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button count?
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Chris G:
I'm sure this question has been asked and answered, but after a brief unsuccessful search, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway...

I noticed on the rather impressive Control Panel Database a number of different button counts.  I'm down with having 6 buttons per player for fighting games, but what's up with 7 or 8?  I'm mostly interested in the classics which make due with far less, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something in my old age... thanks.
pointdablame:
The 7 button combo is usually a Street Fighter + NeoGeo setup.  It's actually only 6 buttons, but one is doubled up.  It's meant to emulate both the Street fighter layout (2 rows of 3) and the NeoGeo layout (4 across).

It usually looks something like:

      1  2  3
   x  4  5  6

Where "x" will be wired the same as one of the top row buttons.





The 8 button combo is usually only for other consoles, such as Playstation.  There's no need for 8 buttons in Mame unless you are playing one of those crazy mahjong games with a million buttons.
RandyT:
Sometimes it's not the number but how you use them (where have I heard that before...)

A 6-button is the most common because of the fighters.  The addition of one more button to the lower left is usually done not because 7 buttons are specifically required, rather that extra button + the bottom row of three mimics an authentic "neo" style panel.  If you see a panel with 8 buttons, is usually due to the fact that the panel is designed for emulation of a console like the PS, where there are 4 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons.

That's why the CP layout is such a personal thing.  Much depends on what you plan to play as well as space considerations, aesthetics and so on.

RandyT


*edit*

....too slow again..... :P

Chris G:
Thanks guys.  6 it shall be.

I dig the clean, relatively-simple look of Timoe and MustardTent's CPs in particular, so that's the general direction I'm taking.  With that in mind, I'm going to do 2 programmable ball-top sticks, a spinner, trackball, and 6 buttons each.

Now my only remaining decisions are on admin buttons and whether to do all the flashy LED stuff.  My wife likes the lighted stuff, and I dig the "coolness" factor, but it just doesn't speak to the classic arcade gaming I remember (Tron excluded of course).  Perhaps my memory's fading...  :dizzy:

Chris
RandyT:
I've been doing this so long, my first control panel had a WICO red ball top (before they got the idea to start selling them as a handheld for the Atari) and white leaf-switch buttons because that's about all you could get!  The colored stuff followed not too long after though.

The extra "bling" is pretty nice.  I was offering the LED-Wiz and the EI buttons for over 6 months before I forced myself to rewire my panel (no time.)  Now, I don't think I could go back, as it would seem kind of dull without having the buttons lit or being able to change the colors.

RandyT
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