China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week • Hacker News Board

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#11

Post by imbnwa » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

From the perpsective of someone who doesn't know too much details, China's ability to nope its way out of the social excesses of liberal capitalism is somewhat amazing here.

I'm guessing they took a look at Korea and Japan's well-known issues with young men isolating themselves enabled by the high availability of online gaming and said "nah". Both of those countries are also experiencing widening gaps in hetero gender relations whereby there's a big issue with how many people are unmarried past their 30s into middle-age, and I imagine the CCP is not interested in either unregulated population controls or having to erect infrastructure to cater to elderly and middle-aged single people as is already happening in Korea. Also related to the notion that the real estate game is nominally designed to accomodate single people graduating from apartments to houses as married couples.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#12

Post by rolobio » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #2

I wonder how Blizzard is feeling about throwing in with the CCP right about now

Probably having a hard time thinking straight with all the piles of money around them?

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#13

Post by hollerith » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

brodouevencode wrote: post #9

tgv wrote: post #8

Anyone want to argue why this would be bad, apart from restricting freedom? BTW, nothing in the article about limits on TikTok or YouTube or whathaveyougot. That's as much opium as gaming, IMO.

> apart from restricting freedom? Do you need any more than that? From the western point of view this is the apex reason. EDIT: To add - it is true in the west that minors don't enjoy all the same freedoms as adults. However for most things those decisions are made by the parents and not the state.

Individual freedom might still be the most important organizing principle in the US, but in Western Europe?

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#14

Post by brundolf » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:25 PM UTC

kordlessagain wrote: post #4

Like with Bitcoin regulation, good luck to the governments with enforcement.

All game companies operating in China, software and hardware, have to go through the CCP. They could definitely force companies to add software timers that automatically shut games down when a time limit is reached.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#15

Post by omarhaneef » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:25 PM UTC

I have an idea for Footloose 3: Pacman

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#16

Post by bpodgursky » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:25 PM UTC

tgv wrote: post #8

Anyone want to argue why this would be bad, apart from restricting freedom? BTW, nothing in the article about limits on TikTok or YouTube or whathaveyougot. That's as much opium as gaming, IMO.

I would be shocked if that wasn't in the works, fwiw (YouTube obvious is banned, but whatever the native equivalent is).

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#17

Post by throwaway5752 » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:25 PM UTC

mrfusion wrote: post #5

I wonder why China feels so afraid of games.

Trying to look at from their point of view and in good faith, excessive childhood gaming seem to be causing problems for some people like stunting their personal and intellectual development. China seems to be taking a stance that their citizens are a human resource for their country, and excessive gaming is hurting their asset.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#18

Post by esjeon » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:26 PM UTC

kordlessagain wrote: post #4

Like with Bitcoin regulation, good luck to the governments with enforcement.

It’s actually quite easy. Roast game companies to integrate the national-wide timekeeping service into their games. AFAIK, this is what Korea had been doing, but the policy recently got called off.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#19

Post by anovikov » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:26 PM UTC

But this is silly and unenforceable, you can just as well prevent people from masturbating. Of course, people will massively opt out of totalitarianism especially as it is going crazier and crazier by the day - there are 18 "institutes" devoted to "studies" of Xi's personal "ideas" alone - this is literally half step away from the ridiculous Mao days.

Those who can leave the country, will do so, and they are doing it already and have always been. The rest will simply "lie flat" (Chinese term) as a way of passive resistance.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#20

Post by bpodgursky » Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 3:26 PM UTC

mrfusion wrote: post #5

I wonder why China feels so afraid of games.

It's part of the recent big pro-fertility drive (same as banning 996 work-weeks).

They want kids to engage with work and, well, each other, to raise families, rather than having purely digital lives.