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Japanese crane games, or UFO catchers as they’re also called, have huge a variety of prizes, ranging from slices of fancy cake to bottles of dish soap.
But what the crane games are infamously known for is how hard they are to win. As we’ve found out before, you can put in around 10.000 yen and still end up with little for your efforts.
An extreme example of this was recently brought to the attention of the Internet by Japanese Twitter user Ogatun, when they posted this message and photo after failing 200 times and calling the police at a Sega arcade:
▼ “I couldn’t win at all so now the police are here.”
▼ Which was then followed up with this: “Uh, the police are investigating the staff member who still hasn’t won yet.”
Apparently this continued for 300 tries, until the staff member finally moved the prizes to an easier location and was able to catch one. Ogatun himself played with the items in the new position and was able to win too. The police decided to take no action at this time.
After getting quite a lot of attention online, Sega’s public relations department released this message the following day:
“As a whole, crane games are meant to be enjoyed as a way for customers to try their skill and luck, and played knowing that when they put money in, a prize may not necessarily come out. Of course, we strive to have our staff be aware of customers’ situations, so if something seems off you are welcome to call them over, and have them assist you a little bit. That is a fundamental operation of our company.”
Overall, it seemed as though Japanese netizens were definitely on the side of the customer over the company in this one:
“That’s just a scam.”
“If there’s a way to set the machines to be unwinnable, then the makers are accomplices.”
“They should probably be required to put up a sign stating the chances of winning.”
“Everyone knows the crane’s strength is proportional to how much money has been put in.”
“The ‘game’ is just putting your coin in the slot.”
“I hope you got your money back!”
No word on whether or not any money was returned, but for anyone out there thinking of going to a world-record-setting crane game center and trying their luck, you may be better off spending your money elsewhere.
Source: Twitter/@84848141 via Itai News, J-CAST
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© SoraNews24
34 Comments
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Mark
Sega and others are in business to make MONEY. now you as a gambler and a player can decide how much you wish to give them of your money. LOL.
Peter Neil
You think this is something? Wait until the casinos are up and going...
FizzBit
A crane game? Well that’s kind of expected.
I think the pizza places I order from get antsy cuz I want my toppings, especially the pepperoni, on top of the cheese, just like show on their commercials.
You can say that again.
u_s__reamer
“As a whole, crane games are meant to be enjoyed as a way for customers to try their skill and luck, and played knowing that when they put money in, a prize may not necessarily come out."
What a scam! The only prize that comes out of this game of greed is the profit taken out of the pockets of gullible punters who have nothing better to do with their time and money.
Capuchin
So the police stood around and "investigated" someone playing a crane game 300+ times? Aren't there more important things to be doing?
That staff member must have been sweating buckets.
Kobe White Bar Owner
Just like politics and the injustice system here, it’s all a rigged game. How much your willing to flush is up to you..
Aly Rustom
agree.
Well said.
rcch
what a surprise huh. after a few times ( say, 5 or 6? ), you should call a staff member and say ( in a friendly manner ) “muzukashii neee” ... most of the time they will practically give you the prize. it happened to me before. and that’s the way it should be.
Do the hustle
“A fool and his money are easily parted!”
Of course these things are rigged! Calling the police will do no good at all. There are no regulations that state these rip-off machines have to give prizes. The jaws are set they do not have enough power to pick up anything in the case. I’ve seen some with playstations in them and fools pumping money into them desperately trying to get one.
murabito
How come it is not common sense that the whole point of these games is to try, not necessarily to win?
you pay money to get fun for a few minutes, obviously there are times where it is just not possible to do it because the machine is obviously impossible to win, but most of the time it is just difficult to do it.
Using money just because you want to win the prize makes no sense. Unless you are really good on them it is just cheaper to buy them on the internet.
Bob Fosse
Something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.
since1981
I would like to know who paid for the "Police investigation"? 300+ played. If at 200JPY per play, that's 60,000JPY.
Serrano
“They should probably be required to put up a sign stating the chances of winning.”
"NOTICE: Your chances of catching a prize in this game are slightly less than being struck by lightning,"
gogogo
There is no luck or skill in in crane games, there is a setting to give a winning (forceful) grab every X tries. I learnt this by going to the amusement convention at Tokyo Big site a few years ago and they showed me how to calculate your profit based on the setting. It's not illegal, because there is still a "chance"... just not widely known.
badsey3
It is a game of "chance" which means after so many tries you should be able to win. If the machine is rigged at 0% then the arcade (Sega) can be fined and/or shut down. =The Sega attendee should be able to win it after a certain amount of tries -if not, they are in trouble.
There are pros at this that can win the PS4 or just about anything (see UFO Catcher on YouTube). This is Japan after all and people play this game all the time. If fact many rare items are only "sold" thru these games.
rgcivilian1
No news here, same with lotto scratch, you spend 100,000 yen you win 50 so you lose half. Either way you don't win you lose. Unless like the crane, luck just happens to visit you that day.
Mocheake
How stupid! The guy played this game 200 times, was a sore loser, called the cops and they actually came out for some bs like this? Can't remember the name of the group but this customer fits that song from the 90s: I'm a loser baby...
Toshihiro
I remembered a video on youtube explaining that crane games tend to follow a certain pattern of tries that will allow a player to win by strengthening the claw's grip and movements. But a 200 and 300 time losing streak is just a scam. My dad who loved these games, would learn these patterns so he could win most of the time. But in my opinion, just buying a stuffed toy from the mall is a lot cheaper than trying your luck lol.
Maximum Lawler
So let me get this straight here. Multiple police officers thought the issue was important enough to watch the staff try the machine 300 times and when they found that the prize needed to be moved they decided to do nothing about it? Then why did they hang around the game center for so long?
Nice use of police resources.
Mark
my question is, why he tried 200 serious time and money on the machine...? of course the owner have something mischievous ideas on the machine, he shall be investigated too
Kazuaki Shimazaki
Well, everyone knows those things are fishy, but not letting the customer get anything after 200 tries is pushing "Plausible Deniability".
Kumagaijin
I know someone who will sometimes spend ¥2000 - ¥3000 winning a plush toy for his daughter thats probably worth under ¥500.
Pukey2
Of course they're rigged. That's how these places and casinos make a profit. Business 101. It would take a pretty dumb owner to lose money and go bankrupt. Shout out to 'POTUS'!
NOMINATION
and he probably could have bought that toy many times over online unless it is some holy grail plush.
I remember back in the day a few times trying the crane game on 1 machine and after losing 3 or 4 times, the staff opened it up and gave it to me. I told this story to Japanese people and they couldn't believe it. Foreign privilege I guess.
shogun36
Don't these people have jobs?
Oh wait, three of them were on the clock during all of this. Two of them being paid by taxpayers.
EVERYONE'S A WINNER!!!!
kyronstavic
This is just another IQ test, with the score correlates to how much money you spend trying to get a trinket. I'd say this person is around 23.
sf2k
if it wasn't already obvious, just don't play?
Chico3
Oh! I understand now where my tax yen are going towards; moronic events like this. No one forced the guy to keep playing this machine. The fact that he spent so much money was his choice, just like we choose which game to play. I'm surprised the police came and stuck around.