Yea it is an aesthetic thing that I hate seeing on cocktail cabinets. On the cocktail I made from scratch I had it so that the controls were at an angle and part of the joystick and first row of buttons were partially inside the main body.
Well, here's your answer.
From the image, the control panel is physically under the top, so I'm going to go with 'optical illusion'. The Midway plans I went from have a slight 'inset' in the bottom of the control panel sides, which seem to be the point that they attach to the body. Now, that being said, there is about 1/2" of control panel side that is protruding from the side, and that could be 'set in' more, into the side, to give the look you prefer...
...which is a very, very nice thing with this plan - it's certainly adaptable.