China has instituted new rules regarding internet gaming by minors – after three hours of gameplay, a message pops up suggesting that they stop and get some exercise. No word yet on whether Wii Tennis counts. After the three hour mark, kids only earn half-points in the games, until the fifth hour, when their points are wiped out completely. The three-hour limit is ostensibly based on the amount of time it takes to play a game of Go, a traditional board game.
Under the regulations, internet gaming companies have to install a program that requires users to login with their official ID numbers, allowing the program to distinguish the 16 year olds playing as young half-orc missionaries from the 45 year olds playing as teenaged dark elf rangers. Intended to promote a “healthy online culture,” these restrictions complement China's notorious internet censorship and surveillance programs.
The rules were promulgated by China's General Administration of Press and Publication, who commented that “measured gaming is good for the brain, but gaming addiction hurts the body.” Hurts the grades, too, I can vouch for that. World of Warcraft, with 3.5 million members in China, has already implemented the registration program, but doesn't expect to see a decline in gameplay, since most of its users are adults. Since the restrictions are based on a user's own input of his or her ID number, they can be circumvented by using borrowed or fake credentials.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Christos_m2001.
Comments are closed on this article
tau_zero
July 23, 2007 at 6:37pm
gosh, controlling the amount of time kids are allowed to play online games.
what will china do next? control the peoples rights to have children?
vaemor
July 23, 2007 at 9:53am
I don't think that kind of stuff would ever work very well.. Just think about what would happen over here for example. underage teens are noobish yes - but still, nowadays they're smart enough to circumvent these things if they wanted; and don't get me started with smart asians..
all those kids that play for more than three hours and who don't like these restrictions, will look for a way to get past them.
Print
