Many Chinese youngsters are intoxicated in "falling in love" and
"getting married" in an "unreal" world, as more on-line games offer
such experience to them whose minds are full of romance.
Parents and schools worried that such on-line games would cause
prematurity of children and affect their study.
A mother surnamed Xiong has a 14-year-old son, who often stayed
all night in the Internet cafe playing games recently. One day, the
son came home with joy and told his mother he had "earned" some
billion yuan in the game and had got a "wife" and a "son".
"I was very surprised to see him addicted so much to the
grown-up's activities," the mother said, adding that the son spent
all the pocket money in the cafe and even skipped classes.
On-line marriage games are so popular that the young people
didn't even care they were not real and sometimes the "couple" did
not really know their partner's gender.
Local media of Kunming in Yunnan
Province has reported similar story happened to a high school
boy named Yan, who married a girl named Xiao Fei in an on-line game
called "Crazy tanks".
In the game, the "couple" took wedding photos, had a sweet
honeymoon and adopted a child. "We love each other so much that we
can't live without the other," said the boy.
The deep affection finally made him decide to find Xiao Fei in
real life. "I must meet her in reality and will love her. I'm
planning it now," he said with hope in his eyes.
Many on-line games allow players to marry and live together, Yan
said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2004)