Looking at putting together a MAME cabinet...button setup?

[drunkninja]

Just as the topic title says, my main question is, is it worthwhile to bother with an 8-button setup (as opposed to a standard 6-button)? Part of me wants to have all possible games fully playable, but as far as space and practicality is concerned, how many games actually use a full 8-button layout?

[john_soper]

IIRC, 8 buttons only comes in handy for stuff like psx and n64 emulators. 4 buttons in a row is only for Neo-Geo and Vectrex authenticity.
Here's a good thread with a pic of a 6-button control panel near the bottom:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=85323.0

[drunkninja]

Cool, guess I'll just go for 6 then.

On a related note.....any recommended buttons? Again, I have split personalities conflicting. Part of me wants to use Sanwa parts, since I've used them on a custom stick for my 360 and like them. However, with the feel that I want the cabinet to have (that American arcade retro feel), it'd be kinda strange to not have the "clicky" buttons for a lot of games, so I've been looking at Happ stuff as well.

[Cryomancer]

I was thinking of doing 7 buttons when i do mine in the far off future. You can have the 4 colored neo Geo ones, and then a row above buttons 2-4. This would give you proper Neo Geo layout, and the standard Street Fighter 6 buttons. Something like this:

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/2900/conceptsu8.png

edit: heh, read through that linked thread, looks like i'm not alone with this idea.