Proposal to relocate city's online gamers to amusement centres

HA NOI — Ha Noi's Information and Communications Department yesterday suggested that online games businesses relocate to amusement zones in supermarkets to allow the city to manage the sector more easily.

The idea was proposed during a meeting to establish new management policies for online games businesses between the Ministry of Information and Communications and municipal authorities.

Head of the department Pham Quoc Ban said the city had already shut down games shops within 200m of schools and instructed internet service providers to cut services to games shops after 11pm.

He said that these methods had not been particularly effective. Many shops closed their doors at 11pm but remained open for business using alternative internet connections, Ban added.

"Many gamers are willing to pay a lot to play these online games, which has helped businesses earn large profits," said a ministry representative. "This makes it very hard to manage this sector."

Ban argued that when online game businesses operated in these specified areas, it would be easier to control their games' content and their opening hours.

"Many supermarkets including Hapro have already agreed to accommodate online games businesses and have even said they wouldn't charge them any rent for the first few months," Ban said.

The majority of officials in the meeting agreed with Ban's arguments, but some doubted the practicality of his ideas.

A representative from the Inspection Office of the Information and Communications Department said amusement zones were limited in size and infrastructure, so relocating online gaming shops to these areas would be difficult.

According to the department, in September Ha Noi closed down more than 300 online gaming shops that had broken municipal regulations. — VNS

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Experts dismiss survey on online games

Vietnamese Academy of Social Science last Tuesday announced results from a survey on online game and Vietnamese players.

The survey is conducted within a month on participants from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Can Tho, Dong Nai and Hai Duong.

Among 1320 quantitative research cases, 960 are done by interview in household, 180 at internet café and the rest 180 at school and public places.

Supported by National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Teenager and an online game provider, the purpose of this survey is to provide scientific proofs and to suggest managing measures to the National Assembly and authorities.

According to the survey, 73% of participants are playing game, 22% have never played and 5% have played and given up. Male players outnumber female ones at 54.5%.

Players below 30 years old constitute 99.99% of those surveyed. The majority (41.2%) is at 16-20, who are mature enough and aware of their actions. On the other hand, younger teenagers and kids at 10-15 years old range make up 26.3%.

Players who are going to school account for 71.1%. College or university students top the list at 30.1%

More than half of participants said they play weekly: 34.1% play daily and 25% play 3-4 times a week.

Only 5.2% admitted that they have addictive behaviors and cannot control themselves when they play. 59% responded online game makes them feel good and distressed.

The higher education people have, the lower they rate effect of online game on them.

The research group concluded that online game does not affect players as seriously as means of media have said.

In response to doubts that the survey does not incorporate with news reflected by the media about long hours people spend on online game and increasing crimes caused by addicted players, Dr.Binh explained that the survey was done by professionals and only took general opinions and influence of online game. There was only one case that responded playing 168 hours a week but it was taken out of the survey.

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Minh Thuyet said the managing of online game is not well done as game providers have not seen the effects on young people. Statistics on this survey will be foundation to control online game. In the future, the government will implement better laws on managing online games to avoid crimes to communities.

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Experts dismiss survey on online games

A survey by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Science which found most online game players claiming that their habit does not negatively affect their behavior has come in for widespread criticism.

The poll of 1,320 random respondents in major cities, released last Tuesday, said only 5.2 percent admitted they have addictive behavior and cannot control their urge to play. A huge number -- 59 percent -- claimed online games help them feel good and overcome stress.

A majority (41.2 percent) were aged 16-20 and, thus, mature enough to be aware of their actions. College and university students topped the list at 30.1 percent.

The higher a person’s education level, the less effect online games had on them.

The research group concluded from these findings that playing online games does not have as serious an effect on people as the media had claimed.

However, Dr Le Minh Tien of the Open University’s sociology department, said in a column in Tuoi Tre Wednesday that the survey is “not reliable.”

“It appears from its results that the research team was looking for positive facts about the games rather than exploring their impacts,” he said.

“The results reflect the pollsters’ intention to stand on the side of game providers.”

The survey is not reliable enough to be used as scientific proof by the National Assembly for regulating online games, he said.

National Assembly deputy Nguyen Minh Thuyet denied Wednesday the House commissioned the Vietnamese Academy of Social Science to do such a survey.

“We only asked for their recommendations.”

Dr Trinh Hoa Binh, the chief pollster told Tuoi Tre the academy did the survey on its own initiative.

But he had earlier said the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Teenager and an online game provider commissioned the survey to help the House and other authorities regulate gaming.

Asked about the poll’s reliability, Binh said: “If a sample consists of 30 individuals or more, it is quite reliable. Our results may dissatisfy many but the statistics are not beneficial to online game providers either.”

Dr Le Manh Ha, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications, said the research methodology needs to be reconsidered, pointing out it is incorrect to club respondents aged 16 to 18.

“Players at internet cafés are usually below 18. Most online games are only appropriate for those aged 18 or above, who are aware of their actions.”

He was also skeptical about the finding that only 5.2 percent are addicted to gaming.

“We need general statistics on online game addicts just like we do with drug addicts. If we can do this, we can make objective judgments and have reasonable managing measures.”

Dr Ha, said that four months ago Binh had been a member of the Ministry of Information and Communication’s online game assessment committee that had licensed 43 games which were later found to have violent content.

“If you’re involved on both sides [of an issue], it is easy to be biased.”

The survey was conducted over a month in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Can Tho, Dong Nai, and Hai Duong.

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‘Students not hooked on online games'

Youngsters indulge in online games at an internet shop in Cau Giay District, Ha Noi. To many people's surprise, game addiction is reported to be not as serious as indicated in the media. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Giang

HA NOI — The situation of online game addicts was not as serious as the mass media had warned, a recent survey purports to show.

The survey, by the Viet Nam Institute of Social Science, claims to prove that while onlines games are highly popular with students, there is a low rate of addiction among them.

The institute's random check on 1,400 people in six main cities and provinces showed that only 5.2 per cent showed signs of game addiction, such as playing for increasing amounts of time, lying to friends and family to conceal their activities and feeling irritable when trying to cut down on playing games.

Findings of the one-month survey, made public on Tuesday, revealed that more than 71 per cent of people aged under 20 play online games.

Secondary school students between 16 and 20 years old were the largest group of players, accounting for 42 per cent of the total.

However, school students only ranked third in hours of daily online gaming. First position was taken by white-collar workers and second by unemployed and low-income people.

Each player was reported to spend more than 12 hours a week on online games. More than 53 per cent of school students spent less than 10 hours per week.

The study reported that only 0.3 per cent of players admitted to playing games between 11pm to 6am. Most chose internet shops for their playing activities.

Although more than half said they felt relaxed after playing games, online games were not their favourite entertainment. Nearly 95 per cent chose other activities to spend their free time.

Dr Tran Hoa Binh who chaired the research said the survey the first of its kind in Viet Nam, would provide a firm foundation for the Government to base its online game management policies on.

Binh said the survey was implemented in Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang and Can Tho cities, and Dong Nai and Hai Duong provinces.

He said online games could seriously affect players' time, money and health if they failed to keep control. He said it was also necessary for strict controls on internet shops.

On Tuesday, HCM City's Department of Information and Telecommunication sent messages to 18 online game suppliers to require them to stop supplying services to internet shops between 10pm to 8am from Monday.

Earlier, these suppliers were asked to cut down internet services to internet shops within 200 metres of schools. — VNS

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Study reveals teen enthusiasm for online games

As many as 68.4 percent of people aged under 20 play online games, according to a survey published in Hanoi on October 19.

The survey showed that secondary school students in the age group of 16 and 20 years were the largest group of the teenage online game players.

However, general school students only ranked second in terms of daily online game players, leaving the top spot to white-collar workers. University students took the third ranking.

The survey also confirmed that the situation of online games addicts was not as serious as mass media warned, as the rate of addicts based on World Health Organisation indicators was not high.

It also exonerated online game providers and the games themselves as the sole cause of the criticised addiction, citing responsibilities of families and schools as well as basic life skills of players.

The average sum of money paid by an online game player was found to be lower than other sorts of entertainments such as newspaper reading, sports and coffee drinking.

The survey was conducted by the Institute of Social Science on 1,400 people at random in six cities and provinces representing the three main parts of the country./.

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Online gamers adapt to curfew

Young gamers play online computer games. Online games are growing in popularity in urban areas. Online game addicts have found ways to get around a new curfew. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI — Gamers are using creative measures to dodge an online games curfew such as switching to offline games or playing in secret behind closed doors.

The curfew, set by the Ministry of Information and Communications, has been in effect since the beginning of last month. It requires online game shops and host computers to close between 11pm and 6am the next morning.

In fact, internet shops do close and turn their lights off during the curfew, but behind closed doors, many young players are still immersed in a world of virtual fighting, according to a report in the local Tien Phong Daily.

Guards are employed to stand watch in front of these shops. Their job is to alert shop owners and players at the first sight of law enforcement officials.

Internet shops also maintain their clandestine activities by keeping noise to a minimum at night.

These methods are used by internet shops in the capital and HCM City to facilitate their night time operations.

Even when internet service providers suspend online game servers during the night, players can still satisfy their craving for gaming by turning to widely available offline games like Call of Duty, Black Ops, Red Alert, Commandos, Left 4 Dead and Warcraft.

