Gambling is illegal in China, super illegal, which is one of the many reasons Macao is now the gambling capital of the world. In China, gambling is often associated with video game arcades. To circumvent gambling in arcades, Shanghai authorities are now putting "black boxes" inside arcade machines.
That's right. Shanghai Morning Post is reporting that Shanghai public security has gotten in touch with Chinese arcade manufacturers to put in tamper detectors in new arcade machines.
In China, arcades are constantly associated with gambling. Internet cafes and video game arcades often carry signs that read "No gambling allowed."
The association also comes with the fact that some arcades and net cafes have been revealed to be underground gambling dens. Gambling was the reason why there was a massive arcade cabinet destruction a few years back.
Just last week, Shanghai police cracked down on a gambling den in the Putou district of Shanghai. Twelve men were arrested for running the den and their arcade machines and profits were confiscated by the police.
These new tamper detectors are said to work similarly to airplane black boxes, machines that log a plane's travel. When these chips detect a change in the arcade cabinet that isn't "normal," the chip will dial out to public security.
上海警方敦促游戏机加装“黑匣子”以防被篡改 [Shanghai Morning Post via Sina Games]
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Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie