Brazil this week imposed a ban on popular role-playing computer games Counter-Strike and EverQuest, claiming they incited violence and were harmful to consumers' health.
The federal prohibition on the sale of the games was being applied across the country, the official consumer protection agency in the central state of Goias said on its Web site on Thursday.
Both games allow players, typically teenage boys, to connect online to fantasy worlds where they interact with other players, form groups and carry out joint missions usually involving combat.
`COUNTER-STRIKE'
Counter-Strike, a game with a first-person-view and shoot-'em-up objective based on the motor powering the popular Half-Life game, requires participants to choose a role as either a terrorist in a mask or an anti-terrorist officer before going forth with an ever-sophisticated array of weapons.
An adapted version in Brazil permitted players to take on the perspective of either a police officer or a narcotrafficker in Rio de Janeiro's infamously crime-ridden slums.
`EVERQUEST'
EverQuest is a swords-and-spells game in the mold of Lord of the Rings in which human or elvish or other imaginary characters go on joint adventures to gain treasure and increase their avatar's abilities.
Both began in 1999 and have since developed huge worldwide followings.
Some psychologists have described them as addictive as drugs.
A few players have turned professional, earning money from powerful characters they sell, or from the auction of hard-to-win virtual items.
The ban was ordered in October last year by a Brazilian federal court, but was not immediately implemented.
The judge, Carlos Alberto Simoes, ruled that the games encouraged the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS