While we can’t find correlation anywhere, Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz states in a research note that China’s NetEase has submitted Activision Blizzard’s StarCraft II to Chinese government authorities for approval.

In his note Creutz wrote that “Although the timing of governmental approval is (as always) uncertain, we believe the submission likely means a launch of 'Starcraft II' sometime in 2011.”

The analyst called this “welcome news,” as the game represents NetEase’s “next clear growth catalyst."

NetEase issued third quarter results today, reporting total revenues of RMB 1.4 billion (approximately $215.1 million) for the three-months ending September 30, versus total revenue of RMB 879.4 million in the same quarter one year earlier.

If you can't get the real thing, a knock-off will do. While consumers cannot officially buy a Wii or Xbox 360 in China because the government has blocked the sale of both systems in the region, Chinese companies are doing what they can to fill the entertainment gap. China Telecom has started offering a Wii-style gaming service under the auspices of its Internet Protocol television (IPTV) subscription package.

Called "Tigan Youxi" (Somatic Gaming in English) the console offers motion-sensing controllers much like Nintendo's to give TV gamers some fun distractions. China Telecom showed off the console earlier this month at an exhibit in Beijing, where users could play a simple Ping Pong game.

The "console" is not stand-alone, sadly; it is an add-on to the IPTV services, and is not meant to compete with other consoles. The company is offering the gaming service in provinces located in southern China, where its IPTV services are available.

The tense, often bloody relationship between Chinese law enforcement and street vendors has led to the creation of a free downloadable game inspired by that confrontational environment.

Hawker War City Management appears to be the name of the title, and, according to a piece on the game on TheWorld.org website, the downloadable title features plenty of social commentary, designed to highlight the plight of common citizens “left outside in the cold as China’s economy grows.”

Correspondent Mary Kay Magistad offered this description of the game:

A seven-month long investigation culminated in members of Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Rights Police Team arresting four individuals believed to be responsible for a hefty videogame piracy ring operating in Taiwan and China.

The investigation resulted in the September 27 raid of a warehouse in Sanchong City, Taiwan, where 140,000 pirated game discs for the PlayStation 2, Wii and Xbox were discovered, reports Focus Taiwan. The value of the seizure was estimated to be over $8 million U.S.

Chinese gamers are apparently getting sick of the thousands of me-too MMORPGs on the market and are shifting towards more casual online offerings. That is what research firm and Chinese market analyst Niko Partners says, anyway. A new report from the firm says that gamers in the region are shifting away from hardcore MMOs in favor of casual games. This shift is driven by the monotony of the games on offer in China.

"We believe that the Chinese market has taken up SNS (social networking site) gaming in earnest, and that the hard-core gamers have shifted their preferences to include these games alongside the casual gamers who naturally appreciate them, " Niko Partners' Lisa Cosmas Hanson told GamesIndustry.biz.

"The hardcore gamers are growing weary of the monotony of themes in the Chinese MMORPGs, and they want to extend their social interactions to games that attract a more diverse user base. People want to play games that enable them to have something to bond over when chatting with schoolmates or colleagues at the water cooler. "

Registration is now open for the 2010 Game Developers Conference China, should you want to make the trek to China on December 5. Now in its 3rd year, GDC China offers game developers in China various panels, and lectures from local talent and international talent.

Bill Roper from Cryptic Studios will deliver this year's keynote address, speaking out about his time working for Blizzard Entertainment and Flagship Studios. The event will also feature the second annual Independent Games Festival China, highlighting the best games from the region's independent game development community. The three-day event will take place December 5-7, 2010 at Shanghai International Convention Center in Shanghai, China.

GDC China offers a 25 percent discount is available on registrations before November 5. Online registration ends on November 30. For more information about the event, check out www.gdcchina.com.

Chinese online game operator and developer Shanda Games is apparently enjoying the fruits of operating in a near recession proof industry, as it has snatched up a Korean developer and entered into an alliance with China Network Television (CNTV).

Shanda announced its intention to gobble up Eyedentity Games for around $95 million U.S. Eyedentity was described as “a private developer of online games with over 100 game developers.” Its latest game, Dragon’s Nest, was released around the world and  billed as being “one of the most successful new online games in China this year.”

Shanda said that the deal would strengthen its international presence.

As Microsoft continues to try and get its Xbox 360 to market in China, an executive for the company outlined why Kinect may be a valuable asset in its push and how MS plans to combat piracy in the Asian country.

Simon Leung (pictured), Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Chairman and CEO for the Greater China region, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, first noted why China is such an attractive region, if it wasn’t already apparent, stating that China would soon be the world’s largest PC market, while it's already tops in the mobile phone and broadband categories.

