Project 2: Arcade Table

I'm currently trying to make a simple mame arcade table to play older games such as Ms. PacMan using a Raspberry Pi.  This project is divided into several stages:

Stage 1: Get mame to run on the Pi with Ms. Pacman and accept joystick commands
Stage 2: get the Pi to automatically boot into mame with some sort of game selection screen that can use the joystick instead of a keyboard
Stage 3: Get Ms Pacman to flip like a classic arcade cocktail table depending on if player 1 or player 2 is playing
Stage 4: Wire a joystick(2 if possible) and buttons to the GPIO pins on the Pi.
Stage 5: Come up with a plan to power everything so that only one cord is required if possible
Stage 6: Design and make the box

I am currently on Stage 1.  I'm planning on trying my PS3 Fightstick on the Pi to see if it works next.  I also need to install MAME on my Raspbian installation, but do have a separate Emulation Station install which will probably be tailored for the end product since it likely will do what I want for a front end once I configure it.

I'm hoping to dedicate 6 hours a week to this project.