Building an arcade machine - part 1 - planning

So I've decided to make my own arcade machine. It's going to be a little different than most MAME and emulator setups out there. Unlike most table tops, this one is going to be a head to head machine. I am going to take the output from the computer and run it through a VGA splitter. That way both players will see the same output, just sitting across from each other instead of side by side.

I need to wait for some more hardware to arrive before I can really begin to plan it out, but here is a preliminary basic design.

My big concern is that with this configuration, it's over 40" long. Granted, arcade machines are not small devices, but it would be nice to have something that can actually sit on the counter and be moved without me worrying about it falling apart.

Another concern is that because it's so narrow, it will have to have a substantial base to sit on such as a kitchen counter or a table.

I'm thinking that I want to use pine for this project because it's very light, strong, and easy to work. I know next to nothing about wood working, but now is a great time to learn.

The above is just the skeleton.  The side panels will actually be stylized. I want to make them sort of match up with the Atari logo.

Which I would like to get as a decal.

I have ordered the monitors, off lease, from ebay. They are two dell 2001fps. They are 20 inches with a 4:3 ratio and 1600x1200 maximum resolution. This should be the next best thing to using an actual CRT.

And finally, the last component, which I already own, is the mayflash universal fight stick.

I'll be honest, it's not a great device. The stick isn't tight and the buttons are mushy, but it works with everything and the base is solid metal. Also, I got them both for a great deal. Further down the line, if I see benefit to it, I should easily be able to change out for an ipac or something similar.