Kotaku: online gaming

China Cracks Down on Online Gaming

Owen Good — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:00:00 MDT

You could go through the Oxford English Dictionary, pick a noun, and China's likely cracked down on it. (Except counterfeit goods). Online games that are "unhealthy" (says the state) are the latest target, and 45 have been shut down.

State authorities said the games "encouraged players to engage in illegal activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution," according to the Beijing News. The offending games were run from abroad and had not received permission to operate in China. Wait, so, CrimeCraft's available in Chengdu? Wat?

Here's my favorite detail. According to Agence France-Presse, "more than 200 online games had been investigated as part of the campaign, launched to coincide with communist China's 60th birthday on Oct. 1." Kotaku agrees that that is how you f—-in party down: Just start bannin' the hell out of everything.

That gives me an idea. Oh, and, because I just got off the phone with someone from the U.K. I would like to say the following: "Chiner." That is all.

China Launches Crackdown on Online Gaming [AFP on Yahoo! Tech, via Game Politics]

AT&T tells Feds that Gaming is not "Broadband"

Owen Good — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:00:00 MDT

The games industry is unhappy that AT&T, in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, described real-time online video gaming as an "aspirational service" of broadband communications and not a core need.

The dustup comes as the FCC is seeking to define the term "broadband," which isn't just an academic debate. The definition the FCC uses will be part of the National Broadband Plan the agency is writing and, you guessed it, there's money involved with that. About $7 billion in federal stimulus funding, to be exact.

Here's AT&T's comments to the government, according to Ars Technica, which reported the controversy today:

For Americans who today have no terrestrial broadband service at all, the pressing concern is not the ability to engage in real-time, two-way gaming, but obtaining meaningful access to the Internet's resources and to reliable email communications and other basic tools that most of the country has come to expect as a given.

As you can imagine, the Entertainment Software Association didn't take too kindly to AT&T's position. Last week, the ESA's Kenneth L Doroshow, a senior vice president, told the FCC:

What AT&T describes as aspirational services are no less important to the future of the Internet than email and web browsing were to the past and are today. Online video games are a meaningful part of our participative culture. They remove geographic barriers, connecting people from across the country and around the world. They teach cooperation, cultivate leadership skills, and empower users to express their creativity.

AT&T's comments are not entirely hostile to online gaming; but the company is arguing for a definition that includes "the capabilities needed to support the applications and services Americans must access to participate in the Internet economy." That includes using email, instant messaging, and basic Web surfing. AT&T characterized them as things the public would use "to learn, train for jobs, and work online." The ESA's Doroshow pointed out that video games are used in schools and in employee training.

Ars delves into the studies and research showing gaming's place as either a want or a need. The bottom line, the FCC has not made any decision on this definition, and AT&T's influence, substantial though it is, is only in the context of a public comment on a federal study. It's in no position to make the choice itself.

But, yeah, it's not nice if your broadband provider tells you that a big reason you're shelling out so much for the service isn't really an important use of it.

AT&T to FCC: Gaming is not "Broadband," but an Added Service [Ars Technica, thanks tipster Daniel C.]

WoW 'Kidnapper' Gets Nine Years In Prison

Mike Fahey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:20:00 MDT

The Alabama World of Warcraft player who was arrested last year after transporting his 14-year-old in-game love interest across state lines for sex has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

What seemed like a simple case of transporting a teen across state lines became a much darker story as more details emerged. 27-year-old Morgan Douglas Jones first initiated sexual contact with Saddie "Elaine" Julian in World of Warcraft after his wife of 10 years left him in April of last year. A month later, Jones traveled to Idaho to "help" the teen, who was dealing with family turmoil and dissatisfaction with her life...the same issues most teens in the U.S. face on a daily basis.

Upon arriving in Idaho, Jones first took the girl to his hotel for sex. The couple then left the state the next day, traveling through Oregon and eventually ending up at a campground in Franklin County, Washington, where Jones was finally arrested. Over the course of their trip the couple had sex multiple times, with the adult plying the teen with alcohol and prescription pills.

A manager at a Tri-City hotel also reported that Jones was seen wearing dresses during a brief stopover.

Jones was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Ed Shea, who stated that Jones "offered her no real assistance, and the only thing he wanted within minutes of meeting her was sex. ... This is a person who did evil things to this girl, evil because he knew better."

Once released from prison, Jones will be monitored for a period of 50 years. Along with the prison term, he has also been ordered to cover his victim's extensive therapy bills.

I'd post Jones' own reactions to his sentence and his statements of remorse, but frankly the whole situation leaves me feeling physically ill. If a story like this doesn't get parents to monitor their children's internet usage, then they don't deserve to be parents.

Alabama man gets 9-year sentence for relationship with Boise girl, 14 [The News Tribune via Worldofwar.net]

Japanese Newspaper Wonders About "Game Addicts"

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:00:00 MDT

The Mainichi Daily News is running a three part series on online game addiction.

Most of it seems like scare mongering — students who start playing Maple Story and suddenly became poor students. There's even worse with one mother saying this about her game addicted child, "Sometimes, he'll throw the remote control at the TV, overturn the dining table, bite my hand, or try to strangle me. It's enough to get me wondering if he'll kill me."

Sounds like there are deeper issues here than online gaming...

Game Addicts: What's a parent to do? [Mainichi]

The Great International Online Gaming Awards Caper

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:00:00 MST

Those Koreans know their online gaming. So when the Korea Game Industry Agency sit down to hand out the inaugural Global Online Game awards, the least we can do is check out the winners.

Before you fire up your smartass comment generator, no, Starcraft did not win anything. Nor did Lineage. These awards were a genuine attempt at a global event, with judges hailing from both East and West, and the results reflect this.

World of Warcraft took out the "Best RPG" award, probably the most important of the night, but other winners include Counter-Strike Source, City of Heroes, FIFA 09, Eve Online and Kartrider.

2008 Global Online Game Awards Topped By WoW, Kartrider [Gamasutra]

Chinese Authorities Should Monitor Online Games For Addiction

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 MDT

Well, so said Li Jianguo, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC). According to him, 10 percent of the approximately 40 million Chinese children that use the internet are "addicted" Li pointed out. From Chinese newsite Xinhua:

The figures were collected from 11 provinces after a two-month survey, said Li, noting that Internet addiction was mainly caused by on-line games and a lack of supervision by the authorities.

Li said the management and supervision of Internet games and Internet cafes must be strengthened, and he urged researchers to study methods to help minors avoid Internet addiction.

Rest easy, China! Li Jianguo cares.

Chinese lawmaker warns against child Internet addiction [Xinhua via GamePolitics] [Pic]

Hellgate: London Korea's Most Successful Launch

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:20:00 MDT

From worst to first! Just last month, Flagship's Hellgate: London made 1UP's list of the top five botched PC game launches of all time, with regular server crashes and people being billed multiple times for premium subscriptions. The Southeast Asian launch went even worse, with Infocomm Asia Holdings nearly wiping all player progress within the first 30 days of launch. It's amazing what a few months can do, because now Hellgate: London is being touted as Korea's most successful online game launch in 3 years. There are over a million active accounts, and the game is the 9th most-played game in the country. Sheesh. "To become the most successful launch in Korea for over three years is an incredible achievement," said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios.

"This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea."

Wow, that Hanbitsoft must have the most magical marketing team ever! Hit the jump for the press release, which actually contains the words 'Hellgate", 'Successful', and 'Launch', all in the same spot.

Flagship Studios' HellgateTM: London Celebrates The Most Successful Online Korean Launch In Three Years
San Francisco, CA (April 11th, 2008) - Flagship Studios today announced that its action role-playing game Hellgate: London has become the most successful online video game launch in Korea of the past three years with over 1 million accounts registered within the first two weeks of its open beta test. Hellgate: London is the first online game in over three years to use a monthly subscription business model.

After launching the open beta on January 15th, Hellgate: London quickly rose to the ninth most played online game, fifth most popular RPG and most popular online beta game in PC Cafes*, with over 1 million accounts. Hellgate: London was released commercially on February 22nd, and achieved record sales in its first week of presales.

"To become the most successful launch in Korea for over three years is an incredible achievement," said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. "This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea. We look forward to expanding the Hellgate universe and building upon this success in the future."

"Flagship Studios are well aware of how the Asian market operates very differently to the Western territories" said Alex Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, "By listening to players' feedback and through constant updates to the game, Hellgate: London will continue to be an incredible success throughout Asia."

Hellgate: London combines the depth of role-playing games and the action of first-person shooter titles, while offering infinite playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies, and events. Whether online or off, a player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique hero.

For more information please visit the official Hellgate: London site at www.hellgatelondon.com
*According to Gametrics and Game Report

Raise Your Own Bimbo

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:40:00 MDT

The latest game incurring parents' wrath? Miss Bimbo! The online sim has players take their own bimbo clubbing and shopping so that she becomes the "hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the world." And if that's not enough, the game apparently tells players to "stop at nothing" and use even "meds or plastic surgery" in their race to become the Queen of Bimbodom. The game is free at first, but eventually dips into PayPal accounts if you want to make any progress. So? What's the guff? Says Bill Hibberd of parents' rights group Parentkind:

It is one thing if a child recognises it as a silly and stupid game. But the danger is that a nine-year-old fails to appreciate the irony and sees the bimbo as a cool role model. Then the game becomes a hazard and a menace. Children's innocence should be protected as far as possible. It depends on the background and mindset of the child but the danger is that after playing the game some will then aspire to have breast operations and take diet pills.

