I don't use anything out of the ordinary. I find myself to be more comfortable with the keyboard method for games that require a little more precise cornering (i.e., Pacman or any of the maze-type games)(posted 9874 days ago)I also use a Gravis Gamepad and Gamepad Pro. I've used these together for the dual joystick games, but they prove to be quite difficult to handle once the action gets heavy in latter stages of games like Robotron or Black Widow.
Hopefully I will soon get away from playing games long enough to attempt to make my own setup with trackball, dual-joysticks and multi-button layout that would handle most all of the games on MAME. Then the scores should take a considerable leap (I hope!). Using the actual arcade joysticks seems to be the logical way to go as their response would be superior to the garden-variety PC gamepad.
JoustGod