Kapital Koopas: Video Games Can't Catch a Break

Last month we covered the controversy surrounding an article that dubbed video games the "mental opium" of young generations, and though this publication was forced to rewrite our original piece in an...ahem...softer tone, it nonetheless touched on a shockwave that continues to reverberate across the gaming industry.

Minors face toughest online gaming restrictions yet

The first time game addiction entered China's public discourse dates back to when World of Warcraft prevailed in the country. Today, this classic game is a communal memory among Millennials and Gen-Zers, but at the time, it was the archenemy of parents and teachers alike. 

Incidentally, this was also around the time that the government began requiring gamers to register their ID cards when playing and imposed time limits on minors. At first, the restrictions were relatively loose. While underage gamers risked having their rewards halved or removed if playing past the limit, no one was kicked out of the games, and time limits were accrued for each individual game that was played, meaning kids could conceivably still play eight hours a day. They just had to play eight different games.

A number of years later, realizing they had underestimated just how deep a gamer's love (or, as they'll put it, addiction) can go, authorities began to gradually tighten the regulations once more, limiting online gameplay for those under 18 to one and a half hours on weekdays, and three hours on weekends and public holidays.

And yet, apparently, this too did not go far enough, as earlier this month, the National Press and Publication Administration announced that minors would be barred completely from playing Monday through Thursday, with gameplay only allowed between 8-9pm Friday through Sunday and on public holidays. To comply with the new laws, some leading gaming companies such as Tencent are utilizing ever more sophisticated methods of detecting potential minors who violate the rules, such as facial recognition and GPS tracking.

Though the law is designed to limit the gaming time of minors, some of-age foreigners living in China have expressed concern that they no longer have access to some games by smaller developers, as these developers do not have access to the systems that can identify passports. 

Moreover, the recent slate of actions has somewhat predictably triggered netizens' concerns about privacy. And the purview of the restriction is a bit vague as well. According to the government, all platforms providing online game services are subject to the new law, meaning Wegame and Steam China would be expected to enforce the restrictions, despite the fact that most of the titles they host don't require internet service after being downloaded, thus making it difficult to keep tabs on when someone is playing.

JD bans the sale of 87 games

Though the official story is that it's entirely unrelated to anything else going on, chatter around the gaming community suggests that e-commerce giant JD's abrupt banning of 87 games is definitely self-censorship in response to the newest round of gaming legislation. The list includes a number of famous titles such as the Call of Duty series, Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption 2, FIFA, and Animal Crossing, with reasons ranging from gratuitous violence to games that feature an incorrect map of China. Whatever the reason, apparently from JD's perspective, these games are anathema to cultivating a healthy and harmonious virtual world.

Can video games change a child's brain?

It seems as though video games can't catch a break as of late, as CCTV recently ran a TV program that claimed too much gaming can change the structure of a child's brain on par with someone suffering from Alzheimer’s. However, it wasn't long before a team of armchair medical investigators deduced that there's no official research supporting such a claim, and the only related thesis was authored by a deputy professor at Montreal University, who discussed the effect that playing video games could have on the hippocampus and caudate nucleus, which play an integral part in learning and memory, as well as various higher neurological functions including forming habits and reward mechanisms.

Based on this research, playing action games such as Call of Duty and Borderland did reportedly shrink grey matter in the hippocampus. Conversely, however, games like Super Mario 3D promoted grey matter growth in the hippocampus. All of which suggests that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to video games and maturing brains. In addition, researchers from Oxford University and Nanyang Technology University have similarly pointed out that there is no solid proof definitively linking the hippocampus or amount of grey matter to Alzheimer’s or other mental illnesses.  

The first 18+ games in China

An 18+ game? In China? Yes, somehow even as the country crack's down on children's gaming rights, it seems to be loosening up a bit when it comes to adults. Recently, Tencent announced that its new mobile AVG game 光与夜之恋 will be the first publicly available 18+ game in China.

Before you start dreaming up all your wildest, kinkiest fantasies though, you'd do well to remember that it's just an AVG game in which players will have the chance to date a few different characters, and of course, nothing really goes beyond PG-13. That's because the rating system in China is wholly different from those in other countries. According to the government, the country's rating system was created to better regulate the industry and its products rather than expand the content deemed acceptable in games.

As for underage users who created accounts before the new rule went into effect, Tencent promised it will keep their accounts saved in the server and that they'll be made available once the user turns 18. Moreover, there will be some gifts including letters written by the dateable characters waiting for the young adults upon their return (if the game still exists of course).

Read: Why are Video Games Still Regarded as Electronic Heroin in China, 20 years on?

Images: Tech.co, Careerengine, Sina, 139y, 手谈姬