Now I'm gonna have to go back and read that.
Ok smart guy, if you were building this what stick would you use?
I'll throw this out here once. Like chopper said, you can consider it or tell me to pound sand. It's just my opinion.
You told me your idea for Ultimate DK being a cab that could play DK, DKII, DK Jr, DK3 and DK: PE all in one. I though, that's cool - all those games use the same controls, the same control scheme, same amount of buttons, same monitor orientation - that's a great idea. It's unique, and in a world of "Let's emulate everything under the sun!", it stand out. Yes, it's **only** 5 games, but it's 5 games with a shared history. Even Nintendo hasn't released anything like that. To me, that's a A+ Project, something that is attention-worthy.
So imagine my surprise when it was now going to run two horizontal games that are Mario-related, yes, but not Donkey Kong. Again, this was supposed to be Donkey Kong: Ultimate. Now not only are there two games that aren't really related thematically, but they aren't even the same orientation. Also, they need different controls and more buttons. So now you're going from a pure DK layout that can accommodate 5 related games into a hybrid. Add to that your talk about running other games and adding a switchable 4/8 Way joystick, and now it's just a DK-themed MAME cab, not this cool, awesome ultimate Donkey Kong machine.
Silly, maybe, and hey, it's your time, your money, your space, your cab - you build what you want. But I really thought your original idea had the chance to be something special. Maybe I misinterpreted your intentions, and you were thinking multi all along, but your new ideas have tempered my enthusiasm. I'm sure you'll do a great job in whatever you do, you've shown that, but I really think your Ultimate Donkey Kong is something that would have appealed to all sorts on the arcade collector scale, from MAMErs to purists alike.
Good luck on the build.