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Only in Japan: Famista features wanted murderers in a computer game photo

Kinky porn, panda poking games, and short skirts: Japan's got it all when it comes to the weird and wacky. For instance, take this recent story about the murder of 22 year old Lindsay Hawker, who was found last March in the apartment of a man named Tatsuya Ichihashi. Now, you can see Ichihashu's mug along with many other wanted criminals when you play an upcoming computer game from Famista Inc. Wha?

The free-to-play game aims to help police capture these criminals by making their faces publicly available. Ok, that's not a bad idea. However, the clincher is that in order to see the faces and find out detailed information about the wanted men, you have to hit the jackpot in the game. So when I win I get a bunch of lowlifes? Wow. No, really, this is great.

The National Police Agency has not officially endorsed the project, and while I am far from against the idea, I definitely find the jackpot thing baffling. Let's hope for the sake of Miss Hawker's family that the person who has a lead on her killer happens to be a gamer ... and a patient one at that.

[Via Sky News -- Thanks, Touchscreen Gamer!]








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Colette Bennett is a Destructoid features editor from New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also a founding member of Destructoid's sister sites Tomopop, a toy lover's blog and Japanator, our anime site. Likes Nintendo DS, NES, Silent Hill series, Rhythm games, RPGs Meet the rest of the team



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9 comments | showing # 1 to 9
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Touch's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 11:27
Touch
I totally agree about the jackpot element - if they're looking to reach a wider audience, why restrict it to people who get the top score? Weird indeed. I feel kind of bad that my first dtoid "tip" involved a brutal murder but, y'know, I'll take my props wherever I can get 'em.....
Gameboi's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 11:31
Gameboi
I can appreciate what they are trying to do, but it's a bad idea. Keep their faces plastered all over the media, and they will be remembered. Stay away from ma' games!
gamadaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 11:50
gamadaya
If you get the super special jackpot (1 in sixty billion chance), it tells you his current location.
KMCC's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 12:07
KMCC
Sad AND nonsensical.

Also, is that a picture of the girl that was killed? If so, bad taste Colette.
Tristero's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 12:13
Tristero
Thanks for bringing attention to such a weird piece of news, Colette. Reality's so much weirder than fiction. It sounds like a cliche, but it's true. If someone wrote a story about this criminal videogame concept, it would seem so contrived. Real life is just so crazy that it almost escapes fiction's abilities to comprehend and make sense of. And I'll stop pontificating in 3, 2, 1 ...
Colette Bennett's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 12:41
Colette Bennett
@Tristero -- I can;t take credit -- it was all Touchscreen gamer! Still, it's definitely worth thinking about...
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 13:04
Holyetheline
This is really weird... a good idea being executed a bit poorly in my opinion.
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2008 13:33
Sharpless
Where's Rorschach when you need him? :(
Batthink's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/16/2008 10:48
Batthink
When you think about this, it might be a good idea to try and keep these cases in the public eye this way.

I remember a case where a British hostess got murdered, and the family was frustrated because the Japanese police weren't really bothered about finding a hostess, alive or not. It didn't take much to track her last movements and find her alledged killer (whilst the guy was found not guilty, the killer was found guilty of another murder and several rapes). The problem was that she disappeared in a way that suggested that she was in trouble, and time was wasted. Trust me, I think it is less poor taste than it sounds, as least in Japan with that kind of policing attitude.
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