Parents’ groups have slammed a new internet game in which girls as young as nine are encouraged to “buy” virtual dolls breast operations and facelifts.

The aim of the Miss Bimbo game, launched in Britain last month, is to become the “hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world”, reports The Guardian.

Children are given a naked virtual character to look after. They compete against other players to earn “bimbo” dollars so they can dress her in sexy outfits and take her clubbing.

They are given missions, including securing plastic surgery at the game’s clinic to give their dolls bigger breasts, and they have to keep her at her target weight with diet pills.

Although it is free to play, when the contestants run out of virtual cash they have to send text messages costing £1.50 each or use PayPal to top up their accounts.

Bill Hibberd, of parents’ rights group Parentkind, said: “It is one thing if a child recognises it as a silly and stupid game.

“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.”

The game was first launched last year in France where it has been criticised by dieticians and parents. The British version already has nearly 200,000 players, most of them girls aged nine to 16.

Nicolas Jacquart, the 23-year-old web designer from Tooting, south London, who created Miss Bimbo, insisted: “It is not a bad influence for young children.

“They learn to take care of their bimbos. The missions and goals are morally sound and teach children about the real world.”

 Print This Post | | Save as txt

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 1:48 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.