JoeViking245 Posted October 30, 2025 Posted October 30, 2025 MAME (Arcade) - What's New View File See what new Arcade machines (games) were added for a specific MAME release. Import some or all of those games from your updated MAME ROM set, into your LaunchBox collection. The intent of this plugin is to be able to see what new Arcade machines were added in the latest release of MAME. Then, along with your updated ROM set, provide a means of importing just those new machines into your LaunchBox collection without having to reimport the entire set or attempting to Scan for Added ROMs (which doesn't really work with the Arcade platform anyway). Features: See what new Arcade (ONLY) games were added specific MAME release Hyperlink to Arcade Games Database site for selected game Filter games by Status (Good, Imperfect, Preliminary) Import the new games (from your updated MAME ROM set) (Optional) Add an Additional Application direct link to the Arcade Database for the game A huge and special thanks to motoschifo and his Arcade Database (ADB) website! All data used comes direct from the Arcade Database and is what makes this plugin possible. http://adb.arcadeitalia.net Prerequisites: Requires LaunchBox version 13.19 or newer. Nothing else if you only wish to see what new games were added. If you wish to import the new games An updated MAME romset [containing those ROMs] Installing: Copy the contents of the zip file into your /Plugins/ folder e.g. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\MAMEarcadeWhatsNew\MAMEarcadeWhatsNew.dll Using: In LaunchBox, go to Tools and select MAME (Arcade) What's New The plugin will attempt to find your MAME emulator If found, the MAME Revision field will populate with your MAME's version and populate the games for that revision To see new games that were added in a different release Change the number in the MAME Revision field Must be formatted 0.xxx e.g. 0.281 Press Enter Un-check/check the Show Status checkboxes to see only ROMs with those status(es) Click a ROM to see brief details about that game Click the Arcade Database logo to navigate to that game on ADB Existing: as seen below the game details refers to, if the game exists anywhere in your collection. Checks across ALL games in ALL platforms (by ROM filename). Below it will show the platform it is in (if "existing") This is useful if you're checking previous releases for that hidden gem you didn't know you were missing Importing: If you've updated your MAME set, you can import the new ROMs into your collection. All new ROMs shown will be imported. You can multi-select games to add just those games selected. If you wish to import just a single game, close the plugin. Then in LaunchBox, press Ctrl+N to add a new game. Click Add Games Select a platform (Arcade is set by default if exists) (optional) Un-Check Use Platforms Default Emulator Select an emulator to assign to the games being imported from the dropdown list Select the folder containing your ROMs (default is the folder your game files are in for the selected platform) If you keep a curated set separate from your MAME fullset, you can select the folder your fullset is in. Then after importing, have LaunchBox copy the ROMs and reset the game ROM path. **(see more below) If you've already placed your new ROMs in your curated set folder, select that. (Optional) Check the box Add link to ADB as Additional App Click Import Games Importing Notes: Games already existing (based on ROM filename) in the platform (step 2) will not be imported Games whose ROM file doesn't exist (step 4) will not be imported After import, a report will show the # of games added and/or skipped Anything in the games Title that is in (parenthesis) will get moved to the games Version field e.g. "Hacha Mecha Fighter (bootleg with Raiden sounds)" Game Title will be saved as "Hacha Mecha Fighter" Game Version will be set to "(bootleg with Raiden sounds)" (Optional) Add an Additional Application direct link to the Arcade Database for the game This will appear as an "Arcade Database" clickable link in the Game Details section (except for LaunchBox version 13.24). Game data set when importing: Title Platform ROMs application path Date Added/Modified Associated Emulator Version (if available) Getting Metadata and Images: After importing, in LaunchBox select all the newly added games Hint: Click Arrange By and select Date Added. Select the 1st new game. Hold down Shift then click the last, new game. Go to Tools - Download - Update Metadata and Media for selected games When asked "Would you like to update games with existing metadata and/or media?" Select "Yes, but do not replace and existing fields and media" Selecting otherwise will remove the Version data (if exists) Metadata Notes: If importing from the latest MAME revision, when you go to Download/Update metadata, the game(s) may not be found. ** Copying the new imported games ROM files to a different ("curated") folder: To Copy the ROMs and reassign their location (as seen by LaunchBox)... After importing, (in LaunchBox) select the newly added games Copying: Go to Tools - File Management and select Export ROM Files from Selected Games to New Folder Have LaunchBox copy the ROMs to the Folder your curated set is in Reassigning: With those games still selected, go to Tools - File Management and select Change Roms Folder Path for Selected Games Change to the Folder your curated set is in Plugin Updates: If an Update for this plugin has been released on the forums, - The Info/Support icon will flash red. - Click the Info/Support icon, then click the Update Available button. This will open the plugins download page in your default browser. Again, a big thanks to the Arcade Database and all its contributors! As always, all thoughts, views, suggestions, comments and accolades are welcome. Submitter JoeViking245 Submitted 10/30/2025 Category Third-party Apps and Plugins 1 1 Quote
