Are Arcade games running on a different platform than thier XBOX/PS equivelent?

[Mahaguru]

Or is there a Playstation (2,3) or XBOX sitting underneath?

Something tells me there are running on special hardware, due to the quick load times.

 

[shiner]

TI-99/4a

 

[mobobuff]

Virtually all modern arcade games (other than the very traditional midway-type games at county fairs) make extensive use of solid state electronics and integrated circuits. Coin-operated arcade video games generally use custom per-game hardware with multiple CPUs, highly specialized sound and graphics chips and/or boards, and the latest in computer graphics display technology.

Arcade Games - Wikipedia

Quick load times are probably attributed to the solid-state game-dedicated electronics. No CD-spinups/moving read-heads.

 

[CrackRabbit]

There were a number of games that used the Sega NAOMI hardware. The NAOMI was basically modified Dreamcast hardware.
The Area 51 and Maximum Force games from Atari used modified Atari Jaguar hardware with a hard drive.