About the MAMEframe

The idea for the MAMEframe was born about 30 seconds after I was able to play the arcade game Robotron for the first time in countless years, all on my home computer (thanks to the MAME arcade emulator).

“Wouldn’t it be great,” I thought, “if I took an old arcade game, put a PC inside it, and wired it up so that it could play over 3,000 games?” Amazed at my own insight, I quickly scoured the net looking to see if I could find an arcade cabinet for sale.

What I found out was that my idea was not as unique as I had first thought. There were hundreds of web pages of proud retrogamers who had converted old arcade cabinets into “universal” MAME arcade machines.

(Note: No matter how unique or original you think your idea is, odds are that someone else has already thought of it and even put up a web page devoted to that same idea!)

Undaunted, I nevertheless pressed onward and created my own MAME cabinet, which I dubbed the “MAMEframe” (Which, believe it or not, I've since discovered is a registered trademark of Quantum3D – they don’t have a product by that name, but they did snap up the domain name, sigh…)

Problem with the MAMEframe was (and is) that it is never what I would consider “finished.” There’s always something I can improve, modify, or retrofit, and I’ve discovered that the “journey is the destination” – I’ve actually had more fun building and tinkering on the MAMEframe than I’ve had playing games on it.

Sadly, I no longer own the MAMEframe. It was sold to help finance the MAMEframe II, but it wasn't something that I did willingly (you get married and see if you don't have to compromise!). The MAMEframe went to a local family of arcade gaming fanatics, which is wonderful in my eyes — it's gone to a good home.