Leung indicated that China is becoming a growing adopter of cloud computing, which could help protect Microsoft, as Leung stated, “… you cannot pirate a cloud application.”

Asked about selling consoles in China, Leung responded:

Computer maker Lenovo has established a new company as part of a push to make its own videogame console.

Beijing eedoo Technology Ltd. will oversee development of an internally developed Lenovo console named eBox, reports the Wall Street Journal. Planned for release in China by the end of this year, the eBox will be “compatible” with high-definition televisions and allow users to download content from the Internet. Users will be able to interact with the device by using a camera.

eedoo plans to launch the console in China first, since “regulations of game consoles are murky and rampant piracy poses a big challenge for console game sales.”

China Daily, which features a pair of concept drawings of the product, reports that the eedoo team consists of some 40 software engineers. Pricing for the eBox is expected to be “slightly lower” than that of the Xbox 360.

Blizzard and Chinese game operator Net Ease will officially launch the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King just a few short weeks after it was finally approved in the Asian country.

According to a joint press release from Blizzard and Net Ease, the expansion will go live in mainland China on August 31, almost two years after it was launched (November 2008) in Europe and North America.

Net Ease CEO William Ding stated, “We are fully prepared on all fronts to provide great service and support to all of the new and returning players throughout China, and we look forward to welcoming them to Northrend.”

A study of 626 Honk Kong Chinese students, who averaged about 10 years old, indicated that while playing massively multiplayer online games appears to contribute to a kid’s psychological well-being, overall time spent playing computer games had a negative correlation with their academic performance.

Dr. Angel Nga-man Leung and Prof. Catherine McBride (pictured) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Psychology carried out the study (PDF), which indicated that students spent 67 minutes per day, on average, playing MMOs, 44 minutes on solitary computer games, 44 minutes per day using handheld games and 31 minutes a day playing home video consoles. In gender specific results, boys played more minutes per day in each category when compared to their female counterparts.

The students were also asked to compare their real-life friends against friends from their online games. The results caused the researchers to declare:

A study undertaken by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong indicates that near-sightedness (myopia) has increased significantly over a 10-year period in the youth of that region, and handheld videogames were given most of the blame.

The study was actually carried out between 2006 and 2007 and involved over 800 kids between the ages of two and six. Results were then compared to a similar study undertaken in 1996. It was reported that the number of cases of near-sightedness rose from 157 kids to 222, and that the number of children wearing glasses rose from 2.3 percent in the older study to 6.3 percent in the newer one.

Dennis Lam Shun-chiu, Chairman of the school’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences pinned the blame on “playing video games - especially in moving vehicles - and watching television or using a computer for a long time and sitting too close to screens…” according to The Standard.

It was a different scene today at the Shenzhen, China-based Foxconn plant, which employs over 300,000 workers who assemble everything from iPhones to video game accessories. Today Foxconn held a rally designed to promote living and loving life and to generally boost the morale of workers - who only a few months ago were as unhappy as a worker can be in a plant that expects the average employee to work 80 hours of overtime a week.

Just a few months ago morale was so low that more than a dozen employees committed suicide, prompting the company to install safety nets on the top of its buildings. But more importantly, it made the company face the reality that productivity has to be balanced with the well being of its employees.

While the Chinese Ministry of Culture finally gave the go-ahead for the not-too-distant release of the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King, a taste of some changes Blizzard had to make to models in the game are detailed on a website dedicated to Chinese gaming.

A handful of images appearing on ChinaGame.178.com show the removal of mostly skulls and bones from models in the approved version. Another image also appears to indicate that sprites used to animate blood loss and/or splattering were changed from red to green.

In the images below, original models are on the left while the purported Chinese-approved modifications are on the right.

China’s Ministry of Culture has finally given its approval (translated) to the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King, almost two full years after it was released in other parts of the world.

A PC World story notes that the expansion had already been deemed worthy of release last month by China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP). Chinese World of Warcraft operator Net Ease said it would soon release a formal announcement about Wrath of the Lich King, with company spokesperson Liddy Li stating, “We have always been preparing for its release, but there has been no formal announcement yet.”

While Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is made in China, it still isn’t available for legal purchase there, nor is Sony’s PlayStation 3 or Nintendo’s Wii, but the Redmond, Washington-based company isn’t giving up hope.

Microsoft executive Zhang Yaqin told the Shanghai Daily (subscription only) that the company still hopes to receive approval to sell the 360 in China, but that “… it all depends on the government.” There’s still no set timetable for launch and the issue involves “several government bureaus,” which, of course, only adds multiple layers of bureaucracy.

