Skill Shots with push button ball launchers are laughable. Especially on games like AFM and MM. Why even bother? The Super Skill Shots are neat, and worthwhile, but not everyone knows how to activate them.
Still, push button launchers, I believe, were born out of the necessity to cut costs. Gun grips just add a cute little novelty, but they're really no different. The biggest benefit to them from a players perspective is that it allows the game to use virtual ball locks when playing multiplayer games.
Given that, I think the standard plunger with an autofire is the best combination. It autofires for ball saves and mulitballs, but still gives the player that romantic "pull back the plunger" feeling when playing.