wireless usb hub for emulation?

[DJ_DEEM]

so i'm currently re-building my mame cab and trying to think of extra things i can make this sucker do while i'm inside of it. I have a large tv with a 5.1 just a couple feet from the cab, so i was thinking of running a second video line over to the tv so you could watch from the couch. That's when the idea hit me, i am setting up a nice fresh install of hyperspin and finally integrating all my nes, snes, genesis, etc. roms in, so i was thinking about how cool it would be to order a couple classic to usb controller converters from retro usb and be able to play all those roms on the tv as well as the cab. The problem is my couch isn't close enough to the cab to run wires, plus i would like to have as clean a set up as possible. I was looking at wireless usb hubs that i could mount under my coffee table, but i was just wondering has anyone used one of these for gaming? I would really hate to drop at least $100 just to find out the lag on these things is awful....

Thanks for all the help..

p.s. this is still the cab that is getting the kegerator inside it..which all plans are still go on!

[Ed Oscuro]

I feel like a broken record here, forgive me - but you don't really need classic to USB converters. For many consoles a Sega USB pad will be fine (and very inexpensive). All you need to do is be able to get at one or two USB ports for your system, so maybe a couple extension cords would do.

Hooking up to the TV is a smart idea. Actually there are some Japanese cabinets that have a small LCD screen mounted above the main CRT, possibly for showing an opponent when playing on linked cabinets, or for showing gameplay to a crowd beyond.

[DJ_DEEM]

yah i hear ya, i have a couple just generic usb controllers and they work alright, but to me there is nothing like playing a game with it's actual controller. I even tend to stay away from 3rd party controllers for systems i own, hell the main drive behind the mame cab was to be able to play it and it to feel legit. I really don't want to have to get up and run a cable across the whole room everytime i get an urge to play something. Thats why i was thinking about getting the wireless hub. I have a shelf behind my couch with all my controllers on it and i would love to just reach up grab a nes/snes/sega controller and plug it in to my coffee table, i just fear these usb hubs might create a lag issue and therefore ruin the entire idea...

but the tv will be sweet for street fighter tourneys Muahahahah

*edit* also i forgot to mention i'm not looking at buying all new pads, just the things that connect them to usb, i've got plenty of controllers around.

[Ed Oscuro]

My thing is: Classic controllers wear out (maybe not the Advantage, which is all I use for the NES now), and who knows how long USB is going to be current? OK, probably a long time. But still. In any case it's pretty cheap just to get one of the Sega USB pads - in any case it should do just great for Genesis, Saturn, and SNES too. Not bad for NES either in my opinion. Not terribly expensive, mine were like $30 total for three of them (most of the money was the shipping fee). Console X to USB adapters are probably just as expensive and you have to buy one for every type of controller you use.

Really, I'm also kinda wondering why you want to go to emulation just for the sake of the cab when you have the real systems about. Some folks have put together classic console cabinets - I realize you're already set on making a MAME cab, but I could point you to some discussion of playing consoles via JAMMA if you want.