Because hey, little girls don't get enough of that imagery in fashion magazines, movies and TV shows. The last place they need it is in some computer game!
Miss Bimbo Game Attacked [The Guardian via Guardian Games]

Half of Some Japanese People Meh Online Gaming

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:00:09 MST

Americans lurve online gaming. But what about Japanese? Nope! An online questionnaire poled 15,000 members of Japanese internet community MyVoice about their feelings towards online games. The sample was 54 percent female, 2 percent teen, 16 percent twenty-something, 37 percent thirty-something, 28 percent forty-something and 17 percent fifty-something. Over half of them were not interested in online games! That's not including the 12 percent who are totally indifferent. And when asked what their image of online games was, the most common response was "Geekish." And get this, only 1 percent of those poled use Macs to play online games. At least we have that in common!

Hit the jump for the full breakdown:

Q). How interested are you in online games?
Really interested 6.1 percent
Quite interested 20.7 percent
Can't say either way 12.4 percent
Not very interested 26.5 percent
Not interested at all 34.3 percent

Q). On what sort of device do you play online games?
Windows PC 27.3 percent
Portable games machine 14.5 percent
Home console 12.9 percent
Mobile phone 9.9 percent
Macintosh 1.1 percent
Other 0.4 percent
Don't play online games 59.9 percent

Q). How long have you been playing online games?
Less than a year 23.7 percent
One to two years 16.9 percent
Two to three years 15.6 percent
Three to four years 8.4 percent
Four to five years 5.3 percent
Five or more years 18.5 percent
No answer 11.6 percent

This and subsequent questions have over 10% no answerers, but the reason for this is not obvious.

Q). About how often do you play online games?
Almost every day 11.3 percent
Four to six days a week 7.5 percent
Two or three days a week 13.1 percent
Once a week 16.9 percent
Less than that 39.1 percent
No answer 12.1 percent

Q). What kinds of online games do you play?
Puzzle game 36.1 percent
Table game 34.6 percent
Card game 28.2 percent
Action game 11.3 percent
Simulation game 10.7 percent
Sports game 9.6 percent
Shooting game 4.5 percent
Race game 3.9 percent
War game 3.2 percent
Other 10.8 percent
No answer 12.6 percent

Q). What image do you have of online games?
Geekish 25.6 percent
Easy to get into 23.1 percent
Expensive to play 21.6 percent
For young people 20.8 percent
Lots of bad-mannered players 17.2 percent
Fun intercourse between players 14.5 percent
Complicated instructions and difficult to understand 13.4 percent
Lots of trouble between players 13.2 percent
Can design my own avatar 11.4 percent
Lots of system trouble 10.1 percent
Beautiful graphics 7.8 percent
Insufficient user support 6.6 percent
Lots of things to do so won't get bored 6.4 percent
Difficult to register 6.2 percent
None of the above 14.9 percent
No answer 3.6 percent

Online Gaming [MyVoice via What Japan Thinks] [Pic]

Second Skin Hits Close To Home

Mike Fahey — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:20:36 MST

Second Skin is an upcoming documentary by Pure West Films that focuses on the lives of seven MMO gamers, exploring how their games of choice have affected their lives. It touches on many popular MMO topics, such as falling in love, becoming addicted, gold farming, and the effects virtual worlds can have on the handicapped. It's really easy to make fun of the people you see in this, the first trailer for the film, but not so much when you've been there. Having been addicted to MMO's in the past, I see a bit of myself in the film's subjects. In the past I've spent weeks at a time rolling out of bed into my computer chair (if I even made it to bed) and immediately logging into Everquest, to the point where it was really the only thing that mattered in my life, and yeah - I've fallen in love online as well. Maybe one day I'll tell you folks all about it. For now, enjoy the trailer.

