By Daniela Ivančáková Common for the locals, unimaginable for the foreigners: In Taiwan, you can gamble for diapers, fresh vegetables, or even the Line ID of an attractive person. (photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times) Just around the corner, all across the island – it is estimated that there are 200,000 claw machines in Taiwan. We have seen them, passed around or maybe even stopped and wondered about the bizarre nature of the prizes or whether it is worth it. The claw machines themselves aren’t an unknown concept, it is their extreme popularity and unusual contents that catch the eye of a foreigner. Famous overnightThe big boom happened in 2017 when the yellow machines suddenly flooded the land. Starting off as an exciting trend, targeting mainly kids and youth, the gamble for various items has soon become a popular activity for all age groups. Today, however, the claw machine arcades have partially lost their spark. In the centers of larger cities, the craze remains, but suburban districts and smaller towns tend to be nothing but decorated with empty halls full of claws. Only time will tell if it was just a quickly wear-off serotonin shot or a new significant beauty mark on Taiwan’s international image. How does it work? We have all seen a claw machine before and these are no different, at least not in how you operate them. One grab normally costs 10 NTD which, fun fact, caused increased production of 10-dollar coins. Usually, these machines have a certain “guarantee”: if you pay a larger amount in advance (this amount differs from machine to machine), it will give you infinite tries until you manage to get something. Despite that, the only more talked-about thing than the claws themselves might be whether the machines are rigged or not. All you ever wanted and more… It is truly hard to determine what is the weirdest thing you can get. This extensive list includes sex toys, cleaning supplies, used textbooks, instant noodles, light bulbs, and even live animals such as crayfish. (photo: Good Times) (photo: Taipei Times) (photo: Reddit) One of the oddest things, that even made it to international news, are claw machines serving as mediators of “soft” sex work. Aside from Line IDs of sexy people, which, by the way, have a refund if the person does not respond within 36 hours, the viral photo capturing women in bikinis inside the claw machines has flown around the world. Now of course, the tabloidized narratives presenting it as a “win a lover” situation were false and the women were only supposed to help people get prizes, however, this points out the lengths the claw machine craze went to, by objectifying women and using the “sex sells” strategy, even though these were originally targeted at children. (photo: Daily Mail)
A grip too tight To dig a bit deeper into the serious grounds of Taiwanese claws, the frequently used word in this context is “addiction”. Taking into consideration that gambling is illegal in Taiwan, it may seem that the claw machines simply filled the gap in the market. As mentioned before, something that started as an innocent child’s game quickly grew into a national phenomenon with a dangerous subtone. It isn’t hard to find stories of people who gambled away monthly salaries, savings for tuition fees of their children, or even took loans to continue this unhealthy habit. Even though it looks like the biggest hype around claws is already gone, you can still find some middle-aged people throwing in one coin after another in an exciting fight for a hand sanitizer. Another controversy tied to these yellow machines is their illegal correlation. According to research conducted in 2019, 70% of claw machine arcades were illegal, either in the sense of selling illegal goods, such as fake brands or stolen items, or breaking the 100-meter law. Although this relatively newly established law prohibits claw machines within 100-meter proximity to schools, it has never been strictly put into effect. Besides that, there are also many conspiracies about money laundering or already-mentioned rigged machines, but none proven. So, do you want to play? References: Everington, K. (2019, April 5). 70% of claw machine stores surveyed in major Taiwanese cities are illegal. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3673239#:~:text=TAIPEI%20(Taiwan%20News)%20–%20The,within%20100%20meters%20of%20schools. Yang, S. (2018, August 3). Five unusual claw game prizes in Taiwan. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3496887 台北時報. (2020, March 2). Councilor calls for action on claw machines. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/11/05/2003681706 台北時報. (2020b, March 4). Psychiatrist says addiction to claw machines an issue. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/03/19/2003711774 a
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May 2024
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