I am going to buy (sorry guys, my woodworking skills are below nil) an arcade cabinet for the purpose of using MAME from NorthCoast Custom (mameroom.com). I am going with a three-sided cocktail cabinet and will give them a nice 19" CRT monitor to install. I'll put in a PC, Windows, MAME and all that later. But right now my questions revolve about how to customize it.
http://www.mameroom.com/Products_Cocktail3_Kit.aspTheir standard layout on the two ends should suffice for most old two player games like Galaxian, Pac Man, Space Invaders and the like. I'll stick with that. However, I want to convert the third "long" side to be more universal for other single-player games.
As far as "unique" games are concerned - or at least those with special controller needs - I'd like to be able to play these:
Crazy Climber
Robotron
Tempest
Missile Command
Tron
I need help with a layout so I can tell NorthCoast how it should look. Regretabbly, I haven't played the originals of these games in over 20 years so my memory is fuzzy on how the controllers should look and work.
I know I need dual joysticks for CC and Robotron
I need a spinner for Tempest and Tron
I need a trackball for Missile Command (and probably several other games too.)
If you were going to layout that long side of a cocktail cabinet to accommodate those games, how would you do it? My only decision so far is to put the spinner on the left so it emulates Tron more accurately than Tempest. I am right handed but don't mind using my left for the spinner, unless you tell me that is a stupid idea.
And for those who have built a similar all-in-one arcade cabinet, is there any other design recommendations you can give?
Thanks!