Kapital Koopas: The Fall of a Knock-off NES Empire

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Press F to pay respects to all the fallen goombas. It's time for a deep dive into China's gaming culture in our column, Kapital Koopas.

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Fizzling nostalgia: Chinese game console company that blessed many a childhood bites the dust

Given that Atari and some of the other early consoles never made it to the mainland, most Chinese folks’ first impression of video games came courtesy of everyone's favorite little mustachioed Italian plumber. Even though its name was mistakenly translated as “Super Mary” (超级玛丽 Chāojí Mǎlì) back in the day, the upbeat 8-bit wonder with catchy theme music and challenging, albeit certainly not impossible, gameplay left a deep impression on many a young mind in China before a 10-year console ban went into effect at the turn of the 21st century. 

An unambiguously labelled machine

However, not every family could afford a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) back then, and the craving for video games left a sizable hole for copycats and counterfeiters in a market that was considerably less regulated than today. Among all of these, a console called 小霸王 Xiǎo Bàwáng Subor dominated the market and became the first console that many Chinese gamers ever laid their hands on. But, due to the fear that a game console may not be able to persuade Chinese parents to open their wallets, Subor branded itself as a student computer (despite the fact that the words "Video Game System" were printed clearly on the machine in English) and hired Jackie Chan as a spokesman. Needless to say, a relatively affordable price tag and the alternative functions as a personal computer – however rarely they might have been used – soon placed Subor in the living rooms of families all across China.

The design itself was decent but a lack of core technology or the support of game developers doomed its failure

As it happens, after its founder switched his investment focus to the production of digital dictionaries – and later the mobile phone industry – before retiring in 2010, the Subor name became nothing more than a nostalgia trigger for Chinese millennials. However, in 2018, the company decided to re-enter the game console market and released a prototype of their own design, the Subor Z+, a Windows 10 gaming computer that drew attention from both in and outside of China. With a reputation that apparently preceded the company, though, it didn’t take long for this ambitious plan to fail spectacularly, dragging the rest of the company into an abyss of bankruptcy, as was revealed on social media this week.

Though Subor will be remembered as long as millennials roam the earth, it's also indicative of a new reality, that any product lacking originality can no longer survive in modern China.

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IEM Beijing 2020 CS: GO commenced with 32 teams participating

Even though the gaming industry was one of the few to emerge relatively unscathed by the pandemic this year, many major e-sports events and competitions were still put on hold or moved online, such as Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) hosted by Electronic Sports League (ESL). In fact, one of its installments was originally scheduled to take place in Beijing's Haidian district, Nov 6-22.

We're not sure what, if anything, is still taking place in Haidian. But it would look something like this.

Unfortunately, with teams from Noth America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania competing, it was all but impossible to get everyone in the same room – and in front of the same size crowd that these events tend to draw. Nevertheless, it was imperative that the competition take place regardless, as organizers are still planning on moving ahead with the ESL Global Challenge 2020 in Cologne by the year's end. As such, between now and Nov 22, the world's top players will be fighting it out in the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – the well-received sequel of a classic first-person shooter title that has supported the business of countless Internet clubs – with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money at stake, as well as a spot in Cologne's ESL Global Challenge 2020. 

The battle started between Europe and North America on Nov 6 while Asia and Oceania will join on Nov 13 and Nov 22. For previous match records and future live streams, check out their website or the official Channel of ESL Counter-Strike on Youtube and Twitch.

Pokémon movie “Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution” comes to China

On Nov 9, several Pokémon KOLs confirmed rumors that “Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution” will officially come to Chinese cinemas. Screened in Japan last summer, the film is both a remake of the very first Pokémon movie and the franchises' first foray into 3D (Detective Pikachu doesn’t count in this series). For Chinese audiences, it also marks only the second time that they've been able to see their favorite characters from the game come alive on the silver screen after “Volcanion & the Mechanical Magearna” came to mainland cinemas three years ago.

Rest assured, this Pikachu will not talk

Unfortunately, the film does not yet have a release date, however, we do have it on good authority that it might be streaming on Netflix. Just sayin'...

Images: Zhihu, egamersworld.com, Nintendo, Subor, meaww.com

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