Console emulation in my cab, which route should I take?

[Knightlore]

I've got a cocktail cab which I'm just putting a pc into (this was started last year but I ended up stripping the pc out to use for something else).  Anyway, I'm not at all keen on playing most console games with arcade joysticks etc.

So, I wondered should I build a seperate dedicated pc purely for all the other systems and use wireless controllers and just have the basics in my cab (Mame, Neo Geo etc).

Or should I include wireless controllers in my cab, have all emulators in one place.  My worry is that it's going to be very tough having my cab switch off my U360's and buttons and just use controllers for some systems, I can imagine there would be loads of conflicts?

[paigeoliver]

There is no logical reason to sit at a cocktail tables and play console games with gamepads. Just grab another computer and put it in your entertainment center and play them on the TV. A throwaway computer can handle it if you limit it to the 16 bit generation and older games.

[Knightlore]

Yup your right, I was just getting excited when I watch all these vids of people running multiple emulators.  I had originally intended to put Taito Type X/2 games in etc as well as Demul stuff but I think I'm being over ambitious I'll just stick with the basics

[ChrisK]

I've got console emulators running on my cab and it works great, no conflicts with my keyboard-emulating sticks.  Nestopia, for example, is happy to point to my joysticks instead of my keyboard, so the keyboard simply doesn't do anything.

Whether or not you want to use your cab for console gaming is another matter entirely.

[Cynicaster]

Yup your right, I was just getting excited when I watch all these vids of people running multiple emulators.  

I've seen some of those videos and, while the setups are definitely pretty slick, I'd be willing to bet that the amount of time those guys spend actually playing console games on their cabinets in 1 year amounts to a tiny fraction of the time they spent setting it all up with the fancy screen shots, animations, etc.  If the stuff gets used and enjoyed regularly then fine, but if not, the whole undertaking seems extremely backwards and silly, IMO.  

I eventually did add MESS to MaLa to run some console games on my cabinet, but it's a very no-frills, utilitarian setup that took me about an hour to get up and running.  About the only time I ever use the console stuff is when one of my buddies comes over and we want to play some shoulder-to-shoulder NES Ice Hockey (which, admittedly, is pretty fun).  To me, there just isn't much in the console world that's worth the trouble of setting up on an arcade cabinet.  If the game has an arcade version, I'm invariably going to prefer that version and play it exclusively.  If the game is a platformer like Megaman or Mario, then arcade controls just don't feel right.  If the game is an RPG or adventure type affair, why would I want to play that standing in front of an upright cabinet?  You get the idea.    

[ChrisK]

Some console games are more conducive to cabinet play than others.  Mario Brothers?  Very nice.  Legend of Zelda?  Not so much!

[Knightlore]

Well I had loads of different console systems in a bartop I used to own a few years back and I just don't like playing games like Mario using arcade sticks - I find it a bit awkward on some levels.

For now I've just got the latest Mame (with a few CHD's thrown in) and Daphne and that's enough for me I think.  I've decided to use my old fave "Mala" because it's very simple and quick to setup compared with some others and looks nice and simple/clean.

I will at some point build a hybrid media centre/emulation pc for the lounge which I'll put everything in, including consoles, Amiga/St etc - probablly running hyperspin with a couple of wireless controllers...