Irate customers inside a JC Penney store this morning demanded an explanation for an unprecedented inventory problem: no belts were available for men, women or children. “Whoever heard of a clothing store runnin’ outta belts? I just need something to keep my pants around my waist,” said Lenny McCraw, a 77-year old retired mechanical engineer. “This is worse than during the war!”

Supply-chain management professionals say that unexpected demand from Japanese character designers– particularly Tetsuya Nomura– have caused a run on the belt inventories around the world.

“We figured there were enough belts for everyone, even if people wanted a couple to alternate between,” said a buyer for a major clothier, who asked not to be identified. “But I was calling around the other day and kept getting the same story. ‘We’re out of stock, we’re out of stock, some guy from Square Enix came in and bought them all up.’”

In a statement, Square Enix responded by saying it was exploring its options along with belt designers, manufacturers and distributors, who are ramping up production to meet the increased demand. “We continue to search for ways to develop our games responsibly,” the release stated, while adding that “We wouldn’t do it if it didn’t look awesome.”

As video game technology has advanced, the number of belts able to be worn on a single character has increased exponentially from the 8-belt characters of yesteryear. Today’s big-budget blockbusters commonly feature 64-belt or even 128-belt graphics.

Additional reporting by friend of Hardcasual Matthew Wasteland.