Word from the Associated Press in Beijing today informs us of new measures coming into force in the People's Republic of China, which will crack-down on the content of videogames sold in the country. As part of new laws - sanctioned as part of a 'state morality campaign' for Chinese youths - the government will have to approve all and mobile games as suitable before they can go on sale.

The new powers aim to curb the number of unsuitable games available to China's youngsters, with some 80% of such games being imports - many of which are said to contain violent and sexually explicit content - whilst others are even deemed a threat to national security.

The Ministry of Culture requires all current games on sale to be ratified by September the 1st, or those selling such titles will face criminal charges. Games passing the government checks will receive approval codes, and it will then be illegal to modify them in any way.

As part of the crack-down, web cafes serving under 16s now face fines, and those wishing to frequent such establishments must now show ID cards, amid news that Shanghai cafes are also receiving CCTV systems in a bid to prevent customers looking at unlawful websites.

More as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge

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