What I've been visualizing for some time now is more of a retro gaming minimalist approach, so this isn't going to cater to the Steam crowds and such, just retro gaming and great for cabinet usage.
Gyro-Sphere
The concept is based on a gyroscope:
Spin Axis for system selections
The gimbal would represent the game selection logos much like any other frontend wheel.
Arcade ambiance playing in the background, or anything you want, something like this
https://youtu.be/Di0iTtvP6PU
Imagine if you can 7 or however many will fit, system logos/picture "place holders" from top to bottom on a 16:9 screen. The center logo being the system selected and those above and below being next and previous selections. These logos or pictures would be sized differently in each place holder, gradually getting smaller toward the top and likewise the same at the bottom, so as when the wheel moves on the spin axis it appears to be coming into focus as it gets near to the center position, then smaller and it moves away toward the bottom of the screen.
When a system has been selected some quick bling, spattering effect etc., occurs:
https://youtu.be/zMh4MPfBkHU
Now you are in the game selection screen for whatever system you have just selected.
This works exactly the same was as the spin axis selector, except has 11 (whatever fits) place holder positions across the horizontal dimension of the screen.
Once a game is in the center launch position, that video snap is displayed over the entire 16:9 background at 50 or 75% density so as not to take away from the game logo.
Hitting enter (or whatever) would select and game and launch it, but alternatively, a hotkey would open a secondary menu for Control Panel info/ CP config changes and such, even an "about" area for PCB's, manuals and whatnot that most people don't even care about, but it would still be available for you completists out there.
Esc and your back to the game title gimbal selector, Esc again, and you're at the spin-axis system selector.
Granted I have no coding skills, but it would seem rather achievable and use things the community has done over and over again in their never-ending quest to make things prettier.
Don't like logo art on your gimbal, replace it with box art, or cartridge art, this stuff is everywhere.
Just plain and simple launch the front-end and start playing, nothing else, just a gaming front-end with great controller support.
