What is MAME?

[Mazu]

Could someone tell me what this MAME emulator is? I dont exactly understand it. Was it a gaming system? I tryed looking it up but I didnt find anything.

[MikeDX]

MAME is an emulator. It reproduces, more or less faithfully, the behavior of various arcade machines. But hardware is useless without software, so images (files) of the ROMs which run on that hardware are required. Such ROMs, like all commercial software, are copyrighted. Therefore, it is illegal to possess a ROM image file if you do not own the original ROM. Needless to say, ROMs are not distributed together with MAME. Distribution of MAME with ROM images is a violation of copyright law and a violation of the MAME license, and it should be promptly reported to the authors so that appropriate legal action can be taken.

The latest version is 0.110 (6310 supported ROM sets, 3401 unique games). Three different binaries (executable programs) are posted for each release: normal, i686 optimized and a debug version. The source code for MAME is always available here as well (Remember to read the license!). It is a magnificent repository of historical arcade hardware and software information. You can also find some programs and libraries needed to compile MAME, links to MAME ports for other platforms, miscellaneous files, free ROM sets, sound samples and artwork (bezels, backdrops and overlays).

Keep in mind that you did not pay for MAME. If you have problems, first check the included documentation. Then check this site's FAQ page and the message board. Then check other MAME-related sites and newsgroups. Do not complain to the MAME team - your whining will be ignored.

[Mazu]

Thank you very much for that detailed response.