Virtual reality check

By Yao Minji, Jay Jin and Chen Qianqin  |   2008-7-16  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE explosion in popularity of online games has resulted in many of today's youth spending incredible amounts of time glued to computer screens. They say it's great fun, but experts have a different view, write Yao Minji, Jay Jin and Chen Qianqin.

Peter Huo is "fully equipped." He has a PlayStation 2 and an upgraded computer at home. On the road, he carries a PlayStation Portable, just like so many other students and young white-collars who indulge themselves with the little screen on the Metro.

At work, Huo has installed many games on his company computer.

It's all part of a way of life for Huo, a designer at an art gallery who spends at least 50 hours a week on games, mostly online. He once played Monster Hunter for 114 hours straight with virtually no rest.

Last year he spent more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,465) upgrading his PC, buying points cards for games and acquiring new game cards.

Huo is not alone in the virtual world. Gamers of all ages across China communicate with each other online. They say they enjoy the challenge of pitting themselves against other players.

"I love the virtual world of games, especially the ones where you get connected to other people instead of machines like in traditional computer games," says Joan Fei, a Shanghai eighth-grader.

Fei says she especially likes the interaction with other players. But she opposes the view that "losers rediscover success in the virtual world."

"I know sociologists would say we are addicted to the virtual world because we don't find security and satisfaction in the real world," she says.

But rather than an addiction, Fei says games "are a supplement to my boring and pressured real life."

In the past decade, online capabilities have revolutionized the social aspects of gaming. And in China in the past 5 years, gaming companies have become extremely profitable with young people becoming consumed with online games in their leisure time.