AUG. 29, 2008 • Around 10 percent of Chinese teenagers were “Internet-addicted,” according to Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress. Li’s committee has called for stricter monitoring of inappropriate content. Already since 2006, players of Internet games in China have been required to provide their true names and identity numbers.
Impact: Piracy and price are no longer the leading impediments to console expansion into China. With a population already heavily wedded to computers and online play, consumer preferences for micro-transaction MMOs will remain solid for the long-term. That said, the Chinese are also enamored with their mobile phones, which leaves the door open for trendy devices like the iPhone, and the games that will appear on it.
