Computer Games Centered on Beauty Contests and Breast-lifts Raise Hackles in Europe

Computer games centered on beauty contests and breast-lifts are becoming popular in Europe and are raising hackles all round.

In a new Internet game called Miss Bimbo for instance, girls order breast implants and crash diets.

The players are given a naked virtual character which they must look after.

The characters enter beauty contests to earn money so that they can buy clothes and go clubbing.

Players compete to create "the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the whole world".

They are given missions including organising breast implants and finding their bimbo a billionaire boyfriend.

They also have to check her hunger, thirst and happiness ratings, keeping her weight down with diet pills.

The game, which was launched a month ago, has nearly 200,000 British players, most of whom are girls aged between nine and 16.

When they run out of virtual cash, players send text messages costing £1.50 each or use Paypal to top up their accounts.

A similar website in France has attracted 1.2million players in the past year, despite condemnation from dieticians and parents.

There has been a boom in the creation of virtual worlds for children in the past year.

Huge numbers of British children belong to internet sites dedicated to Barbie or the Bratz dolls. The creators of Miss Bimbo claim it is "harmless fun" and builds on the success of crazes for virtual pets such as Tamigotchis.

Parents' groups are horrified that the game is taking off in Britain, fearing it could send the wrong message about eating disorders and plastic surgery to young girls, Daily Mail reports.

Bill Hibberd, spokesman for parents' rights group Parentkind, said Miss Bimbo was "daft and pathetic".

"It is one thing if a child recognises it as a silly and stupid game," he said. "But the danger is that a nine-year-old fails to appreciate the irony and sees the bimbo as a cool role model. Then the game becomes a hazard and a menace.

"Children's innocence should be protected as far as possible. It depends on the background and mindset of the child but the danger is that after playing the game some will then aspire to have breast operations and take diet pills.

"There are financial dangers for parents too if they do not know what their children are texting when they pick up mobile phones."

The game's creator, 23-year-old web designer Nicolas Jacquart, from Tooting, South London, insisted it was not a bad influence on children. "They learn to take care of their bimbos," he said.

"If they eat too much chocolate in the game, it is bad for their bimbos' bodies and their happiness levels compared to if they eat fruit and vegetables, which reinforces positive healthy eating messages.

"The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them, just reflecting real life."

Source-Medindia
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