For the people that don’t know what MAME is, it is an arcade emulator made for Microsoft Windows all the way back in 1997. In short, what it did was, to allow any PC owner to be able to play all those classic arcade video games from the past, right on their computer.

After MAME got really big for the PC, arcade cabinet makers decided that it would be a financially wise idea to use the MAME emulator on actual arcade cabinets. Of course, no matter how much fun the games might have been on the computer, it was a million times better on an arcade cabinet. There was no comparison when it came down to playing the game the way it was initially intended for. Playing Double Dragon on the PC just couldn’t compete with that.

It was really the perfect idea. You’re able to store thousands of games, if needed be, in one single cabinet. The sheer convenience plus the ability to save a whole bunch of money was just too much for gamers to say no to.

The real perk about MAME arcade machines it is that you don’t need the newest, most expensive technology to create one. The internal computer doesn’t have to be greatest, because the majority of the older arcade games were just not that demanding on memory.

Now, for the purists out there. I’m speaking about the ones that have been collecting arcade machines since they first hit the mainstream, MAME arcade machines are viewed as second rate. To the die hard purists, owning the original machine with its original artwork, buttons, joystick is the only way to collect arcade games.

Do they have a point? Absolutely, they do! No matter how great a MAME machine might be, there is still no substitute to the feeling you get when you see a basement full of old arcade games. MAME machine just can’t compete with that site.

However, one thing is for certain: MAME arcade machines are here to stay and are a major part of this business/hobby.