An attempted robbery at a 24×7 game cafe close to the airport in Naha, Okinawa, Japan on May 25th has left one staff member dead and one seriously injured. The murderer is still on a run and police have sealed off the area surrounding the cafe for a thorough search.
Gaming cafes are largely popular in the SEA region. They are considered as a part of the local culture and as such many prefer to game in a cafe rather than owning personal hardware. Today Gaming Cafes have replaced the legacy of Arcades. A Gaming Cafe is generally easier to set-up than an Arcade while also costing way less. Nowadays Game Cafes also includes bars and kitchen to serve drinks and light snacks to customers. A gaming cafe can offer a variety of games and can repurpose their machines to new games at any time, unlike Arcades where the machine needs to be replaced to offer a new game.
According to Okinawa Times reports, the perpetrator was a man in his mid-40s who entered the store with a hidden knife, pretending to be a customer. The perpetrator than unsheathed his knife and demanded the workers empty the cash register, and when they refused, he attacked them with the knife.
Luckily at the time of the attack, the cafe was empty and no customers were at the scene. The suspect fled the scene before police arrived killing one female staff and seriously injuring one male staff member on the neck, who was able to flee to a nearby convenience store before suffering a fatal blow.
The police are currently investigating leads about the possible suspect on the charges of murder and robbery.
