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zhengtu

giant on fire

Zhengtu Tearing Up the Chinese Market

Steve at PlayNoEvil is, I think, as interested in the Chinese MMORPG Zhengtu Online as I am: the game is breaking (or re-writing) a lot of MMORPG rules and currently ruling the domestic MMORPG roost in China. While nosing around PNE, I discovered that — on the heels of the announcement that Zhengtu hit over 2.1 million peak concurrent usersChina Daily took a look inside Giant Interactive (developer/operator of Zhengtu) and its tracksuit-wearing CEO. Of particular interest are their marketing strategies: More »

china

'Online Gaming Grows Up' - Gambling and Pyramid Schemes!

Giant Interactive's Zhengtu has been getting some attention lately, mostly for its unholy mix of gambling, regular MMORPG high jinxs, and RMT - now they're getting ready to launch a new game, Giant Online. The hook? 500 RMB in virtual currency (almost $70) incentive to sign up and play. Steve at PlayNoEvil says:

The company portrays itself as a traditional online game firm, however, it is fairly clear that they are stretching the boundaries of online gaming and gambling ....

And, from the look of things, it is very clear that they are planning to continue pushing the limits of gambling. After all, who else is going to give you 500 Yuan (almost $70) in incentives to play? I certainly recognize this marketing pattern from the spam that floods my email box from various Internet casinos ....

The other "fun" trend is marketing pyramid schemes built around gaming. The one I've been seeing a bit of lately is uVme.

Ah, growing pains. I doubt we'll be seeing the gambling craze spreading, but one never knows.

Giant Online - You know its online gambling when.... [PlayNoEvil]


only in china

Zhengtu: Where RMT, Gold Farming and Gambling Reign Supreme

I was thrilled to come across a most glorious article on Chinese MMORPGs (specifically, the wildly popular Zhengtu Online), translated to English from the original that appeared in the Southern Weekly. As Steve at PlayNoEvil sums it up, "While wimpy Americans can whine about "cheating" in online games, quibble about Real Money Transactions (RMT), complain about gold farming, gripe about power-leveling, and otherwise aspire to a mythical "purity" of game play, the most popular game in China, ZT Online, from Giant Interactive has embraced all of these things.. and online gambling to boot." More »

crime

Steal Code in China, Get Jail Time

Chinese game companies have been going after law breakers pretty aggressively, at least when it comes to domestic problems - a former Giant Interactive employee who was accused of stealing code from Zhengtu, one of China's really popular MMOs, and reselling it for 130,000 RMB (a little more than $17,000 USD), found himself on the losing end of a court case. A year and a half of jail and a 50,000 RMB fine was his punishment; two of the people he sold the code to (and who went on to resell the code) were sentenced to jail terms, as well: More »

zhengtu

Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore Getting Zhengtu

Zhengtu Online - one of the most popular MMORPGs in Mainland China (so popular the government even labeled it dangerously addictive last year!) - isn't content with mere Chinese dominance, oh no. The Zhengtu Network is partnering with Taiwanese and Malaysian companies to expand service into Southeast Asia. In typical fashion, the companies couldn't just leave praise of their game to 'It's so awesome we're more popular than Warcraft,' but have to put a particularly positive spin on things: it's not just an MMO, it's a tool to teach Chinese philosophy! I can't figure out the particulars, but I would run screaming from any game that heavily involved the teachings of Kongzi. Maybe it's just me: More »