China Deepens Ban on Certain Content in Gaming: Gambling, Blood, Bodies and Zombies

[Prima.Vera]

Instead of banning the poor zombies, they should go instead for the ridiculous amount of cheaters that are plaguing ALL online games out there.

 

[Crackong]

Have you tried to rule a country of more than a billion person, mostly in 10M+ cities, with around 2000 years of existence and still holding the place ?

I am sorry but People's Republic of China is a 70 year old country.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Many of them see corpse or zombies as disrespectful towards the dead.

Then they wouldn't buy it but, no, Jinping is killing capitalism in China. He has been since his term started.

For the record, most cultures honor their dead. Most cultures also realize that zombies (and games in general) are a work of fiction (art) and are generally protected as speech.

 

[Frick]

Honestly banning zombies is a great idea. Zombies in almost literally any context is nothing more than lazy writing.

For the record, most cultures honor their dead. Most cultures also realize that zombies (and games in general) are a work of fiction (art) and are generally protected as speech.

Tangential, but one of the fundemental definitions of art (and pretty much the only one that works) is that art cannot be definied by its commercial value. It can be commercialy successful, but that can't be the point (unless that in itself is the point, but that would be an immensively difficult tightrope to walk). Games as art generally doesn't work. There are exceptions.

 

[blobster21]

THEY ARE the zombies. Poor things make me want to shoot them down to end their sufferings.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Yes, Jinping has already squashed one rebellion and this is an effort to prevent them from happening in the well-to-do parts of China. Under Jinping, China is rapidly becoming a totalitarian state AGAIN. Reuters did an expose a few days ago and there was a naval parade yesterday. What's more, China is spreading its regime globally through the Belt and Road Initiative.

TL;DR: this news should surprise no one. Well, Zombies can. The rest not so much.

FTFY.

 

[Renald]

I am sorry but People's Republic of China is a 70 year old country.

Yeah, sure, in your world ... So Germany is only 30 year old ? And France is 150 year old (1870, the third and first real republic), and younger than the US ?
Changing the name doesn't change the way you rule your country.

China was ruled by emperors during 2000 years. Ask a Japanese, they were always at war since Medieval ages.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Tangential, but one of the fundemental definitions of art (and pretty much the only one that works) is that art cannot be definied by its commercial value. It can be commercialy successful, but that can't be the point (unless that in itself is the point, but that would be an immensively difficult tightrope to walk). Games as art generally doesn't work. There are exceptions.

I don't buy that argument at all. "Art" is valued at auctions all of the time. Commissioned art also has a predefined value agreed to before the piece is even created. Just because a work of art is reproduced and sold commercially doesn't make the initial work any less artful--just each copy is individually less valuable when trading.

If you look at the language of trademarks and copyrights law, they also explicitly declare covered designs as art.

Have a SCOTUS ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/08-1448.pdf

California correctly acknowledges that video games qualify for First Amendment protection. The Free Speech Clause exists principally to protect discourse on public matters, but we have long recognized that it is difficult to distinguish politics from entertainment, and dangerous to try. “Everyone is familiar with instances of propaganda through fiction. What is one man’s amusement, teaches another’s doctrine.” Winters v. New York, 333 U. S. 507, 510 (1948). Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas—and even social messages—through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection.

Separated for emphasis:

Under our Constitution, “esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority.” United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., 529 U. S. 803, 818 (2000).

Continues:

And whatever the challenges of applying the Constitution to ever-advancing technology, “the basic principles of freedom of speech and the press, like the First Amendment’s command, do not vary” when a new and different medium for communication appears. Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U. S. 495, 503 (1952).

Remember what video games do: literally draw 30+ pictures per second. Each one could be pulled out and framed as art.


China banning some video games is a political statement.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Honestly banning zombies is a great idea. Zombies in almost literally any context is nothing more than lazy writing.

I disagree, maybe try playing something other than L4D. I have expect China's alm, against zombie games is a slap at Steams L4D, the worst zombie game I ever tried. Not uncommon to have one game be used to judge all others.

 

[Crackong]

Yeah, sure, in your world ... So Germany is only 30 year old ? And France is 150 year old (1870, the third and first real republic), and younger than the US ?
Changing the name doesn't change the way you rule your country.

China was ruled by emperors during 2000 years. Ask a Japanese, they were always at war since Medieval ages.

By your terms, changing the name and the entire political structure still counts as the same country.

