Sounds like avocado toast-ian blame-shifting to me. Just like the rest of these pieces, they ignore the obvious, horrible conditions of life, and choose to tut-tut at the abused for ‘improperly’ using their free time.
just like the avocado toast shit, the translation of these pieces is broadly:
Look away, reader, from the terrible low wages, high cost of living, and soul-crushing work hours japanese people are forced to endure. Focus your attention on these 19% of young people, who don’t know any better, who you are better than. Laugh at these losers who admit that one time they almost couldn’t cover their expenses!!
Let’s look at the article.
Interestingly enough, while these results indicate that the popularity of in-game transactions may be increasing, the average amount of money spent on them is actually decreasing.
Hmm, could it be the actual problem is the immense increases to CoL young (and all) people have been under? I wonder why the article doesn’t even bring it up? So curious 🤔
Oh well. So like, how much money are we talking about on gacha? How much are these 19% of young folks spending? Must be a ton eh?
Article doesn’t say, but we do get these numbers
In 2024, young people spent an average of around 5,138 yen ($35.85 USD) on microtransactions per month while this year’s survey results state that the average amount of money spent on microtransactions is 4,247 yen ($29.63 USD) per month.
So it’s not a lot, not really. I say again, this article is slop created to take your eyes away from the real problems of the world and victim blame the ones suffering under them.
Average spending is not a good metric for addictive behaviors - spending/consumption tends to be extremely concentrated in a small fraction. My go-to example for this is alcohol where, in the US, 10 drinks/week is the population average, but also enough to get you into the “top 10%” or “heavy drinker” bin, where the average consumption of that bin is 74 drinks/week. In both alcohol and gacha, a huge fraction of the population don’t pay anything.
I mean, even if the article’s $30/month average spend is entirely within their 20% “problem” spenders, it would only be $150, but it’s a little easier (for me) to see where $150/month gacha habit could be a problem for young people already on the financial edge. Not the fundamental problem that skyrocketing rent and stagnant wages are, but more in the last-straw sense.
These kids are wasting $30 on a game that they play 20-40 hours a month! They should instead go see 2 movies or go to one concert or eat at a restaurant once
concert tickets for 30$? sweet
Depends on the scene/popularity of the band. If I have to pay more than $20, it better be a band I really want to see.
Sure, not Taylor Swift, but most shows are $30 or less
20% can’t enjoy the game if they’re not able to buy micro-transactions
Wtaf
By design. That’s… that’s literally what these games are for. You’re supposed to be addicted and frustrated until you fork over real money.
All the mechanisms that games use to make your brain do the happy juice are kept behind the part where you pay real money over and over.
The article admits this isn’t true and the money spent on these games is decreasing.
This is another corporate article blaming individuals for systemic economic failures.
Not just youth!
The older ladies at my work are candy crush/royal match fiends. They are hooked…
The problem is we socially dont view it as gambling (which it is), coupled with the fact its designed to be addictive.
There isnt a social stigma or support yet to stop playing and break the cycle
Candy crush costs money?
Also look into stuff like the “booster wheel”
game about gambling makes gambling addicts: americans shocked, more at 5
19%
that’s crazy
20s
and those should be completely mature people, most with some level of education
Something is completely broken there. But money must flow, I suppose.
It’s basically the same thing as gambling but with less regulations and social stigma. It’s not going to get better if no one does anything - and it’s not going to be the unregulated casinos cosplaying as gaming studios that will do it.
Completely mature in their 20s?
It’s down hill after that.
Yes. Completely mature.
Gotcha games should be fucking illegal.
Nothing inside a video game should cost real money.
Ban the entire business model.
Entertainment is a tool for emotional manipulation - usually toward enjoyment. Fiction seeks suspension of disbelief and attachment to completely artificial interests and goals. Charging actual currency for anything under that fiction is an abuse. It’s exploiting your brain’s fuzzy separation of wants. However much you desire a goal in soccer, it’s just a ball going through some posts. It has no economic utility. There is no exchange rate between score and hamburgers.
Maximizing that mistake is the entire driving force of this industry-swallowing abuse. It’s half of all revenue. Boycotts don’t work. It’s in $70, flagship-franchise, single-player games. It costs nothing to add, even in games you already bought. Only legislation will fix this.
Now the usual excuses.
‘Just don’t pay them.’ The entire game is expertly crafted to make you crave whatever they’re charging for. Games make you value arbitrary nonsense - that’s what makes them games. Gently convincing you over time is the developer’s job.
‘You want it for free!’ You want it ‘for free.’ I want people to buy games. Like how it worked for forty years straight.
‘But servers need money.’ This shit’s in World Of Warcraft - a subscription MMO. You think Blizzard is hurting?
‘But arcades–’ were renting someone else’s machine. Your own phone doesn’t get to charge you a quarter per minute.
‘But cosmetics–’ are still an engineered desire which can be denied until you pay more money.
‘But budgets–’ follow revenue, always always always. It has never been easier to make a game. Companies choose to spend millions because they expect to make billions.
‘Well it’s better value.’ This bullshit makes them more money… and they get the money from you… so this “free” bullshit costs you more money. You get it? In no reality should it be possible to pay the price of a whole-ass game for one imaginary hat.
I can not fathom the idea of spending that much on gacha
Neither could I, until I found out that my psychological profile was the target demographic. It was an expensive lesson to learn.
what was your experience, if you don’t mind me asking? what game snared you?
Fire Emblem Heroes. The game portion was nearly perfect pocket FE. But of course that was all just a wrapper for the gacha, and it only took a few months of playing before I cracked open the wallet. It’s just a few bucks, the game was free, what’s the harm? Things just went downhill from there. Rationally, I knew it was madness. I kept a spreadsheet tracking spend and results. And I knew that odds of rolling someone new went from bad to worse the more complete my roster got, but the hooks were in deep. It got BAD.
Took me a year and a half to delete my account, and just as long to dig myself out of the financial crater my face made.
Yeah, that’s how it goes. Glad you got out when you did.
I can’t fathom the idea of wanting to play that garbage, let alone spend money on micro-transactions in it, but maybe that’s just me, maybe my brain isn’t smooth enough to find games like that stimulating and entertaining.
Probably also the same reason all the people who have tried and to get me addicted to gambling have failed.
A lot of “that garbage” has better game design than some western “triple AAA titles” which a lot of are also filled with micro transations.
Especially Genshin which is shown in the article has so much content and still receives updates every 6 weeks. Every 6 weeks there is 1 or 2 new characters, a new region, new story, new orchestrated music, new events and so much more.
It is absolutely just to hate microtransactions but calling every game you don’t like garbage is like a child hating broccoli because a character in a TV show does. There is still incredible effort to make a somewhat good game, even in F2P Gachas or Fortnite for that matter.
I ways hate when a new game comes out and it’s a gacha game. I have no self control, so I always have to keep them at arms length. 😔
I feel bad for those young adults.
Young people do young people shit, always have and will. I ate beef and vegetable soup for 3 months straight to buy a new engine for my race car 20 years ago…
Dat avocado toast excuse, every time.
I haven’t heard of addictive design in the business model of avocado toast.
Based
Is this just the 80/20 rule?
Motherfucking young people and their fucking hobbies. How irresponsible.
Theres an actual difference between spending money on things you enjoy vs unable to pay for food and rent.
