$1.8 Billion for Online Gaming


Bill Gates has to shudder over matching his lame MSN gaming scene up against Shanghai.


China plans to invest 15 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion US dollars) to develop 100 kinds of online games with independent property rights in the next five years, the Shanghai Youth reported.

I caught this on the crawl on Biz China, tonight, on CCTV9. I don’t see anyone else reacting, yet. At least Google hasn’t found anyone else.

The number of Internet users in China, the world's second-largest Internet market, grew by nine million in the first half of this year to reach 103 million.

The burgeoning online gaming market proved especially lucrative, with Internet gamers spending some four billion yuan (483 million dollars) on virtual equipment for their online alter-egos in the first six months.

Think about what this might do to the brains of gamers all over the world. Their sleeping habits.

I wonder if Bill Gates is awake, right now?

Posted: Sun - July 31, 2005 at 11:07 PM