US actually shared the same history as Britain and Europe,
And Britain shared the same history as ancient Roman, I am lazy so I stopped here.
Combine all that, US as a country is 3000 year old, don't you agree ?

 

[Frick]

I don't buy that argument at all. "Art" is valued at auctions all of the time. Commissioned art also has a predefined value agreed to before the piece is even created. Just because a work of art is reproduced and sold commercially doesn't make the initial work any less artful--just each copy is individually less valuable when trading.

Yeah, I messed up my thought process. What I meant to have thoughted was art can't have practical purpose. It can and should be sold as art, but not as anything else. In any case games are rarely art.

I disagree, maybe try playing something other than L4D. I have expect China's alm, against zombie games is a slap at Steams L4D, the worst zombie game I ever tried. Not uncommon to have one game be used to judge all others.

I haven't played L4D. Give me examples of games where zombies aren't lazizly written cannon fodder. Sure the undead makes for handy cannon fodder (i've played Diablo 2 and Grim Danw a whole lot), but at this point it tends to be ... lazy. Fallout 4 is a great example of this. "People still like zombies, right? MORE ZOMBIES! AND MAKE THEM SEXY!"

 

[Bones]

Yeah, sure, in your world ... So Germany is only 30 year old ? And France is 150 year old (1870, the third and first real republic), and younger than the US ?
Changing the name doesn't change the way you rule your country.

While this is true, the way of life and rule in China did in fact change with the introduction of communist rule after WWII.
As an actual country and people in general they are still largely the same. The way said rule is being implemented and enforced both legally and socially now is the difference which is transforming them as a whole into something other than they were before, which is an ongoing process to this day by design of the ruling party/government.

China was ruled by emperors during 2000 years. Ask a Japanese, they were always at war since Medieval ages.

This is also true - China didn't survive as "China" all those years by being friendly to just anyone but to be fair, Japan isn't exactly innocent either.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Yeah, I messed up my thought process. What I meant to have thoughted was art can't have practical purpose. It can and should be sold as art, but not as anything else. In any case games are rarely art.



I haven't played L4D. Give me examples of games where zombies aren't lazizly written cannon fodder. Sure the undead makes for handy cannon fodder (i've played Diablo 2 and Grim Danw a whole lot), but at this point it tends to be ... lazy. Fallout 4 is a great example of this. "People still like zombies, right? MORE ZOMBIES! AND MAKE THEM SEXY!"

glorified zombies in those games, daiblo 2 does the worst representation of zombies, try 7 days to die, (modded or un-modded), Dead Matter coming soon, H1Z1 seems similar to L4D. some people prefer zombies based on Georger Romero movies and not the zombie design pulled from the DND/magic realms

 

[Renald]

While this is true, the way of life and rule in China did in fact change with the introduction of communist rule after WWII.
As an actual country and people in general they are still largely the same. The way said rule is being implemented and enforced both legally and socially now is the difference which is transforming them as a whole into something other than they were before, which is an ongoing process to this day by design of the ruling party/government.

They didn't change deeply. The emperor became the Party. And "law" is just becoming official, that's all ; before you just got executed, murdered or killed. Like any country in the world. Remember a guy named Lincoln ? Good ideas, but not for some guys.
China's rules are just more drastic than ours. It's like the "one child law", which not really a law but a financial burden from the Party to enforce you to have only one child, which got many newly born girls killed discreetly (or so).

I'm not defending China way of ruling. I've worked and nearly lived with Chinese people, and I saw and comprehend what is happening.
Some follow the rules and live their lives as is, blindly ; but some make choices of their own, and when they want to undo it or get in touch with other chinese (they are living in groups, like a small China Town, even in France), they get rejected from their own (it's the only country to do that, over nearly 30 "big" country I've seen in my life).


My only point is : we have no fucking clue of how to make a country of 1 billion dudes not killing the planet and still holding up to the world and themselves. No one on this planet does. So don't judge like a kid (not directed to you, it's a statement and it's also work for me) something you can't even start to comprehend.

This is also true - China didn't survive as "China" all those years by being friendly to just anyone but to be fair, Japan isn't exactly innocent either.

Indeed. China survived because they were attacked from everywhere, and in order to survive as an Empire, they had to follow a leadership, like all of us. Even if it's not fair nor legit. It was, and still is, war. Just a different one.
And japanese invaded China a lot of times (WWII last time), and they are still fighting over some islands today. It's true ; so many war between them that they hate each other like Chileans and Argentinians (don't put 2 of them in a closed room or one will die).