Second Skin Home Page [Pure West Films]

Lots of Chinese Gamers, Lots of Free Gaming

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:00:41 MST

There's no way around it: China has A LOT of people. Know what that means? A LOT of gamers! According to the Data Center of the China Internet and the Internet Society of China, there will be more than 59 million online Chinese gamers this year. That's a twenty percent increase from the 48 million online games last year. That's A LOT. At this rate, there should be WAY MORE online gamers in China next year, too. Eighty percent of that market is free-to-play online games, though.
Online Gamers Increase [China View via Games Industry] [Pic]

Todd McFarlane Talks About Todd McFarlane

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:00:14 MST

With 38 Studios, Spawn creator and figure maven Tood McFarlane is throwing his hat in the MMO ring. Joining him is baseball pitcher Curt Schilling and R.A. Salvatore. The new developer is Schilling's brainchild, and R.A. Salvatore is taking on the writing duties. Todd explains his role:

This isn't about an R.A. story, or Todd artwork. This is about — is this, at the end of the day, going to be a cool game to play? And if the answer is yes, then we all did our jobs and there will be plenty of pats on the back to go around for everybody. Matter of fact, if people think it's a Todd art game, then I've done my job wrong.

Todd sure uses the third person a lot.
McFarlane Interview [Gamasutra]

Kane & Lynch No Online Co-Op, "Good Times"

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:00:35 MDT

When people think co-op play, they think online. Sure, you want to game with your buddy, but inviting them over to the house is a real drag! Or because of distance, they may not be able to come over even. But, if you plan on playing online co-op with Kane & Lynch, forget it. The game doesn't have it and only sports traditional co-op. Explains the game's direction, Jens Peter Kurup:

It's quite important in the single player and co-op that we're portraying characters and we're also portraying scenarios. It would have been nice to come up with something completely new. There are things with Lynch's Psycho mode which work out differently in co-op, the healing method and things like that, but it is a more traditional approach. We feel that's what players want. Co-op is about good times.

We agree! Though, online co-op is all about better times.

It's a matter of focus, choosing what you want to deliver at what time. We looked at it and decided it was too much of a risk to change our code to be very very good at that, and we're not going to be very very good at other elements. I'll miss the online co-op, but not terribly.

Really? Geez, I dunno. Think most people will miss it terribly. Gamers are becoming a spoiled lot, you know.
Kane&Lynch Interview [Eurogamer]

Lineage II, The Zippo II

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:40:51 MDT

Gaming lighters are exactly promoting good health. Neither do MMOs, really. And when you're sitting in those crowded internet cafes for hours on end, slurping shit coffee and eating salty snacks, health is the last thing you are thinking about. Good thing there's a Lineage II Zippo to fire up your cigarettes. This US $88 "Pink Gold" colored lighter is limited to a hundred pieces — each engraved and numbered. It's the sequel of sorts to the every popular silver Lineage II lighter. Pre-orders start this Friday! So smoke if you've got 'em. If not, burn shit or something.
Lineage II Lighter [Lineage 2]

China Introduces Anti-Corruption Game

Maggie Greene — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:30:48 MDT

The government of China's Zhejiang province decided to go after children and teach them in no uncertain terms that corruption is bad and everyone ought to do their part in ensuring corrupt party members, their families, and mistresses ought to die a painful death - in late July, they introduced 'Incorruptible Fighter' so players can slash their way through corruption and to a wonderful, corruption-free paradise that has no earthly connection to the China of today:

"Players fight their way through one level after another, overcoming all obstacles to eliminate corrupt officials and enter a spring-like paradise filled with birdsong and the scent of flowers, a peaceful world where people live in love, harmony and national prosperity," the Ningbo [Zhejiang province] city government said in a statement.

Unfortunately, so many people were eager to play the game that the website crashed, and it's still not back up yet. With China having several high-profile scandals under its belt in the past year, I suppose it's no surprise that they're trying to help the future officials of the party understand that corruption is a bad, bad thing. Though as one Beijing University professor put it, "Government officials should be the ones getting anti-corruption education, not local youngsters."

China enjoys anti-corruption game [BBC News] and Chinese Gamers Hunt Corrupt Officials Online [PC World], with photo credit to Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages, which is incomparable.

EA Killing Online Support For 49 Games

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:40:55 MDT

If you have an online score to settle in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects—obviously, you don't—you'd better make it snappy as EA is shutting down the online servers for that game and dozens more. The majority of EA's 2005 and 2006 sports entries will go offline on September 1st with support for Burnout Revenge, Need For Speed Underground and Need For Speed Most Wanted going black on November 1st. This applies to the previous generation console versions, of course, including a few PSP and PC games. The full list of online artifacts is after the jump.

