Late night online gaming banned in Vietnam

An online gaming cull is set to hit late night players in Vietnam. Beginning on March 3rd, Vietnamese gamers will not be able to play online games between the hours of 10pm and 8am, as the country’s Ministry of Information and Communication has requested a blanket block from internet service providers.

“Provincial departments of information and communication will inspect on-line games activities nationwide and deal with organizations that violate regulations by canceling their services,” said the ministry’s Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang.

The move is an attempt to slow the growing trend of Vietnamese youths hanging out all night in game parlours, internet cafes dedicated to online PC play. However, online game operators say the measures unfairly impinge upon the hobbies of responsible adults who game through the night too.

The Vietnamese government will revise the decree later in the year. Certainly the plan already has some major holes in it; does it include LAN parties? Does it include Flash and browser based games?

If Facebook games don’t face the chop, the Vietnamese gaming community may soon be touching up their horticultural skills all night in Farmville rather than their space-battle tactics in StarCraft.