Addicted Gamers Succumb To Cybercafe Thefts

Thanks to the Hong Kong Standard for their story discussing a sharp rise in petty theft from Hong Kong video game centers, a statistic they blame on addicted gamers losing track of their real-life possessions in a gaming swirl. According to Connitta Chau, New Territories South Crime Prevention Officer, "Players are often distracted when they play video games. Many customers put their phones on tables or computers", making them prime targets for having items stolen. She further revealed that "Thieves sometimes talked victims into letting them borrow their mobile phones and simply walked away with the handset." Do players need a purse or handbag to put their valuables in, or is there no way to cure the distracted real-life state of an avid gamer?

Comments

Not anything new, really

[fehlschlag]

Sadly, this is no different than being distracted at any event, e.g. concert, soccer, sleeping between connections at a train/bus station, ...

The people that have their things stolen in such a manner have nothing to whine about if they don't take pay attention, or carelessly leave things lying about.

On the bright side, there are still a number of people that make an effort to return stuff left in public buildings or transport (I know, different kind of carelessness, but same effect). I've run across a few in my history of folly, and can only applaude them.

Re:heh

[secolactico]

Yep. And so is this article.

Do players need a purse or handbag to put their valuables in

Where do they keep them when not gaming? Don't they have pockets? DO they walk around with the cell phone, wallet, pda, whatever in their hands?