September 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown
Arena Football for PlayStation 2
Arena Football for Xbox
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox 360
FIFA Soccer 06 for PC
FIFA06 for PC
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation 2
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PC
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation 2
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA World Cup 2006 for Xbox
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation Portable
Fight Night Round 3 for Xbox
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360
Madden NFL 06 for PC
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation 2
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation Portable
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for PlayStation 2
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for Xbox
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for PlayStation 2
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for Xbox
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for PlayStation 2
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for Xbox
NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360
NBA Live 06 for PC
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation 2
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation Portable
NCAA Football 2005 for Xbox
NCAA Football 2006 for PlayStation 2
NCAA Football 2006 for Xbox
NCAA March Madness 06 for PlayStation 2
NCAA March Madness 06 for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PC
NFL Head Coach for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for PC
NHL 06 for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox

November 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown
Burnout Revenge for Xbox
Burnout Revenge for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PC
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PlayStation Portable
Need for Speed Most Wanted for Xbox

Korean Virtual Taxation Start!

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:00:14 MDT

With online gaming as huge as it is in Korea, no wonder the Korea National Tax Service has just started virtual taxation. Basically, virtual asset transactions get a value-add tax. Here's the kicker: the actual items and currencies don't belong to the gamer but to the game's publisher. Site im69.com lays out the policy:

Sellers who do between 6 and 12 million won/half year in business will have VAT auto applied by transaction's middle-man
Sellers who do more than 12 million won/half year in business will need a business license and will pay the tax by themselves

According to a National Tax Service official, "NTS would be able to track all transactions for taxation of virtual items." Your move, IRS.
Virtual Taxing [im69.com via Game|Life]

China Arrests Sex Game Operator

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:00:15 MDT

From anti-addiction systems to cybercafe crackdowns, the Chinese government has taken multiple steps to fight online game addiction. It's latest effort? Arresting the operator of online sex game Girlfriend Hut. Says an official spokesperson:

In recent years, internet games have become a booming and profitable market, but some games with a sexually explicit nature are corrupting China's vast number of young players.

Corrupting them as opposed to brainwashing them? The game raked in 30,000 yuan (US $3,900) from 700 paying players. Hardly a large scale operation! Brian Ashcraft

Eds Note: Reader Grant just dropped us a line pointing out that pornography is illegal in China, which gives the government legal grounds to take against this web game.

Sex Game Operator Arrested [CCTV]

Voice Chat Is A Mood Killer

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:43 MDT

Few like the sound of their own voice. And even fewer like the voices of their World of Warcraft buddies'. Sure, voice chat is nothing new to online, but has become more and more common in MMORPGs. With text chatting giving way to in-game voice chat, good old internet anonymity is being threatened in the virtual world. Writes Clive Thompson over at Wired.com:

Recently I logged into World of Warcraft and I wound up questing alongside a mage and two dwarf warriors. I was the lowest-level newbie in the group, and the mage was the de-facto leader. He coached me on the details of each new quest, took the point position in dangerous fights and suggested tactics. He seemed like your classic virtual-world group leader: Confident, bold and streetsmart.
But after a few hours he said he was getting tired of using text chat — and asked me to switch over to Ventrilo, an app that lets gamers chat using microphones and voice. I downloaded Ventrilo, logged in, dialed him up and ...

... realized he was an 11-year-old boy, complete with squeaky, prepubescent vocal chords. When he laughed, his voice shot up abruptly into an octave range that induced headaches and probably killed any dogs within earshot. Oh, and he used "motherfucker" about four times a sentence, except when his mother came into his bedroom to check on him.

Worse yet, as one poster at the always heady Terra Nova points out, throw up a voice chat server and "the girls stop talking completely, the shy people shut up mostly and all that is left are the 12- to 18-year-old guys, and it becomes a locker room." Personally, I'm a text guy. Words, words are good. You? Brian Ashcraft

Bad Sounding Voices [Wired via Slashdot]

'Prepaid Cards Cause Addiction'

Maggie Greene — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:30:32 MDT

Or so says the title of a Korea Times article, which laments the accessibility of prepaid cards for online games: unlike booze or cigarettes, they're (surprise!) not regulated. While the monthly subscription model is most common in the West, it's the pay-as-you-go or prepaid model in Asia, and the cards are easy to buy at places like 7-11, right along with your card to recharge your mobile. One concerned mother seems to be looking for an easy target to blame:

"Prepaid cards for online games are being sold to children without any restriction. More and more children are becoming addicted to games due to the free access of such cards," said Lee. "I also think it is important to educate teenagers on the use of prepaid cards."

Over at PlayNoEvil, they wonder what China's reaction will be - I'd say since China is taking more strident stance on government controls, prepaid cards are the least of their worries. After all, it doesn't really matter if you can get your hands on cards freely if a system is going to shut you out after a few hours, does it? Maggie Greene

Prepaid Cards Cause Online Addiction [Korea Times via PlayNoEvil]