Last month, Kotaku investigated why game consoles are banned in China. A Niko Partners researcher told the publication, “The government thought that was the best way to protect Chinese youth from wasting their minds on video games, after a parental outcry.”

While a ban that outlaws titillating Internet-based ads for online games went into effect in China on August 1, the edict had no impact on sexy promotions at a recently completed Chinese game expo.

The China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference, known as ChinaJoy, ran from July 29 through August 1 and is backed by a slew of Chinese government agencies, including the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industrial and Information Technology and the National Copyright Bureau.

The involvement of so many government entities did little to hinder the employment of “columns of Chinese girls in white boots and miniskirts,” at the show, according to a story on Canada.com. The website described some of the action:

Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd., an online game operator and developer with titles such as Legend of Martial Arts, Perfect World, Chi Bi and Hot Dance Party, has made investments into two fellow Chinese media companies.

Perfect World will dump 110 million yuan (approximately $16.2 million U.S.) into Beijing Xinbaoyuan Movie & TV Investment Co., Ltd. and an additional 82.3 million yuan (approximately $12.1 million U.S.) into Shanghai Baohong Entertainment and Media Co., Ltd. Both investments were described as majority stakes for the game company.

Both Xinbaoyuan and Baohong—headed up by “renowned” director Zhao Baogang—were labeled as “engaged in the film and television program production and distribution business.” Xinbaoyuan also operates an entertainment agency business, representing over 20 Chinese celebrities.

Finally reacting to a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling from last year, which denied its attempt to limit foreign media imports in order to protect “public morals,” China has now acquiesced to opening its entertainment goods market by March 19, 2011.

A Reuters story noted that the WTO did not question the right of Chinese officials to censor content, but argued that they “could not use censorship to justify illegal trade barriers,” an argument which the WTO now appears to have won. It was previously stated that that the removal of Chinese restrictions to import would, “be a boon to Western makers of movies, music and video games who currently face extra costs and obstructions to distribute in China.”

Just as China attempts to clean up the image and operations of its online game operators, one online game appears to be offering an inflatable doll as a grand prize.

Via SooToo.com (translated) we learn about the bizarre offering (pictured) being dangled in front of players of the game called War Hero Online (or perhaps it’s called God of War Undefeated). No amount of searching or translation could offer any clues on what the player would have to accomplish in order to win such a prize.

If you were interested in the history of inflatable dolls, the SooToo article kindly provides some background on that subject as well.


Via MicGadget

China’s Ministry of Culture has grown weary of online game companies using vulgar, violent or profane tactics in order to lure consumers to purchase their titles, so it has banned the practice.

The BBC reports that, beginning next month, Chinese officials will be able to force website owners to delete any vulgar content employed in online promotions. Supposedly, one model named Shou Shou (pictured), who was recently embroiled in a sex video controversy, was asked to promote a role-playing game while another unnamed Japanese adult film star was being used to draw attention to the Game Warrior OL.

 “Social commentators” worried that the practice, though not illegal at the time, could “undermine the public's morals. “

The BBC added that, “The new policy has been covered widely in the state-controlled media and on websites here, accompanied of course by photos of the same scantily clad models who have upset the bureaucrats.” Who are we to break ranks?

As part of a bid to understand why so many Chinese gamers are obsessed with online games, a “preliminary” study was conducted with hopes that the findings could assist in the prevention and treatment of those afflicted.

Researchers Wei Peng and Ming Liu began by defining online gaming dependency as “a psychological state characterized by psychological discomfort experienced by online gamers when they are unable to play online games as they wish.”

The study (PDF) sampled 166 Chinese online gamers, who, on average, had been playing online games for around six years. On a normal weekday, those queried averaged 3.06 hours in-game, a figure that shot up to 5 hours per weekend day.

The main contributing factors to online gaming dependency, according to the researchers, were:

Beginning August 1, online game operators in China will be forced to take a series of steps to protect online gamers under the age of 18 from inappropriate content and selling or buying items using virtual currency.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, online games created for minors will have to lose any content that would lead to “imitation of behavior that violates social morals and the law.” The regulations deal with content that is horrifying, cruel or otherwise unwholesome, specifically any portrayals of “pornography, cults, superstitions, gambling and violence.”

The virtual currency ban was said to be made possible by a new rule that online game players must register game accounts using their real name.

Gaming operators were also told to “develop techniques that would limit the gaming time of minors in order to prevent addiction, though without specifying what kinds of techniques and a permissible gaming time.”

Fourteen patients from the Huai’an Internet Addiction Treatment Centre in China decided they had enough and tied an instructor to a bed in order to make their escape from the facility.

