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Stealing veggies online a harmful game that undermines values
By Wu Jiayin |
October 16, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S press authority has tightened controls over online games twice in two months, sending the clear signal that the negative impacts of online games on society have grown too big to be neglected.
A circular jointly released by China's General Administration of Press and Publication and the National Copyright Administration over the weekend banned foreign investors from operating online games "in any form" in the country, Shanghai Daily reported on October 12.
The rule also tightened control over domestic online game businesses. It said no organizations or individuals could run online game businesses without permits from the GAPP, and online games without approval would not be allowed to operate.
At the end of August, the GAPP banned 45 online games and warned 27 online game providers in a crackdown on illegal games and unhealthy content - violence, crime, gambling, pornography, and so on. Behind the stricter controls is the growing concern over online gaming's negative social impacts.
Originally a marginalized culture, the online game industry underwent unprecedented development during the past 10 years and has attracted about 55 million online game players in China, over half of them under 22, the China Internet Network Information Center reported early this year.
Net addiction
Net addiction is also increasing, especially among the young. A survey by China Youth Internet Assn in 2007 showed that nearly 10 percent of the estimated 160 million young Netizens are addicted, especially to online games.
The survey was conducted in 12 large cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. More than 11,000 questionnaires were analyzed.
One popular game by kaixin001.com allows players to either grow or steal others' vegetables online and then sell them for virtual currency.
The simple game realized many ordinary people's dream of becoming a millionaire with little hard work, at least on the Internet.
Many people were so addicted to the game that they would access the game at any time of day or night just to collect their own vegetables (otherwise the vegetables might be stolen) and to steal others' vegetables. Similar cases abound.
As a result, it is no longer news that some young white collars get fired for playing Net games during work or that some students drop out from school due to Internet addiction.
Apart sapping motivation for study or for work, growing Internet addiction leads to problems such as reduced communication skills in real life, denial of reality and even higher crime rates.
Many online games involve illegal content that misleads young people and undermines traditional values.
Accordingly, more and more parents are sending their children to so-called Internet addiction rehabilitation camps, but these are of dubious value.
In August, a 16-year-old Internet addict was beaten to death by supervisors of a camp in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Real culprit
While supervisors and the camp were widely criticized and punished, few people called for more restrictions, or a total ban, of online games - the real culprit.
On the contrary, the online gaming industry is widely regarded as a "sunrise" industry. Last year, online games generated revenue of an estimated 18 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion).
In 2003, while the industry was eyed as a new engine of economic growth, it was listed among the 10 biggest lucrative industries in China.
So far, over 10 online game providers in China have become profitable publicly listed companies. The industry has produced hundreds of millionaires or even billionaires.
Jin Jin, a 25-year-old Hangzhou native, is typical. Jin, a drop-out after one year's study at Zhejiang Science and Technology University, became a billionaire after founding ferrygame.com, Shanghai Daily reported on October 12.
He is now recognized as a successful entrepreneur who managed to make his fortune despite his mediocre academic performance and communication skills.
Given the overwhelming disadvantages and perils of online games, it makes no sense to call these "successful" people socially beneficial.
A circular jointly released by China's General Administration of Press and Publication and the National Copyright Administration over the weekend banned foreign investors from operating online games "in any form" in the country, Shanghai Daily reported on October 12.
The rule also tightened control over domestic online game businesses. It said no organizations or individuals could run online game businesses without permits from the GAPP, and online games without approval would not be allowed to operate.
At the end of August, the GAPP banned 45 online games and warned 27 online game providers in a crackdown on illegal games and unhealthy content - violence, crime, gambling, pornography, and so on. Behind the stricter controls is the growing concern over online gaming's negative social impacts.
Originally a marginalized culture, the online game industry underwent unprecedented development during the past 10 years and has attracted about 55 million online game players in China, over half of them under 22, the China Internet Network Information Center reported early this year.
Net addiction
Net addiction is also increasing, especially among the young. A survey by China Youth Internet Assn in 2007 showed that nearly 10 percent of the estimated 160 million young Netizens are addicted, especially to online games.
The survey was conducted in 12 large cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. More than 11,000 questionnaires were analyzed.
One popular game by kaixin001.com allows players to either grow or steal others' vegetables online and then sell them for virtual currency.
The simple game realized many ordinary people's dream of becoming a millionaire with little hard work, at least on the Internet.
Many people were so addicted to the game that they would access the game at any time of day or night just to collect their own vegetables (otherwise the vegetables might be stolen) and to steal others' vegetables. Similar cases abound.
As a result, it is no longer news that some young white collars get fired for playing Net games during work or that some students drop out from school due to Internet addiction.
Apart sapping motivation for study or for work, growing Internet addiction leads to problems such as reduced communication skills in real life, denial of reality and even higher crime rates.
Many online games involve illegal content that misleads young people and undermines traditional values.
Accordingly, more and more parents are sending their children to so-called Internet addiction rehabilitation camps, but these are of dubious value.
In August, a 16-year-old Internet addict was beaten to death by supervisors of a camp in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Real culprit
While supervisors and the camp were widely criticized and punished, few people called for more restrictions, or a total ban, of online games - the real culprit.
On the contrary, the online gaming industry is widely regarded as a "sunrise" industry. Last year, online games generated revenue of an estimated 18 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion).
In 2003, while the industry was eyed as a new engine of economic growth, it was listed among the 10 biggest lucrative industries in China.
So far, over 10 online game providers in China have become profitable publicly listed companies. The industry has produced hundreds of millionaires or even billionaires.
Jin Jin, a 25-year-old Hangzhou native, is typical. Jin, a drop-out after one year's study at Zhejiang Science and Technology University, became a billionaire after founding ferrygame.com, Shanghai Daily reported on October 12.
He is now recognized as a successful entrepreneur who managed to make his fortune despite his mediocre academic performance and communication skills.
Given the overwhelming disadvantages and perils of online games, it makes no sense to call these "successful" people socially beneficial.
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