One all-in-one cab or multiple cabs?

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

I currently own a 4-player jamma cab (TMNT style) and I'm working on a mame conversion for a data east cab. I also originally planned to buy or build a midway-style cocktail cabinet later in the year. Then it hit me while i was stripping the data east cab, do I really need 2 or 3 machines or should I just convert the 4-player by adding a "frankenstien" control panel? I'm not a big fan of this (i've seen some really nice ones, though) but I think I could live with it.
I usually don't play the 4-player cab at all unless it's with my kids during the weekends (they love playing xmen and tmnt). I know I'll probably be playing the mame machine at least every other day (I play sf2 and raiden/strikers 1945 on my desktop controler for stress relief after a long day at work). The cocktail would probably be used more when I have company over and if I have a sudden urge to play ms pacman like it's supposed to be played (plus I always thought it would be cool to own a cocktail cab

[telengard]

Hi there,

You could always go the swappable or modular route.  That gives you the best of both worlds.  Check out my site for an example and there are also a few other folks on here with the same type of setup.

have fun
~telengard

[deadmoney5]

Holy crap Telengard..!

That cab is awesome...

nice work on the controls...That would take me 30 years..

[Doc-]

I prefer the all in one approach!  There are some tradeoffs to going modular, but I (and others) have found it is a great way to make a compact cabinet without sacrificing functionality.

I can play just about any game I like after a minute or so of configuring.  Best of all you can expand it over time as you find new controls.

Cheers!
Doc

[armax]

With the 49-way setups, it's not necessary to go modular or make a beast of a frankenstein panel.  As time goes on, controllers are getting more versatile and there becomes less of a need to have a multitude of controllers except for nostalgia's sake. 

[Mr. Bubblehead]

I'm relatively new to the whole MAME/home arcade thing, and before I built my first cabinet I was going the all-in-one route (although I wasn't really a big fan of the "Frankenstien" control panel).  But  suddenly the planets aligned, and I had the time, space, materials, money, and (most importantly) permission from the wife to convert the basement into a game room.  So I decided to build 7 different cabs, each one themed after a classic arcade game, and each one featuring different controls and screen orientation to best suit the games I will play on them.  I am currently working on cab #2, but I should have them all completed  by mid-fall of this year.  Although I could get by with playing on one big-ass machine in the corner of the living room, I think that the "atmosphere" of my game room will be more satisfying and will complete the experience for me.

[shawnzilla]

I attempted to go for the all-in-one concept, but there are just too many variables to cover in one machine. I have my Frankencab built, and now I'm working on a Vector Cab, for example.

[Tiger-Heli]

Basically, there are pro's and con's to each option -

One cab and swappable panels - Pro's: Nice clean layout, optimized for each game.  Only one cab to deal with, so less space and expense.  Con's:  Panels/Modules need to be stored somewhere.  Sometimes is a pain to swap around if you play a lot of different games, e.g. "I got my Pac-Man fix for the day, I feel like playing Centipede, but not sure I want to dig out the trackball module and plug it in, or just fire up a quick game of Time Pilot instead.

One cab with FrankenPanel - Pro's:  Less space and expense required, avoids the hassle of swapping controls around.  Con's:  Generally doesn't look as "clean".  Tough to get a layout that works for "all" games and even if you do, it will probably be sup-optimal for "some" games.

Multiple cabs - Pro's:  Allows you to have multiple control layouts and swap by moving to the appropriate cabinet.  Control layouts are more optimized.  Multiple games can be played at once.  More similar to having a real home arcade.  Con's:  more expensive, more space required, harder to justify to non-arcade game nuts in your family.

Hope this helps!!!  If I could do it, I think I would lean toward the multiple machine option.

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys... I think i will go with my original plan of 3 arcade machines (minimum)... I guess I was getting "cold feet" while I was gutting my data east cab (i'm going to have to do a ton of work to restore the cabinet to how i want it). But I think I really want to be able to look in my garage one day and see a bunch of arcade games waiting for me to play (hopefully that day will be sooner rather than later

[Quarters]

Anyways, if space/money were not an issue for you, would you rather have an all-in-one machine? or multiple cabs?

If space/money were not an issue I would have All the original cabs. 

[Tiger-Heli]

If space/money were not an issue I would have All the original cabs. 

I'd settle for just one of each so others could play too.  All sounds a little greedy to me.