What I want: High game compatibility No performance issues The ability to play basically all arcade games released up until around the year 2000. The ability to hook up to a custom arcade stick build. I'm undecided on whether I want to have this within a cabinet, or consolized. Let's say I'm willing to drop some serious coin on this if necessary, what do I need to meet my desired goals?
Never gonna happen. Either buy a "supergun" or a JAMMA cabinet and be happy with what it does. You'll be able to get/make fingerboards for a lot of systems, but not all. A Japanese dual resolution cabinet would be preferable. You'll obviously have to buy whatever systems you want to play games on that aren't standard JAMMA, e.g. Naomi, MVS...
If only there was some Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator available. Then you'd be set. Wouldn't MAME give you what you're looking for. You could connect your custom arcade stick to your computer and play all the arcade games you want.
It's still not going to do every arcade game ever, but it's closer than you'd get with hardware. As long as you don't mind emulation. You can stick it in a cabinet (a bit more involved), or just put the PC through your TV, if you prefer. Performance isn't too shabby, either... for the most part.
sounds to me you're looking for a jamma cab or a supergun, 90% of the japanese from the 80-2000 will be plug and play troubles start when you're getting in old school non-standard games, but even then if the game is popular enough you'll find plenty of adaptors when it comes to arcade machines there isn't a one size fits all, if you want to go the collectors route buy a cab and original boards, if you just want to play some games get this http://www.tinyarcademachines.com/jamma-arcade-machines.html
I think what I am gonna do for the time being, is build my own arcade stick and let the rest of the project rest for awhile. I think in order to get what I want out of it is going to be a lot of time I don't have to invest. At least if I use a custom PCB like this http://www.focusattack.com/akishop-ps360-multi-console-joystick-pcb/ I can enjoy arcade controls on damn near all off my home consoles while I meditate on the route I wanna take for arcade games. I never would've guessed how complex the whole home arcade idea could get! Maybe in the next few years compatibility will improve to a point that I feel is sufficient.
Once you get into it's not really that complicated, jamma is an industry standard and is 100% plug and play with cabs and supergun About waiting for improved compatibility, I doubt it's going to get any better than this where we have a standard (jamma) and several adaptors for boards not built using that standard If compatibility is your absolute number 1 goal please consider building a dedicated Mame PC, you can hook it up directly to the tv or if you want a cab there are plenty of solutions to connect it to the cab (look up for lapbox as an example); another plus is reducing costs since you'll have the entire arcade library at your fingertips, big advantage since a lot of games started to skyrocket in price during the last 2-3 years.... The only drawback I can think of is limited functionality with 3d titles I would like to end with an analogy, if you just want to enjoy games casually and hassle free go the Mame route like normal people listen to mp3 and streaming services, if you want to spend time fine tuning your cab and boards to get that perfect feel (and spend an inordinate amount of cash in the process), go the A/V hi-fi route where the setup is part of the enjoyment you can get There's no right way of doing it, just choose what you prefer and suits you better
Best way is build your own cab based on pc or old console with multtiple system emulator. I build my own based on Xbox console an CoinOps 7 Premium 6 with more than 80GB space of games and emus. all packed in one simple and pretty emulator. To properly connect joysticks and buttons I used Dual Strike singla Encoder form Arcadeforge.de and for my brand new monitor with hdmi (remeber that we talked about original classic Xbox from 2001) I used Component cable connected to video singnal encoder (YPbPr to HDMI). All put into MDF peace of wood and decorate with some stickers. Results you can see in my google gallery - https://goo.gl/photos/uEQdQ7GBigTjVCbh7
MMmm You can reproduce 15khz resolutions with some old graphic cards (not all of them) and some serious tweaking. I did it before and could build my own SCART>VGA cable and was able to output native arcade resolutions out of an old radeon. It is still an emulation though. But once you output 15khz low res on a CRT TV you just can't tell the difference. CPS1 and CPS2 games are my favorites : )
