From games.Slashdot, we get the head-scratching link du jour. It appears that the idea that teenagers playing video games can kill each other (digitally, not literally, although that’s happened, too) doesn’t sit well with the Chinese Government. What is this, communism?
“Minors should not be allowed to play online games that have PK content, that allow players to increase the power of their own online game characters by killing other players,” Liu Shifa, head of the MOC’s Internet Culture Division, which drafts policies governing the online gaming market, told Interfax. “Online games that have PK content usually also contain acts of violence and leads to players spending too much time trying to increase the power of their characters. They are harmful to young people.”
I’m a little confused here. What’s the “harmful” thing to young people? Being able to kill each other or having to grind hour after hour to “increase the power of their characters”? Of course both can be viewed as harmful, but let’s be honest. How bad can it really be? Let the kids play and let them beat up on each other. It’s fun!
Oh, and that sound you heard when this was announced? Thousands of Chinese gamers cheering when they realized that the days of being PK’ed by a 12 year-old who plays all day and has a character named Legola5.
“…They are harmful to young people.”
Finally! A Government that understands the needs of the children!
Can anyone else draw parallels between the evil no-good commie Chinese government and the Great and Free US government? I think we are in a race to the end.