# of buttons?

[RoboG2]

Cant decide which one.  Thanks in advance.

[NoOne=NBA=]

You can probably answer your own question here.

What are you going to play?

Use whatever button setup gives you buttons to play that.

[Darkstalker]

My suggestion is 7 just so your bases are covered, but it really is up to you...

[PiNPOiNT]

how many games seriously really use all 7 buttons,

like 2?

6 certainly for fighting games (capcom etc)

[Tiger-Heli]

how many games seriously really use all 7 buttons,

like 2?

6 certainly for fighting games (capcom etc)

No games use all 7 buttons, but .  .  .

Some neo-geo games use all 4 buttons and the 7-button layout is easier for these than the square layout you would have with the Capcom six.

[Lilwolf]

The price of the extra button is worth it for playing neogeo games

I had 6 and changed it to 7 and never looked back!

Having the extra button has never been a problem to me.

btw,  I have mine like this

* * *
* * * *

and thinking of redoing it this way

- * * *
- * * *
*

but not sure if it would help anything.

[etumor]

Cant decide which one.  Thanks in advance.

I've commented on this several times, and here I go again.  

I have a cab that uses the 7 button layout (6 Street Fighter style + one extra for Neo-Geo layout).  In nearly two years with this machine, I have never, ever used the seventh button.  I thought I'd be mapping Neo-Geo games to use that button, but the truth is that I really only play Neo-Geo shooters and puzzle games, and rarely use more than two buttons.  On those rare occassions when I actually need four buttons, I found I like them better like this:

  * 1 2
  * 3 4
*

The only advantage that I can find to the traditional mapping:

  * * *
  2 3 4
1

is that the traditional mapping means it will match exactly the on-screen directions that some games have.  I thought that would be useful, but it isn't.  Next year I'm planning on re-doing that control panel, and one of the things I will probably do is eliminate the 7th button.

If you never play Neo-Geo fighting games, then I wouldn't bother with the seventh button.  If you do, then it is completely a personal choice.  What do you think you'd like better?  I thought I'd like the Neo-Geo layout, but I found out I didn't.  But I completely understand why some people prefer the "proper" layout (I go nuts if I the joystick I use for playing Pac-Man is off-center).

-Jeff "etumor"

[Tiger-Heli]

Cant decide which one.  Thanks in advance.

Next year I'm planning on re-doing that control panel, and one of the things I will probably do is eliminate the 7th button.

I had a look at your website and still think that's one of the sharpest ways to integrate all the controls without having a jumbled mess.

Will be interesting to see what the re-design looks like.