MAME vs NostalgiaLite
MAME
mamedev.orgNostalgiaLite
github.comSide by side
| Figure | MAME | NostalgiaLite |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Game Gear Emulators | 8.5 (#5) | 6.9 (#28) |
| ROM availability | MAME does not generally include BIOS dumps or software because these are often copyrighted; the team has permission to redistribute some older software. | The project says it does not include commercial game ROMs and asks users to use game backup files they legally own. |
Plans
In their own words
MAME
MAME is a free emulation framework intended to preserve software history by documenting and reproducing the inner components of arcade machines, computers, consoles, calculators, and other electronic amusement systems. It can emulate over 32,000 individual systems from the last five decades. Alongside emulation, it includes an interactive low-level debugger for investigating software behavior, diagnosing emulation issues, and developing software for vintage systems. Its Lua interface can inspect device state, access CPU registers, read and write memory, and draw overlays, though the API may change without notice. Plugins support uses such as external-program communication and alternate interfaces; included examples are Discord Presence and a GDB Stub. MAME can save and load states, record inputs for playback, and capture screenshots or video. It is available for Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows; official Windows binaries require Windows 10 or later. BIOS dumps and copyrighted software are generally not included. The project is distributed under GPL-2.0 overall, while more than 90% of files, including core files, are under BSD-3-Clause.
NostalgiaLite
NostalgiaLite has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.