Recruiting
The quality of Chinese artisanship continues to astound. The above lid is carefully integrated into the curb, perhaps for reasons of feng shui or aesthetics, whilst the below manhole cover has a durable internal bamboo frame, ecologically sound as well as economical.
Nintendo have taken umbrage at the distribution of backup devices aimed at their DS handheld, and have, together with a massive alliance of 54 other companies, many of them big players, opted to hound the offending companies out of existence with a lawsuit.
The device they are targeting is the R4 Revolution (actually a flash cartridge), and their strategy is to sue five of the companies involved in the Japanese distribution of the device.
With the release of the PSP edition of Idol Master announced, perhaps you’re hankering after a PSP fit to play it on, perhaps one engraved with the idol of your choice? If so, then you may be interested in more from the Chinatown engraver who brought us the Yayoi custom mobile. This time we get another mobile engraving, and of course the custom PSP.
As part of the upcoming Olympic marketing event, some original promotional efforts have been taken up by Beijing entrepreneurs. Any resemblance to any Disney characters, or for that matter Doraemon or the like, is purely incidental. Regarding the not-Mickey statues: “They have holes in the ears, so it’s not a copy” we are assured.
Some anonymous soul on 2ch entrusted his phone to a little shop in Chinatown who promised to carve him a fine rendition of Idol Master’s delectable Yayoi; the result could be said to be predictable.
Perhaps fearful of a sneak attack by quiescent militarist neighbour Japan, China has laid on an impressive welcoming committee for visitors, in the form of a battery of HQ-7 SAMs commanding a view of the Olympic facilities. Japanese Zeros will doubtless fear to attack considering the high kill probability of this knock off of a superior French design. Their appears to be some fear of aircraft terrorism influencing the deployment.
Via Nishi Nippon.
Another fine example of Chinese ingenuity, this toilet combines fish keeping practicality with water saving economy. Not only does it incorporate water saving technology, with a direct connection of the flush function to the water supply obviating entirely the need for an apparently wasteful reservoir, it is also a shrewd piece of marketing, as with no need for a water reservoir the aquarium serves no purpose other than to draw onlookers and prompt questions about what happens to the fish, easily fielded with a informative lecture on the new water saving technology.
Via here.
Another fine example of Chinese originality and quality game design; The King of Street (街頭拳皇) nevertheless seems strangely reminiscent of certain other games.
The otaku scene in China seems to be developing well, and, notably, is gradually abandoning the shameless commercial piracy which unfortunately has come to associated with China. Here we have some fine examples of Chinese made dojinshi (see below for images and translation), which exhibit some evident talent and are not just mere knockoffs.
Perhaps as a natural consequence of steady Chinese development, the otaku scene there appears to be thriving, and not just in an atmosphere of disregard for intellectual property; I am reminded of my earlier article on the figure and otaku scene in China, where we hear that otaku are not subject to opprobrium there, even as they are in Japan, and that they are capable of rejecting commercial piracy.
The superiority of Chinese engineering and their unique appreciation of intellectual property evidently know no bounds; first came the Wii, then the Chintendo Vii, and now a new successor emerges in the form of Eittek’s originally named MiWi.
This fine product continues in the same vein as the Vii, bringing you advanced cartridge based 16bit gaming reminiscent of the Wii at a vastly reduced price point. The erstwhile wireless controllers and sports games clearly aim to compete with Nintendo’s offering. As seems to be usual with these products, in game shots seem to be sadly lacking…
More pictures are mirrored below. Brought to my attention by GameSpark, with English info here and Chinese info here.
You may be familiar with the Chintendo Vii, a console “resembling” the Nintendo Wii which makes use of superior Chinese engineering and intellectual property, and this outstanding product has recently hit the shores of Japan. Actual hands on play details had been lacking until now, but over at Inside a fine and much anticpated look at both the hardware and now the software is now up; see here and here for the hardware, and here for the all important software. Nintendo may have some serious competition on their hands. You will also be delighted to know that foraying to some suspicious backstreet Akiba shop to get yours is unnecessary; even Amazon are stocking it!
