The second visit to the doctor revealed the virus attacking me to be a sinus infection and I am feeling better thanks to the power of antibiotics. FANG is on his last legs and I shall stand triumphant over his dead carcass…well that me but I shall raise a beer to him as soon as the medication is done ;)

Games development is a great place to be, we have no uniform, hours are generally good except for the final stages of a game, most people are game geeks, the number of toys on desks is high (especially in china). Your daily picture below is the right side of my desk…Yes it’s an exclusive, the pause screen to the Xbox 3Fucking 60 version of the Game of the Year! Splinter Cell Double Agent! Yes you saw it here first!!

I will point out that the Godzilla figure is China’s knock off of the Japanese icon and Daniel has called it ‘Maozilla’ after the good chairman, I am sure he would approve. There is a fair amount of love in the office for Godzilla and Maozilla. The Ultraman figure has been on most desks on the team now. Where it came from, who it belongs to and where it will go next is anyone’s guess.

OK …so here is my story regarding importing ‘Dead Rising’ into Shanghai.

I’ll throw props out to Lik-Sang because they’ve been beaten down by the big guys for selling Nintendo products that the big N didn’t like. When you order they mail you back to tell you your stuff has shipped and they stock US games for my US 360! Now my copy …no indeed the three copies of Dead Rising that I purchased for myself, Daniel and Louis (the lead AI coder) should have arrive on the 14th and I should be looking at it on my desk as I figure out how to fold space and time in order to actually play more than 20 minutes a day. I mean it’s killing Zombies!!! Who doesn’t like that shit eh? Personally I was a zombie bowler on the demo…wait I’m getting off track here…I need to step this up a bit it’s a rant after all! OK on the 14h I get a four page fax from UPS! 4 PAGES OF CHINESE! I read 10 words of Chinese, more accurately I can read the numbers 1 to 10 purely because of the numbering on DVD box sets. I do NOT however understand the customs form in front of me. So I take it to the buying department do my best impression of a lost cat trying to find his way home and I get help. But no, it’s not that easy is it? I need my passport, my visa and my date of entry to prove I am here even though I paid by a credit card that is registered here.

Day 2! I am ill and forget my passport. This will cost me.

Day 3! I bring my passport but the guy who was willing to help me import these games is on holiday…fair enough I say, and another girl with a medium level of English assures me she has it covered and will e-mail me later…cool I think! And yes she does, I’m told it will be here in two days….

Day 7…I inquire to the lady helping me if she knows where my games are, to which she responds you haven’t got them? they should be here? Puzzled, she tells me she will look into it. Later that day I am sent this message:

The UPS told that the games involved violent content and they needed the game's content introduction. The introduction will be made as soon as possible. Do not worry.

I now know I will never taste the sweet sweet candy of Dead Rising past the cut-scene as I enter the cinema. I gather from the comment that UPS is going to be introduced to the violence in the game, where the young lady from purchasing is going to get 2000 zombies and an assortment of weapons is beyond me. I can but imagine:) hehe Should I receive this game I will raise it like the son I never had until the 1000 gamers points are done and I can release it back into the world.

Speak soon peace out

Chris