Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Random Picture #141


Snacks are pretty common prizes in crane games in Japan. Most of the time though, they are full of sweets and salty treats in order to cater to the tastes of youthful gamers and bored salary men who prefer to get their otsumami (snacks to be eaten with drinks, usually alcoholic ones) after their skillful ministrations rather than simply by going to a convenience store.

For a game, I can understand putting in what could be considered "fun" food prizes. By "fun", I mean junk food. This machine has boxes of Calorie Mate. For those who don't know what this is, well, you can read my reviews or take my word for it that they are food-like substances that resemble a cruddy shortbread cookie. They're made essentially as meal substitutes for those who want nutrition without the bother of actually eating nutritious food. So, my though was, what sort of person both finds Calorie Mate and playing games appealing? I always saw Calorie Mate as something that people who were a shade more interested in working or studying than in relaxing would pursue, especially since, while not a bad bit of psuedo-food, it's not exactly something you turn to for pure enjoyment.

As a little reminder to readers who may have missed it, or to those who haven't gotten around to entering, I'm offering a box of the current Tokyo regional KitKats (rum raisin) as a contest prize. You can read about it and enter here. The contest ends on Christmas day 2012, so enter early, but only once, please. Also, please remember that comments are moderated so there is a delay between your making the comment and it being posted. Many people are submitting comments two or three times because they are not showing up immediately. Rest assured that your comment will be posted and it is not necessary to submit multiple times. 

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