Online Gaming Continues To Soar In China

Thanks to EvilAvatar for linking to a ChinaDaily.com article discussing the further rise of online gaming in China. According to the story, "the All China Sports Federation recently recognised video gaming as a sanctioned sport", and it's also noted that "the China Center of Information Industry Development (CCID) estimates that there were 19 million online gamers in China at the end of 2003. This year the number of users is predicted to explode to 32 million and will continue growing to 48 million by 2005." Notably, it's also revealed that China's leading MMO title, "The Legend of Mir II has an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 ACUs [Average Concurrent Users], attracting some 650,000 simultaneous users during peak times. The [Chinese distribution] firm's owner, Chen Tianqiao, is listed as China's second richest IT entrepreneur, with a cool RMB 4 billion [$500 million] in the bank."

Re:nothing impressive.

[simoniker]

Well, I still think it's pretty impressive, considering the biggest Western MMORPGs claim to have around 400,000 total subscribers, and this title is claiming up to 650,000 logged on simultaneously (so, what, anything up to 5-10 times as many total users?) Obviously, there's probably a different subscription service (Internet cafes buying bulk memberships?), but nonetheless.. it's a big market to be not covered that often.

Re:nothing impressive.

[tprime]

What you have to understand is

1. They are just getting started with this in China. We have had online play in the states for years. (how long has Everquest been out??)
2. This is under an opressive government. Nothing private grows very fast in China.
3. The average Chinese citizen is not rich. Many in China cannot afford to play any sort of game, let alone own a computer.

Basically, this is quite a feat in any country, especially in one that has all of the cards stacked against it from the beginning

Re:nothing impressive.

[metalgeek]

re #2:
China is not really communist in their economic system. Laws exist in this company in case you piss someone important off, or if the government needs a bit of cash.
I've never seen so much commerce before I came to china.
re: #3
your right, alot of people can't afford a computer system, but there is a population of 1.3 billion here. Say if 500 million of them have the ability to access the net (ie internet cafe's) then the numbers are easy to reach.

as a slight aside, People need to realize comparitive c

The World

[blueZhift]

Over the last decade or so, it seems that games have done a lot to drive the progression of computer technology. Afterall, your secretary doesn't really need a 2.4 GHz P4 to write reports, except maybe for the next iteration of MS Office! Given this, it would seem that China and Korea are well positioned to become the next nexus pushing the IT envelope.

Purhaps the real foundation for The World (been watching a lot of .hack//Sign lately) is being laid in Shanghai and Seoul. In the U.S. playing MMORPGs still makes you a nerd, but in China it seems to be becoming a part of everyday life which has definite ramifications for technological prowess in that society. And with all of the government support the online ventures are getting there, they will only continue to grow. Before you know it, the new standards in networking, security, and online virtual world building will all be Chinese with an installed base too large to ignore. I wonder how much of this is being built on Redflag Linux. Hmmm...

Re:The World

[darekana]

I'm not so sure playing video games has "ramifications for technological prowess". I think it's probably more like the next opium of the masses.

Saw It

[Herkum01]

I went to China earlier last month. I turned the TV on one morning and there, on their version of the sports network, was a game of Warcraft III. There was commentary (Couldn't understand though) on the game going on, so I guess it is considered seriously by some people, especially high school kids.

The biggest problem I had with it was the way the show was produced, which has limits based upon the game. Instead of being able to seeing a place of gameplay and highlights of action, they could only show one person's monitor. It made it hard to get a feel for what is going on in the game looking from their person's view. It is annoying because a person may flick back and forth to a couple of different places and it makes it hard to keep up. Not to mention it is irrating if you miss anything because the player is looking somewhere else.

If they wanted to do this the game for TV it need to have some sort of spectator mode, and then have several spectators in the game and clip and cut and paste the footage together into a real production where the action is brought to the forefront instead of a player determining what is being shown. TV is trying to show overall events and the excitement of the game, the player is trying to implement a strategy. They are very different.

wow!

[jx100]

There's a legend behind that old Russian space station?

Only one video game can be considered a sport

[Pluvius]

Dance Dance Revolution. Anything else doesn't involve athleticism, and thus would not be a sport. Certainly not MMORPGs, unless they made one with a Nerf sword you can swing that sends signals to your computer.

That said, I can understand why people might want to sanction MMORPGs under a sports authority (especially in China, where everything is bureaucratic). They just aren't sports.

Rob

It's the communism

[superpulpsicle]

I know someone who was born and raised in China, who plays an insane amount of video games. I seriously cannot tell whether he was kidding or not, but this person admits...

"If you lived in China, everything you do in the real world is negatively fucked over by the communist government. If you earn money in diablo II, what the hell can they do? Login and steal your virtual money."

Net cafe's everywhere

[metalgeek]

I live here, and honestly, theres net cafe's everywhere. most of the students here don't own computers, but the net cafe's are rediculusly cheap (if you go to the ones for locals, and not use foreigners;)
in fact last time I was in one of the computer cities near me there was a CS tourney going on with a top prize fo 10k RMB ( a fair amount for the people playing usually about 1200-1300 USD)
They seem to mainly play CS, WC3, and some MMPORGS here, very little Q3 or UT

MIR payment model

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a chance to go to asia this past summer, and i watched my cousin play Mir. He explained the payment model he used to subscribe to me which I though was quite interesting. Like in the states, he could purchase game passes at stores, and with the passes he was allowed to logon to the game servers a certain number of times, regardless of the length of time he played. apprently the cards are common enough that they can be picked up in the local 7-11.

Escapism

[Klatoo55]

I would think that the atmosphere in China is more conducive to MMORPG's and such because: -The socioeconomical atmosphere in China is perfect for the type of mass escapism that online gaming offers. -Most people in China do not own personal computers, but instead use public, gaming-oriented computer rooms, making gaming somewhat more social than in the west. So, it's no real surprise that it's catching on like it is.