Darn it, this conversation is making me want to build my MAME cabinet.

My idea for a MAME cabinet is not to go "big huge" with lots of buttons and such, but rather to go cocktail, with each side having just a small joystick, a small trackball, and a few buttons. Then only put games onto it which work well in cocktail mode. Of course, that precludes two-player Joust, two-player Marble Madness, two-player Gauntlet, most driving games, etc., but it's the only thing that would actually fit in my house and look half decent. And it could have a lot of great games on it that work fantastic in cocktail mode.