alt Hacker News> But having actual per-credit licensing attached to the machines would be an easy way to tell collection societies to fuck off, because they already got paid when you paid your revshare to the arcade manufacturer, and they can't sue you if you paid for your license.
This is precisely why revenue share exists as a model. There are a lot of US operators who are still cold to the idea, but it isn't out of the question that operators would pay for updated, modern games. Rhythm games especially are difficult due to cross-border licensing issues.
The times are changing though: There has been an ongoing maimai DX location test in the US (in California, Round1 PHM and in Texas, at Dave 'n Busters), and there was recently the successful completion of the location test for Taiko no Tatsujin, with a full scale launch starting in November. There are pains, but these games are slowly coming over.
I assume you already know this stuff, but I think the average person would read your take as fairly cynical. The fact that SEGA Fave and Bandai Namco are even remotely considering operating online, networked rhythm games in the US is something to be thankful for. maimai's location test was online, with a large catalog of songs, on the international ALL.net service. Compared to the maimai PiNK loctest, which was offline with paltry songs, it's way, way more likely to be a long-term initiative.
I don't just know about the maimai DX location test, I actually flew out to the Puente Hills Mall[0] just to play it.
One other thing I left out (because I thought it was too inside-baseball) is that the way Japanese companies structure their overseas operations also harms the US rhythm game market. For example, the only reason why we got a maimai DX location test was that SEGA had completely upended their US arcade division. It used to be licensed out to a completely different company with zero interest in rhythm games. Presumably with the same assumption that they wouldn't sell well or that arcade operators wouldn't sign a revshare agreement. The best we could get was a bunch of offline'd Chunithm Paradise Lost machine with all the licenses stripped out[1].
Likewise, US players are also very cynical because of how poorly served we are for our given market size. When Taiko's US launch was announced a lot of people were worried that the cab quality would be shit because they were being assembled in the US (presumably for shipping or tariff reasons). The rhythm game community has a long memory; we remember what Raw Thrills did to DDR in the name of cost-cutting. The Taiko cabs that R1 USA got so far seem to be good, fortunately, but it's not irrational to worry about these sorts of things.
I can absolutely see some independent operators outside of Round1 picking up Taiko (or maimai if SEGA FAVE decides to grant our wishes). But I would still be rather shocked if, say, Dave & Busters[3] wound up running either game, given that they basically pulled out of rhythm games.
[0] Which is comically dead. Outside of the Round1 and the AMC basically half the shops are closed and the other half are going out of business. If PHM wasn't Round1's hero store the mall probably would have shut down by now.
[1] Hope you like Jingle Bells
[2] After Raw Thrills fucked DDR so hard it left the states, the reintroduction of DDR to the US (Hawaii exclusive) involved a special deal with Konami, Round1, and Dave & Busters. Because D&B was involved, they insisted on perpetual licensing, even though Konami had moved to revshare in every other region. Which meant having to buy upgrade kits.
[3] Or, hell, Chuck E. Cheese; even though Taiko would slot in perfectly with their target demo.