The game, My Minx, also encourages girls as young as seven to give their characters contraceptives and morning after pills.
Players clothe their "virtual minxes" in lingerie and other revealing outfits and can buy orphans named after the adopted children of celebrities including Madonna and Ewan McGregor.
The adoption clinic in a virtual Style City features children called Pax, Maddox and Zahara, after the actress Angelina Jolie's children.
They have also been given the same ages and nationalities as Jolie's, with Maddox, three, said to be Cambodian and a fan of eating cockroaches.
Similarly up for grabs are Vietnamese noodle-lover Pax, five, and Ethiopian Zahara, four, whose favourite food is said to be guinea pig.
The adoption centre also offers a David Banda, four, and Mercy, five, of Malawi, apparently modelled on Madonna's adopted children.
There is also a Mongolian girl named Jamiyan, based on actor Ewan McGregor's four-year-old daughter, who is said to enjoy eating rats.
Once they have paid the adoption fees, players style their new children in over-the-top designer gear and can then try and sell image rights for them to celebrity magazines.
They are challenged to outdo rival "minxes" by amassing ever more adoptive children to make their family more fashionable.
The controversial game by north London firm Blighty Arts also sees players take their minxes binge drinking and clubbing as they try to pull men.
For minxes that succeed in one night stands, there are virtual condoms and morning after pills.
Gamers get to design their own saucy lingerie brands and handbag ranges as they compete to create the most stylish minx.
There is no age restriction on the game and when players run out of virtual cash, they top up their accounts by sending text messages costing £1.50 each or use PayPal.
My Minx was launched shortly before Christmas and has already attracted 20,000 members as young as seven.
But parents' groups are horrified to see the game taking off and have accused the games creators of exploiting children for profit.
Andy Hibberd, spokesman for parents' rights group Parentkind, said: "There are more than enough pressures on children to grow up already. We don't need any more.
"Their parents will not have any idea that they are playing this game and the children will fail to appreciate its irony.
"Having them getting virtual condoms or morning after pills will not make them any less promiscuous.
"As regards child adoption, this game encourages them to think that they don't need to worry about morals or ethics. It is all just a bit of fun.
"It is sending out all the wrong messages and the only reason its creators have made it is to make money."
However, the game's creator, Blighty Arts director Christopher Evans, has insisted it is harmless, tongue-in-cheek entertainment.
Mr Evans, 30, said: "It is nonsense to suggest our game is a bad influence on young children.
"We try to protect children too much from the real world for too long in this day and age. They cannot be wrapped up in cotton wool.
"We should let them grow up making their own decisions about the games they play.
"The game teaches children about the world while poking fun at celebrity adoptions.
"Every time they turn on the TV they will see the likes of Madonna adopting African children anyway.
"The contraceptives and morning after pills are only one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to take them, just reflecting real life."
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment