A Building In Killzone: Shadow Fall For PS4 Bears An Uncanny Resemblance To Beijing’s Galaxy SOHO

Kill Zone 4 vs Galaxy SOHO
While checking out coverage of the “invisible console” unveiling of the Playstation 4 in New York, I was struck by a familiar sight. No, not Diablo III. During the gameplay footage of Killzone 4, I recognized a certain oft-blighted building here in Beijing. Amidst the the civil unrest between the Helghest and Vektan loomed the unmistakeable curves and orbs of... Read more »

Did A 2009 Video Game Foresee The Current Island Conflict?

Cold war video game featured image
Here is the cinematic intro to Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, a tactical shooter game released in October 2009. In it, an island originally owned by the Chinese, called Skira, is jointly colonized by Russia and Japan through military force in the 17th and early-18th centuries. After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan gains the entire island, then loses it back to Russia following World War II. Sometime during the Cold War, oil is discovered on this volcanic island but is "hard to reach."

Chinese News Show Uses Frogger And Mario To Illustrate The Perils Of Jaywalking

Frogger screen shot
We've seen, on more than one occasion, people here play real-life Frogger to disastrous results. A news show in Heilongjiang Province called Xinwen Yehang (新闻夜航, literally "News Night Flight") has connected the dots -- Frogger... real-life... BAD -- and compiled several dozen examples of jaywalking pedestrians risking their health to get across a street in Harbin called Edmonton Road.

This Is Why You Should Never Play Real-Life Frogger

Boy plays Frogger featured image
This is not the first time within the last four months that someone playing real-life Frogger in China has been captured on video losing. In March, there was this (I added the music... it seemed appropriate at the time), in which a man sprinting across heavy traffic gets nailed by a van in the furthermost lane. Apparently that video wasn't enough of a deterrence, a clear message that real-life Frogger is a bad idea.

To Prove Girlfriend Wrong, Man Rents Train Station Big Screen To Play Video Games

Train station video game man
It’s unclear whether this was done out of love or spite, but a man in Beijing, reacting to his girlfriend’s constant nagging about his lack of prospects, his laziness, and other things girlfriends generally dislike, decided to show some initiative and prove his worth. He rented the big screen at Beijing West Railway Station, plugged... Read more »

IKEA China Commercial’s Music Takes Us Back To Our Nintendo-Playing Childhoods

IKEA borrows Super Mario song for commercial
Tudou video for those in China after the jump China doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to intellectual property. Big international companies spend lots of money fighting IP theft when smaller groups here in China happen to “borrow” IP rights. Which is why the current IKEA commercial in its spring public transport... Read more »

Man Playing Real-Life Frogger In China Does Not Successfully Cross Road

Frogger with music featured image
The worst part about what happens here is you see it coming and you want to shout some warning to the guy, a simple "Wait!" or "Whoa there!" But there's no pause button in real life: it just happens, sometimes in slow motion -- the man hesitating, quickly glancing both ways to make sure he can at least clear the first couple of lanes; the slow-moving white van concealing the fast-moving white van on its (and the man's) blindspot; that final stride, a gallop of faith...