Video games in the People's Republic of China

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

Video games in the People's Republic of China is a massive industry and pastime in the People's Republic of China (PRC) that includes the production, sale, import/export, and playing of video games. The landscape of the topic is strongly shaped by China's average income level, rampant software piracy, and governmental measures to control game content and playing times.

The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have a unique legal and cultural environments, and the information below does not apply there.

1 Domestically-produced games
2 Internet cafes
3 Piracy
4 Farming
5 Government controls
- 5.1 Limits on playing time
- 5.2 Censorship
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Domestically-produced games

China has a number of domestically produced games. These include the Genesis of the Century trilogy (The World of Legend, The Age, and Magical Land), Westward Journey, Perfect World, Learn from Lei Feng Online, and The Incorruptible Warrior.

[edit] Internet cafes

Although China's growing economy has boosted the economic prospects of most Chinese in the last couple of decades, the cost of a personal computer, video game console, or Internet connection remains prohibitive for many Chinese. Because of this, Internet cafes and Internet cafe gaming have become quite popular in the country. Rather than purchasing their own hardware and software, users are simply charged a small fee (often by the hour) to use an Internet cafe computer which often comes preloaded with a selection of games.

[edit] Piracy

See also: Intellectual property violation in the People's Republic of China

Because of the high amount of software piracy in China, many foreign game companies have been reluctant to enter the country's market with single player or console games. Instead, they have focused on selling online titles such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games as income from these titles comes largely from subscription fees rather than the purchase price of the title itself.

Nintendo claims that, as of February 14, 2008, China remains the main source of manufacturing pirated Nintendo DS and Wii games. This has resulted from its refusal to release any original products in the country.^[1]

[edit] Farming

See also: game sweatshop

As of December 2005, there were an estimated 100,000 Chinese employed as "farmers", video game players who work to acquire virtual currency or items in online games so they can be sold to other players for real currency.^[2]

[edit] Government controls

[edit] Limits on playing time

In recent years, the Chinese government has shown increasing concern over what it perceives as problems with the addictions to and negative influences from video games.

The Beijing Reformatory for Juvenile Delinquents claimed in 2007 that a third of its detainees were influenced by violent online games or erotic websites when committing crimes such as robbery and rape.^[3] In a high-profile case from October of 2004, 41-year-old Qiu Chengwei was sentenced to death for murdering 26-year-old Zhu Caoyuan over a dispute regarding the sale of a virtual weapon the two had jointly won in the game Legend of Mir 3.^[4] Also, in September 2007, a Chinese man in Guangzhou died after playing Internet video games for three consecutive days in an Internet cafe.^[5]

[edit] Censorship

As with almost all mass media in the country, video games in China are subject to the policies of censorship in the People's Republic of China.

In 2004, the Ministry of Culture set up a committee to screen imported online video games before they entered the Chinese market. It was stated that games with any of the following violations would be banned from importation:^[6]

Violating basic principles of the Constitution
Threatening national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity
Divulging state secrets
Threatening state security
Damaging the nation's glory
Disturbing social order
Infringing on others' legitimate rights

The State General Administration of Press and Publication and anti-porn and illegal publication offices have also played a role in screening games.^[7]

Examples of banned games have included:

Hearts of Iron (for "distorting history and damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity")^[8]
I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike (for "intentionally blackening China and the Chinese army's image")^[9]
Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour (for "smearing the image of China and the Chinese army")^[8]