Chinese Government Targets Online Games (Again)

Chinese Government Targets Online Games (Again)

January 17, 2008
According to Reuters, the Chinese government plans to release new regulations designed to crack down on "undesirable elements" of online games.

Chinese officials have expressed concern about supposed video game addiction and have blamed much of the nation's youth crime on overexposure to games and the Internet. Kou Xiaowei of the General Administration of Press and Publication said:
Although China's online gaming industry had been hot in recent years, online games are regarded by many as a sort of spiritual opium and the whole industry is marginalized by mainstream society. If we don't make adjustments, the industry will suffer sooner or later.

Reuters notes that attempts to regulate gaming in China have been hampered by the country's lack of a rating system and the ready availability of pirated games.
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Submitted by Cheeselikesceareal - January 17, 2008 at 7:30 am -0500
'Reuters notes that attempts to regulate gaming in China have been hampered by the country’s lack of a rating system and the ready availability of pirated games.'


That pretty much says everthing about anything the Chinese tries to block.
Submitted by Mnementh2230 - January 17, 2008 at 7:34 am -0500
I just can't bring myself to care about the restrictions in China - they made their bed years ago during their last civil war, and now they're sleeping in it.
Submitted by Tom - January 17, 2008 at 7:40 am -0500
Ah China - they try so hard to be the kinder, gentler totalitarian Communist regime. "Sure we're Commies, but we're not North Korea!" Certainly in such a friendly and open place there couldn't be an ulterior motive for government action aimed at clamping down on expression? Heavens, no!

If you buy the Chinese gov's reason for new regulations then we should talk about a bridge I've got for sale on the Hudson.
Submitted by C'tri - January 17, 2008 at 7:49 am -0500
/eyeroll
the 'problem' is that much of the gaming community is technically proficient enough to secure downloads/ pirated games.
the only way for the chinese government to stop online games, is to remove all the phonelines and other internet connections in the country.
the ONLY way.

they cannot realistically filter the content that reaches their people, it just doesnt work after a certain point.
Submitted by RJ - January 17, 2008 at 9:03 am -0500
Could it also be that China has so much control over everything in their people's lives that teenagers are rebelling against it? Nah, that couldn't be it. Could it?
Submitted by Thomas P. - January 17, 2008 at 9:16 am -0500
First its 5 hour limit per day in WoW.
Next, they thought Undead were scary, so they changed the graphics.

What is next?
Submitted by Chris Wallace, Lawyer - January 17, 2008 at 9:27 am -0500
Another rediculous attempt to control the spread of democratic thought.

In an ironic way is can be said that such measures DO protect their youth. We all saw what happened when chinese kids, filled with thoughts of freedom, decided to demonstrate...
Submitted by Rakki - January 17, 2008 at 9:37 am -0500
Ah, so the youth crime in China isn't related to the soaring poverty, substance abuse, social dissent, and rapid industrialization. It's the games. Of course.
Submitted by BlackIce, Dragunov Marksman - January 17, 2008 at 10:32 am -0500
Are there not many Governments around the world doing the same thing? I'm not at all suprised you come out hardest against the Chinese.
Submitted by HCF - January 17, 2008 at 12:29 pm -0500
BlackIce, GP has reported on other countries - in today's update even! His report in both cases seems to just cover the facts...I don't see how you can say he's coming down hardest on China when this is really just a pointer to a Reuters story.

If you mean the commenter's replies, well I have to admit that most who comment here (including myself) are more sympathetic to societies that share our same views on basic human rights. The real motivation we perceive behind this media excerpt is offensive to the core.

From that Reuters report;

"Other unregistered establishments were tucked in the upper floors of otherwise empty buildings. "This shows the difficulties the law enforcers face," Xinhua noted."

Unregistered Internet cafes. Like we register handguns and aren't allowed to own assault rifles (in some states)? People are going to jail over this! The lucky ones just get their property confiscated. Let's hope none of them tried to take video of the events with their cellphones...would hate to think anyone got beaten to death over this.
Submitted by BlackIce, Dragunov Marksman - January 17, 2008 at 12:45 pm -0500
I am of course, refering to the comments and not Dennis's reporting.
Submitted by ZippyDSMlee - January 17, 2008 at 2:50 pm -0500
BlackIce, Dragunov Marksman
and being harsh on a totalitarian goverment is wrong?
or being harsh on a fou democracy(USA) is wrong? ^_~

We btch therefore we are :P
Submitted by broken scope - January 17, 2008 at 2:54 pm -0500
Because china manages to take the whole thing to another level. They do it, they have done it, and they will continue to do it. This is not about china actually being communist or communist light. This is about china having a very repressive and at some levels corrupt government that abuses the rights of its people.

This article only pertains to china anyways. Discussion of other countries would be off topic.
Submitted by shady8x - January 17, 2008 at 6:50 pm -0500
First I would like to say that the Chinese comparison between video games and opium is a very good comparison...

Some may think the comparison is at least in poor taste, I say that not only is it right on the money but basically explains in great detail the real reason behind the crackdown on games to anyone that knows about Chinese history...

Opium caused the Boxer Rebellion that kicked the west out of china, now games are bringing the west into China and threaten to kick the commies out with a rebellion of the young educated Chinese...

IF you were a Chinese commie trying to control and repress your people wouldn't you be worried too?
Submitted by Sujet - January 17, 2008 at 8:30 pm -0500
People can't commit crimes if they are too busy playing WoW.
Submitted by HCF - January 18, 2008 at 10:48 am -0500
No, they just commit virtual crimes.
Submitted by Archgabe - January 18, 2008 at 6:21 pm -0500
Remember kids. They do have thought crimes in China.
Submitted by figsnake12 - February 1, 2008 at 8:05 am -0500
VIDEO GAMES DO NOT ENCOURAGE VIOLENCE. IF YOU DISAGREE IN ANY WAY CONTACT ME AT : figsnake12@googlemail.co.uk
Submitted by Tanya - February 15, 2008 at 6:21 am -0500
Online games have been expanding like nothing on the Internet.
Many new online gaming sites have come up.
Even I'm a big sucker of online games. They are susually easy on systems, have a light theme and can be interesting without getting addictive.

Some of the latest that I came across are from Zapak.com.. Zapak is has now launched games even for the mobile platform. Given the mobile phones penetration, this is a huge add-on. Now we can easily play games while commuting etc.. Just loved the way they have structured the games in this category.

Here is the link

http://www.zapak.com/zapakmobi.zpk?utm_source=b
Submitted by Ashi Kacheria - March 13, 2008 at 6:08 am -0500
Wonderful post
Zapak has been expanding a lot, lately.
I was a total addict at Indiagames until Zapak came.
The range and quality of games available at Zapak is just mindblowing.And to top it all, they now support it with offline events like Gameplexes.
What I discoverd was that you can even embed their games as widgets in your blog. I tested one.
Here is the link

Although I have not yet started utilizing the full potential, I can see this adding a lot of value to gaming bloggers.
Would like to see your comments about the same on my blog.
:D

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