This doesn't seem at all plausible. I can't think of a country I have been to in the world that didn't have Sega arcade machines. I'd be shocked if simply manufacturing and selling the machines wasn't more lucrative.
The problem is arcade machines are just a TINY markey. The best selling game of the '90s was Street Fighter 2: CE, and that sold a grand total of 140k units.
Most other successful games like NBA Jam or Mortal Kombat sold 15-20k units.
That's just not compatible with the budgets needed in the 3d era.
