Broken Toys

Xinhua, the People’s Republic of China’s official news agency, has news from the making of the sequel to Learn from Lei Feng Online (now just, regrettably, “Chinese Heroes”):

“We hope the game will teach players about Chinese ethics,” said Kou Xiaowei, an official with China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), main sponsor of the initiative.

However, gamers being treated in the Beijing Internet Addiction Treatment Center were skeptical about the games, which they said sounded “too simple” and even “comical.”

“The game sounds boring to me, it’s a turn-off,” said Wang Yuhang, a 14-year-old boy in the center. Eighty out of the 100 teenagers at the center are addicted to an American online game called the World of Warcraft (WoW), one of the most popular in China.

According to the company’s financial report, on a typical evening in China there may be anywhere up to 630,000 gamers playing WoW simultaneously online in the country. While the American game reaps huge profits, “Chinese Heroes” remains blocked at the drawing board stage.

“Teenagers seek adventure and fulfillment in dramatic and skill-demanding games like WoW. If hero games do not focus on killing and domination, gamers will definitely not play them,” said Tao Ran, director of the center.

There’s just so many things wrong in so few paragraphs.