questions about building cabinets

[staticpunk]

Control panels:

It seems there are many ways that you can set up navigation controls on a control panel and I'm not really sure how/why people choose different methods. I don't even know which methods are most popular so let me ask how/why you set up your navigation controls.

what inputs do you use for:

a. moving up, down left right in the menu system?

? player 1 joystick

? either player 1 or player 2 joystick (both will work)

? separate joystick

? other

b. select (enter) and back

? player 1 buttons 1 and 2

? either player 1 or player 2 buttons 1 and 2 (both will work)

? separate set of buttons

? other

c. page up and page down

? button joystick combo

? separate buttons (which ones)

? separate joystick

? other

d. power and sleep

? hidden buttons

? side buttons

? menu selection

? other

e. sound/volume controls?

? knob

? on/off switch

? vol up, vol down buttons

? mute button

? other

f. pause

g. esc

h. L button

Some layouts I've seen including some really nice ones at Knievels kustoms have at the top center: a joystick, a spinner and two buttons. Assuming these are nav controls, how are these inputs used? I have an idea that the joystick is for moving around the menu system, one button is use for select (enter) and one for back (and maybe esc). The spinner might be used for page up and page down but that's a wilder guess than the others.

If you use Gameex videos or jukebox, what if any inputs do you use for media controls (Play/Pause, FF, RWD, Next track, Previous Track)

Other:

I have an idea to put a second drawer under a keyboard drawer for storage of console controllers. Any reason this won't work or is a bad idea?

If you use console controllers for console emulation do you have any wired controllers or are you all wireless?

If you have wired controllers how/where do you run the wires?

Assuming I will need some wired controllers is there any reason that putting usb ports below the monitor would be a bad idea?

Wired or wireless light guns?

[Adultery]

Ok, I can answer some of these. Let's see...

A) Player 1 and 2 control the menu without any custom key combos.

Using controllers I map Start 1 and Start 2 (and select) to their respective buttons on my PS2 controllers. I am implimenting a P1 and P2 start button and a universal select button into my layout. The buttons are on order.

C) Currently I use the R2 and L2 buttons for page up and down. My final layout will have 12 buttons acrossed the top which I will map for this for GameEx and use as F-keys for emulators.

D) I have added a switch and LEDs to indicate power and HDD activity to the bottom side of my cabinet that I reclaimed from an old computer tower, which works quite well. I have fashioned a cover also so the switch does not get hit inadvertantly.

E) I currently use a 7 speaker surround system with the center speaker mounted below the marquee and the L-front and R-Front speakers mounted below the c-panel. The rears and subwoofer are mounted inside the cabinet, along with the board, HDDs, and controller ports. I also have a DVD drive mounted inside the cabinet under the shelf that slides in and used to hold the game board when it was a cabinet. Newegg was a great place to find those rare cables you may need later. The volume is controlled by a knob on the front right speaker.

An extra drawer is a cool idea. I actually mounted a mailbox to the outside of the cabinet to hold my extra two controllers and GameEx operations\emu controls manual. Be careful not to cut yourself short on button space because you will be replacing microswitches from time to time.

My PS2 controllers are official Sony PS2 wireless controllers controlled by a Tiger Super Joy Box 5 USB controller mounted inside the cabinet and out of sight, which has served me well.

I also have a line in port and a 4-port USB hub mounted to the outside of the cabinet should I want to hook up the Droid or a flash drive while I play.

Sorry, that was long winded as hell! Hope I covered all your questions!