Linux-Noob Forums - An idea I came up with...

I have a GP2x, and I love how easy it is to use a menu with a gamepad to select games! So I though to myself... how about I build a semi-decent computer and hook it up to the TV (which has a VGA port). Here arises my problems. I know somewhat what I want for specs, but what should I be looking for hardware (as in Linux compatibility)? What distro would work best (in your opinion)? And is there a menu program for linux that can run off a USB gamepad?

This is what I want to do. I want to put a ton of games from Doom to Supertux, and some emulators, and then maybe some extra media functions (DVD, MP3, whatever). The menu would have to look decent and be able to execute the program, then reopen itself when the program is closed...

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks :)

-SkullFire

Quick update, I though of using this hardware:

Power Supply: 420 watt

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA

Motherboard: MSI K9MM-V Socket AM2 VIA K8M800 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Video: EVGA 256-A8-N542-T2 GeForce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

Drive: DVD Reader

Memory: G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU1-1GBNR

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3200CWBOX

Sound compatible? personally, I know that AMD works well with Linux, and the only things I would be concerned hardware wise is the SATA, and I'm not all that worried about it :) Still looking for opinions on distros and any menu programs...

Thanks :)