Pre-paid charge cards for video games have been around for ages. They had them for NeoPets, they had them for Nexon games such as Gunbound, and they're super useful—but only until the points run out. But for one Chinese gamer, his collection of old point cards may just win him a brand new smartphone.
Chinese internet giant NetEase is really pulling out all the stops for its new mobile game, Mini Journey, a mobile card battler based on the Journey to the West. After putting up their long-awaited pork products up as incentives to download the game, NetEase is now offering players a free smartphone for showing their old point cards.
These cards China are exactly as you'd expect. The cards are bound to the company and work for whatever game the company puts out. Think iTunes gift cards working for the iTunes music store and the App Store, but replace Apple with, say, NetEase.
For the competition, one Chinese player has pulled out over 10 years' worth of point cards. These cards are pretty much one time use. You charge the amount of points or cash on the card to your account and then you throw them away. This guy, however, kept them! He claims to have over 1,000 of these point cards. Most of the cards seem to be related to Dream Journey to the West, one of NetEase's most popular titles.
The collector said online that he kept the cards because he was happy collecting them. It's unclear if this collector will win the contest, but he definitely has one mighty collection of now useless cards. Sure, they might have cool images on them, but it's not like they're actual collectors items... but who knows. Some people collect anything and everything.
网易西游玩家致青春 晒十年游戏点卡 [NetEase]
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Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie