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.