Enacting Warcraft, Youth Kills Self
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Makers of "World of Warcraft" - Blizzard Entertainment, are being sued by the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy, on charges that the game caused the death of their son.
The parents have filed a law-suit against Blizzard Entertainment, alleging that their son jumped to his death while re-enacting a scene from "World of Warcraft". Anti-Internet addiction advocate, Zhang Chunliang, is backing the parents of the deceased boy. Chunliang is said to have spoken to 63 parents, whose children have suffered due to online gaming addiction. The advocate plans to file a class-action suit in the matter. There have been no comments from Blizzard Entertainment so far.
China's online gaming market, which raked in $580 million this year, is believed to be the fastest-growing market in the world.
Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" alone is estimated to have around 1.5 million paying players, bringing-in moolah to the tune of $30 million per month in subscription fees.
Vivendi Universal Games, parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, which has pegged the "World of Warcraft" global players count at 4.5 million, is now forced to contend with the back-lash of parents concerned with their children's addictive behavior.
Many Chinese parents feel that their children spend too many hours gaming at Internet cafes at the risk of their health, school and work. The Chinese government, which is looking at how best to respond to its citizen's worries, has already said that it intends to restrict gamers to 3 hours of consecutive play by employing "a fatigue technique".
This technique would imply loss of some player power after 3 hours of play; further loss of power after 5 hours of play; followed by a delay of 5 hours before the game can be accessed to its full capacity.
Industry analysts are not too happy with such a restriction, as they feel it might act as a clog in the wheel with respect to the Chinese online gaming industry.
Article submitted by: Webshark
Last Update: 11-21-2005
Category: Off Topic Info
The parents have filed a law-suit against Blizzard Entertainment, alleging that their son jumped to his death while re-enacting a scene from "World of Warcraft". Anti-Internet addiction advocate, Zhang Chunliang, is backing the parents of the deceased boy. Chunliang is said to have spoken to 63 parents, whose children have suffered due to online gaming addiction. The advocate plans to file a class-action suit in the matter. There have been no comments from Blizzard Entertainment so far.
China's online gaming market, which raked in $580 million this year, is believed to be the fastest-growing market in the world.
Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" alone is estimated to have around 1.5 million paying players, bringing-in moolah to the tune of $30 million per month in subscription fees.
Vivendi Universal Games, parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, which has pegged the "World of Warcraft" global players count at 4.5 million, is now forced to contend with the back-lash of parents concerned with their children's addictive behavior.
Many Chinese parents feel that their children spend too many hours gaming at Internet cafes at the risk of their health, school and work. The Chinese government, which is looking at how best to respond to its citizen's worries, has already said that it intends to restrict gamers to 3 hours of consecutive play by employing "a fatigue technique".
This technique would imply loss of some player power after 3 hours of play; further loss of power after 5 hours of play; followed by a delay of 5 hours before the game can be accessed to its full capacity.
Industry analysts are not too happy with such a restriction, as they feel it might act as a clog in the wheel with respect to the Chinese online gaming industry.
Article submitted by: Webshark
Last Update: 11-21-2005
Category: Off Topic Info
Current rating: 5.58 by 31 users
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