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Which would be easier for amateur :)
Gorre:
Just for the record.
I have a PSX laying around and this way I still use it.
Games like Crash Bandicoot, Abe's Odysee (basically platform games), Kula world, ... are great to play on a cabinet (they don't require all the buttons).
You can compare these with many of the Neogeo games.
And ... there are classics available for PSX like Bubble Bobble, Space Invaders, Missile Commander, ...
but I'll be honest I play the mame version of these classics.
(If I had a dreamcast I would put that one in too)
Whatever the game is, if I play it on my cabinet it feels like I'm back at the penny arcade.
hyiu:
my personal opinon on your situation...
if you're ok with soldering... I guess you should go with hacking a psx pad.... then buy a couple of those psx to usb converters.... then you don't need to buy IPAC for pc and then re-hack the pad for psx....
(also... later on if you have things like N64, xbox, dreamcast, .... they all have psx to whatever adaptor... no need to re-hack also....)
if your current computer graphics card has s-video out... go with tv..... then all your consoles can use the tv easily.... whether to use a switch box or not depends on your budget.... no budget... leave a door or opening so that you can plug and unplug a few things... its not that hard..... I'm assuming you don't switch between consoles and pc everything 30 min..... ;)
good thing about IPAC that hacking a pad cannot match is IPAC sends keystrokes... so, it can actually sends ESC, Enter, ... etc. with gamepad hack... when running Mame in windows... you'll still need your keyboard and mouse.... (so... if you want 100% arcade feel... no keyboard drawers... EVERYTHING controls from control panel... then go for IPAC....)
but for me... I'm planning to make a sliding drawer for keyboard.... maybe I'll put a trackball as mouse and leave it on control panel.... (still deciding on that....)
although not 100% true arcade... but good enough for me.... ;D ;D
CthulhuLuke2:
Umm.. this is CthulhuLuke, but IE 6.0 sux, so I'm cthulhuLuke2 as guest for now.
Anyways, yeah, I wanted to do the same thing and I've only hacked one psx pad before. It's real easy to do, it just takes time and the patience of knowing that the worse possible solder point that you think is going to work will pop off and you'll have to do it again. I hate that. Here's a diagram of what my control board looked like, this is a sketch, the final actually turned out easier if I put alllll the terminal strips on one side, I don't have any pictures of it until I get a new roll of film. I highly suggest doing the PSX and I-Pac thing, then using PSX to Dreamcast convertors for your dreamcast if you have one, because being able to play PC, PSX, and Dreamcast is the best way to be.
-good luck
-CthulhuLuke
CthulhuLuke2:
haha, sorry, here's the diagram,
http://www.geocities.com/cthulhuluke/wiringfn.gif
-cthulhuluke
Damon:
Thanks everyone for all your help and insight...even on a topic that I'm sure you're all bored of by now. *smile* I really appreciate it. I really like the IPac interfaces, from what I've read, so I think I'm leaning towards emulating my psx games. Just worried how well they will will work on an emulator. I've got epsxe, but I'm still not totally comfortable with the program. And by the way...I totally agree that most console games aren't meant for the arcade setup, but it's so tempting to try it out. I mean, so many games, especially on the psx, are split screen, and if the controls don't rely on analog signals, I think it would be really cool to try some of them out. It's not like I'm using the whole cabinet just for psx...lol...far from it. I've got 3300 MAME games to get through, first!
Thanks again for your help. Now to just find some cheap parts...in Australia, even. *sigh*