Arcade machines have employed various clever methods to handle language settings for international audiences since the golden age of gaming. Unlike modern consoles, classic arcade cabinets often relied on physical hardware adjustments. Technicians would use DIP (Dual In-line Package) switches located on the game's main circuit board to change language settings, game difficulty, or the number of lives per coin. This required manually opening the cabinet and flipping tiny switches—a process impractical for casual users but standard for arcade operators.

For more advanced systems, especially from the late 1990s onwards, software-based solutions became common. Games began featuring a "Test Mode" or "Service Menu" accessible by a key switch on the cabinet. Within this menu, operators could navigate to language options and select from available translations, which were often stored on the game's ROM (Read-Only Memory) chip. The specific region of the ROM itself was also a primary factor; Japanese, North American, and European versions of a game often contained different default languages hardcoded onto the chip.

The most basic form of localization involved simply shipping different versions of the same game to different countries. A cabinet destined for Japan would have a Japanese-language ROM installed, while one for Spain would have a Spanish one. The cabinet's artwork—the marquee, bezel, and control panel overlay—was also frequently customized for the target region. In some cases, particularly for text-heavy games like RPGs or trivia challenges, the entire game content was altered to suit cultural preferences and language nuances. This multi-faceted approach ensured that players around the world could enjoy a seamless, immersive arcade experience in their native tongue.