The group, which ranged in age from 15 to 22, grabbed a taxi to a nearby town, but their similar garb, and lack of funds, raised the suspicion of their driver, who took them directly to a police station. All the escapees were then quickly returned to the treatment center, according to a story on the Telegraph.

One escapee’s mom broke down in tears at the police station, recounting a story in which her son played online games for 28 hours straight.

The facility makes its charges go to bed at 9:30 PM and requires them to partake in two hours of physical activity per day, as well as take mandatory courses in calligraphy and Chinese philosophy.

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking into claims that several Apple stores in New York City discriminated against Asian customers trying to buy iPads prior to the system's launch in other regions outside the United States.

According to Politico, a Queens Assemblywoman tipped off the AG's Civil Rights Bureau after her constituents complained about being a asked series of unusual questions while trying to purchase multiple iPads. The inference is that Apple Store workers seemed suspicious of these purchases and - perhaps - suspected that some were being sent to China. Keep in mind that this allegedly all took place in early May before the iPad was available outside the United States. The stores where this happened were the flagship stores in Soho and on 14th Street in Manhattan.

The Chinese government is calling on the sizeable network of game operators within its borders for assistance with an anti-drug campaign.

Over 50 online game operators, including the likes of Shanda Entertainment and Giant Online, have said they will take part in a competition to create anti-drug public service advertisements at their own expense. The consortium was put together by Shanghai’s anti-drug commission, according to a story on China.org.cn.

The PSA’s judged to be best will eventually be shown on the city’s mobile TV network and in Internet cafes.

Of China’s 30 million online gamers, “most” were billed as being men, under the age of 35, which coincides with numbers estimating that 75 percent of all new drug users in Shanghai are people under 35. Xu Chuan, an “official” from the Shanghai anti-drug commission, noted, “Online gamers and drug users have similar demographic characteristics in most of the cases."

The Chinese government has declared April 21, 2010 as a day of mourning for victims of the April 14 Yushu Earthquake which reportedly killed over 2,000 people and injured more than 12,000.

The Ministry of Culture, in addition to ordering all flags lowered to half-mast, has also issued a suspension  for all public entertainment activities, including videogames. Provision number three of a government issued decree (translated) orders that all cultural and entertainment venues in the China suspend the entertainment activities.

A Chinese factory that provides computer parts and Xbox 360 controllers to Microsoft, and other U.S. companies, has seen the conditions of its workers scrutinized in a scathing report issued by The National Labor Committee (NLC).

The NLC report focused on the KYE Factory in Dongguan City, Guangdong and offered a laundry list of complaints. Among them, workers earn an average of 65 cents an hour (52 cents per hour after deducting for food), workers average 68 hours of work per week, and that workers are prohibited from “talking, listening to music or using the bathroom” during working hours.

Additionally, the factory was said to have a preference for hiring 18 to 25 year old women, as “they are easier to discipline and control,” and also hires “work-study students,” or 16 and 17 year olds who work mandatory 15-hour shifts six or seven days per week.  Workers also share lodging in “primitive” dorm rooms that house up to 14 people.

Chinese game developer and operator The9 Limited has entered into an agreement with U.S. online game developer Red 5 Studios that will see the former acquire a “majority interest” in the latter for approximately $20.0 million.

The9 previously operated World of Warcraft in China, before losing the WOW license to its Chinese rival NetEase. The9 still operates games such as FIFA Online 2 for Electronic Arts, in addition to its own games, such as World of Fighter and Atlantica. In its most recently reported quarter, The9 reported a 94.0 percent decrease in revenues to approximately $3.7 million U.S., versus the same period from a year earlier. It cited the loss of its WOW license, which expired on June 7, 2009, as the main reason for the drop.

Given that Red 5 is made up of former executives and game developers from WOW-creator Blizzard Entertainment, the deal seems to make a lot of sense, at least on paper. Red5, however, says that it “can’t tell you" what it's working on.

A 17-year old gamer playing Counter-Strike in a Jilin, China net café was accused of wall hacking and, following an argument with his accusers, ended up being stabbed in the skull by with a 12-inch long knife.

Hot Blooded Gaming has the story of the incident, which, in turn, is taken from a Sankaku Complex translation of a Chinese blog. The 17-year old stabbing victim retained consciousness and was rushed to the hospital, where it’s reported that after hours of surgery, the knife was removed and the boy appeared to be recovering. Doctors said that the rusty knife missed major arteries, though the boy was placed under observation due to possible complications from the rust on the knife.

 The café in question was apparently quite liberal in requiring IDs for entry, making it popular with local youth.