Now sure you could spend years shaving milliseconds off lap times on those three courses, ...
Now, to be able to do that, this course, i.e. this game has to have depth, wouldn't you agree?
As to your other arguments, they are well presented, but can be turned just as easy:
Long intros? I skipp them after a while anyway.
Many levels/courses? Depth defines quality rather than quantity.
Character development? Your own character develops during the time you spend mastering an arcade game.
Cut scenes? C'mon, as if arcade games wouldn't generally have them, too (see the KoF series, AoF series, Sengoku series etc.), but does having them equals having depth I wonder...
Whole purpose is to get people to sped money? Console games are also made to make money, so let's not allude ourselves. Sonic & Mario are immediately playable, too, but try to grasp Battle Garegga, right?
And the "longevity of console games like RPGs"? Well, think of it this way: Once you spent your 10 to 20 hours in an RPG, you won't have another play for 10 to 20 years -- you know the story, you know the ending, you know the plot twists. During this time, you'll throw away much more time on an arcade game, to which you can always come back because it's not about the story, it's not about the ending and because you make the plot twists yourself just by playing it.