Red Wired: China's Internet Revolution by Sherman So & J. Christopher Westland

Author:Sherman So & J. Christopher Westland [So, Sherman & Westland, J. Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Social Science, Social Aspects, Computers, Asia, Economic Conditions, Internet, 0462099679 9780462099675, China, Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780462099675
Google: _IBNPgAACAAJ
Amazon: 0462099679
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Published: 2010-01-01T23:00:00+00:00

8. Shanda: Pay now, enjoy later

When Chen Tianqiao founded Shanda, the first major online game company in China, its games were licensed in Korea, where MMORPG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, had been going strong for several years.

The real problem that Shanda solved, which allowed it to list on NASDAQ about three years after launching its first game, was how to collect money from millions of players. Credit cards were scarce in China, as were forms of electronic payment. Most transactions were done in cash. And their solution was simple, but very much adapted to the business and social realities in China—prepaid cards bearing an access code and password and sold through hundreds of thousands of retail outlets.

Chen also created a computer program to sell prepaid cards virtually in internet cafés, the main venue for online games in China.

Fantasy and reality in online gaming

People have been playing games on personal computers for as long as PCs have existed. Whether they crave the excitement of “killing” their enemies or the quiet contentment of creating a city building by building, people spend thousands of hours playing computer games.

As technology has evolved, game design has become intricate, and graphics and sound effects have had more impact. Special devices were invented for the purpose of playing games, such as Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation. These consoles are generally sold at a small profit margin; the companies make their real money by selling games separately to users. Whether designed for PCs or consoles, games are generally sold as packaged software, with a one-time license fee built into the price. Apart from the three mentioned above, major game developers include American-based Electronic Arts, France’s Ubisoft Entertainment and Japan’s Konami Corporation. As the internet grew, game developers began taking advantage of the new medium to let users play together virtually.

Today, most games can be played online as well as individually.

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