Kapital Koopas: Mario Kart Medals Come Alive, and Mainland China Gets the PS5
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.
Tencent announces Mario Kart Tournament with real medals
The collaboration between Tencent and Nintendo continues to reap some serious benefits for China's gaming console community, however, due to various reasons, the playable games on Tencent Switch remain somewhat limited. While gamers eagerly await a new batch of games to get the green light for Chinese platforms, Tencent has been developing new and innovative ways to expand the possibilities of currently available titles, such as adding square dance music (yee-haw!) to Just Dance or creating a mini-program to track exercise routines in Ringfit Adventure. Unfortunately, none of these superfluous add-ons are incentive enough for someone to drop their classic Nintendo Switch in favor of the Tencent one.
Earlier this week though, after Tencent announced the newest online tournament for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, many gamers took to social media, lamenting their decision not to purchase a Tencent Switch. While tournaments for the Mario Kart series aren't necessarily something to write home about, one that rewards players with physical prizes is, especially considering those prizes are available for everyone who participates, as opposed to just a few winners. Put another way, even if the first round in the first tournament is also the first time you've ever attempted to play a racing game such as this, you'll still get a medal simply for tuning in at the designated time.
Perhaps more exciting though, the prizes aren't merely cheap stickers or plushies, but a set of 12 medals specifically designed for these tournaments. Likewise, the tournaments will be held each month throughout the year, meaning there's a different medal to represent the 12 tournaments. Compete in more than three tournaments, and you'll also get an album to store and display all those hard-earned medals. Aside from the medals, there's also a slightly grander prize, the Piranha Night Lamp, awarded to players who rank top three on the daily ranking board.
To participate, register your WeChat account on a Tencent Switch (make sure it's connected to the internet), then sign up via Tencent Nintendo Switch's official WeChat account (ID: 腾讯NintendoSwitch). Tournament games are held at a pre-determined time, and once you finish one, go to the 我的奖章 wǒ de jiǎngzhāng My Medal page where you initially signed up to submit your delivery info (sidenote: Tencent covers shipping costs).
Playstation 5 to hit the Chinese market this spring
There is some good news for Playstation gamers as well: Since its release last year, the much-anticipated next-generation console, Playstation 5 (PS5), was routinely sold out in just about every country that carried it. Recently, however, Sony Entertainment announced that the PS5 will hit shelves in mainland China sometime between April and June of this year, which will save many-a Chinese gamers the logistical headache of getting one shipped from overseas. At present, a couple of details remain unclear such as the console's price, and whether those sold here will be compatible with the online PlayStation store in other countries.
Let’s learn Xiangqi
象棋 xiàngqí – Chinese Chess or “the Elephant Game” translated literally – is a traditional Chinese tabletop game that has prevailed in China for centuries, with many similarities to international chess, at the two games share a common ancester. You've probably seen packs of 大爷 dàyé older men gathered in your compound enjoying an outdoor summer night game of Chinese chess, eagerly analyzing every move.
Despite its similarity to international chess, the games are quite different in play and strategy. Likewise, given that the pieces bear Chinese characters as opposed to the more figurative queen, knight, or rook, there's an unfortunate barrier to entry for most foreigners who want to learn the game.
That is until last week when a game called Let’s Learn Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) was released on Steam. While it doesn't stand out – visually or narratively – in the world of Xiangqi simulators, it does happen to be the only one on Steam that supports English, alongside five other languages (ironically, Simplified Chinese is not included). At the time of writing, the game only has one comment, which claims it's perfect for kindergarten kids and foreigners who wanna learn xiangqi.
Let’s Learn Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) was developed by a user called Dr. Cyril Splutterworth, and while we know little about this Dr. Splutterworth, he seems to be passionate about sharing knowledge about Asian cultures based on his previous games, like Let's Learn Shogi (Japanese Chess), Let’s Learn Japanese and Let’s Learn Korean.
Gather friends on the GSTONE app
As we've said before, Beijing is rife with board game nights and board game cafes to satisfy your need for tabletop adventures, however, not everyone has time to pop over to a board game night, and still, others may be a bit nervous to play with folks they don't know. Luckily, there's a new app, 集石桌游 jí shí zhuō yóu GSTONE Games, that addresses these problems once and for all.
About three years ago, a bunch of board game aficionados decided to create a multifunctional app that serves Chinese and foreign gamers. It's part-BGG database and part social media sphere, where you can organize game meet-ups, get to know other players, form different themed board game clubs, and even be the bridge between board game designers, publishers, and gamers, providing real-time feedback.
Over the years, GSTONE Games has assembled a massive community of gamers, held thousands of events, and more than 5,000 games in their online market for sale. One of their regular gatherings takes place every Thursday at Huoxing Games, which recently relocated to Xizhimen.
Read: The Battleground Hidden Within Chaowai SOHO
Images: Game Rant, Nintendo, 游戏时光VG Time, hisour.com, Gamecores
