No love for online gangster gamers

by Jonathan Chow

China’s online gangster/mafia games are now officially sleepin’ with the fishes. According to Xinhua, the Ministry of Culture banned all websites and servers running, publishing, or offering links to online games involving gang-related subject matter and warned that violators of the ban will face an unspecified but "severe punishment."

On Monday, the Ministry of Culture asserted that such games were a bad influence on youngsters because they "advocate obscenity, gambling, or violence," and "undermine morality and Chinese traditional culture," (though gambling games and regularly violent games are still widely available on Chinese servers).

Among the blocked game titles were: Godfather, Jianghu (“gangster community”), and my personal favorite: Guhuozai ("young and dangerous guys"). Yeah.. we wouldn’t want to mess with guys playing those games. They're probably young and dangerous.

After getting a glorious taste of the simulated gangster life, gamers are now feeling the pain of simulated gangster withdrawal symptoms.

One gamer who was stripped of his virtual money bags said, "I just stole 3 million yuan in the game when the website suddenly went blank. I just can't take it!" Another player said, according to Xinhua, "I really felt like our gang was disbanded."

Well at least they now have an excuse to leave their internet café seats and return to being responsible contributors to society, or they can wait for tomorrow and join a fantasy world instead. After all, World of Warcraft is finally returning to China after its two-month long hiatus!

Who needs gangs when you've got the Horde?