Most of the games are violent.

"There are always alternatives," wrote many online game addicts on an online forum when the curfew was announced.

"We usually sign in using proxy servers based in Japan," said Le Anh Minh, a player in Ha Noi who is a big fan of the Korea-made Alliance of Valliant Arms. "Thousands of Vietnamese players are attracted to these games."

"I like to play freely until I'm tired or fed up without worrying about a time limit," he added, noting that foreign-based games are always more interesting because they are not censored.

The curfew was issued following complaints about the negative effects online games were having on youth, including addiction and rising school violence.

According to a recent survey of female students at Tran Phu Secondary School in District 10 and Nguyen Huu Huan Secondary School in Thu Duc District conducted by Van Hien University, up to 25 per cent of them played violent games in their leisure time and more than 50 per cent were indifferent about violence among school girls.

The Ministry of Education and Training asked its provincial departments as well as universities and colleges across the country distribute a pre-designed survey on the effects of online games on pupils and students from now until next Wednesday. — VNS

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HCMC targets Crossfire in online games crackdown

Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities on Tuesday ordered the closure of a role-playing game released by a company under the Ministry of Information and Communication.

The move is part of the city's crackdown on online games.

At a meeting with Internet service providers, the City’s Department of Information and Communications asked them to stop customers from signing on to the Dot kich (Crossfire) game developed by VTC Intercom and to get rid of digital content that contain illicit images from the game.

The providers, including FPT and SCTV, were required to act right away and report to the department by September 1. If they fail to do so, they will be punished, the department said.  

Released in 2008 by VTC Intercom, which is under the Ministry of Information and Communication, Crossfire has a lot of violent content with characters killing others with knives, guns and grenades, it said.  

The department has sent all violent images taken from Crossfire to authorities in 24 districts, requesting them to ask local Internet shops to stop providing the game’s content with such images.

A ten-day investigation into the conduct of VTC’s branch in HCMC over a year starting August 20, 2009 was also launched Monday.

Asked why the department had targeted Crossfire first, Le Manh Ha, director of the department, said previously they had met with three companies that had released games with a lot of shooting, of which VTC’s was the most violent.

The company’s representatives have also come to the meeting with no goodwill and intention of cooperating with the department, the director said.

Last week the department had proposed to the Ministry of Information and Communications that the provision of online games be cut from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. instead of instituting online curfews at Internet cafes.

The response came after the ministry ordered the suspension of internet service to all internet cafes nationwide from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from this September 1.

The department argued that there was no legal basis for a government body to order the suspension of internet service to internet shops after their official business hours, as not all Internet shops have broken the law.

In the meantime, FPT Online – subsidiary of the leading information technology firm FPT, on Monday committed it will not import and release games involving shooting with guns if governmental agencies asked them to do so.

FPT Online will also close the Dac Nhiem Anh Hung (Special Force) game from next April onwards, it said.

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HCMC targets Crossfire in online games crackdown

Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities on Tuesday ordered the closure of a role-playing game released by a company under the Ministry of Information and Communication.

The move is part of the city's crackdown on online games.

At a meeting with Internet service providers, the City’s Department of Information and Communications asked them to stop customers from signing on to the Dot kich (Crossfire) game developed by VTC Intercom and to get rid of digital content that contain illicit images from the game.

The providers, including FPT and SCTV, were required to act right away and report to the department by September 1. If they fail to do so, they will be punished, the department said.  

Released in 2008 by VTC Intercom, which is under the Ministry of Information and Communication, Crossfire has a lot of violent content with characters killing others with knives, guns and grenades, it said.  

The department has sent all violent images taken from Crossfire to authorities in 24 districts, requesting them to ask local Internet shops to stop providing the game’s content with such images.

A ten-day investigation into the conduct of VTC’s branch in HCMC over a year starting August 20, 2009 was also launched Monday.

Asked why the department had targeted Crossfire first, Le Manh Ha, director of the department, said previously they had met with three companies that had released games with a lot of shooting, of which VTC’s was the most violent.

The company’s representatives have also come to the meeting with no goodwill and intention of cooperating with the department, the director said.

Last week the department had proposed to the Ministry of Information and Communications that the provision of online games be cut from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. instead of instituting online curfews at Internet cafes.

The response came after the ministry ordered the suspension of internet service to all internet cafes nationwide from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from this September 1.

The department argued that there was no legal basis for a government body to order the suspension of internet service to internet shops after their official business hours, as not all Internet shops have broken the law.

In the meantime, FPT Online – subsidiary of the leading information technology firm FPT, on Monday committed it will not import and release games involving shooting with guns if governmental agencies asked them to do so.

FPT Online will also close the Dac Nhiem Anh Hung (Special Force) game from next April onwards, it said.

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