The global economy is still in the crapper, leading to far fewer purchases of big-ticket luxury items like cars,  yachts, and private islands.  We all know that! All of us except Toyota, who’ve instead blamed a rather unlikely suspect – video games.

Nipponese Journalist Masahiro Kawaguchi, in an article about “date cars” has quoted a Toyota executive as saying “"Home game machines are no good. Playing something that realistic makes the need for cars disappear."

This, of course, is complete rubbish. Neither my Xbox 360 nor my PS3 have ever managed to get me from my house to the nearest Woolworths to procure a chicken mayonnaise sandwich.

Besides, no matter how incredible racing games become, they’ll always pale in comparison to the real thing.

According to the editorial “Guys used to work hard at their job so they could get a stylish, cool car for girl’s to ride in," but apparently that is a thing of the past. Maybe videogames are actually to blame; the unsettling trend of young Japanese males dating video game characters is on the increase – and they sure as hell aren’t impressed by flashy cars.

Maybe, just maybe though it’s the fact that Japan has a fantastic public transport system.

Source : Kotaku