In other words, it’s China Crackdown time, which is also known as “Tuesday” to the rest of the world. The country’s already swatted World of Warcraft (or one of its expansions, anyway), and more than 200 online games were smashed as part of a national birthday celebration back in October. This time, the country’s Ministry of Culture wants a content cleanup to make sure the games properly support approved political and cultural themes.

The ministry’s memo said violent games “have adversely influenced consumers and especially the physical and mental health of minors.” It also ordered game companies to knock off the killin’, both of humans and nonhumans. In particular they want them to refrain from “low-brow cultural content that is having a negative effect on the healthy development of the industry.”

Low-brow content that retards game development? Such as those fake Donkey Kong machines y’all sent us a while back?

China in Violent Content Crackdown [Develop]

Toy importer Pop Culture Shock do, as they’ve published a gallery on Capcom’s site showing the factory in China where SOTA’s Capcom statues are put together and finished off.

Most of the shots depict SOTA’s Zangief piece being assembled then painted, but you’ll also see Sagat and Darkstalker’s Felicia pop up as well.

Makes you wonder why they don’t advertise “individually hand-painted” on the box.

Behind the Scenes With Pop Culture Shock’s Felicia and Zangief Statues [Capcom]

According to a report on Reuters, NetEase – the company operating the game in China for publishers Activision Blizzard – have been ordered to “stop operating” the title, cease charging existing user’s accounts and block any new account registrations.

The GAPP claim that because of these supposed violations, the game lacks the necessary approval required to be run under China’s increasingly strict laws governing online video games.

This is the second time this year the game has been suspended in the country, with this move the latest blow in an ongoing struggle between the GAAP and the Chinese Ministry of Culture, which was behind last month’s bluster over foreign investment in Chinese online gaming firms.

Indeed, things are so messy between the two that it’s unclear whether the GAPP’s actions will even be enforced, with reports emerging that NetEase haven’t even been contacted by the GAPP, and that the Ministry of Culture have labelled the threats inappropriate.

NetEase, Activision caught up in China turf war [Reuters]
‘World of Warcraft’ Faces Goverment Crackdown In China [MTV]

This new decision also prevents foreign companies from indirectly influencing Chinese gaming companies through tech support or agreements.

Earlier this year, Chinese game dev NetEase.com was awarded the licence to operate World of Warcraft within China. The country’s regulators have had concerns about the the joint venture in which NetEase is supported by Blizzard’s tech support.

China bans foreign investment in online games industry [Reuters via Joystiq] [Pic]

State authorities said the games “encouraged players to engage in illegal activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution,” according to the Beijing News. The offending games were run from abroad and had not received permission to operate in China. Wait, so, CrimeCraft’s available in Chengdu? Wat?

Here’s my favourite detail. According to Agence France-Presse, “more than 200 online games had been investigated as part of the campaign, launched to coincide with communist China’s 60th birthday on Oct. 1.” Kotaku agrees that that is how you f—-in party down: Just start bannin’ the hell out of everything.

That gives me an idea. Oh, and, because I just got off the phone with someone from the U.K. I would like to say the following: “Chiner.” That is all.

China Launches Crackdown on Online Gaming [AFP on Yahoo! Tech, via Game Politics]

Dubbed the PXP-2000, it sports a load of features: built-in camera, FM radio, drag and drop MP3/MP4, speakers, MP5 player, SD card slot, and 4GB of built-in memory.

The portable also boasts a built-in emulator and can run ROM titles. It’s currently available only in Black, but more colours are expected at a later date. Yours for US$83.99.

Full specs below:

MP4 Specifications
Memory: 2GB (holds 500 songs, or Countless Games)
External Memory: SD Card (4GB Max)
TV-Out Function
Display: 3.5 Inch QVGA(320×240) LTPS TFT LCD (16:9)
Video Format: AVI 
Conversion formats: RM, RMVB, AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, MPEG, MPE, MP4, DAT, MOV, DAT 
Video Resolution: 320×240 
FPS (Frames per Second): 25fps
Music Format: MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC, RM-Audio, AMR, AAC+
Bit rate: MP3 8-320Kbps WMA 5-384Kbps
Picture Format: JPEG, GIF, BMP with zoom
Record Format: WAV
Earphone Jack: dual 3.5mm
SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): >90dB
Output of earphones: 2×23mW(16Ohms)
Output of Speaker: 23mW
Languages: English, Chinese
USB: 2.0
System: Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP Mac OS 10 Linux2.4.2
Power Source: Built-in Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
Sliding Screen
D-Pad Plus 4 button Control
Still Pictures 
Fornat: Single/Continuous/Self 
Size: 320×240/ 640×1280/ 1280×960 
Quality: High/Med/Low 
Effect: Normal/Negative/SOLARIS/Relief/BIARIES/SEPIA/Black & White
Movie Clips 
Format: 3GP 
Size: 160×128/ 320×240 
Quality: High/Med/Low 
Effect: Normal/Negative/SOLARIS/Relief/BIARIES/SEPIA/Black & White 
x2 Zoom
NES Emulator
Built in Calculator/Notepad/English to Chinese dictionary
E-Book
Two preloaded background themes
Any Picture can be used as background theme
6 EQ Modes
AV OUT – PAL/ NTSC

Accessories include user manual, earphones, USB, power adaptor, mini CD with driver, conversion software, NES emulated games, and AV cable.

