The government of China is forcing online game manufacturers to start coercing players to get off after 3 hours of play (and taking a 5 hour rest).
In China yesterday, the government agency that oversees the online game industry said that testing of a system to regulate the number of hours gamers spend online will be ready for deployment this October.
The system will impose penalties on players who spend more than three hours gaming online. The system is slated to be fully operational in late 2006 or early 2006 and will be compulsory for all massively multiplayer online role-playing and online casual games.
“This timing mechanism can prevent young people from becoming addicted to online games,” Xiaowei Kou, the deputy director of the general administration of press and publication (GAPP), said during a press conference in Beijing.
According to the Interfax news service, an official arm of the Chinese government, the system reduces the ability level of a player’s online game character if the game is played beyond the three-hour limit. Basically, play more than three hours and the system cuts a game character’s ability by half. Play more than five hours and the system reduces a game character’s ability to the lowest level possible.
Sounds like another reason not to move to China …