diff --git a/src/emu/emuopts.c b/src/emu/emuopts.c
index 0b3c785fd5d..7c1bd9560cb 100644
--- a/src/emu/emuopts.c
+++ b/src/emu/emuopts.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ const options_entry emu_options::s_option_entries[] =
 	{ OPTION_SNAPBILINEAR,                               "1",         OPTION_BOOLEAN,    "specify if the snapshot/movie should have bilinear filtering applied" },
 	{ OPTION_STATENAME,                                  "%g",        OPTION_STRING,     "override of the default state subfolder naming; %g == gamename" },
 	{ OPTION_BURNIN,                                     "0",         OPTION_BOOLEAN,    "create burn-in snapshots for each screen" },
+	{ OPTION_DUMMYWRITE,                                 "0",         OPTION_BOOLEAN,    "indicates if a snapshot should be created if each frame" },
 
 	// performance options
 	{ NULL,                                              NULL,        OPTION_HEADER,     "CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS" },
diff --git a/src/emu/emuopts.h b/src/emu/emuopts.h
index 17deb586576..db71ccc5a7d 100644
--- a/src/emu/emuopts.h
+++ b/src/emu/emuopts.h
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ enum
 #define OPTION_RECORD               "record"
 #define OPTION_MNGWRITE             "mngwrite"
 #define OPTION_AVIWRITE             "aviwrite"
+#define OPTION_DUMMYWRITE           "dummywrite"
 #define OPTION_WAVWRITE             "wavwrite"
 #define OPTION_SNAPNAME             "snapname"
 #define OPTION_SNAPSIZE             "snapsize"
@@ -241,6 +242,7 @@ public:
 	const char *record() const { return value(OPTION_RECORD); }
 	const char *mng_write() const { return value(OPTION_MNGWRITE); }
 	const char *avi_write() const { return value(OPTION_AVIWRITE); }
+	const char *dummy_write() const { return value(OPTION_DUMMYWRITE); }
 	const char *wav_write() const { return value(OPTION_WAVWRITE); }
 	const char *snap_name() const { return value(OPTION_SNAPNAME); }
 	const char *snap_size() const { return value(OPTION_SNAPSIZE); }
diff --git a/src/emu/video.c b/src/emu/video.c
index 2518bd101c0..13d2989704c 100644
--- a/src/emu/video.c
+++ b/src/emu/video.c
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ video_manager::video_manager(running_machine &machine)
 	filename = machine.options().avi_write();
 	if (filename[0] != 0)
 		begin_recording(filename, MF_AVI);
+	
+	m_dummy_recording = machine.options().dummy_write();
 
 	// if no screens, create a periodic timer to drive updates
 	if (machine.first_screen() == NULL)
@@ -1232,7 +1234,7 @@ file_error video_manager::open_next(emu_file &file, const char *extension)
 void video_manager::record_frame()
 {
 	// ignore if nothing to do
-	if (m_mng_file == NULL && m_avi_file == NULL)
+	if (m_mng_file == NULL && m_avi_file == NULL && !m_dummy_recording)
 		return;
 
 	// start the profiler and get the current time
diff --git a/src/emu/video.h b/src/emu/video.h
index 5904b4c6c53..c5ca9c9e27b 100644
--- a/src/emu/video.h
+++ b/src/emu/video.h
@@ -176,6 +176,9 @@ private:
 	attotime            m_avi_frame_period;         // period of a single movie frame
 	attotime            m_avi_next_frame_time;      // time of next frame
 	UINT32              m_avi_frame;                // current movie frame number
+	
+	// movie recording - dummy
+	bool				m_dummy_recording;			// indicates if snapshot should be created of every frame
 
 	static const UINT8      s_skiptable[FRAMESKIP_LEVELS][FRAMESKIP_LEVELS];