As this report goes which i have shamelessly ripped off grom bbc news site
Gaming in china is no more fun, its leading to ...........(well better read the rip).......as follows
china imposes online gaming curbs
Some 1.5 million people play World of Warcraft in China
Gamers in China are facing new limits on how much time they can spend playing their favourite online game.
The government in Beijing is reported to be introducing the controls to deter people from playing for longer than three consecutive hours.
The measures are designed to combat addiction to online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft and Lineage II.
More than 20 million Chinese play games regularly, mainly in net cafes.
Extreme devotion
Games are serious business in China. Last year, Chinese players spent almost US$500m on online games.
The government has been encouraging the growth of online gaming. It is hosting a two-day games conference in September in Beijing in the hope of attracting more foreign investment.
But the phenomenal popularity of online games has fuelled concerns that some people may be losing themselves in the virtual worlds of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG).
In one extreme case, a player killed a fellow player who had stolen his virtual sword. The gamer received a suspended death sentence in June.
The measures announced by the Chinese authorities are due to be introduced from October.
Central control
The new system will impose penalties on players who spend more than three hours playing a game by reducing the abilities of their characters.
Gamers who spend more than five hours will have the abilities of their in-game character severely limited.
China opens game-addiction clinic
Facility uses electroshock, psychotherapy to treat gamers whose long hours online affect their physical and mental health.
Most gamers know how time-consuming a quality massively multiplayer online role-playing game can be. However, for some, playing an MMORPG can become a major habit that scuttles social relationships, wrecks workout schedules, and prevents one from leaving the house for on hours on end.
While the debate still rages in the West on whether or not habitual gamers are genuine addicts, China is moving ahead to address what it sees as a growing problem. According to the Associated Press, the Chinese government has opened the country's first clinic for "Internet addiction." Sporting two dozen nurses and doctors, the facility treats an undisclosed number of patients, mainly in their teens and early 20s.
"All the children here have left school because they are playing games or are in chat rooms every day," clinic director Dr. Tao Ran told the AP. "They are suffering from depression, nervousness, fear, an unwillingness to interact with others, panic, and agitation. They also have sleep disorders, the shakes, and numbness in their hands." Weight loss was another reported symptom.
The AP article quoted several gamers' recollections of their online habit. "In school I didn't pay attention when teachers were talking," said one 20-year-old ward. "All I could do was think about playing the next game. Playing made me happy. I forgot my problems."
The article only identified one addiction-prone game by name: Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 PC RPG Diablo. However, it did say teens were the ones who most often developed addiction-like habits while playing games. The article said older patients were more often overusing chat rooms to talk with "members of the opposite sex."
Dr. Tao told the paper that he estimates of China's 100-million-plus Internet users, 2.5 million are what he considers Internet addicts. His treatment regimen for patients at the facility includes therapy sessions, medication, acupuncture, athletic activities, and electrical shocks to pressure points, according to the AP.
WHEW wait till ur parents read this..............
>>AND U SAY GAMING IS FUN<<<<<<<<
Gaming in china is no more fun, its leading to ...........(well better read the rip).......as follows
china imposes online gaming curbs
Some 1.5 million people play World of Warcraft in China
Gamers in China are facing new limits on how much time they can spend playing their favourite online game.
The government in Beijing is reported to be introducing the controls to deter people from playing for longer than three consecutive hours.
The measures are designed to combat addiction to online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft and Lineage II.
More than 20 million Chinese play games regularly, mainly in net cafes.
Extreme devotion
Games are serious business in China. Last year, Chinese players spent almost US$500m on online games.
The government has been encouraging the growth of online gaming. It is hosting a two-day games conference in September in Beijing in the hope of attracting more foreign investment.
But the phenomenal popularity of online games has fuelled concerns that some people may be losing themselves in the virtual worlds of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG).
In one extreme case, a player killed a fellow player who had stolen his virtual sword. The gamer received a suspended death sentence in June.
The measures announced by the Chinese authorities are due to be introduced from October.
Central control
The new system will impose penalties on players who spend more than three hours playing a game by reducing the abilities of their characters.
Gamers who spend more than five hours will have the abilities of their in-game character severely limited.
China opens game-addiction clinic
Facility uses electroshock, psychotherapy to treat gamers whose long hours online affect their physical and mental health.
Most gamers know how time-consuming a quality massively multiplayer online role-playing game can be. However, for some, playing an MMORPG can become a major habit that scuttles social relationships, wrecks workout schedules, and prevents one from leaving the house for on hours on end.
While the debate still rages in the West on whether or not habitual gamers are genuine addicts, China is moving ahead to address what it sees as a growing problem. According to the Associated Press, the Chinese government has opened the country's first clinic for "Internet addiction." Sporting two dozen nurses and doctors, the facility treats an undisclosed number of patients, mainly in their teens and early 20s.
"All the children here have left school because they are playing games or are in chat rooms every day," clinic director Dr. Tao Ran told the AP. "They are suffering from depression, nervousness, fear, an unwillingness to interact with others, panic, and agitation. They also have sleep disorders, the shakes, and numbness in their hands." Weight loss was another reported symptom.
The AP article quoted several gamers' recollections of their online habit. "In school I didn't pay attention when teachers were talking," said one 20-year-old ward. "All I could do was think about playing the next game. Playing made me happy. I forgot my problems."
The article only identified one addiction-prone game by name: Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 PC RPG Diablo. However, it did say teens were the ones who most often developed addiction-like habits while playing games. The article said older patients were more often overusing chat rooms to talk with "members of the opposite sex."
Dr. Tao told the paper that he estimates of China's 100-million-plus Internet users, 2.5 million are what he considers Internet addicts. His treatment regimen for patients at the facility includes therapy sessions, medication, acupuncture, athletic activities, and electrical shocks to pressure points, according to the AP.
WHEW wait till ur parents read this..............
>>AND U SAY GAMING IS FUN<<<<<<<<