Study: Singapore teens play 27 hours a week
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 7th 2009 at 7:00PM
Still, while that seems high (and remember, it's just an average according to this study, which apparently isn't done until the end of the year), I like the government's take at the end of the article: regulating it, either by attacking the games or putting unenforceable rules on the Internet, just won't work. If these kids are playing too much (and generally the rule is that if your life is suffering, you're playing too much -- it's hard to believe that a kid going to school can play for 27 hours a week and still have time to do homework and sleep as they need to), then it's their and their parents' responsibility to get educated and fix it. Lots of people play MMOs, but it's up to those who do it unhealthily to get help for themselves.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Uriahworld Oct 7th 2009 7:02PM
I can beat that average play time by far -- I'm not an addict! /cough
joel Oct 7th 2009 7:04PM
Agreed. I can get that much playtime just from the weekends (1/2 Friday-1/2 Sunday).
Mep Oct 7th 2009 11:43PM
Seriously... 27 hours? Where's the commitment!
All weekend... Wake up at 10, play till 3 a.m. the next morning? That's 17 hours in ONE DAY!
... nvm all the time I put in during the week!
... Someone please kill me :(
nonentity Oct 8th 2009 12:51AM
Wake up at 10am? Wake up at 7-8am!
27 hours? I can beat that. (although whether that's a good or a bad thing... ) Or could, from July to September. Now I'm back at university and don't have quite that much time.
TheChao Oct 7th 2009 7:08PM
I wouldve thought that they play more >.>
thats a little less than 4 hours a day. Considering how much some people spend just raiding and doing dailies every day, I can see spending that much time. (Unless of course, you have a full time job, go to school and have a life... but who does that?)
I recall there being on all Chinese accounts a soft limit on how long a person could play. After playing for 3 hours, all your experience and gold pickups was cut in half, and wouldnt reset for something like 5 hours.
check out this screenshot: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/TheChao/bug.jpg
TheChao Oct 7th 2009 7:09PM
I dont know if they still do this, though.
joel Oct 7th 2009 7:17PM
Atleast you're still getting Gold/XP.
mrdonut125 Oct 7th 2009 8:50PM
I played guild wars before and recently logged in to check it out. I left it running in the background for a while and it was yelling at me for being online for 10+ hours and telling me to take a break.
Vandersveldt Oct 7th 2009 9:29PM
less than 4 hours a day, my thoughts exactly. God, non gamers watch just about that much TV, but somehow letting CSI run is better for you than engaging in WoW.
Andy Oct 7th 2009 7:14PM
finally a government with seemingly a level head,
if they believe they have a problem, they need to seek help
much better than the
they DO have a problem, heres what WE will do to help THEM we get over and over.
i play afair number of hours, with my girlfriend, my RL friends, but i do this when we dont want to hang out elseware, or insted of watching TV...
how many peple put in more than 27 hours per week watching TV i wonder...
mike Oct 7th 2009 7:42PM
After spending 10 minutes angrily waving my hands over my keyboard, I finally managed to find a way to say you are wrong without sounding like an ass or a racist.
You said that the government of Singapore has a "level head", this is the same government that has made it illegal to chew or sell gum.
It's a serious offense, not like you'll be fined if they catch, they will publicly beat you with a cane.
Since I don't want to turn this into a rant, I'll stop here.
Suffice to say I don't like Singapore.
Dainslef Oct 8th 2009 12:56AM
Oh hey Mike, is your "Mike" short for Michael P. Fay?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay
Xristofer Oct 8th 2009 4:03AM
mike, you are an idiot. I have a relative living in Singapore, you don't get caned for chewing/selling gum... WTF? its illegal to sell it, yes, but it is only a fine. If you have a prescription for it from a doctor, you can chew it.
pot Oct 8th 2009 12:12PM
AHhahahahha Dainslef, that is hilarious. It probably is! =D I remember seeing the news about that when I was a teen.
Lemons Oct 7th 2009 7:16PM
That's around 4 hours a day. Which is...yea...a little bit much, but I can see someone fitting in that amount of playtime easily. They do have weekends in that country right?
Healer Oct 7th 2009 7:20PM
For some people this isn't a lot of time. I can see someone getting on wow for 3-4 hours a day to get in dailies, level alts, raid, level professions and all that stuff. I don't think 4 hours is that much of game time for a kid who gets home from school at 3 and spends probably 3-4 hours of homework (I never did :P) and then plays wow.
Everclear Oct 7th 2009 7:22PM
27 hours a week is the big deal?
People watch TV an average of 40 hours a week. At least with WoW you actually interact with people, do math, have fun, and enjoy a semblance of a social life.
jfofla Oct 7th 2009 7:22PM
27 hours a week is a casual.
Frank Oct 7th 2009 7:39PM
QFT. i am a total casual, and i bet i get around 27 hours a week on the average. granted, i have pretty much given up television (except for the daily show/colbert report hour), and i don't miss television one bit. wow is SOOOoooo much better than 99% of TV.
volicio Oct 7th 2009 7:45PM
I'm with you frank... and I get my tv fix from hulu, so I went as far as to sell all the tv's in my house not hooked up to my wii.