Business Channel 2007-09-23&09-25, 中国盛放的网游产业

China has its problems: faulty products , tyres, seafood¹, dog food, toys with lead.But it’s also potentially a giant market for American companies. It’s China Rising. And it’s only on CNBC. Tonight, Melissa Lee On the Money Inside China’s giant online gaming industry which has more players than the US has people.

Harold Zhang doesn’t consider himself an online gaming addict² even though the Beijing lawyer spends about two hours a day online, four hours a day on weekends. He says he loses sleep to gaming and has even lost girlfriends.

For me, if you don’t let me play starting tomorrow, it feels like something from my life is missing.

Zhang is one of millions in china who switch off real life to go online instead to play what’s known as massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

Playing games is the same as every other kind of entertainment, like going to a movie or playing badminton. And that makes online gaming a burgeoning³ business in China where research from IDC says revenues will double by 2010. Many companies like Shanda Interactive⁴ give away access to the games, but charge for items that help players rack up points. Shanda also expects to add in-game advertising⁵ next year.

Its president Tang Jun says making money is all about the numbers.

The business is about the volume, and especially in china, you know the volume is so high. And we have 20 million active users and we have over 300 million registered accounts. You know, and I am sure some of them spend less time or more time, spend more money or less money but if you combine them together, that’s phenomenal.

On average, gamers spend about 2 to 3 hours online per day and surprisingly most of these gamers are adults with the disposable income to spend. Active players on average spend 59 RMB per month, bringing the total market to 816 million dollars last year.

But what is so profitable has become a social problem. Last month, the government mandated⁶ that games have monitoring software;that warn under-18 gamers to exercise at the 3-hour mark. At 5 hours, it’s game over. When a warning isn’t enough, the next stop may be here, the Internet Addiction⁷ Clinic in Beijing where patients, typically teens, come to be cured at a steep cost of 40 US dollars a day through medication, and military-like training.

Those bad behaviors some could be corrected when people get older. A lot people don’t get treatment and they drop out of school or develop psychological illnesses and they get end up in jail. It could ruin their lives.

Only 10% of gamers are under 18, many more are like Harold Zhang, who thinks his hobby could turn into a habit.

I worry about it every single day.

Just one customer of 300 million and counting. On the Money, Melissa Lee CNBC, Beijing.

Notes:

rack up: To accumulate or score

1 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

2 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

3 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。