I've got a question: The Facebook page of MAME says the following about MAME's purpose:
"M.A.M.E. is an emulator application designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software, with the intent of preserving gaming history and preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten.
The aim of M.A.M.E. is to be a reference to the inner workings of the emulated arcade machines;the ability to actually play the games is considered "a nice side effect" ."
I think this statement is a farce. If playing the games is merely a side effect while the actual focus is purely to provide some kind of tech demo, then why does MAME contain stuff like simulation of CRT monitor visuals or the possibility to use borders around the screen that look like the arcade machine bezels?
Obviously, MAME is supposed to be a program that allows people to play the games seriously. Otherwise, the MAME team wouldn't invest time and energy to include nice gimmicks that provide a better gaming experience for an actual player, but that would have no value whatsoever for demonstration of the technical aspects of arcade boards.
So, why is this statement about the "nice side effect" even made?