diff --git a/plugins/boot.lua b/plugins/boot.lua
index 8417a979fb1..4662b6bff0c 100644
--- a/plugins/boot.lua
+++ b/plugins/boot.lua
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ for file in lfs.dir("plugins") do
 		if (meta["plugin"]["type"]=="plugin") and (manager:plugins().entries[meta["plugin"]["name"]]~=nil) then
 			local entry = manager:plugins().entries[meta["plugin"]["name"]]	
 			if (entry:value()==true) then
-				print("Starting plugin " .. meta["plugin"]["name"] .. "...")
+				emu.print_verbose("Starting plugin " .. meta["plugin"]["name"] .. "...")
 				plugin = require(meta["plugin"]["name"])
 				if plugin.set_folder~=nil then plugin.set_folder("plugins/" .. file) end
 				plugin.startplugin();
diff --git a/plugins/cheat/init.lua b/plugins/cheat/init.lua
index ec5078fedf0..ea6f4bba3fb 100644
--- a/plugins/cheat/init.lua
+++ b/plugins/cheat/init.lua
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 			line = line + 1
 		end
 		if not screen then
-			print("draw_text: invalid screen")
+			emu.print_verbose("draw_text: invalid screen")
 			return
 		end
 		if type(x) == "string" then
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 
 	local function draw_line(screen, x1, y1, x2, y2, color)
 		if not screen then
-			print("draw_line: invalid screen")
+			emu.print_verbose("draw_line: invalid screen")
 			return
 		end
 		output[#output + 1] = { type = "line", scr = screen, x1 = x1, x2 = x2, y1 = y1, y2 = y2, color = color }
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 
 	local function draw_box(screen, x1, y1, x2, y2, bgcolor, linecolor)
 		if not screen then
-			print("draw_box: invalid screen")
+			emu.print_verbose("draw_box: invalid screen")
 			return
 		end
 		output[#output + 1] = { type = "box", scr = screen, x1 = x1, x2 = x2, y1 = y1, y2 = y2, bgcolor = bgcolor, linecolor = linecolor }
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 		for name, script in pairs(cheat.script) do
 			script, err = load(script, cheat.desc .. name, "t", cheat.cheat_env)
 			if not script then
-				print("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc .. " " .. err)
+				emu.print_verbose("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc .. " " .. err)
 				cheat = { desc = cheat.desc .. " error" }
 				return
 			end
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 				local cpu, mem
 				cpu = manager:machine().devices[space.tag]
 				if not cpu then
-					print("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
+					emu.print_verbose("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
 					cheat = { desc = cheat.desc .. " error" }
 					return
 				end
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 					mem = cpu.spaces["program"]
 				end
 				if not mem then
-					print("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
+					emu.print_verbose("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
 					cheat = { desc = cheat.desc .. " error" }
 					return
 				end
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 				local mem 
 				mem = manager:machine():memory().regions[region]
 				if not mem then
-					print("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
+					emu.print_verbose("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
 					cheat = { desc = cheat.desc .. " error" }
 					return
 				end
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 				local ram
 				ram = manager:machine().devices[ram]
 				if not ram then
-					print("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
+					emu.print_verbose("error loading cheat script: " .. cheat.desc)
 					cheat = { desc = cheat.desc .. " error" }
 					return
 				end
@@ -531,14 +531,14 @@ function cheat.startplugin()
 		cheat = cheats[index]
 		if cheat then
 			for k, v in pairs(cheat.cheat_env) do
-				print(k, v)
+				emu.print_verbose(k, v)
 			end
 		end
 	end
 
 	function ce.list()
 		for num, cheat in pairs(cheats) do
-			print(num, cheat.desc)
+			emu.print_verbose(num, cheat.desc)
 		end
 	end
 
diff --git a/plugins/dummy/init.lua b/plugins/dummy/init.lua
index 8058bcad452..1f78851a936 100644
--- a/plugins/dummy/init.lua
+++ b/plugins/dummy/init.lua
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@ local dummy = exports
 
 function dummy.startplugin()
 	emu.register_start(function()
-		print("Starting " .. emu.gamename())
+		emu.print_verbose("Starting " .. emu.gamename())
 	end)
     
 	emu.register_stop(function()
-		print("Exiting " .. emu.gamename())
+		emu.print_verbose("Exiting " .. emu.gamename())
 	end)
 
 	local function menu_populate()
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function dummy.startplugin()
 	end
 
 	local function menu_callback(index, event)
-		print("index: " .. index .. " event: " .. event)
+		emu.print_verbose("index: " .. index .. " event: " .. event)
 		return false
 	end
 
diff --git a/plugins/hiscore/init.lua b/plugins/hiscore/init.lua
index 647aca11608..877c8372c70 100644
--- a/plugins/hiscore/init.lua
+++ b/plugins/hiscore/init.lua
@@ -129,14 +129,14 @@ function hiscore.startplugin()
 
 
 	local function write_scores ( posdata )
-	  print("write_scores")
+	  emu.print_verbose("write_scores")
 	  local output = io.open(get_file_name(), "wb");
 	  if not output then
 		-- attempt to create the directory, and try again
 		lfs.mkdir( hiscore_path );
 		output = io.open(get_file_name(), "wb");
 	  end
-	  print("write_scores output")
+	  emu.print_verbose("write_scores output")
 	  if output then
 		for ri,row in ipairs(posdata) do
 		  t = {};
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ function hiscore.startplugin()
 		end
 		output:close();
 	  end
-	  print("write_scores end")
+	  emu.print_verbose("write_scores end")
 	end
 
