Kotaku 
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Denver, 5:50 AM
Thu Jan 7
61 posts in the last 24 hours
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
01/05/10
01/05/10
01/05/10
Because Blizzard didn't bother bribing the correct corrupt assholes in those dens of organized crime they call the GAPP and MOC, millions of Chinese citizens are missing out on a product the rest of the world is free to enjoy.
It's all about the money and I'm glad I don't have to deal with that level of bullshit just to play a videogame legally.
No wonder that country is responsible for the vast majority of game/film piracy. What a dump.
01/05/10
Everyone who wanted to play, that is.
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01/05/10
That theory is quite late and outdated, my friend.
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01/05/10
Now that is over, make pandaren an extra race in cataclism blizzard :P
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01/05/10
Also the fear of "internet addiction" is a really hot topic these days in China. Video games are the number 1 target for the press as the cause. WoW often gets highlighted at a Western video game that was designed to get the youth "addicted" so it plays well for the popularity of ministers to be seen as attacking this problem.
01/05/10
I figured China would view WoW as a great money-making opportunity, with all their gold farmers and stuff.
01/05/10
I don't know the full details, or even the slight details really, but the way what I have heard sounds, China want to give Chinese Made MMOs more of a chance, by making it so that their people can't play Anything else.
That's probably a gross generalization or something, but that's how it always seems to sound to me.
01/05/10
Because it is such a massively popular WESTERN made game (That is, it doesn't step on the toes of any domestic companies, especially since that whole licensing snafu last year.), it makes an easy target that makes the people feel like something is being done about the issue.
There's a lot more going on here than the "WACKY GOVERNMENT DOES WACKY THINGS!!!" that most news sources tend to ignore, one major factor being what most Chinese people think, in this case: That young people play way too many god-damned video games.
01/05/10
01/05/10
Needless to say somones going to loose alot of money xD
01/05/10
But, because all the Chinese WoW players who really cared moved to Taiwanese servers, which run on a normal subscription model and are run by Blizzard proper, Blizz might somehow end up ahead.
02:32 AM
But like you say, you figure if they really want to play the full version they can play on Taiwanese servers anyway.. So Blizz must still be making good monies.. therefore, what are the Chinese authorities actually achieving apart from making life difficult for peoples?!
Pathetic...
01/05/10
Wouldn't it be funny?
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
No seriously somebody has to do it before it's too late.
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/sarcasm
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01/04/10
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01/04/10
& gt ;
without spaces
(at least I think thats it)
01/04/10
01/04/10
to make a greater than arrow type in the html and > viola
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01/05/10
Picard. talks. better. and. fought. the. borg. and. had. Q
01/04/10
01/04/10
Back to the article, congratulations to the recipients. About time our games industry got some recognition. Now they just require suitable tax breaks.
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01/04/10
That sounds like a mighty fine sandwich, one the Earl would be proud of.
01/04/10
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I guess that you'll have to print it out to eat it. Sorry about that. The sandwich wouldn't fit through the tubes of the internet!
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Ted: "Dude, did he just say that?"
Bill: "Totally"
Both: "EXCELLENT"
*air guitar solo*
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12/29/09
All forms of culture and entertainment might get people questioning the oppressive regime.
What the chinese government needs is a mindless workforce that will keep their heads down never questioning censorship and never having the time to think about freedom of choice and democracy while generating profit for the country.
Games, blogs, movies among others are doorways to other cultures. They can open their minds, reflect about the conditions they are currently living in.
Moralism and religious claims among bogus news and flawed statistics are tools used to keep those under control.
I wish luck and power for all the chinese who struggle everyday to break that barrier. Drugs, murder and teen pregnancy is nothing compared to what a paranoid dictatorship does to it's people.
12/29/09
12/29/09
Fuck you. Your reactions to video games since their entry into our global popular culture thus far have been laughable at best. You pass and/or lobby for legislation on a subject you know little or nothing about. You also report stories involving someone who kills someone else over a video game as though it were the video game's fault or mention that they played video games even if it's not relevant to the story.
Congratulations. You are those grouchy old people who used to shout about rock and roll back in the 1950's. Your blindness to the fact that you are repeating the same ignorant mistakes regarding something new that has entered pop culture is delicious. It's sociology 101 and should be obvious to you "highbrow" folks that need to worry about the trends of large-scale reactions in a human population. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing and I eagerly await the day that a generation that knows just what the hell a video game is moves into positions of power. With any luck, we'll make ourselves look about half as much of a bunch of asses as you have done for yourselves.
You are awarded no points for playing and may God have mercy on your soul.
Signed,
The gaming community
12/29/09
First, kudos on Billy Madison reference. Fave quote of mine.
Second, you try to stay hip when you're pulling in a massive salary and live isolated from everyone else, lest they get dirt on you or you catch homelessness. How dare you hold a politician to such standards.
My politicians wheel and deal and sell their vote to the highest bidder. My politicians blow the small issues out of proportion while ignoring the rest. My politicians play games with bills and riders and would willingly suck the nuts of Mr. Speaker.
And I, sir, am rarely disappointed.