I don't think designing one out of wood would take away from the look of the original. Since it's not a "clone", liberties could be taken with the design.
Oh, I'm sure it's possible, but it would be more of a bastardized bartop/red tent hybrid than anything... ...unless you went to a lot of after-build trouble to mitre the edges for joining at appropriate angles, which is of course, possible. If you didn't, you could always just 'clone' the sides of a popular bartop, and then, make it a 'back-to-back' unit.
In fact, the whole idea sounds pretty damn smart.
- Looking at that pic I see either a 16:9 or 16:10 on each side, removing that artwork square and coin mech (coin mech could be relocated under the CP or on sides if wanted).
- The CP area extends out and inch or so towards the players, giving space for two six button layouts per side.
- Remove the 4 player start buttons on the far side to space things out better.
- The individual player start buttons can be relocated in front of each player, either in the vertical plane on front of the CP, or above the CP but under the screens.
You're right. It's actually a very clean design, and would be fairly simple to modify into a custom design.
The only major hurdle with the design I see are the legs. If something could be tracked down via a furniture parts store or ikea, that would be the best route.
If you want to be original, and go with a chome and metal look, then yeah. It would also be pretty easy to replicate using wood.
Now as far as internals, that depends on if the builder wants straight cloned displays (in that case, all you need is the 2nd LCD and a "Y" VGA adapter. Could even use just one SLG still) or individual setups linked over network possibly.
Now, you're thinking! More than I have, actually. I've been so busy with the design aspect, I've totally glossed over the hardware. It's got some impressive functionality, to say the least.
I need to get into something like solid-works to start fleshing out my ideas. Sketch-up is "ok", but I hear a lot of CNC guys have trouble with the files. (yes, coffee has been extra strong this morning )
You do. You really do. I'm a Sketchup convert. Solidworks has a lot of differences, and I liken the learning curve to that with Classic Doom to Doom 3. Both had great, cutting-edge functionality and performance, and specific controls that worked for their own personal iterations.
But yeah, Solidworks is "the" go-to program, in my opinion.