Some of your might know what Mame stands for but for those of you who don't. Mame = Multi Arcade Machine Emulator. It basicly means that you can play all those classic to video games you played in the Arcade when you grew up in the 80's for free on your PC or an old PC.
There is a huge community out there that even builds or restores these old Arcade Machines. Here are some useful links http://www.mameworld.net/ , http://mamedev.org/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAME , http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/arcade/mame.html. There are a lot more but for a start check out some of the most popular resources. You can even emulate other gaming consoles such as NES, Atari, C64, N64, Intellivision, Colecovision and others.
Some of these aren't legal to own and you have to do a lot of research to find them and configure them. But a few good old Google.com searches can help you get started.
The photo above is a Custom Mame controller built by http://www.mameroom.com/home.asp?affid=13 You can build your own controll panel, design it and have them build it, Or just have them build you the whole thing ready to play right out of the crate.
That photo is my dream controller but it cost around $675 bucks plus shipping. So this hobbie isn't all free and can get quite expensive and out of hand. There is tons of help out there too through a forum called http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/ You can get wrapped up and just dreaming and designing your arcade machine might be even more fun playing it.
Check out some of the examples people have built. Follow this link
I will add more soon about this topic. If you interested in learning more drop me an email at brent@brentdolanmedia.com
Brent
http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/
