bolt cutters about as easy as scissors cut paper.

I have a cable lock for my laptop but the only use is if I'm using my laptop in a coffee shop. It lets me get up and get a refill without worrying about having someone grabbing my laptop and running off. I'm close enough to react if someone tries.

[+davidcalgary29]

Right. Have you ever attached a locking steel cable to consoles so that a burglar doesn't steal then?

 

Ha! The typical burglar around here is an intoxicated 12 or 13 year-old. They wouldn't know what a 'vintage' console looked like unless I dropped it on their heads.

[rsb0204]

Acctualy all mine are secured in place, well all but the vectrex anyway. but that has more to do with me living in a motorhome (don't want stuff falling everywhere while im driving!) and less to do with worrying about theft. the way I see it, if they can get past the deadbolt then a thin piece of wire rope or a light duty chain isnt going to stop them from getting the most valuable thing in the house. of couse if I happen to be home at the time that changes everything, but most people don't argue with a double barrel.

 

 

Here is a security case for an Atari Flashback 2,3,4. Granted the case costs more than the Flashback does.

 

http://clearpc.ca/st...security-case/#

 

For a flashback? why?...

Edited March 21, 2014 by rsb0204

[carlsson]

Unless you want a safety deposit box in your living room, I would rather suggest a cabinet with lockable doors rather than tieing up each console. The latter suggests that you have them all plugged in next to your TV, ready to be played all the time. As for exhibiting on fairs, I think mainly it is the handheld units that need securing. Rare individual game cartridges you usually don't exhibit unattended anyway, and the consoles themselves hopefully are a little too big for someone to shove into a plastic bag and disappear without anyone noticing.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Um, the doors on my house have locks and we use them. We did get burglarized in 2006 though. I lost my entire Game Cube collection but the thieves left all my old cartridge stuff, which incidentally was worth a lot more. Well, to me it was.

[+Gemintronic]

No need. Last time I tried to transfer my save games from one PS3 to another I realised just how locked down they were.

[AtariLeaf]

I have Indiana Jones style booby traps surrounding my game room. Poor Satipo never got a chance to play Kaboom before he went "Kaboom"

[+LS650]

If someone steals any of my old systems, that will be a good excuse to start collecting for something different!

[carlsson]

I wonder when the first collector who sent his or her items to VGA to have them graded, valued and sealed into plastic boxes with a value tag on the side, gets visited by burglars. IMHO it would be like advertising to the thief that here is something valuable you can steal and supposedly be able to offset on the market.