i wanted to know how much game pads Mame can run at the same time
At least eight joystick devices (gamepads, flightsticks, etc), eight mouse devices (mice, trackballs, spinners, lightguns, etc), & eight keyboard devices (normal, ipac/keywiz encoders, etc).
I'll check if it's more.
edit: mame has switched to pointers, so mame's limit has been removed.
Thus, the only limits for mame's inputs are windows and hardward limits. (I don't have nine joysticks to test this, though.)