There are four different hardware lines. They are XL, Maxx, Force and ION. Each of these hardware versions will only run the software that was designed to run on it (i.e., you cannot load the Ion software onto the Force hardware). Any “Ion” machine will take any “Ion” software. Any “Force” machine will only take “Force” software. And so on.
The following is a diagram of when each software version was released (as well as the hardware that it runs on). Also, the new software releases coincide with each other. For example, the games that were new to the Platinum software were also the new ones on the Diamond software, which was released the same year. Same thing with the Titanium/Emerald/Force 2002. The exception to this rule is the Live platform. Several games were removed and added between the Ion and Live platforms.
| Software Year | XL | Maxx | Force | ION | Live |
| 1997 | XL | ||||
| 1998 | XL5000/XL Super 5000 | ||||
| 1999 | XL 6000 | Maxx | |||
| 2000 | Gold | Maxx 2k / Maxx 2k Plus | |||
| 2001 | Platinum / Double Platinum | Diamond / Diamond 2 | |||
| 2002 | Titanium / Titanium 2 | Emerald / Emerald 2 | 2002 / 2002.5 | ||
| 2003 | Ruby / Ruby 2 | 2003 / 2003.5 | |||
| 2004 | Sapphire / Sapphire 2 | 2004 / 2004.5 | |||
| 2005 | Jade / Jade 2 | 2005 / 2005.5 | |||
| 2006 | Crown | 2006 / 2006.5 | 2006 / 2006.5 | ||
| 2007 | 2007 / 2007.5 | 2007 / 2007.5 | |||
| 2008 | 2008 / 2008.5 | 2008 / 2008.5 | |||
| 2009 | 2009 / 2009.5 | 2009 / 2009.5 | |||
| 2010 | 2010 / 2010.5 | 2010 / 2010.5 | |||
| 2011 | 2011 | 2011 / 2011.5 | ML-1 | ||
| 2012 | 2012 | ML-1 | |||
| 2013 | 2013 | ML-1 | |||
| 2014 | 2014 | ML-1, ML-2 |
Finally, there is the cabinet. A Megatouch Ion Evo and Megatouch Aurora have exactly the same games, with few exceptions for the widescreen-only games. There is very little difference in the amount of games, or the way they play. Same thing goes with a Force Radion and a Force Evo. Below is a complete listing of the different cabinets used with each of the different hardware versions
| Megatouch XL Hardware | Megatouch Maxx Hardware | Megatouch Force Hardware | Megatouch ION Hardware |
| Classic | Classic (Blue or Silver Sides) | Classic | EVO |
| Slim/Select Maxx (Small Green Metal Cabinet) | Radion (Black Plastic Cabinet) | Elite Edge | |
| Full/Heavy Maxx (Big Metal Cabinet) | Elite (Larger LCD Cabinet) | Aurora | |
| EZ Maxx (First LCD Panel Merit Game) | Vibe (2 Piece LCD Game) | Rx | |
| Elite Maxx (Same as EZ but DBV is integrated) | EVO (Most Common LCD Game) | ||
| Elite Edge |
This article is adapted from the original work of Dave Criswell.