.ZIP File Extension

Video game system emulators like MAME (short for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) allow gamers to play classic video games on their PCs and mobile devices. MAME specializes in emulating arcade games, originally played in arcade cabinets.

Players distribute MAME ROMs, which contain the contents of an arcade game, as ZIP files. If the ROM was created from an arcade game stored on a chip, its entire contents may be stored in a ZIP file. If the ROM was created from an arcade game stored on a hard drive, it is likely split into a ZIP and CHD file. If the ROM is split into two files, you need both to open it in MAME.

You can open a ZIP file in MAME (multiplatform) and related emulators. To open a ZIP file in MAME, place the file in MAME's Roms directory. If your ZIP file is paired with a CHD file, place the CHD file in a subdirectory named for your ZIP file (e.g. for a ZIP file named MyGame.zip, place your CHD file in Roms/​MyGame/​).