I suppose I made the mistake of assuming you're using a keyboard encoder. If the buttons on your console register as game controller buttons in Windows, then my method won't work. OTOH, if the buttons on your console register as keyboard keys in Windows, then you definitely do not need to have Mame running first, at all, or ever. My solution is not Mame-specific, it is a feature of Windows to allow you to launch any program (including Mame) with a keyboard shortcut. So if these conditions are met: Two buttons on your console map to the Control and Alt keys, and your third button maps to some other keyboard key (there might be a problem with non-printable-character keys - IDK for sure), and Windows 10 did not deprecate or change this feature, then you will be able to launch Mame with a three-button combination.