So much hate.
Well Kid, all I can say is that you aren't going to expect much love from the veteran players as far as an old version, UP couldn't rely on them in the beginning either. They bought ver.B with American sticks, waited to see how the locals accepted it, then moved it to a bigass marvel cab. After moving it to the marvel cab, they received the B2 upgrade for free(from the place they bought the board from) and eventually installed jap parts on the cab. I can understand getting ver.B, then maybe people would come out and play the game(it's not that much of a difference). But getting ver.A is like getting GG#R, what serious player really wants to come out and play that consecutively when there are TWO more recent versions out?
I'd say work on the local fanbase first, and try to push for ver.B. Eventually you'll have to install jap parts on the cab if you want it to survive, because the game is mainly associated with a fanbase that prefers Japanese parts to American (some of us can play on American sticks, but most of us can't stand it).
The arcade business is risk/reward, so the Break owner is gonna have to take this risk and upgrade soon, or is may be too late for the arcade.