China bans 'gangster' games

Ministry of Culture shuts down online "godfather" and "mafia" games because they promote "violent culture."

Though China has been all too happy to embrace elements of free-market capitalism, it is a long way off from a free society. Today, the official government news agency, Xinhua, announced that the Chinese Ministry of Culture has outlawed online games with "gangster" themes or featuring "mafia-like gangs."

Dang, it feels good not to be a gangsta...

"These games encourage people to deceive, loot and kill, and glorify gangster life. They are a bad influence on youngsters," read a statement issued by the Ministry. The statement went on to say that games embracing "mafia" and "godfather" culture are forbidden because they "advocate obscenity, gambling, or violence" and "undermine morality and Chinese traditional culture." A column condemning the "violent culture" of such games also ran in Tuesday's issue of the Procuratorial Daily, one of many Chinese government-controlled newspapers.

Though Electronic Arts' Godfather games, 2K's Mafia series, and Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto franchise might seem like obvious targets, so far, only Chinese-language massively multiplayer games have been shut down. These include (with official Ministry of Culture translations): www.kaixin.com's Godfather, www.mop.com's Jianghu ("gangster community"), and www.xiaonei.com's Guhuozai ("young and dangerous guys"). Further violators face undefined "severe punishment" from the government.

Xinhua quoted the outrage amongst several users of the game. "I just stole 3 million yuan in the game when the Web site suddenly went blank," complained one reported player only identified by his Internet ID number. Another unnamed gamer was quoted as saying, "I really felt like our gang was disbanded."

Today's move comes less than a month after China nearly required all new computers sold in the country to come with special net-screening software preinstalled. Though that mandate has since been delayed, the Beijing government still requires the software, the heavily criticized Green Dam application, be installed in all PCs used in schools and Internet cafes. Internet access inside China is also monitored and strictly controlled by the government, which blocks sites referring to such events as the 1989 Tiananmen massacre or last year's unrest in Tibet.

307 Comments

  • king_loei

    Posted Dec 30, 2009 6:22 pm PT

    @TwistLock I haven't laughed that hard for at LEAST a couple days. Kudos

  • Rx_Nightmare

    Posted Nov 27, 2009 7:30 pm PT

    In communist China shooting is saved for people who speak out against great leader! Not wasted on silly electronic light machines.

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 7:41 am PT

    I honestly am lost for words.

  • DarkDante_sw

    Posted Nov 4, 2009 1:50 am PT

    I'm afraid anyone 10+ that may mistake things like GTA for reality is either mentaly disturbed, or didn't have a mommy or daddy to teach them the difference between reality and fiction.

  • icey05

    Posted Nov 3, 2009 10:36 pm PT

    @KillerWabbit23 Australia only tried to ban those games because we don't have a rating above MA15+

    those games had things in them, that werent suitable for 15 year olds. thats fair enough. we wouldnt have stuff like that happen if we had an R18 rating.

    at least australia doesnt openly give guns to just about anyone who wants them. when we have high school shootings on a yearly basis, you can call us idiots.

  • Darth_Ultima

    Posted Nov 3, 2009 8:58 am PT

    umph. Everyone knows that the Chinese government has a monopoly on corruption over there and they just don't like competition. If you want to talk about violence then lets talk about Chinese political prisoners, who's only crime was disagreeing with the government, being executed so their organs can be sold on the black market.

  • KillerWabbit23

    Posted Nov 3, 2009 8:56 am PT

    If what China thinks is true, then the U.S. would be populated by millions of violent children, wielding AK-47s and murdering pedestrians.
    But it's not. Let's see Australia do something even more boneheaded than this, however, I don't think that it's possible to top banning L4D2 or Fallout 3. Idiots.

  • Dreamerdude26

    Posted Nov 2, 2009 7:38 pm PT

    This is one of the reasons I'm glad I live in the US. I don't know what I would do if stuff like this started happening over here.

