Yikes, those are short cables. I've seen the comparison of the cable lengths, the original nes controller cables were roughly 3x that length. Given the size of the tv's many people use in their living rooms these days that does create a problem. You don't want to be tethered to the tv screen that close.
They're currently out of stock but Nyko has cable extenders for $10 as well. It gives the extra 6ft of cable missing from the nes ce cables to make them 9ft long.
http://nyko.com/collections/nes-classic-edition/products/extend-link-for-nes-classic-edition
What would be nice is if other controllers came out for the classic edition. I know the original controllers are nostalgic but they suck. There couldn't be a more non-ergonomic controller anywhere and even atari's joysticks for the 2600 were more ergonomic lol.
Back in the day I used an nes max with the cyclops thumb pad and turbo buttons with a much nicer shape to it. It wouldn't connect to the new controller inputs though. Also used the nes advantage for a few games though that one had its issues too. The big platform base wasn't very friendly unless you had a table top to set it on or set it on your lap.
I guess the wireless controllers are an option but I'm not personally a fan. Weak batteries, dead batteries, signal glitch at the worst possible times, no thanks. I had a pair of wireless controllers for the original nes and they were a royal pia.
Great pics of the side by side size comparisons, the classic edition is a lot smaller than I pictured from photos of it by itself.