MAME released version 0.278 on Monday, June 30. This well-known emulator among arcade retrogamers is a free and open-source solution whose mission is to preserve video game heritage by allowing old arcade games, consoles, computers, and electronic games to run on modern machines.

Created in 1997, MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is today one of the most comprehensive preservation projects, supporting a plethora of systems, ranging from classic arcade cabinets to LCD games, TV plug-and-play games, 8/16-bit computers, and much more.

MAME’s main goal is not just to play games, but to document and faithfully preserve the operation of the original machines.

Today marks a new milestone in development with version 0.278, for which you will find the announcement and details below:

“After two long months of waiting, MAME 0.278 is finally ready. And of course, the big new feature is the arrival of the new audio system! Here is what it brings:

• Native support for WASAPI on Windows and PipeWire on Linux.
• Support for audio input on emulated systems equipped with microphones or other sound capture devices.
• Support for multichannel audio inputs and outputs.
• Built-in effects, including a parametric equalizer and a dynamic compressor.
• Better quality for sample rate conversion and mixing, with reduced latency.

As this is the first version integrating this major component, there will undoubtedly still be some imperfections. But we are already considering several improvements to be made in the coming months.

We have been very busy with the new audio system, but we have not neglected emulation. This version brings several graphical fixes for 3D systems, notably Sega Model 2 and Taito Type Zero. But it doesn’t stop there: classic 2D games have also received attention. Several Konami games benefit from improved rendering, including better support for cocktail mode, often neglected. Additionally, all missing graphics from the famous mahjong game Long Hu Bang (IGS) have finally been fixed.

This month, the list of new supported systems is long. It includes:

• Arcade games from Exidy and Taito from the 1970s
• LCD games from behind the Iron Curtain
• A large number of recently dumped TV plug-and-play games
• Several new versions of Gaelco arcade games, released from the archives
• Some Capcom rarities, music workstations, game watches, casino games, and much more

⚠️ If you play casino games, note that some default keyboard shortcuts have been changed in this version.

On the computer system emulation side, there are also many new features:

• The Victor 9000 benefits from completely revamped floppy disk support, as well as SASI hard disk support
• Several improvements have been made to the Sanyo PHC-25
• Support for serial communication via the POKEY chip, used on Atari 8-bit computers, is now properly implemented

👉 To discover in detail all the development adventures of MAME over the past two months, check the whatsnew.txt file.
As always, the source code and Windows 64-bit packages are available on the download page.”

⚠️ Given the importance of MAME in the history of emulation, we felt it was important to share this update with you, even though for now, this version is not planned to be integrated into Recalbox. The system currently relies on MAME 0.274, in its V10 version, which is currently reserved for our supporters. Of course, we will keep you informed of any future developments on this topic.