With a change of season just around the corner, it’s time to unveil MAME 0.247! This is a huge release, and should have something for everyone!

Newly added systems, and systems promoted to working, include:

• The M&D Monon Color – a low-cost Chinese hand-held console. This required finding an exploit to extract the CPU’s internal ROM as audio. Said CPU is a high-performance derivative of Intel’s MCS-51 architecture.
• A prototype version of Tecmo’s Super Pinball Action that used separate screens for the simulated backglass and playfield. This version was presumably poorly received due to the need for an expensive dedicated cabinet.
• An initial driver for second-generation Sony NEWS workstations based on MIPS processors. This one has been a long time coming, with a lot of preparatory work, but it’s finally here!
• The Dracula and Game Pachinko – two Tsukuda hand-held games with vacuum fluorescent displays.
• Micom Mahjong – an example of an early CPU-based TV game, and possibly the first dedicated electronic mahjong system.
• Three new Casio synthesisers.
• Several Impera Magic Card games. This one’s also been a while coming, requiring several new devices to be emulated.
• A few Astro Corp. gambling games, including Dino Dino, Magic Bomb, Stone Age, and Zoo.
• Some previously missing NO CD versions of Capcom’s Red Earth.

You’ll also find numerous bug fixes and emulation improvements across the board. There’s better support for low-cost Macintosh models based on the V8 chipset (including the LC, LC II, and Classic II). There are quite a few fixes for issues with Nintendo’s NES/Famicom-derived arcade systems, the VS. System and PlayChoice-10. Several ZX Spectrum derivatives from the Eastern Bloc are in better shape. The Atari POKEY sounds better. The PC Engine pachinko controller from Coconuts Japan is now supported. There’s also an important fix for extracting CHD CD-ROM images.

The stream of prototype cartridges is still flowing, with a number of Atari 2600, Game Boy Color, NES, and Super NES additions landing this month. You’ll also find the Scholastic Microzine disks for Apple II, and several PC magazine cover disks. The new VGMPlay music rips include music from the recently-emulated Poly-Net Warriors arcade game.

As always, you can read about everything that’s happened this month in the whatsnew.txt file, or download the source and 64-bit Windows binary packages from the download page.