 
@@ -184,10 +184,10 @@ function hiscore.startplugin()
 		if check_mem( positions ) then
 		  default_checksum = check_scores( positions );
 		  if read_scores( positions ) then
-			print( "scores read", "OK" );
+			emu.print_verbose( "scores read", "OK" );
 		  else
 			-- likely there simply isn't a .hi file around yet
-			print( "scores read", "FAIL" );
+			emu.print_verbose( "scores read", "FAIL" );
 		  end
 		  scores_have_been_read = true;
 		  current_checksum = check_scores( positions );
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ function hiscore.startplugin()
 			write_scores( positions );
 			current_checksum = checksum;
 			last_write_time = emu.time();
-			-- print( "SAVE SCORES EVENT!", last_write_time );
+			-- emu.print_verbose( "SAVE SCORES EVENT!", last_write_time );
 		  end
 		end
 	  end
@@ -243,13 +243,13 @@ function hiscore.startplugin()
 		mem_check_passed = false
 	   	scores_have_been_read = false;
 		last_write_time = -10
-	  	print("Starting " .. emu.gamename())
+	  	emu.print_verbose("Starting " .. emu.gamename())
 		local dat = read_hiscore_dat()
 		if dat and dat ~= "" then
-			print( "found hiscore.dat entry for " .. emu.romname() );
+			emu.print_verbose( "found hiscore.dat entry for " .. emu.romname() );
 			positions = parse_table( dat );
 			if not positions then
-				print("hiscore.dat parse error");
+				emu.print_error("hiscore.dat parse error");
 				return;
 			end
 			found_hiscore_entry = true
diff --git a/src/emu/luaengine.cpp b/src/emu/luaengine.cpp
index 331d2b1372e..8e1ddbf8d93 100644
--- a/src/emu/luaengine.cpp
+++ b/src/emu/luaengine.cpp
@@ -2075,6 +2075,49 @@ int lua_engine::lua_machine::l_logerror(lua_State *L)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+std::string lua_engine::get_print_buffer(lua_State *L)
+{
+    int nargs = lua_gettop(L);
+    
+    const std::string sep = " ";
+    
+    std::ostringstream ss;
+    bool first = true;
+
+    for (int i = 1; i <= nargs; i++) {
+      const char* c = lua_tostring(L, i);
+      const std::string str = c ? c : "<nil>";
+      if (first) first = false;
+      else ss << sep;
+      ss << str;
+    }
+
+	return ss.str();
+}
+int lua_engine::l_osd_printf_verbose(lua_State *L)
+{
+    osd_printf_verbose("%s\n",get_print_buffer(L).c_str());
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int lua_engine::l_osd_printf_error(lua_State *L)
+{
+	osd_printf_error("%s\n",get_print_buffer(L).c_str());
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int lua_engine::l_osd_printf_info(lua_State *L)
+{
+	osd_printf_info("%s\n",get_print_buffer(L).c_str());
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int lua_engine::l_osd_printf_debug(lua_State *L)
+{
+	osd_printf_debug("%s\n",get_print_buffer(L).c_str());
+	return 0;
+}
+
 //-------------------------------------------------
 //  initialize - initialize lua hookup to emu engine
 //-------------------------------------------------
@@ -2106,6 +2149,10 @@ void lua_engine::initialize()
 			.addCFunction ("register_frame", l_emu_register_frame )
 			.addCFunction ("register_frame_done", l_emu_register_frame_done )
 			.addCFunction ("register_menu",  l_emu_register_menu )
+			.addCFunction ("print_verbose", l_osd_printf_verbose )
+			.addCFunction ("print_error",   l_osd_printf_error )
+			.addCFunction ("print_info",    l_osd_printf_info )
+			.addCFunction ("print_debug",   l_osd_printf_debug )
 			.beginClass <machine_manager> ("manager")
 				.addFunction ("machine", &machine_manager::machine)
 				.addFunction ("options", &machine_manager::options)
diff --git a/src/emu/luaengine.h b/src/emu/luaengine.h
index 269ea3d46b3..3b4c85ce939 100644
--- a/src/emu/luaengine.h
+++ b/src/emu/luaengine.h
@@ -141,6 +141,11 @@ private:
 	static int l_emu_register_frame(lua_State *L);
 	static int l_emu_register_frame_done(lua_State *L);
 	static int l_emu_register_menu(lua_State *L);
+	static std::string get_print_buffer(lua_State *L);
+	static int l_osd_printf_verbose(lua_State *L);
+	static int l_osd_printf_error(lua_State *L);
+	static int l_osd_printf_info(lua_State *L);
+	static int l_osd_printf_debug(lua_State *L);
 	static int register_function(lua_State *L, const char *id);
 
 	// "emu.machine" namespace