Cocktail arcade cabinets have been around for decades, but they are usually for 1 or 2 players. I believe there are enough games to enable a 4-player tabletop version.
This gadget is made possible by an IPS display, a superior display that can be seen clearly from all angles. I also want to include rotary joysticks, which can be toggled like a joystick for regular games (Pac-Man), or rotated for spinner games (Pong). The rotary joystick can be a button as well.
The 4-player games I would include for this device:
- Bomberman Series
- Gauntlet 1 and 2
- S.M.A.S.H. TV and COMMANDO. Two players would control one character; one moves and the other aims and shoots. Should be fun!
- PONG and its many variants
- Arkanoid/Breakout
- Control the enemies: Pac-Man, BurgerTime, Dig Dug, Centipede, Bubble Bobble
Games that sadly do not exist:
- A TRON version of Arkanoid would be neat
- An updated TANK (Atari) game for 4 players
- 4-way Pinball
- Super Dodgeball (overhead view)
- 4-way Tetris Attack
- Hungry Hungry Hippos? Sure why not
- A wrestling game! I’d buy this contraption for this alone
- Sports games from directly overhead (Tennis, Hockey, etc.)
- Overhead racing games with the full track visible (like Super Off Road)
- 4-player Frogger (can push each other around for a chaotic experience)
- A ripoff of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, because Nintendo would never share it
Are there any 4-player overhead games that could be added to my list? Sound off below.
Dave's Geeky Ideas 
any ideas on adding a trackball?
not sure what would be practical - either as a separate controller? or maybe have the top of rotary joystick have a dome shaper cover that can flip off for a pop up trackball? or the top of the rotary joystick unscrew for a trackball? or something else?
The 4-player games I dreamed up here didn’t seem t warrant that kind of input, what games did you have in mind?
Rotary sticks have a lot of electronics going on, not sure if additional features could be squeezed in.
But a custom arcade cabinet maker could throw one of these together, trackballs included. The only trick is getting the player controls oriented to all four sides properly.
Air Hockey comes straight to mind, four player air hockey.
Many sports, individual and team.
Board games e.g. Monopoly, Chinese Checkers…
Also possibly using an app games like Poker, Dominoes and Scrabble?
Arcade1Up has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for a board game table, if that interests you:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infinitygametable/infinity-game-table-by-arcade1up