Cant Decide - Soul Calibur 25 " Cabinet or 19" Street Fighter

[csnow]

The more I have worked on my showcase cabinet to PS3 conversion, the less I like it.  Yeah its big, its cool, but it doesnt feel like an arcade cabinet, so I am abandoning the project because its becoming a money pit quickly.  I have found two machines in my local area.  The first is a really clean Soul Calibur machine and the other is a Street Fighter II.  The Soul Caliber has a 25" screen but it only has four buttons on the CP.  Not a problem to add the other 2 buttons since I have a kick harness from my other project but the bottom button is offset to the left which means the buttons wont be inline.  The SF unit is not in bad shape but it isnt mint like the Soul Caliber.  It has the six buttons but it has the smaller 19" screen.  This will be a horizontal MAME based cabinet.  I dont have a picture of the SF cabinet but I do have one of the Soul Calibur.  Its a bit blurry, but its from the ad so its all I have.  I went and looked at it today and it is in stunning shape.  I am leaning toward the SC cab but the button alignment has me sitting on the fence.  What say you?  

[csnow]

Wow, they only go for $200?  I thought $375 was a decent price.  I havent seen anything on any of the craigslist ads in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, etc for that cheap.

[AGarv]

In the long run, I think you will be happier with the Soul Caliber cab.  A larger, nicer monitor makes a big difference, especially when you play vertical games.  If the control panel button spacing bothers you after a few months/years, then you have a good excuse to make your own panel.

BTW if the monitor is decent $375 sounds like a reasonable price to me, especially if it's local. 

[csnow]

I am the proud owner of a 1998 Soul Calibur machine 

This machine is a dream to work on.  I have never seen a control panel that slides out with the jamma board and PS all mounted right in front of you.  I really like this machine.  The game is great too.