How many buttons for a 4 way joystick panel?

[Apollo]

OK so I'm just about to drill my 4 way joystick panel. It has 2 MsPac/Galag 4 ways and will be used for all the classic 4 ways, PacMan, Donkey Kong etc and for 2 player Bomberman ( don't ask, my brother in law loves it ) and Karate Champ.
My question is how many buttons should I have for a 4 way stick and are there any other games that use 2 X 4 ways ( either 2 player or 1 player ).
Thanks.

[JustMichael]

I would suggest 2 buttons per player in this case.  That should cover most "classics".

[Apollo]

Then why do I see 4 way joys with 3 or even 4 butttons sometimes?
Thanks for your reply by the way.

[JoyMonkey]

there's only a handful of 4-way games with 3 buttons:
check out this Sortinfo Search
And only five 4-way games with 4 buttons. Not including any clones.

[ericball]

Unfortunately, MAME's listinfo is not as accurate as it might be.  There are a bunch of joy8way games which were actually 4way, 2way or even button only.

For my control panel I'm going with 3 buttons in an inverted triangle.  Not because there are a lot of 3 button games out there but then I can use the bottom button for games which only use one button.

[Mr. Dude]

I would put three on there as well.

[AmericanDemon]

You have to take into consideration what the older Jamma games could handle as well.  True classics are Pre-jamma, but they are the reason for the invention of Jamma.  A Jamma Harness has fire positions for three buttons per player.  

Don't forget Karate Champ uses two sticks per player and no buttons.

[BJallow]

I used 4 buttons, since I enjoyed Mouse Trap on the Atari and thought I'd play the arcade version.  Truth is, I rarely play it.

[Lilwolf]

btw... take a look at the games.

There probably arent' going to be that many games which will be added with 4way controller + 4+ buttons

so see what you will be missing if you only add 3...

I personally LOVE super punchout!

[paigeoliver]

2 buttons unless you want to play Mouse Trap, in that case it is 4.

I went through the ENTIRE 4-way list game by game to determine this (the TRUE 4-way list, not the incorrect sortinfo list). There are a couple other games besides Mouse Trap with more than 2 buttons, but each and every one of them is complete garbage (a terrible Tennis game, and a couple of Mahjonngs).

[Thenasty]

I suggest 4 buttons in diamond setup pattern liek the game "Vanguard"

You can however start with the 3 inverted triangle as mentioned then you have room to the 4th one being a diamond shape for "Vanguard" it is very playable as an 4-way setup.

[paigeoliver]

Vanguard is an 8-way game. I actually usually play it dualjoy myself.

[adder]

2 buttons unless you want to play Mouse Trap, in that case it is 4. I went through the ENTIRE 4-way list game by game to determine this (the TRUE 4-way list, not the incorrect sortinfo list). There are a couple other games besides Mouse Trap with more than 2 buttons, but each and every one of them is complete garbage (a terrible Tennis game, and a couple of Mahjonngs).

and so 10 years later... are we still kind of agreement on this? as im thinking of building a 4way joystick box but only have 2 spare pushbuttons. so 2 buttons should cover the classics?

[yotsuya]

2 buttons unless you want to play Mouse Trap, in that case it is 4. I went through the ENTIRE 4-way list game by game to determine this (the TRUE 4-way list, not the incorrect sortinfo list). There are a couple other games besides Mouse Trap with more than 2 buttons, but each and every one of them is complete garbage (a terrible Tennis game, and a couple of Mahjonngs).

and so 10 years later... are we still kind of agreement on this? as im thinking of building a 4way joystick box but only have 2 spare pushbuttons. so 2 buttons should cover the classics?

Yep. My 4-way only classics cocktail has 2 buttons and like 90 games.

[Saneless]

I have 2 in my 4-way area, but I guess if I had to use more I still have my standard 8 way with 7.

I'm not sure I've even used more than 1 button in any game I've played.

[nitrogen_widget]

I'm building a 4-way vertical that I originally bought 3 buttons for.
i'm going to go with 2 now.

I'm using an old PC with an old version of mame.
My list started at about 150 long & it has been whittled down to 110 & that's because I only had time to figure out I hated 35 of those 40 games I tried.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Most games usually have 2, but I choose 3 only please I play Punchout pretty often.  However, you can get away with 2 if you re-map player 2 start to be the Uppercut.  I did that on my first vertical machine which only had 2 buttons.

D

[Vigo]

A few more - Dambusters is one, Iron Horse is another. If you really want to scrap the barrel, there is Chinese Hero as well.


Go with 2 buttons. 

[yotsuya]

On the other hand, if you only do 2 buttons, you won't be able to play Omega Race the right way... 

[adder]

.... Iron Horse is another....

---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, i quite like that game    3 buttons it is then 

[adder]

actually i notice on klov that iron horse is listed as an 8way game?
hmm
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8206

[Vigo]

Yeah, I'm not sure.... I see from arcade history that it is 4 way.

http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=iron-horse-model-gx560&page=detail&id=1203

  Might be a game that is 4 way, but there is no advantage of using a 4 way joystick.

[deadmoney5]

The only game I can think of that I use all 3 buttons would be Bank Panic.

[Minwah]

The only game I can think of that I use all 3 buttons would be Bank Panic.

I agree, worth having 3 buttons for that one!

[paigeoliver]

Dedicated 4-way cabinets are normally done vertically, as the vast majority of 4-way games are vertical in nature. Punchout isnt a vertical game, neither is Omega Race, nor is Bank Panic. Omega Race also doesn't use a joystick.Punchout's dual screen nature makes supporting it a nightmare anyway, regardless of machine.

Dambusters is an odd case. By everything that is holy it SHOULD be an 8-way game, but it isn't. It does however handle 8-way input rather well for a four way game, always defaulting to the new direction when it encounters a diagonal.

I am not sure it is worth installing a 3rd button is worth it just for bad Scramble clone and Bank Panic.