MAME

MAME is a computer software program for personal computers. The purpose of MAME is to faithfully and precisely emulate as many arcade games as possible, with the intent of preserving gaming history and preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten. The name is an acronym for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator.

Front ends

Although the main MAME program is only made available as a command-line application for Windows and Linux, there are several popular front ends, such as GXMame for Linux, which allow MAME to be launched from a more familiar, graphical environment as well as providing facilities such as auditing ROMs. MAME32 for Windows (not a front end, but a full port) also offers this functionality.

Related Topics:
Windows - Linux - GXMame - MAME32

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Additionally, the front ends make available more information about the games themselves, contributing significantly to the experience, such as history information and images of the arcade cabinets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some frontends have the sole purpose to launch games and hide the operating system. These frontends are generally used in MAME arcade cabinets, to enhance the suspension of disbelief that the cabinet is a real arcade machine.

Related Topics:
MAME arcade cabinets - Suspension of disbelief

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~