Compared to most of these posts, my question/application seems very simple: I have a board with 12-24 arcade buttons mounted on it. When any button is pressed, I want a sound file (not more than 15 seconds long) associated with that button to play and then stop. I want no joystick, touchscreen, display or other visible parts -- just buttons that play short sound files. I don't want the application to freak out if several buttons are rapidly pressed or if two buttons are pressed simultaneously. If the same button is pressed repeatedly, I'd like for the program to be stable enough to attempt to play the file upon each press and finally play it correctly after the last press.
The program must start at bootup, be stable enough to run 24 hours per day, and endure thousands of sometimes abusive button presses!
This SOUNDS very simple, but is it? The computer, button wiring, and amplification issues are not a problem. I just need to know what software would be best for this. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.