Apparently a Japanese arcade has decided to take steps to ensure that the fine folks who are in their arcade are spending money and not sitting around playing mobile games instead. So what did this arcade do to try and persuade patrons to spend their money on the arcade’s games? Ban smartphones of course. While this is definitely filed under the ‘Humor’ category of news, there is some interesting things to note about this situation.
One interesting thing to note is the sign announcing the ban of smartphones on their property doesn’t just ban them in general but specifically calls out on particular game as well. This game is Puzzles & Dragons from GungHo Entertainment which has become ridiculously popular since its release onto iOS and Android, and this is especially true for Japan with the numbers from May 2013 regarding downloads being around 13.3 million in Japan alone. That’s about 10% of the countries population which is a lot. Take the rest of the world into account and you can see how GungHo Entertainment pulls in around $3 million a day in revenue from Puzzles & Dragons.
It looks like people are playing it so much, at least in or near this arcade, that it prompted the ban on smartphones on this property. The sign also states that you can’t bring food in that wasn’t bought in the arcade. Breaking either rule will result in you getting kicked out of the arcade.
Website Referenced: Kotaku
