A racing wheel needs a certain angle and room for foot pedals, like the chair in this article. I find a cheaper route is a Table Mate (that As-Seen-On-TV tv table), as it has only two L shaped legs (so no cross bar) which offers plenty of room for foot pedals, and the table can be set to multiple angles for the actual wheel.

Rhythm games like Beatmania and Pop’n Music are often easier to play standing, which requires a taller surface. Most people use a heavy keyboard stand, with a piece of wood as a surface for controllers that aren’t big enough to reach across (like most Beatmania controllers). A double braced keyboard is ideal for Pop’n Music ASC, since the buttons are much bigger and tend to be hit much more aggressively.

Arcade sticks can be used at a sitting or standing height, so a standard, solid “tv tray table” works well for the sitting height (and back to the keyboard stand with a board for standing). Flight sticks work with a solid tv table as well. The Table Mate mentioned above can potentially work for both purposes, but it isn’t quite as sturdy as a table with cross bars and the surface of the table is a bit slippery, so it would need some modifications to hold onto controllers that might move around (like a flight stick with a tight throttle, like the Ace Combat Hori flight stick). The oddball Steel Battalion controller is so large that the Table Mate table has a bit of trouble supporting it and suffers from the same “slippery” problem mentioned above.

A modified Table Mate (this isn’t an advertisement, seriously) with a non-slip mat and an extra brace for extra support could cover all purposes except for standing height succinctly enough, but using a guide like the one in this article would be ideal, in order to create a solid, adjustable surface to cover current needs. With a good enough design, it could be virtually future-proof too. Welding a racing chair together is one thing. Making it adjustable is another.

And, uh, if there’s a better place to post this, just let me know.