News and Commentary: More on Blizzard's China Controversy

This month, the players of the game "World of Warcraft" are celebrating it's fifteenth anniversary, with in-game presents, events, and bonus experience. But there's been a dark cloud over the celebrations. It was last month that the company that owns Warcraft, Blizzard/Activision, banned a player from Hong Kong in another game, Hearthstone, after when given a chance to speak on a televised stream, he called for the freedom of the people of his city. Since the Newser's first article on the subject, the situation has continued to develop. And finally at Blizzard's annual convention, the company President addressed the issue.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

For years, American companies have been trying to get into the Chinese market. With over a billion people, the potential number of customers for a large business is huge. However, the country is under the control of a dictatorship that does not react well to criticism or remarks in opposition to it's goals. It frequently makes demands to such companies, and penalizes those already in for perceived comments or actions against it. The debate flared up again this week thanks to three stories in the news. One of them was a tournament of players of the Hearthstone game, which is owned by the same company that owns the still noted MMO game World of Warcraft. When one winner was interviewed, he proclaimed his support for the protestors in the city of Hong Kong. Blizzard soon reacted with actions many of its customers have found troubling, including yours truly whom had recently just signed up for Warcraft again after an extended break.

Read the story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

SL Video: "VCE3i HKPolyU Virtual Campus Promotional Video"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From PolyU ELC, with the help of Pookymedia, Produced by Pooky Amsterdam Directed by Russell Boyd, "The Hong Kong PolyU Virtual Campus: An Evolution in Immersion, Interaction and Innovation (VCE3i) Funded by the Advisory Committee on eLearning (ACE) VCE3i objectives: The development of activities and learning systems that allow for collaboration between faculty and students, within and across the various disciplines at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and around the world. VCE3i ethos: The VCE3i is an immersive, interactive and innovative Carnival with both Circus and Park attractions. We wish to offer the local and international communities a cultural attraction that is familiar yet (hopefully) not clichéd. Additionally, animals and creatures living in the VCE3i are free of human shackles and interference. While this might seem contrary to traditional circus appearances, this is, after all, Second Life!"

Hong Kong's "A Christmas Carol" and The Dickens Project

Most of us are familiar with the classic tale by Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" in which a miserly old man is shown the error of his ways and gets a chance to change. Gemma Cleanslate in her explorations of Christmas places found a couple locations about this story. One is Hong Kong University Education Island, using a number of builds to tell the tale. The other is at LEA7, "The Dickens Project," done by the Seanchai Library in which you get to learn more about the writer and the times he lived in.

Read Gemma's story in Design.

SL Video: "VCE3i Introductory and Educational Video"

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From November 28. Pooky Amsterdam's Pookymedia helped make this video for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Virtual Campus, "Virtual and immersive environments work exceedingly well and very affordably for those learning foreign languages. We recently had the opportunity to work on this advertisement with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Virtual Campus to showcase how their exciting platform within Second Life is teaching students around the globe."