Primary Navigation
Secondary Navigation
Search:
All News
Yahoo! News Only
News Photos
Audio/Video
China to set new rules to vet online game content
Tue May 31, 1:06 PM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - China is to release a set of new rules to vet the content of online games as part of a campaign to combat what it sees as harmful influences on the young, state media said.
"The move is part of governmental efforts to purify the content of online games, prompted by strong public pleas," reported Xinhua news agency.
Under new rules drawn up by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information Industry to be released in June, game manufacturers are required to revise game rules that might lead to addiction, it said.
The two ministries will also recommend a number of healthy "premium games" endorsed by the government to youngsters during the summer vacation.
"Players of online games are mostly people under 35 years old," Zhang Xinjian, a cultural ministry official, was quoted as saying.
"These people are prone to the negative influences of sex, violence and other types of unhealthy content in online games."
The report quoted the example of a 13-year-old boy who leaped to his death from a 24-storey building in a flying posture, after leaving a note saying he was joining three friends, who were characters of an online game.
Beijing launched a nationwide crackdown on online computer games last year, banning foreign games with sensitive political content such as those portraying Tibet and the western region of Xinjiang as independent nations.
The Ministry of Culture has already banned 50 electronic games earlier this year, including FIFA Soccer 2005 and Microsoft's Age of Mythology.
Xinhua said China now has 23 million online game players, a surge from 13.8 million in 2003.
China's Internet population reached 94 million at the end of last year and saw sales of online games in 2004 soar 47.9 percent to 2.47 billion yuan (298.44 million dollars).
RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
Not at All
Somewhat
Moderately
Highly
Very Highly
Average (Not Rated)
AP
AP
AP
AP
AP
Reuters
AP
Reuters
Reuters
AP
Sponsored Links
( )
Find what - Check out a review of the 6 major pay-per-click advertising networks. See how they measure up.
www.ppc-review.net
FindWhat.com - $5 Sign-Up Bonus For Your Advertising Account - Advertise with FindWhat Performance Driven Marketing.
www.pepperjam.com
Proven results with solutions that offer personal account management, ROI tracking, daily optimization, customized reporting, and no setup fee.
www.consumerbase.com
An Internet cafe in Shanghai. China is to release a set of new rules to...
RELATED QUOTES
2089.05
+1.19
956.34
+1.00
405.68
+0.30
Delayed Data
-
Add headlines to your personalized My Yahoo! page
Technology - AFP
TECH TUESDAY
Make your car a rolling entertainment, communications vehicle.
- -
Search:
All News
Yahoo! News Only
News Photos
Audio/Video
Primary Navigation
Copyright © 2005 . All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
Go here to read more:http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050531/tc_afp/chinainternetgames
