Online Gaming Continues To Soar In China

Thanks to EvilAvatar for linking to a ChinaDaily.com article discussing the further rise of online gaming in China. According to the story, "the All China Sports Federation recently recognised video gaming as a sanctioned sport", and it's also noted that "the China Center of Information Industry Development (CCID) estimates that there were 19 million online gamers in China at the end of 2003. This year the number of users is predicted to explode to 32 million and will continue growing to 48 million by 2005." Notably, it's also revealed that China's leading MMO title, "The Legend of Mir II has an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 ACUs [Average Concurrent Users], attracting some 650,000 simultaneous users during peak times. The [Chinese distribution] firm's owner, Chen Tianqiao, is listed as China's second richest IT entrepreneur, with a cool RMB 4 billion [$500 million] in the bank."

Comments

The World

[blueZhift]

Over the last decade or so, it seems that games have done a lot to drive the progression of computer technology. Afterall, your secretary doesn't really need a 2.4 GHz P4 to write reports, except maybe for the next iteration of MS Office! Given this, it would seem that China and Korea are well positioned to become the next nexus pushing the IT envelope.

Purhaps the real foundation for The World (been watching a lot of .hack//Sign lately) is being laid in Shanghai and Seoul. In the U.S. playing MMORPGs still makes you a nerd, but in China it seems to be becoming a part of everyday life which has definite ramifications for technological prowess in that society. And with all of the government support the online ventures are getting there, they will only continue to grow. Before you know it, the new standards in networking, security, and online virtual world building will all be Chinese with an installed base too large to ignore. I wonder how much of this is being built on Redflag Linux. Hmmm...