No idea about quality, but a lot of these so-called “knock-offs” actually come from the same factories or have factory parts in them. This is completely unconfirmed in the case of the PXP-2000, however.

4GB 4.3″ Slide Panel Game Mp5 Player w/ Camera, Mp3, Mp4 – PXP-2000 [China Grabber Thanks Dz!]

Gamasutra this morning reported Warcraft’s return to China, noting that Activision’s switch from local operator The9 to NetEase on June 7 will have its costs. NetEase has had to spend 1 million yuan—about AU$169,500—each day of a closed beta that has been running since July 30.

The transition and the downtime have been costly to both Activision Blizzard and NetEase. According to media claims, NetEase has spent an estimated 1 million yuan (AU$169,500) per day maintaining game servers for the closed beta it’s been running since July 30 as a test period. That’s basically AU$8.5million.

Further, half of World of Warcraft’s global installation base of 11.5 million is estimated to be from China, and it remains to be seen just how many stick with the MMO after such a long absence. One analyst however, believes that because of the restrictions in the Chinese market, they account for just 6% of Activision Blizzard’s revenues from Warcraft.

The holdup was attributed to enhanced scrutiny by Chinese regulators and some content changes, which we wrote about back in August. On that score, NetEase also reports that a Chinese localisation of Wrath of Lich King has been finished and submitted to the government for approval.

World of Warcraft Restarts Commercial Operations in China [Gamasutra via VG247]

This is not the first time Japanese anime has been copied by Chinese broadcasts, reports website Record China. Both Crayon Shin-chan and animated film 5 Centimeters Per Second has been reworked for Chinese viewers without permission or proper attribution.

This latest “borrowing” is a Chinese anime about dinosaurs that heavily borrows characters and plot line from Pokémon, Naruto and Digimon.

When asked about the anime, those in charge at the government’s CCTV replied that the issue was with the actual company the produced this Chinese anime. What’s more, CCTV didn’t seem to think this rip-off was so bad. “This is a rip off?,” a spokesperson at the channel added. “What’s being called a rip? What’s being called a copy? Please think first, then talk.”

Since September 2006, foreign anime has been banned on Chinese television between 5am and 8am — prime time for kids. This decision on the part of the Chinese government is to improve the domestic anime business.

中国TV局がまたまた日本アニメをパクる！今度は「ナルト」や「ポケモン」-中国 [Record China via http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/4344811/>Livedoor]

On Aug. 28, hundreds of them, feeling that publisher Shanda used “false advertising” to “take advantage of their feelings,” began massing at the virtual city walls and gates, preventing entry. The game administrators retaliated, hurling them to far places on the game’s map, or tossing them into “the black room” of its chat suite.

In that screengrab above, here are some of the comments of irate players:

“Gimme back my Legend, gimme back my Legend, gimme back my Legend, gimme back my Legend”
“Protest Protest We’ve been cheated Protest Protest We’ve been cheated”
“Is this the 2002 Legend? Isn’t is supposed to be ‘original flavor’? They are deceiving the players. Gimme back my Legend, I will block to my death”
“Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die”
“Boycott Shanda. Fuck [Shanda owner] Chen Tianqiao to death. Gimme back my original Legend.”

The rest of the story, as written in the Chengdu Commercial Daily, tells of player Chu Yu and the hours he poured into the game, and the visceral memories he has of his experiences in it. He eventually goes to university and begins a career, leaving the game behind. Returning to Legend, Chu Yu finds he cannot enter any cities to play, but this doesn’t cause outrage or sadness.

“Were you involved in blocking today? You were not blocking the city gates. You were blocking your own loneliness out!” Chu Yu smiled and thought about the purple-dressed figure flowing in his heart. He made up his mind that he was going to leave for good. He will never turn back.

The Legend Returns [East South North West via BoingBoing]

The LA Times’ Charles Proctor reports that, amidst concerns surrounding China’s laws forbidding any reference to the Nazi party, THQ have rebranded the Germans in this new CoH title as “The Federation”.

They’ve also removed any and all instances of the Iron Cross emblem, which fans will know can be found on pretty much every single German vehicle and structure in the game.

Despite these sweeping visual edits, THQ’s online boss Steve Dauterman promises the actual game mechanics of the German side will remain untouched.

Now, I’m normally not one to criticise regional edits like this, but…THQ do know that there already were no references to the Nazi party in the game? And that the Iron Cross is the symbol of the German armed forces, was before the Nazi party, and remains so to this day?