Essentially all of those reasons are while the .50cal stayed on as the primary weapon in the USAAF and USAF arsenal until and during most of Korea. The US Navy was starting to switch to 20mm cannons midway through World War II but the lack of a reliable 20mm prevented most of that switch until post war.
With the USAAF - Having the .50cal around meant that the ammo supply logistics were simple (same basic rounds could often be used in airplanes or mounted on jeeps or in emplacements on the ground, etc.). There was also quite a bit of debate around how effective, in the hands of an average pilot, a bank of rapid firing machine guns were versus cannons.
In-game some of that newbie advantage is negated by having a point dispersion like some aces preferred rather than a wider kill box that helped newbies.
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