I'm having a tough time deciding whether to use a 15" LCD or a 17" CRT. If I used the LCD, I would make the monitor rotatable. The CP is going to be 18" wide (1 joy, 6 buttons, 2 1/4" tackball from left to right), which is exactly the width I would need to allow room for rotating. I love the idea of a vertical 17" CRT though. My only concern is the small screen when playing horizontal games like Metal Slug, Missile Command, etc. It would also make the design easier, and be one less thing that could possibly break and require me to go fix it.
If it matters, this will be for my 13 year old nephew, and my brother asked that no fighters such as Mortal Kombat be included. Killjoy.

Since he didn't say anything about non-fighters, I'm assuming shooting up people in Metal Slug is okay.

All thoughts and opinions appreciated!