  • Shadowflame291

    Posted Nov 2, 2009 7:01 pm PT

    S*** man, it's like 1984 in real life in China...

  • steve22_3

    Posted Nov 2, 2009 6:21 pm PT

    oh yeah sure.. ban games depicting gangs and killing n looting games.. but it's perfectly ok to make more of them Romance of three kingdoms games.. I mean ya killing for the fun of it is bad but killing cuz your leader orders you to is ok

  • TwistLock

    Posted Oct 6, 2009 12:05 pm PT

    I can see where their government is coming from, but this has been an antiquated fear ever since its conception. Violent gaming is violent gaming, nothing more. The fact that a game may portray structured criminal activity is just part of the setting for its story. In the end, it's just another means of entertaining oneself.

    On the plus side, this allows us to more easily draw parallels between politicians lobbying to ban violent games and Chairman Mao when we feel like being mean to them. That's right. Jack Thompson is a communist now. Someone tell Fox News.

  • cityslicker202

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 8:59 pm PT

    Thats insane! You would think their government would be smarter then that.. If your playing gta or another gang related game then your commiting crimes in a game, not in real life. Which kinda is the point right? stop crime? ive watched rated 4 movies since i was 4 and my parents always let me play M rated games. And i turned out perfectly fine, Im 19 years old and well was about to say never been to join but it wasnt for a violent crime. ive never been in a fight.

  • jarofdirt882

    Posted Aug 26, 2009 12:05 pm PT

    So China, what about films like the Godfather and Scarface? Do they or do they not depict the same kind of things?

  • St0Ne4Ge

    Posted Aug 24, 2009 2:57 am PT

    They need to realize that the gangs, drugs and violence was there before games were, the games are just a form of media showing these elements of society, just like films and books do. The games arent the cause of these problems they merely highlight them and we all know sweeping things under the rug never makes them go away. Games dont kill people, People kill people.

  • Amauris96

    Posted Aug 22, 2009 5:07 pm PT

    This is totaly bull crap give the people some freedom you chince people...after all it is just a game. ; )

  • cash_chabuk

    Posted Aug 22, 2009 4:13 am PT

    The chinese government fears from its people..

  • Frostbite345

    Posted Aug 19, 2009 5:31 am PT

    I hate when Ministry's and the like ban games because they think that all the violence,drug use, crime e.tc is coming from said games. It's not, it's coming from the players. If there are people out there who play a game, watch a film or even read a book with criminal elements to it and decide to emulate what they've just seen,read or played then that shows a fault in the PERSON not the game.

  • play_thegame

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 6:47 am PT

    agree in theory, this is one thing a democratic western country could never do. but they shouldnt just shut it down, they should do it for a month or two see if crime levels etc drop then continue if the effects are positive. and yeah people teenagers are highly influenced by media, ive seen mates in hospital because they tried to do jackass style stunts (even though they are all mid thirties) maybe they should try and lower its use instead? start charging for it or introduce a time limit.

  • william2330

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:49 pm PT

    I think they should research to see if they have less crime if they dont have less then they should unban it

  • zintarr

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 5:45 pm PT

    China fears Gay Tony!

  • pjrulez312

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 10:29 am PT

    ouchh

  • Trogeton

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 7:58 am PT

    Ok I'm not a violent person, but aren't the violent games one of the most funnest ? I love violent games

  • TXMostWanted

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 5:57 pm PT

    It's sad when your not surprised by what China does these days...but still, Shanghai was awesome! :-D

  • 8smokes

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 7:53 am PT

    *Sigh* The world these days...

  • Xx_Hopless_xX

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 5:19 am PT

    @Godak: So your saying if you get a President or leader of a country who supports Socialism its not a form of government?...It's really up to the head of a country...sorry if i was careless with my choice of words, as for our current President, he hasn't done much for our economy or anything as promised but this really isn't a topic about politics so i wont get into that..

