Are there many games that disappear and never get saved?

[rackoon]

So, anyway I was digging through my box of old Playstation 1 and Dreamcast games when I noticed that many of the titles say "The Arcade Smash Hit" on them.
   
    Until the MAME project I have never wondered why I haven't seen theses titles at the mall arcade. Is it that they were only released in Japan on a stand up cab? 
   
    Are there bunches of old cabs with dying titles, sitting in the back ally of Japanese bars, just soaking up the rain, like I often see here?
   
    Let me use the example of one of my favorites, "ZOMBIE REVENGE". Man I would love to play this game on a cab and not just on my DC. Was it realy a "Arcade Smash Hit"? Will it ever reach MAME?
   
    Does the MAME project have any Japanese contacts?

[Necro]

I think for all intensive purposes, 'Arcade Smash Hit' means 'Arcade Game we have the rights to and we can easily port to system XYZ'

As for that game, it looks fairly 'new'.  If it was coded to MAME, my guess it would be darn near  impossible to play on current hardware.

[neuromancer]

But to answer the larger question, as long as there is at least one machine with intact ROMs, then it is not lost, but waiting for someone to copy the code and distribute it.

Of all the games I played in arcades in the 70s and 80s, I think 100% of them are in MAME.

Bob

[spidermonkey]

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?letter=Z&game_id=10539

Definately "MAMEABLE"

[rackoon]

Thanks for the heads up on that web site Spidermonkey. I always wondered what a stand up cab  of that game would look like. When I saw that that game was released in 99 I was shocked.
    No wonder that game hasn't been mameed, its only 6 years old.
Man, I cant believe that I was playing a new my new DC less that 5 years ago. It seems like at least ten.