The above pics were uploaded to Taiwan geeksite CK101 under the title "Do all female nerds play WoW like this at home?" The series is an an apparent homage to this picture, already well-circulated elsewhere on the 'nets. more ›

World Joyland (环球动漫嬉戏谷, Huánqiú Dòngmàn Xīxì Gǔ) better known as the Warcraft and Starcraft-themed amusement park, has been the subject of massive speculation since the first digital rendering surfaced on the internet six months ago. An amusement park entirely devoted to making your online virtual nerd-topia a reality, the EPIC potential of our MMORPG fever-dreams made manifest led us to the park with pretty massive expectations. more ›

After our heroic and harrowing journey to the gates of Joyland, we entered through the massive circular Gate of Heroes with a feeling of awed disbelief - after all this time and speculation, we were actually setting foot inside the fabled Warcraft/Starcraft theme park. But the Blizzard ripoffs are only two of seven sections in the park, so to begin with, we're going to give you a primer on the the other five sections. more ›

Yes, Joyland (嬉戏谷, xīxìgǔ), the World of Warcraft and Starcraft-themed park, is real! Last month, intrepid members of the Shanghaiist team decided to journey out to the park made infamous by its alleged knock offs of Blizzard products. Getting there may not be easy, and it definitely takes some time, but it is absolutely worth it! One or two botched attempts later, and Shanghaiist now has it all figured out for you. Follow these simple instructions and you’re on your way to having the best time EVER! more ›

The Guardian brings us this little nugget today: A former prisoner at a labor camp in Jixi reports that prisoners are being forced to mine "virtual gold" online for up to 12 hours at a time, in addition to their daily physical labor. If you're unfamiliar with the term "gold farming", it basically refers to the building up of online currency (like weapons, credits, character levels, whathaveyou) with hours of play, which is then sold for real money to gamers. From the Guardian: more ›

These pictures were taken of the front entrance yesterday, amid reports that the opening of the park could be delayed past March. Looks to be about right, if you compare the early designs of that gnarly entrance gate with the real deal. See our previous post on the park for more details! more ›

In case the China-made World of Warcraft wasn't enough for you - there is a chance you could get yourself to a World of Warcraft theme park sometime soon... heck, there'll be a Starcraft world thrown in to boot! The internet has been buzzing with news about a new amusement park called Joyland (website here) that's just itching to put you next to a Protoss on your next rollercoaster ride. more ›

Despite having an audience here in China that makes up half of its international player base, Blizzard Inc. has had little luck getting its popular expansion of the World of Warcraft franchise onto Chinese shores... until now! That's right, Chinese WoW players, you can now FINALLY play the Wrath of the Lich King expansion - almost two years after it first came out everywhere else. more ›

Finally, someone got the idea to use gaming to help students instead of shoving them into oft dangerous internet addiction camps. Zhonghua Vocational School, here in Shanghai, has begun the first ever "Online Games" class. The thought is that these kids can learn the valuable skill of working in a group, as well as boost their self confidence, if they play World of Warcraft with proper guidance and supervision. While I'm not entirely sold on the curriculum (there's got to be more educational realms than Azeroth - all it's ever taught me is how annoying Chuck Norris jokes can get), at least its nice to know someone's recognizing that banning these things outright is probably not the way to go. more ›

Apparently, some people are calling this the first great Chinese film of 2010 and it's a machinima. The video, which has already gained a million hits in the various locations its been put up, is called "War of Internet Addiction" and made almost entirely from the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft. more ›

According to a statement released by Netease earlier today, the General Administration of Press and Publication has suspended government approval for their operating World of Warcraft. As if WoW players didn't have enough problems earlier this year, the GAPP cited “gross violations of regulations” as the reason behind suspending NetEase’s operating rights to the massively popular online game. more ›

So China has finally lifted the World of Warcraft blackout, no doubt to the joy of both Blizzard and its four-plus-million Chinese fans. Betcha didn't know that half the WoW players in the world are from this country! more ›

China’s online gangster/mafia games are now officially sleepin’ with the fishes. According to Xinhua, the Ministry of Culture banned all websites and servers running, publishing, or offering links to online games involving gang-related subject matter and warned that violators of the ban will face an unspecified but "severe punishment." more ›

