Updated January 27, 2010
Online Game Has Kids Give Out Virtual Condoms
SkyNews
An online game that sees girls as young as seven give virtual characters contraception and adopt children as fashion accessories has outraged parents' groups.
Players of "My Minx" can clothe their characters in sexy lingerie and other revealing outfits, and buy 'trophy orphans' named after children adopted by celebrities.
The adoption clinic in the virtual Style City features girls called Pax and Maddox and a boy named Zahara after Angelina Jolie's adopted children.
The adoption center also boasts a David Banda, four, and Mercy, five, both from Malawi -- the same names and ages as Madonna's adopted children.
Gamers can also adopt children from earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Once they have paid the adoption fees, players can style their new children in over-the-top designer gear and then try to sell image rights for them to celebrity magazines. The controversial game, by London firm Blighty Arts, also sees players take their minxes binge-drinking and clubbing as they try to attract men.
The game, which is being marketed as "Barbie meets Chanel," features virtual condoms and morning-after pills. Gamers take on rival minxes in "style-off" competitions to try and be crowned the "minx of minxes."
There are no age restrictions on the game, which sees players pay via PayPal or text message to top up their accounts in order to kit out their characters. My Minx was launched shortly before Christmas, and has already attracted 20,000 members, with some as young as seven.
But parents' groups are horrified at the game's success and have accused the 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."
"Having children getting virtual condoms or morning after pills will not make them any less promiscuous," he added, pointing out that "as regards child adoption, this game encourages them to think that they don't need to worry about morals or ethics. It is sending out all the wrong messages."
My Minx creators Blighty Arts did not immediately return requests for a comment.
For more on this story, read SkyNews.com.
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