Better ratings sought for online games
Source: Xinhua |
March 11, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE parents are in grave need of a sound age rating system for online games to protect their children, according to a new study report.
The country still does not have a unified content rating system for the online games industry, which relies on individual games developers to put their own products into suitability-related groups.
According to a report from the government-backed www.youth.cn, only 39 percent some 423 games were age-rated by publishers.
Also, 51 percent of those labeled with an age restriction failed to pass a third party evaluation on the ratings, said the report, based on the website's assessments on those 423 games from October 2011 to last December.
Based on its own standard, the report found that 78.5 percent of the games should be restricted to adult players above 18, while only 2 percent were good for children aged six.
However, about 80 percent of China's more than 564 million Internet users are minors, who need more child-friendly or teenager-friendly games, the report said.
The report also said the major problems for online games were not violence, pornography or horror elements, as only 3 percent of the games failed to pass those tests. In-game-purchase traps were found in 58 percent of the games and gambling features in 35 percent, said the report, adding that 40 percent of the games do not have anti-addiction mechanisms.
It also noted that child-friendly games struggle to survive, as 13 qualified games were shut down by the operators. Those games deserve more favorable policies and financial support, said the report.
The country still does not have a unified content rating system for the online games industry, which relies on individual games developers to put their own products into suitability-related groups.
According to a report from the government-backed www.youth.cn, only 39 percent some 423 games were age-rated by publishers.
Also, 51 percent of those labeled with an age restriction failed to pass a third party evaluation on the ratings, said the report, based on the website's assessments on those 423 games from October 2011 to last December.
Based on its own standard, the report found that 78.5 percent of the games should be restricted to adult players above 18, while only 2 percent were good for children aged six.
However, about 80 percent of China's more than 564 million Internet users are minors, who need more child-friendly or teenager-friendly games, the report said.
The report also said the major problems for online games were not violence, pornography or horror elements, as only 3 percent of the games failed to pass those tests. In-game-purchase traps were found in 58 percent of the games and gambling features in 35 percent, said the report, adding that 40 percent of the games do not have anti-addiction mechanisms.
It also noted that child-friendly games struggle to survive, as 13 qualified games were shut down by the operators. Those games deserve more favorable policies and financial support, said the report.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
