I've got a 4 stick panel on my sega cab, and it's busy and cramped enough with 16 buttons:
tip you may have heard before - Don't mount your sticks at an angle, keep Up pointing due North on all sticks.
Where can I get one of these?? It looks great! Would be awesome for the nieces.
It’s a panel from a Sega Swing. There aren’t many generic 3/4 player cabs around so I really wanted one. They do turn up occasionally.
Someone questioned how many games need (allow for) more than 2 players... well there are dozens. Including loads of my favourites like moonwalker, captain commando, undercover cops, Cadillacs and Dinos, Battle Circuit, rampage, alien vs pred, golden axe troda, Sega spiderman. There are loads - not just fighters (although mainly!). I like gaming with all my kids together.
Nothing wrong with going for 4p on a panel, but to a lot of people they are going to be ugly/messy and there’s nothing anyone can do about that. Keeping things minimal will appeal to more people. My panel has been called a surfboard, and I’m not going to argue.
Build what will make you happy and enjoy the games. You’ll have a blast making it. But in my opinion, when it comes to panels less is more. And admin buttons, dedicated 4-ways, spinners, trackballs, yokes... they all take more away from the panels aesthetic than they add to its function / enjoyment.