Japanese Couple Robs Gamers to Support Video Game Addiction

A couple in Japan has been arrested for stealing from video game arcade players so that they could use the money to feed their addiction to playing video games.

As Fuji News Network reported via Kotaku, a 24-year-old man, Jun Kanemaru, met his unnamed girlfriend on an online dating site. Neither the man nor his new girlfriend has a job; his girlfriend was a runaway. The couple suffered from financial problems, leading them to steal from others at Akihabara, one of the premier arcades located in Tokyo. The couple managed to steal from people using Kanemaru as the lookout while his girlfriend pickpocketed gamers, snatching their wallets. Kanemaru admitted to that the couple pulled this trick multiple times before eventually getting caught.

"Up until now, we've pickpocketed about seven times to pay for our living and gaming expenses," Kanemaru told Fuji News Network. 

When the couple was finally arrested, they were charged with stealing the wallet from a woman playing one of the arcade machines. The woman had 52,000 yen, or around $502 on her at the time. While this may seem like a lot of cash to have on hand, it is fairly common for Japanese people to carry large amounts of cash. In the past the Japanese society was more based on cash than check or electronic purchases.

In any case, the couple now face jail time for their alleged crimes. It is unclear what games were the couple's favorite and what other potential factors may have lead to them stealing from others.

Reports of people stealing to profit or feed their video game habits are nothing new. A spike in reports of people stealing from gamers or video game retailers spiked when the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released. In particular, one man tried to steal an Xbox One from a woman who had just bought the console when it was released while dressed as Spiderman. Another man tried to buy a PlayStation 4 from a man he met on Craigslist, only to discover that the box was full of towels. In any case, no matter how much a person loves video games they are not worth endangering people's lives or going to jail for.