http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4887236.stm
China wrestles with online gamers
By Richard Taylor
The public face of modern, metropolitan China is all gleaming towers and
conspicuous consumption.
But behind the facade of the new China lies a less glamorous underbelly, a
world inhabited largely by the next generation.
Internet cafes do not often look up to much but, for the country's 30
million online gamers, they offer a means of escape to worlds far, far
beyond.
The hugely popular World of Warcraft is typical of role-playing fantasy
games. Hundreds of players can be pitted against each other at any one time,
using their in-game characters to battle it out for status and riches in
this virtual universe.
However, the real fortunes are made elsewhere, by the games providers
themselves. Last year alone, Chinese players paid out $500m (£280m) in
subscriptions for this part-time escapism.
Online addicts
The government wants a piece of the action too, recently announcing it will
invest almost $2bn (£1.14bn) developing the industry.
Gaming analyst Jim Sun says: "They try to encourage the local games
companies to improve their in-house game development capability, so in
future they can export more and import less."
But there is a social price to be paid. Players often spend hour upon hour
in front of PC monitors, not even taking a breather for life's most basic
necessities.
Some even end up at Beijing's internet addiction centre. It opened its doors
last year to players who are prepared to slay their own demons and take up
healthier living.
To the Chinese authorities, the mere existence of the centre is symptomatic
of the dangers the internet can present.
Keeping control
So the same government actively encouraging home-grown gaming is, somewhat
schizophrenically, drawing the conclusion that the online gamers themselves
should be regulated.
Since the end of last year they have taken aim at the hardcore players,
issuing directives to make sure the games have technical blocks hindering
excessive game play.
Under the new system, your online character becomes less and less effective.
After three hours, the number of in-game "experience points" for, say,
killing an opponent are reduced by half.
After five hours you do not get any at all. It is called the fatigue system.
One government official told Click the new directive has won the support of
both players and parents.
Kou Xiao Wei, from the Chinese Internet Agency, said: "This regulation
strikes a good balance between the interests of the games developers on the
one hand, and the need to foster a healthy game-playing environment on the
other.
"I think in the long run people will come to realise the importance of this
new directive."
This may happen in time, perhaps. But for now the regulations are proving
easy to skirt.
One cafe owner said they are not a problem because players can simply swap
to other games, or play the same game under a different account.
But this is not a battle the government is prepared to lose. With immense
resources at its disposal it is set to tighten its white knuckle grip even
further.
FromJune it will test an authentication system. Players will be able to use
only one gaming account, which will be tied to their real-world identity
cards and matched against a government database.
Benefits of gaming
Games makers like Kingsoft have little choice but to comply with the
government on these new directives.
Their developers are spending time and money rewriting the code to
accommodate the restrictions.
Asian countries need to criticise and really review our education system
Bruce Ren, Kingsoft
But they believe online gaming is being given a bad name by the excesses of
the few and that, far from being regulated on the basis that it is
unhealthy, it should be actively encouraged.
Kingsoft's Bruce Ren says: "A game is not a completely negative thing,
because in our human development, when we were children we were always
addicted to something, which is actually very helpful.
"Just simply by moving your fingers very quickly when you were a child
helped your brain grow. Actually Asian countries need to criticise and
really review our education system."
Though that is not likely to happen soon, this is a phenomenon slowly
seeping its way into the mainstream.
While the Chinese authorities are intent on regulating online gaming, they
are at the same time helping to unleash a monster.
The real question is whether they can tame it.
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