Manufacturers employ multiple sophisticated techniques to guarantee seamless compatibility with legacy arcade games, preserving the authentic experience of classic gaming hardware. The foundation of compatibility often begins with adherence to established industry standards, particularly the JAMMA (Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association) wiring standard that became ubiquitous in the mid-1980s. This universal pinout configuration allows modern hardware to interface with original PCBs through standardized edge connectors.

For hardware-based solutions, manufacturers utilize FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) technology rather than software emulation. FPGAs can mimic the original arcade hardware at the transistor level, recreating the exact timing and behavior of legacy chips like the Z80, 6502, and custom graphic processors. Companies like Analogue and Arcade1Up implement FPGA solutions to achieve cycle-accurate replication of original hardware without the input lag or audio-visual inaccuracies associated with software emulation.

Software emulation still plays a significant role through projects like MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), which manufacturers license and optimize for specific hardware configurations. These emulators undergo continuous refinement to address timing issues, graphic rendering inaccuracies, and sound reproduction problems that plagued earlier emulation attempts.

Modern manufacturers also create custom adapter boards that translate between legacy video signals (like CGA) and contemporary displays (HDMI, VGA), while maintaining the original aspect ratio and scanline characteristics. Power supply regulation is equally crucial, as manufacturers precisely replicate the voltage requirements and electrical characteristics of original arcade hardware to prevent damage to vintage components.

Through these combined approaches of standardized interfaces, hardware replication, refined software emulation, and signal conversion, manufacturers successfully bridge the technological gap between modern systems and beloved classic arcades.