Furniture Hack: AK Rock Box/USB Hub

Finally! I've finally gotten around to a little project that I'd been wanting to do since I moved to my new house. Since I love Rock Band, I knew I wanted to add the superb AK Rock Box to my living room. It's a great piece of gamer-centric furniture, and now I've done a mod that makes it even more useful.

I bought the big-box version of the original Rock Band when it came out, and it came with a pretty disappointing 4-port USB hub to support all the instruments. I never liked having to set up that hub with its 6-inch cord and 3-foot power cord behind my TV setup, adding to the wire spaghetti in the back. Now with a little work to the Rock Box, I don't have to.



Neat, huh? The mod is very simple. I figured out where I wanted the wires to go and slit a hole in the fabric lining above and below the ottoman's floor. I drilled a hole in the wooden floor and threaded the USB hub's power cord and a 10-foot USB extension cable through it. Then I slit the fabric again on the high part of the wall and stuck the hub to the wooden wall with Scotch recloseable fasteners.

The USB extension easily reaches my systems and lets me plug in four devices without getting up from the couch. For those like me who are still using corded Rock Band controllers, this cuts living room tripping hazards by up to 75%, and makes it so I can still play with a Dual Shock 3 while it's plugged and charging off its laughably short cord. The ottoman's lid can even close when devices are plugged in.

Ah, domestic gaming bliss.

What I'm Playing:

• Main Campaign: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2
• Side Quest: Soul Calibur 4, Rock Band 2