James Delahunty
25 Aug 2005 3:03
China is soon going to be imposing limits on how much time gamers spend playing online video games. The controls that the government in Beijing will be introducing are aimed at deterring gamers from playing for longer than three hours straight. The government says it has the gamers' health in mend with the new controls that are aimed mostly at online role-playing games like World of Warcraft. Twenty million gamers play regularly in China, mainly in Internet Cafes.
Gamers in China spent nearly US$500 million on games last year. The government has encouraged the growth of gaming online and is hosting a two day conference in Beijing hoping to attract more foreign investment. However, the popularity of the games is growing so rapidly that it has led to concerns that some people may be getting too caught up in these game. In one case that's used as a tragic example, a player killed a fellow player for stealing a virtual sword. He later received a suspended death sentence.
New measures are now expected to be introduced in October. The new system will impose penalties on players who spend more than three hours at a game. The abilities of the gamers' characters will be reduced past the three hour limit. After five hours the abilities of the character will become severely Llimited. Also players are forced to take a break of at least five hours before they can return and play a game.
"The timing mechanism can prevent young people from becoming addicted to online games," said Xiaowei Kou, of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), the body which regulates online gaming. All the biggest game operators in the country said they will implement the system and they are prepared to sacrifice short term revenues or the sake of the gamers' health. The operators have little choice anyway as they need government approval to offer online gaming.
Source:
BBC News