Help me pick my front end!

[robertsig]

I've played with several of them, but I don't want to dedicate the time only to find out it won't work for me. 

Here are my requirements:

I am going to have a 3-sided cocktail cabinet.  All three sides are unique.  I will play horz and vert games both.  Depending on the controls needed, some vertical games will be on one side, some on the other.  Most horizontal & 2 player games will be on the long side.  For instance, one side is a 4-way joystick and a few buttons for classics, the other short side has a spinner and analog joystick for Tron or Tempest.  I would want the game rotated to the proper side for the controls I pre-choose.  I will not be playing any 2-player cocktail games in "cocktail mode", as I have no 2 sides with identical controls.  Screen flipping for those is not important.  Now, I know I can pre-pick the direction in MAMEUI and save it - it would be nice if a front end would honor my selection.  Or if the FE has a better way to do it, that is fine.

Niceties:

The FE can be used from any side  (might be hard to do since some joysticks will not all be player1-joy1)
Would show standard MAME panels, marquees, etc.
Videos showing the game in action (ala Hyperspin....probably others)

And here is the killer feature I would love:
Something that would show a JPG of my control panel before a game is played and "highlight" which joysticks and buttons are needed to play it.  This would be something useful for people who have guests over, or just have a Frankenpanel in general.

I realize most of my requirements probably eliminate the desire for it to be setup easily, but that is also a nice-to-have.

Don't care:
If it costs money.  I just want the right FE.

So what is my front end?

[headkaze]

A user recently posted on the GameEx forums about his 3-sided cocktail cabinet. Soon after this GameEx added a "split screen" cocktail mode. I'm not sure if that is what you're after but it also has some other rotation options including a plugin for rotation using various methods. The post is here if you want to read his experience.

Another feature built into GameEx is to display controls for games before you launch. If you need something a bit more indepth it also supports launching CPWizard before a game.

So GameEx is certainly an option for your needs.

[robertsig]

I've never heard of CPWizard.  That might do the trick.  Thanks.