Any tips to minimize keyboard & mouse for arcade cab running Steam?

[hungrydude]

So I am going to be running Steam off a Beelink mini PC (running Windows 11) that is inside of an updated Dynamo cabinet. To simplify things, I would like to minimize the use of keyboard and mouse when playing games on it. I only made the jump to working on arcade cabs very recently after years of modding gameboys and retro home consoles, so a lot of this stuff is still new to me.

I have been told joytokey is a must for simplifying the interface, but are there any other tips or bits of advice that you would give? I heard you can turn the PC on and off with external buttons as well, but haven't found an agreed upon standard (or anything resembling it) after searching the internet. In addition, any tips for volume control would be appreciated too.

I am very comfortable soldering, taking electronics apart, woodwork, etc, so advice for all skill levels is welcome.

Also, just in case it is a factor, I will mostly be playing modern arcade style games like Street Fighter 6, Shredder’s Revenge, Streets of Rage 4, The Messenger, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+, etc.

 

[grendelrt]

I run big box, it launches all games, steam, mame, pc, etc as well as AHK scripts to change orientation and things. You can put the computer to sleep from inside the menu as well. I still have a small kb+mouse pad i sit on top for when I need to do something outside big box. Like this,