  • Godak

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 12:55 pm PT

    @Xx_Hopless_xX

    You know very little about Communism and Socialism. They are economic policies, not forms of government. The Soviet Union made promises to its people...promises that were broken. They were excited, and fell pray to lies. As things are now, straight Socialism or Capitalism does not work. We need a mixture.
    The problem with the US's current system is that there is far too little regulation. Insurance companies lied about their customer's incomes and they were not punished for it. Hopefully with this new president in office we can approach an acceptible level of regulation.

  • real-guitarhero

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 12:24 pm PT

    yea
    theyre quite addicting tho...
    germanys also violent-game-proof now. america will never be, cuz we just celebrate violence rofl

  • shadyelf

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 12:05 pm PT

    As long as they don't do that here I couldn't care less.

  • peetowser

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 10:40 am PT

    I guess the Triads want exclusivity on Chinese territory, whether it's on real grounds or virtual ones too

    Funny that a video game glorifies that life while the hundreds of chinese movies on the same subject are juuuust fine...

  • samthesolidman

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 10:35 am PT

    f

  • jstowers

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 10:20 am PT

    Well - you lot are looking far too deep into all of this, what it really boils down to is:
    Sux to live in China (apart from the odd weekend in Shanghai...i've partied there and.. phew!, it can rock...)
    &
    Sweet for us (aka the rest of the world), we should just be thankful we don't live in - and I mean no disrespect by this - a s*****e country that has plenty of useful history, but it's the present - smell the sweet smell of rosey democracy and quit moaning - we live in the free and fun world of sandbox mayhem!

  • Xx_Hopless_xX

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 4:55 am PT

    Ok, to begin..the Usa is not inferior to any country, though our system is messed up in certain areas, but this isn't about that so lets continue...

    China has many issues as well, so whoever is belittling the United States government and saying China has a better one needs a reality check. @Kavadias1981: The Europeans weren't all bad, though some imposed their will and stuff, they also contributed many things. Back to the topic... I agree with "thetravman" I'm really sick of the gangster trend, as well as little kids trying to act cool by singing rap etc...I don't understand the logic behind banning "Gangster MMORPGs" besides the fact that maybe the Chinese government is attempting to stop kids from playing until they die, which is pathetic in and of itself. Screening of the media is all Communism and Socialism, it hasn't worked for China it's not gonna work here. @Aghatio: Dude, your not even literate, there are riots in every country over sports Etc..and you say we shouldn't criticize a country without knowing it origin...then why may i ask, are you criticizing the Usa..?

  • GhostGnosis

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 2:16 am PT

    Jack Thompson should just move to China, he'd love it.

  • Mom_said_no

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 10:09 pm PT

    USA!!

  • airman1027

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 9:49 pm PT

    China doesnt want to promote theiving gangsters?? LOL what about their government. The Chinese Government's M.O.: Take the people's money, force them to live like you want and kill those that will not comply after trying strongarm tactics to intimidate them. Force them to buy products you approve, force them to pledge allegiance and fealty to a few "strongmen".

    I mean give me a break...

    Give me a break...

  • thetravman

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 7:26 pm PT

    I'm getting sick of this gangsta trend anyway.

  • CreatureRising

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 6:04 pm PT

    FAIL!

  • Evasiege

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 5:40 pm PT

    "lol a minister of culture?"

    Yes, as some have already mentioned China has nearly 5,000 years of history and culture it wants to protect. Many things have changed over the years, but to see its culture be completely altered or erased by western influence would be a shame to them. As to why there is a ministry that sees to that. "America has pretty much been a role model for the world for a while."

    In many aspects, yes. In all aspects, no. The democracy of Athens is not the same as the democracy of the U.S. currently. Yes, there are different forms of democracy. North American democracy does not have the experience of dealing with billions of people. "I think the decisions of what games to play should be in the hands of the parents not the government."

