Input Requested (noob)

[toiletduck]

Greetings, all.  I'd like to get some input from some more experienced folks.

I'm considering purchasing this cabinet, and converting it to a MAME cab.  I would like to go this route as I do not have any woodworking experience, nor the tools to build a scratch unit.  A few questions have come to mind:

Is the price decent?
Is this a common cabinet, or what?
Could this cab support a standard 6-button fighting-game style control panel?

I understand there are compatibility issues with 4way vs 8way joysticks.  What joystick will get me the most bang for my buck?  I would like to be able to play 4way games (pac-man, donkey kong) as well as 8way games (street fighter, mortal kombat).  I am afraid dedicated sticks for both would make my control panel too crowded.  I really want to get as much playability out of one set of controls as possible.  I am not interested in flight yokes, spinners, etc. at this point.

I understand the basic concept of MAME'ing a cabinet, but I am entirely new to this stuff, so I am still looking to research and plan stuff out.  If anyone has any other input, please contribute!  Thanks.

[javeryh]

Welcome!

$80 for just about any cab is great.

You should have plenty of room for a 6-button 2P layout (probably a 3" trackball too).

You want a U360 from Ultimarc - it does 4-way and 8-way and everything else automatically.

 

[toiletduck]

Thanks for the response, javeryh.  I will check out the U360, as it sounds like just what I want!

Regarding buttons, is there any performance difference between the cheap ones and the pricey ones?