Buttons

Mame Conversion Controls - Buttons

Buttons in their simplest form comprise of two components, the button itself and a micro switch.

The button itself which is usually made of plastic and are available in a wide variety of shapes, round being the most common and colours. Buttons are also readily available with pre-printed graphics for common Mame functions such as 1, 2 (and even 3 or 4) player start.

The micro switch attaches to the button. When the button is depressed, the actuating button on the micro switch is depressed which closes the circuit on the micro switch. This signal is then the passed to a keyboard encoder which notifies your Mame PC that a button has been pressed.

In addition to standard buttons, illuminated buttons have become popular with modern Mame conversions. These buttons include a small led light. Deciding whether or not to use illuminated buttons will be a personal choice. Older 70/80's style cabinets for the most part didn't have illuminated buttons whereas the later machines did.

The number of buttons you use on your Mame cabinet is again a personal choice and will be dictated by the games you wish to play. Most early games made use of one or two buttons per player, later games such as the Street Fighter franchise of games had as many as 6 buttons per player.