A Letter of Appreciation to MAME’s Developers

Last Updated on August 26, 2022

To the developers of the famous arcade emulator MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator):

Thank you.

Honestly, I have so many things to say, about how your hard work developing this amazing arcade emulator has single-handedly saved and preserved the arcade history, and more besides.

Ever since I started playing the good ol’ arcade games in the MAME emulator, I felt a wave of emotions flowing towards me. I felt like I had to write this appreciation letter to the MAME developers for preserving a huge part of my childhood. The fact that MAME is continuously updated shows how far it has come and where it might lead. I know that there are some games which are yet to run successfully, but I believe in the future, MAME emulator will play all the games.

MAME was first released in 1997. If it hadn’t existed back then, the world would have had no access to old arcade games which would had been lost forever. Many were either not that well known or popular only in a few countries, usually Japan.

The only alternative would have been to buy typically expensive arcade cabinets. Without MAME, I would never been able to have so many of my favourite arcade games. Preservation of these games is really important as they can tell the rich history of the glory of the arcade years. Even some YouTubers acknowledge this, such as Sega Lord X:

This sentiment is certainly true because some arcade games from Japan are by western standards crazy, especially when it comes to certain genres like shoot-’em-ups and puzzle games. Whenever I played them, I was struck by how much effort had gone into making such amazing games. If it wasn’t for MAME, I would had never been able to play arcade games that were unavailable in my country when I was a kid like Riding Fight, Outrunners, Denjin Makai, Violent Storm, TMNT: Turtles in Time, and so many other arcade games which I continue to play to this day.

I would had never known about their existence if it wasn’t for MAME – it, these arcade games would had been a lost media forever.

The arcade gaming culture is all but dead in the west, although some arcade machines can be found in some small bars. But that’s not really my thing.

The situation is very different in Japan and some Asian countries where the arcades continue to thrive. Many of us continue to dream to go to Japan to play those arcade games, and maybe one day it will happen. If it wasn’t for MAME, we would had not be able to discover the eccentric arcade wonders found in Japan but not in the west. The arcade game community wouldn’t have been large and wouldn’t have a fan following if it wasn’t for MAME.

Once again, I would really like to offer my gratitude to the developers of MAME for rescuing the arcade games that would had been lost forever. Wherever you are, I hope that you will continue to reach amazing heights and make more arcade games playable with your continuous update on MAME.

From MAME’s biggest fan.