Idea for removable control panel

[guytalbot]

I have recently got back into mame again after a hiatus of a a couple years from being out of the country and I was thinking of how I wanted to go about this. Currently here is my setup:

Mythtv box running fedora linux
sony 34" hdtv on a stand about 27" off the ground.

I don't want to go through the time and expense of building a full mame cabinet so I had this idea.

Raise the stand off the ground a couple feet and build a control panel that stands at waist height that can be put in front of the tv and removed when needed. 

I have seen this done on machines at the arcade especially a lot of fighters and was thinking of going to my local with a tape measure to get some measurments.  The questions i have are as follows:

Has anyone tried this before?
Is it possible to set up the control panel to work wirelessly or if not what would be the easiest way to set this up?
any other suggestions?

thanks

[Tiger-Heli]

Has anyone tried this before?

Nope, but have thought about it.  Do a search on "showcase" cabinet and see my comments and links in this thread:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,38799.0.html

Is it possible to set up the control panel to work wirelessly or if not what would be the easiest way to set this up?

Not that I know of - I would think easiest would be either a long keyboard extension cable or USB cable with a keyboard encoder in the panel.

[RayB]

Also look up "coffee table" cabs.

[Necro]

I'm thinking of doing something like this as well.  My initial ideas revolve around having it be completely collapseable in a rapid fasion, and pretty stable.  I'll try to doodle out some sketches of my ideas and post them up.

[Tiger-Heli]

Also look up "coffee table" cabs.

Also - armoire, amoiur, uh, those "furniture-looking-things-that-girls-like" cabinets.

Errm - just follow the links in this thread - http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=45397.0

[DrewKaree]

Not wireless, but I'm gonna be putting everything into the control panel.  Only 2 cords coming out, power and video.  I think if wireless ever gets solved, it'll be widely adopted

[Hurray Banana]

If you were happy with a keyboard could you hack a wireless keyboard?

[Lilwolf]

no.  wireless keyboards don't have the speed to really work in gaming.  never designed for it.

wireless joysticks are much closer.

But you will get EVERY possible problem a keyboard hack has in a wireless version... plus lag... 

[ChadTower]

Heh, I just cut up and threw way a VF2 pedestal exactly as you're describing.

[Lilwolf]

Why do you say these things... You know it only makes us cry 

 

 

 

 

[ChadTower]

I tried for a year to sell it for almost nothing and then tried to give it away for two months.

What more would you have me do? 

[DrewKaree]

Put it on a street corner in a bad area of town with a "For Sale - $400 - call me to pay me " sign on it. 

At least you know it'd be gone before sun up.