For the Right to Play: A Movie, A War

Everyone is born with the right to play, but some are with less.

“If someone asked me yesterday which movie is my favorite for 2009, I would probably say Avatar. But today, I would assure him it must be War of Internet Addiction.” said a Chinese online game player.

WoW – War of Internet Addiction

In less than two weeks since it was uploaded, War of Internet Addiction, a movie filmed by a band of Chinese netizens has mustered instant popularity across China. The storyline is based on the raging battle between The 9 and NetEase over the operating rights for World of Warcraft in China Mainland, while dotted with rehearsing of many domestic hotspot events for 2009, both in and out of the cyber space. Apart from the hilarious elements, the movie openly airs out deep frustration toward the status quo, a feeling dominant among Chinese mainland players of World of Warcraft. CornDog, producer of the movie, voiced his intention to rectify the reputation for the huge number of Chinese mainland players of World of Warcraft. The message is clear: they are not Internet addictives who lose their aspirations in games.

Contention over operating rights being filmed

This 64-minute movie centers on the desperate contention over the operating rights for World of Warcraft. It is filled with bitter mockery of all the censorship and revisions imposed on the game content, and all the overt and covert fire exchanges between the two rival companies. Nearly every single shot of the movie is a modified or clipped game scene from World of Warcraft.

However, its sweeping popularity and widespread sympathy not only derive from the game itself, but also come from the rehearsing of many domestic hotspot events in China for 2009, both in and out of the cyber space. Another highlighting feature of the movie is the occasional imitation and salutation of classic film scenes. For example, the movie opens almost the same way as Terminator, while several narrative techniques from E.T. come into sight as the story unfolds.