Advice on cp and tv

[SSJ4Vegeta81]

I'm finally able to get around to working on a cabinet after being forced to put it on hold. I want a 4-player cp and am planning on hacking two 360 controllers to use for p1 and p2 and might use an ipac for p3 and p4 (I doubt I'll use four 360 controllers). I made an arcade stick for 360 mainly for SSF4 and it came out perfect so I think they could work on a cp. So I have 2 questions about the cp:

1) Is my idea good or would it be better using an ipac for all 4 players?  My cp will have a trackball, spinner, flight stick, and maybe a dedicated 4-way, with 2 guns on the cabinet.

2) I'm thinking of using 6 buttons for all players but I've read here that p3 and p4 don't have more than 4 buttons on arcade games.  I also want to use my cabinet to play SNES games and other systems I can find. Are there any games on any system that use 6 buttons for p3 and p4?


As for the TV, is it better to mount it whole or to mount without the case?

[Dechene]

If you're gonna spend the cash on the ipac use it for P1, P2 and all your extra admin & coin buttons.
Then jump on ebay & buy 2 cheapo knockoff playstation style usb controllers for about $4 each, hack them as you would the 360 controllers for P3 & P4.
The 360 controllers would be unnecessarily expensive imo.

Don't know of games that use 6 buttons for P3 & P4 but i've never looked.

I don't have that many friends. 

As for the screen, it depends on your design I guess.
Personally I much prefer having the TV simply sit on a shelf with its case still on. I don't have to worry about decasing it & mucking around with the power in it.

Plus it is a lot easier when it comes time to move the arcade around.
My one has been in half the rooms in the house and even at a couple of mates places over the past year, I can simply pickup the TV & PC and take them out each time it has to move.

[GregD]

Is this the official definition of a Frankenpanel?  Seems like a crap load of controls for one machine but I don't profess to know much.

[Nephasth]

Get a Lono. Best 4 player solution IMO. And decase the TV.

[Donkbaca]

^^^^ This

[SSJ4Vegeta81]

If you're gonna spend the cash on the ipac use it for P1, P2 and all your extra admin & coin buttons.
Then jump on ebay & buy 2 cheapo knockoff playstation style usb controllers for about $4 each, hack them as you would the 360 controllers for P3 & P4.
The 360 controllers would be unnecessarily expensive imo.

Don't know of games that use 6 buttons for P3 & P4 but i've never looked.

I don't have that many friends.  

As for the screen, it depends on your design I guess.
Personally I much prefer having the TV simply sit on a shelf with its case still on. I don't have to worry about decasing it & mucking around with the power in it.

Plus it is a lot easier when it comes time to move the arcade around.
My one has been in half the rooms in the house and even at a couple of mates places over the past year, I can simply pickup the TV & PC and take them out each time it has to move.

I can't believe I didn't think of generic PS2 controllers. I used a Gamestop controller for my stick to save cash and for ease of hacking but your idea sounds better for a cp.

Thanks for the TV advice. It never occurred to me that I might want to move it around later.  Good thing this forum is here.

Is this the official definition of a Frankenpanel?  Seems like a crap load of controls for one machine but I don't profess to know much.

Could be.  I might ditch the 4-way and flight stick if the cost gets too high. It's going to be a lit blue cp and I thought a tron stick would look nice on it.  The trackball and spinner seem standard from the cps I've seen here.  But the guns stay and will be attached to the sides of the cabinet. I loved Area 51 and a few rounds of Duck Hunt wouldn't hurt, either.

Get a Lono. Best 4 player solution IMO. And decase the TV.

Never heard of it but will research it.



Thanks for all the input. I'll work out what to use while planning the cp layout.  As for the TV I saw one topic that said to take the back off the TV and keep the rest of the case on to help keep it cool. I might go that route or keep the whole case on.

[Donkbaca]

The lono is sold at paradisearcadeshop.com.  Its simple, works well and no hacking or soldering needed.  Plus, it will probably be cheaper than buying 4 controllers to hack, etc.

[Nephasth]

The lono is sold at paradisearcadeshop.com.

It was sold there, it's not on the site at the moment. The Lono just had a major overhaul. The new version should be available shortly.

[Malenko]

Is this the official definition of a Frankenpanel?  Seems like a crap load of controls for one machine but I don't profess to know much.

^^^^^^This