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
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:
Let’s look at the article.
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
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