A 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing a PlayStation 5 from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo, and the news article’s phrasing — calling it a “popular game console” and “a game console known as the PlayStation 5” — set off a stir on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. While many in the thread pointed out that the console’s name recognition among the general public has slipped, attention also focused on just how sloppy the method was, allegedly hiding it among groceries to slip it past a self-checkout.
The PS5 just wasn’t recognized by society anymore…
In July, a 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing two game consoles from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo.
The suspect arrested on suspicion of theft is Norihiro Sakurada (27), a delivery worker from Asahikawa.
Is it actually true that this is a "popular game console"?
4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
It's rare for an article like this to actually name it
normally it's just "popular game console" or "game console"
6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
Elementary schooler: "What's a 'Pwaystation'?" (babytalk mispronunciation of PlayStation)
8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
Re: #6
Shh, you're not supposed to say that out loud
11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
"A popular game console known as the 'PlayStation 5'"
Doubt. (as in calling out a bluff, like the card game)
12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
The way they word it, like they've genuinely never heard of it, lol
13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
Sorry for having a popular game console, Nishi-kun (derisive nickname for Nintendo fanboys)
14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:27
If they're writing it assuming readers have no idea what a PS5 is, then it's actually accurate
15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
If it needs to be explained like that, doesn't that mean it's NOT popular?
16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
No wonder State of Play's viewership numbers are so rough…
19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
The guy who wrote this article is just clueless about games, that's all
20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
[Bad News for Nishi-kun] It's been confirmed all over again that the PS5 is actually popular
https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1791407183/
83AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:31
Re: #78
Looks like they're salty that the thread they made (Re: #20) flopped while this one took off
22AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:33
W-well, the headline does say "popular"…
"Popular game console 'PS5' x2 slipped past checkout hidden among groceries, discovered after being brought to a secondhand shop"
But seriously,
can you actually get through checkout with a method that sloppy?
29AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:38
Re: #22
There was a time when Sony made sure even TV news properly called it "PS"…
33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:41
Re: #22
Probably the old trick of stashing it on the bottom rack of the cart to slip past the register
27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
Same as "a crowbar-like object" — they probably just can't officially confirm it was a PlayStation 5 (famous vague phrasing Japanese news uses for unconfirmed items)
31AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:39
Re: #27
Guess it was an air purifier, then
28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
Well, it IS a popular game console — among scalpers, anyway
30AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:38
"The popular XX, as it's called"
guess this person's never even heard of it
32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:39
A store that rings it up together with groceries, displays the real unit instead of a dummy, AND has self-checkout? The store's security is way too lax, but it's a bold crime — or maybe this "thing called the PS5" sells so poorly they just got careless
34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:42
A store where you can buy groceries and a PS5 in the same place… sounds like Don Quijote (Japanese discount chain)
35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:42
Apparently some people try to sneak 10kg bags of rice through self-checkout
so a PS5 should be doable too
though they get caught eventually anyway
38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:44
Re: #31
But you know, I heard it apparently sucks in dust and blows it back out
39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:45
Well, even the games section is tiny these days
it's natural to just read this as the console's declining name recognition showing through
40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:45
Checked Google Maps and there's a Don Quijote Hiraoka store in Kiyota Ward — is this the place?
41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:46
Whoever wrote this isn't Japanese, right?
no native speaker would phrase a proper noun like that
45AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:49
Re: #41
Try swapping in "Xbox" or "3DO" or "LaserActive" instead
you'd have no choice but to write it this way too
61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:07
If something that costs tens of thousands of yen were really that popular, why was it just sitting around somewhere so easy to shoplift from…
71AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:16
Re: #61
Normally it'd be in a locked case or behind the counter, lol
64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:10
"As it's called" — that's not a phrase you usually hear in this kind of news story, lol
75AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
Re: #64
When they clearly know exactly what was stolen,
phrasing it this way only happens when the stolen item's name recognition is really, really low
78AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:24
There's a flood of duplicate threads right now trying to bury this one, lol
80AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:27
Maybe the "popular" part was just them assuming "well, it got stolen, so it's probably popular"
85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:32
Re: #80
No progress since Sony's radio-making days, huh
90AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:37
I guess it just means the official name is something different
though what that actually is, no idea…
91AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:38
Re: #90
Probably an air purifier
92AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:39
It's also funny that it got rung up as groceries
93AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:41
Re: #92
The PlayStation is a perishable good — it goes bad within a week of release
Background and Key Points of This Topic
This topic blew up on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board after a news article covering a game console theft used the phrase “popular game console, the PlayStation 5.” Several years after its release, the PS5 is well-regarded among gaming enthusiasts for its performance, but since the name itself still hasn’t fully penetrated the general news-reading public, the article is thought to have opted for this explanatory phrasing. In the thread, many users pointed to the laxness of the store’s security — despite being a product highly prone to resale scalping, it apparently could be carried out of the store just by hiding it in a self-checkout grocery cart. Note that the suspect’s real name and the details of the charges are already public information from news reports; this article limits itself to covering the thread’s reaction to the reporting’s wording.
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