Nicola Salmoria

Overview

Nicola Salmoria is the Italian programmer who founded MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) in 1997. What began as a project to emulate a handful of arcade games grew into gaming’s most comprehensive preservation effort, eventually covering tens of thousands of systems. Salmoria established the philosophy that accuracy and documentation matter more than playability.

Fast Facts

Born: ~1970, Italy
Founded MAME: 1997
Role: Project lead (1997-2003)
Philosophy: Preservation through documentation
Current: Stepped back, MAME continues

MAME’s Origins

How MAME began:

Salmoria interested in arcade hardware
Started emulating individual games
Realised common hardware could be shared
Created modular framework
Released publicly in 1997

Design Philosophy

Salmoria established principles:

Principle	Meaning
Accuracy first	Correct behaviour over speed
Documentation	Code is hardware reference
Preservation	Save games before hardware dies
Completeness	Every variant matters

Technical Approach

MAME’s architecture:

Modular drivers for each game
Shared CPU and sound cores
Hardware documentation in source
Test-driven development
Open for contribution

Building Community

Salmoria fostered:

Collaborative development
Hardware research sharing
ROM dumping coordination
Documentation standards
Welcoming new contributors

Leadership Transition

After 2003:

Stepped back from daily leadership
MAME continued with new coordinators
Project grew beyond original scope
MESS merger expanded mission
Went open source (GPL) in 2016

Impact

Salmoria’s creation achieved:

40,000+ systems documented
Thousands of games preserved
Reference for hardware research
Model for preservation projects
Community that continues today

Legacy

MAME remains the gold standard for:

Arcade preservation
Hardware documentation
Collaborative emulation
Open source preservation

MAME's founder