Since a deadly internet cafe arson incident in the early 2000s, video games have been regarded as yet another “spiritual opium” imported from the West Despite console bans, censorship, and continued restrictions for minors, China’s video game industry has become enormously successful and influential
Children play the video games on TVs at a shopping centre in Chengdu, in China's southwestern Sichuan province, on October 30, 2006. The Chinese government has long had an uncomfortable relationship with video games, and it ramped up restrictions for minors again this year. Photo: AFP