• Chinese athletes boycott closing ceremony of World Games [Earth Times] "Chinese athletes boycotted the closing ceremony Sunday evening of the 8th World Games in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan. When athletes entered the Main Statium in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, there was only a Taiwan student holding the Chinese red flag marching behind the girl holding the "China" placard."
• Chinese Steelworkers Fight Privatization Effort [WSJ]"A Hong Kong-based human-rights group said thousands of steel workers in China's northeast staged an at-times violent protest against the planned takeover of their state-run employer and a group of them killed a top executive at the private company that was to acquire it. Several local officials and residents confirmed a protest took place Friday in Tonghua, in Jilin province, but details of the report by the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, including the size of the protest and the manager's death, couldn't be confirmed."
• Taiwan’s Ma Takes Party Post, Boosting China Summit Prospects [Bloomberg] "Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou was voted chairman of the ruling Kuomintang party, an appointment that may pave the way for a historic summit with China. Ma, the only candidate for the position, received 94 percent of votes cast yesterday, Chen Shu-rong, a Kuomintang spokeswoman said in Taipei."

• U.S. Objects to China’s Web Filtering [NYTimes.com] The Obama administration lodged a formal protest on Wednesday with the Chinese government over its plan to force all computers sold in China to come with software that blocks access to certain Web sites.
• Do China And India Really Want Stronger Intellectual Property? [Techdirt] "Over the past few months, I have been researching the role that intellectual property plays in China and India, with specific attention to the frequent calls for increased protection in those countries. I believe that a careful and critical review of national goals, potential solutions and likely outcomes will, in fact, make intellectual property harmonization a disagreeable mechanism for bringing China and India to continued global prestige."
• World of Warcraft Languishes Offline in China [PC World] "A weeks-long World of Warcraft server outage in China has driven masses of players there to the Taiwanese server or to other games while a new operator takes the reins of the Blizzard Entertainment blockbuster in China. A Blizzard representative Wednesday declined to estimate when World of Warcraft would come back online in China."
• China reclaims $4 billion of embezzled public money [International | Reuters] "China has recovered 26.77 billion yuan ($3.92 billion) of public money that was embezzled last year, the country's top audit official said in a report seen Thursday. Some 30 people involved in 116 cases had been arrested and sentenced, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, as saying. Another 117 received punishment according to Communist Party rules, Xinhua said, without elaborating."
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• “Zhejiang University Girl” Exposed By Human Flesh Search [Chinasmack] "On the evening of April 11th, through the human flesh search of netizens, the person who concocted “Zhejiang University Girl” came forward to apologize. The netizen passing as Zhejiang University Girl is “河谷渔风” ["He Gu Yu Feng"], from Jinhua in Zhejiang province, a male, born 1976 December 17. He admitted “Zhejiang University Girl” was fabricated. Reporters contacted and interviewed “河谷渔风”. “Writing this post was simply a fenqing vent. In the beginning it was posted on Tianya, there was no intention to target Zhejiang University, and even less to point at Professor Zheng Qiang.”"
• After Olympics, national spirit soars while human rights lag [USATODAY] "Not everyone agrees the billions spent on hosting the Summer Games was worthwhile. "I hoped the Olympic Games could improve my life, but they only brought disaster," says Zhang Wei, whose home was demolished in 2006 to make way for an Olympic makeover project just south of Tiananmen Square. She applied for a permit to protest but instead was sent to detention for a month. "The police told me it was because I told the truth about the demolition of my property to journalists," she says."
• Will Ditching The9 Help World Of Warcraft Get Past Chinese Censors? [Business Insider] "Starting in June, NetEase (NTES) will get exclusive operating rights to run the game in mainland China, replacing Blizzard's longtime partner The9 (NCTY), according to reports in Chinese media. Hopefully a new partner will help Blizzard through what's been a difficult period in its relations with the Chinese government. Blizz's latest Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, still isn't on sale in China."

CCTV 9 reports on a newly opened Beijing restaurant that is inspired by the super popular online game World of Warcraft. You can see both the clip and the transcript of the report online. We checked out the Dianping reviews, which didn't take us very long since there are only 3 (2 ho-hum, one positive). We've never played the game ourselves but have witnessed enough zombied kids playing at Internet cafes to recognize its power. Perhaps this restaurant owner is getting a headstart on the rest of the online gaming business bandwagon. According to China Tech News, Changzhou in neighboring Jiangsu province will be the home of world's first online game theme park, the Universal Digital Carnival Valley. WoW. more ›