Friday, August 3, 2007

I think there's a wee difference between our cultures

In America, we have the government create and release a free computer game about the army. In Soviet Russia, computers make a game out of the army.

No, wait.

In China, they create a game about torturing and executing corrupt government officials:
An online game in which players can torture and kill corrupt officials that Chinese authorities set up to teach people about the perils of graft is a roaring success, state media said today.

"Incorruptible Fighter", developed by the government of east China's Zhejiang province, was launched just over a week ago and has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, the Southern Metropolitan Daily reported.

...

The game, which lets players get ahead by killing officials by means of "weapons, magic or torture," is based on well-known incidents taken from Chinese history.

But the parallels in modern China of people struggling against seemingly insurmountable corruption are clear.

To advance to a new level, the player must enter an "Anti-Corruption College" to be lectured in more detail about ancient cases, the Southeast Business newspaper said.

The game is so popular that the server it was on crashed.

No comments: