#EditorialColumn
The truth of China’s sharp power in the gaming industry
Nintendo (HK) released a campaign on Super Smash Bros Ultimate on 4 June, in commemoration of the N64 console. The idea is that the gaming experience would multiply by 6.4 times. Interestingly, the day actually has little ties to the actual release day of N64. Netizens quickly concluded that this campaign is in fact giving a nod at another eventful 6.4, or what happened at China's Tiananmen Square back in 1989.
China has a huge market. However, with its current wolf diplomacy, participating in this market may come with unexpected costs. The theft of intellectual property, for one, is a risk many foreign entrants must take when working with a local proxy. Complying with local censorship laws is another.
Examples like Animal Crossing and Devotion show that the Chinese audience tends to react very poorly at the slightest amount of what they perceive to be negative content, or ones that "hurt the Chinese's feelings". It could result in a game being banned in China and the company boycotted by Chinese gamers. Normally, most foreign companies tiptoe around sensitive issues in China.
As time goes on, governments and companies realize that heavy reliance on the Chinese market would result in over dependence on the country and its industries. The recent pandemic is a perfect and very unfortunate example of how much the world relies on this global manufacturing conglomerate.
At the same time, companies realize Chinese boycott may merely be lip service, as amidst the uproar, many Chinese gamers still try to purchase parallel imported products, when the licensed alternative is banned.
In the current situation where the world is reconsidering their relationship and interaction with China, it is not surprising if some companies try to push the envelope of the communist regime, in an effort to show that they are not pawns of China.
Source: Simon Shen’s Youtube, Hitchcock Game news Youtube
#SharpPower #Nintendo #Jun4 #CCP #ChineseBoycott #GamingIndustrial
The truth of China’s sharp power in the gaming industry
Nintendo (HK) released a campaign on Super Smash Bros Ultimate on 4 June, in commemoration of the N64 console. The idea is that the gaming experience would multiply by 6.4 times. Interestingly, the day actually has little ties to the actual release day of N64. Netizens quickly concluded that this campaign is in fact giving a nod at another eventful 6.4, or what happened at China's Tiananmen Square back in 1989.
China has a huge market. However, with its current wolf diplomacy, participating in this market may come with unexpected costs. The theft of intellectual property, for one, is a risk many foreign entrants must take when working with a local proxy. Complying with local censorship laws is another.
Examples like Animal Crossing and Devotion show that the Chinese audience tends to react very poorly at the slightest amount of what they perceive to be negative content, or ones that "hurt the Chinese's feelings". It could result in a game being banned in China and the company boycotted by Chinese gamers. Normally, most foreign companies tiptoe around sensitive issues in China.
As time goes on, governments and companies realize that heavy reliance on the Chinese market would result in over dependence on the country and its industries. The recent pandemic is a perfect and very unfortunate example of how much the world relies on this global manufacturing conglomerate.
At the same time, companies realize Chinese boycott may merely be lip service, as amidst the uproar, many Chinese gamers still try to purchase parallel imported products, when the licensed alternative is banned.
In the current situation where the world is reconsidering their relationship and interaction with China, it is not surprising if some companies try to push the envelope of the communist regime, in an effort to show that they are not pawns of China.
Source: Simon Shen’s Youtube, Hitchcock Game news Youtube
#SharpPower #Nintendo #Jun4 #CCP #ChineseBoycott #GamingIndustrial
YouTube
【萬國時空．沈旭暉 013】中美脫鉤與香港：中國Sharp Power的反面教材 🇨🇳🇺🇸
曾幾何時，中國把「一國兩制」視為拉攏台灣的國策之一，然而看見香港的「成功案例」，今天台灣絕大多數民意堅決抗拒「一國兩制」，甚至連韓國瑜，也說實行「一國兩制」要「over my dead body」。香港「一國兩制」不可能走回「井水不犯河水」，原因之一，正是中國早已放棄軟實力，改行「銳實力」。香港這反面教材，也成為全球觀察中國「銳實力」的實驗室，乃至對今日中美decouple，也有直接影響......
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#Newspaper
Super Mario Maker 2 E-Commerca Listings removed in China
(14 Jun) Super Mario Maker 2 was removed from product listings on Taobao, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in China.
Some players make use of the sandbox game to create stages with names like "8964", "Xi JinPing the emperor of the wall nation". The game was then considered as "an insult to China" by the Chinese government. The Chinese authorities may be taking this as a preventive measure before offensive messages appear from the game.
Source: Unwire HK, Nintendosoup
#Nintendo #SuperMario2 #Censorship
Super Mario Maker 2 E-Commerca Listings removed in China
(14 Jun) Super Mario Maker 2 was removed from product listings on Taobao, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in China.
Some players make use of the sandbox game to create stages with names like "8964", "Xi JinPing the emperor of the wall nation". The game was then considered as "an insult to China" by the Chinese government. The Chinese authorities may be taking this as a preventive measure before offensive messages appear from the game.
Source: Unwire HK, Nintendosoup
#Nintendo #SuperMario2 #Censorship
Unwire.hk
Super Mario Maker 2 被指「辱華」 中國網店全線下架
中國對於網上內容，包括遊戲內的字眼都有嚴格的審查，水貨遊戲則是灰色地帶。最近有 Super Mario Maker 2 玩家在遊戲的自製關卡內加入諷刺字句，被中國網民發現後，網店已經全面下架無法購買。
#Nintendo to Ban Gamers Posting Political Content on #AnimalCrossing
//Nintendo has told players of its hit creation Animal Crossing: New Horizons to stop adding political or commercial content, after a variety of users worldwide started sending their own messages.
In Hong Kong, some players have been creating pro-democracy and anti-government content, including flags with protest slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” funeral photographs of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and “villain-hitting” sessions aimed at Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam.
The game has since been pulled from Chinese grey market online shopping platforms.
Activist Joshua Wong told HKFP that he had taken part in a number of virtual protests in the game this year:
“What Animal Crossing represented was not just entertainment during lockdown, but also a reflection of happenings in real life. It provides an alternative when institutional channels of expression are restricted."//
Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Nov21
//Nintendo has told players of its hit creation Animal Crossing: New Horizons to stop adding political or commercial content, after a variety of users worldwide started sending their own messages.
In Hong Kong, some players have been creating pro-democracy and anti-government content, including flags with protest slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” funeral photographs of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and “villain-hitting” sessions aimed at Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam.
The game has since been pulled from Chinese grey market online shopping platforms.
Activist Joshua Wong told HKFP that he had taken part in a number of virtual protests in the game this year:
“What Animal Crossing represented was not just entertainment during lockdown, but also a reflection of happenings in real life. It provides an alternative when institutional channels of expression are restricted."//
Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Nov21