Chinese Survey Paints Gamer 'Addict' Picture

A Chinese Government-backed survey has suggested that "more than 13 per cent of Chinese youths and young adults are addicted to the Internet", and has cited video games as a major part of this problem, as the country continues to crack down on online and offline gaming. The survey was conducted by the China Youth Association for Network Development (CYAND), interviewed 22,500 people aged 13-35 in 30 major Chinese cities, 26 provincial capitals and the four municipalities. It was suggested that "about 42 per cent of addicts are attracted to online games while the figure for non-addicts is only 24 per cent", although the definition of an 'addict' is not well-specified in press reports, and the China Daily article on the survey added several lurid details discussing Beijing high school student Xiao Lin, a "typical addict" who stopped going to school to play games. The state-run China Daily paper also has issues with the game content, commenting in its report: "The games he liked to play: a huge monster chopping its enemy to death and sucking its blood, according to his mother. But the boy thought "it is cool," his mother was quoted as saying." However, a recent Xinhua news agency report has indicated that the recent 'Beijing Accord', intended to discourage users from playing online games for more than three consecutive hours, has not been a complete success, suggesting that gamers are either switching characters, playing different games, or playing on private servers. It's not yet known whether the Chinese government will try stricter regulations to further combat the perceived problem.