    I agree. However, how do you educate hundreds of millions of parents on what their kids should or shouldn't be playing. They already put something in place where kids under a certain age can only play MMO's 3 hours at a time before their exp slows. One thing about authoritarian regimes is that decisions, good or bad, can be made quickly. "If the Minister of Culture played gta for a year i really doubt he would mistake reality for game"

    Maybe, but the minister of culture is middle aged, not 12.

  • EstrugaZ

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 4:14 pm PT

    I do agree with Evasiege. USA is a different case and its democracy is a very young one and not that stable since there is a oligarchic imperialism. But alas, the fact of having only 250 years old is probably the main reason for its so far success. It doesn't have the weight of centuries of monarchy like European countries have nor the millenias of chinese imperialism. History aside and society focused on, when I read about examples in China of kids simply stopping to eat and die of starvation because of mmorpgs like mice that only press the pleasure button in a lab, I feel compelled to agree with the ban of mmorpgs.
    Regarding political sensitive info ban. Who, in fact, are we, simple ignorant fat westerns, to teach chinese leaders how to govern that obscene amount of people with socialism? Revolts can come from anywhere and we know how unstable socialist governments are. I think it's praisable that China communism is surving this far and prospering and it's also praisable the fact that the government is giving some little dangerous freedoms to the population probably because they are feeling stable. I don't really agree with the people who say that China has the potential to be a future Utopia, though: they made some really hard and harsh choices most of them I'm sure are going to be back to bite them on the ass (the same thing that happened with USA's bad international choices that DID came back and bite its ass). Oops, here I am again with History XD

  • Draco98

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 3:48 pm PT

    I think china's right why can't it do that. i agree with gamescottman they're just helping the kid from playing bad things

  • luigi2006

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 2:04 pm PT

    lol a minister of culture? Sounds like a job just asking for people to dictate the lives of others. I agree with evasiege, but before they ban those types of games they should see the influence first in experiments. To some this may seem as crazy as when your pious grandma said pokemon is evil. The thing to learn from that is that they didn't know because they never played it. If the Minister of Culture played gta for a year i really doubt he would mistake reality for game and think of jacking up the next girl in skin-tight clothing. I think the decisions of what games to play should be in the hands of the parents not the government. As far as the other stuff goes. It really makes me appreciate democracy and freedom when i hear this stuff. But maybe to them, it is like...ok...whatever...lets move on to the next game. However... i disagee on what evasiege typed when he said, "Who is America and democracy (no older that ~250 years and a population of 300million) to tell the Chinese how to govern 1.5 billion people." America has pretty much been a role model for the world for a while. So of course the opinion of the West would have an influence on the East. **Note: Evasiege I think you meant the United States of America not all of America.** Also, democracy has been around since the Greeks. Athens had a democracy and in fact, the very word democracy has Greek background.

  • Evasiege

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 11:55 am PT

    Yea man, China sucks. Especially because you can't research politically sensitive material, or look at pornograpy and play gangster videos games. Oh yea, and no one knows about web proxies over there either which would allow them to go around these blocks. /sarcasm off

    China is based on thousands (yes thousands) of years of imperialistic rule, where people were subservient to those higher in status. This is changing, but clearly not all the ideas in the West are going to be accepted with open arms. Who is America and democracy (no older that ~250 years and a population of 300million) to tell the Chinese how to govern 1.5 billion people. Now I don't agree with some of the stuff they do, but that doesn't necessarily mean its bad for them. The fact of the matter is kids are extremely impressionable wherever you live. Not all, but some, and in China's case, some is ALOT. China's internet user base is more than that of the population of the U.S. Lets say 2% of those 300+million internet users play/played games like GTA. That's roughly 6million people. Lets say 5% of those 6million are very impressionable kids under the age of 12. That's 300,000 potential cases in which a kid has a good chance of being influenced by the stuff he plays in game. You think the Chinese government wants to take that risk? I don't even know why I am typing this, most people that post here are retarded 12 years olds that probably don't have the attention span to read this anyways.

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