This post has been edited by SonicSP on Aug 8 2017, 01:24 PM I guess part of the appeal is that they feel more general and less Japanese-centric. Of course, Sega Rally 3 and Daytona USA 3 did have US/English releases I think, so it's not all arcade games. Hell in the case of Initial D and Wangan, you can't access the true depth of the game without a card.Īnime is also a niche in the US, and to add to that Initial D is a fairly niche anime even if it's referenced once in awhile. Western arcade games in general tends to be less sophisticated and is more about casual fun (but again, there are casual games in Japan). I mean games like Initial D, Wangan, Gundam vs Gundam, Mai Mai and many others referenced require a save card and have online features associated. There are more serious investment games in Japan. The different age demographic thing is kinda valid too, partly because Japan as a country is much much older. I swear those Fast and Furious machines were everywhere some years ago.

Most of the games in the US are those with more familiar Western IPs, like Wheel of Fortune, Pac Man (very much still iconic there), Fast and Furious, etc. The other, like the article says is just that the Japanese IPs aren't popular. Like arcades are still pretty huge in Japan. Most of the problem is that arcades are much more bigger in Japan and some parts of Asia than in Weatern countries (it's not completely dead but it's fallen relatively more than Japan).

Initial d street stage translation