dukdukgoos Posted April 26 Posted April 26 How long does it usually take for a new version to be available in the plugin, and where is it updating from? .287 still isn't available and it's almost time for .288 to release Quote
JoeViking245 Posted April 26 Author Posted April 26 6 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said: How long does it usually take for a new version to be available in the plugin, and where is it updating from? .287 still isn't available and it's almost time for .288 to release Usually within about 2 seconds. Or however long it takes your internet to check MAME's Github site for their current version and to check the Arcade Database site for the version it has data for. Is it showing that the Latest MAME Release is something other than 0.287? Can you share a screen shot? example stock photo Quote
dukdukgoos Posted April 26 Posted April 26 Sorry I mean it doesn't show any new files for .287 yet. It recognizes .287 as the latest version. It shows updated files for .286/.286, etc if I change to that version, so it's working, but nothing for .287. I assume there's some kind of delay before the files for the new version show up Quote
JoeViking245 Posted April 26 Author Posted April 26 9 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said: Sorry I mean it doesn't show any new files for .287 yet. It recognizes .287 as the latest version. It shows updated files for .286/.286, etc if I change to that version, so it's working, but nothing for .287. I assume there's some kind of delay before the files for the new version show up Not sure what's going on then. Are you on v1.0.1? It should show when it loads, that MAME is 0.287 and ADB has 0.287 data. Then if you type in 0.287 (be sure to have the zero in front. Otherwise you'll get a message "The release number is not a valid #") and press enter, the 11 games should then populate. When you press enter after inputting the release number, the plugin gets data direct from ADB website. aka, the plugin doesn't store data. If there's a connection issue with ADB, then that'd cause a problem. But you'd know if there was because there wouldn't be a number next to Latest available from ADB. Is it showing a number there? Above that, is it showing a Total Arcade Games number? Are you getting any error messages? Quote
JoeViking245 Posted April 26 Author Posted April 26 24 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said: I'm on 1.01. Here's a screenshot: Try: Exit LaunchBox Go to the plugins' folder and the delete the file ADBcategories.json Start LaunchBox Try the plugin again Quote
dukdukgoos Posted April 26 Posted April 26 Yes, that fixed it. The file was dated April 8 before I deleted it. Got cached perhaps and didn't update when the data was available? In any case now I know I can delete that file if I run into this again. Thanks! 1 Quote
JoeViking245 Posted April 26 Author Posted April 26 7 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said: Yes, that fixed it. The file was dated April 8 before I deleted it. Got cached perhaps and didn't update when the data was available? In any case now I know I can delete that file if I run into this again. Thanks! Glad that worked. I'll add to my to-do list to check the code about cross-checking that file and updating it as necessary. (although I thought I did. 😊) Quote
dukdukgoos Posted 17 hours ago Posted 17 hours ago FYI, the .288 MAME update is doing the same thing as before where it doesn't show any of the latest updates. I deleted ADBcategories.json and recreated as discussed before. It shows as ADBcategories (0.288).json but still doesn't have the latest updates (there should be 200+ with this release). Perhaps a bug on the ADB side? Is it working for you? Quote
JoeViking245 Posted 16 hours ago Author Posted 16 hours ago 3 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said: there should be 200+ with this release When you go to ADB and click new machines (very top of the page) it gives 254 games. Then when you check MAME cab only and Search it shows 0 (zero). It's from this result the plugin gets it data. This (zero) may be because they (the actual new games) haven't been classified, yet? Do you really want to see those 253 "games"? (semi-rhetorical) 0.287 had 124 vs. the 11 MAME cab only the plugin shows. Side Note (from the View File link up top): Quote May 2026 This plugin has been moved into the MAME Tools plugin along with several other on my MAME related plugins. Install and use MAME Tools instead of this plugin for continued support. Though I'm pretty sure the What's New feature in MAME Tools (right now) is the exact same as this one (results wise). As in, no changes had been made. That said, feel free to post here regarding this plugin for the time being. Side Note #2: If you wish to import the 256 'games', from the ADB link above you can create ("Export") an xml file. Then use the MAME Custom xml Importer feature found in MAME Tools. You may want to filter out the Non-Working 'games', "devices" and "screenless" 1st before exporting the xml file. That'll whittle it down to a more manageable 34 'games'. Quote
dukdukgoos Posted 15 hours ago Posted 15 hours ago Cool, so it's just that ADB hasn't set them up completely yet (Not Classified). Just wanted to make sure. I'm using the MAME Tools version of the plugin but just commented here because of the previous history. Thanks again! 1 Quote
JoeViking245 Posted 15 hours ago Author Posted 15 hours ago 1 minute ago, dukdukgoos said: Cool, so it's just that ADB hasn't set them up completely yet (Not Classified). "It's never me. It's always them". 1 Quote
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