Something I just found out about but when I did it was an "Of course
they do!" moment.

All computer and video games sold in China have to include built in
censors to prevent players from using offensive words or phrases when
they name characters or other things in the game. And apparently the
translation database used by the government for translating forbidden
character strings from Chinese to other languages has issues. So things
like naming something after a German company doesn't work because many
such companies name's end with 'B' and that triggers the software censor.

Given the pressure such measures have imposed on getting non-Chinese
movies allowed in China and the way movie studios edit their world-wide
releases as a result, I can only imagine who much of an impact that has
on video and computer games around the world.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 13:08:07 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>Something I just found out about but when I did it was an "Of course
>they do!" moment.
>
>All computer and video games sold in China have to include built in
>censors to prevent players from using offensive words or phrases when
>they name characters or other things in the game. And apparently the
>translation database used by the government for translating forbidden
>character strings from Chinese to other languages has issues. So things
>like naming something after a German company doesn't work because many
>such companies name's end with 'B' and that triggers the software censor.
>
>Given the pressure such measures have imposed on getting non-Chinese
>movies allowed in China and the way movie studios edit their world-wide
>releases as a result, I can only imagine who much of an impact that has
>on video and computer games around the world.

In the early 2000s, when oh-so-many tech companies were - after
rushing into China - were starting to bump into these sorts of
restrictions, the common argument was it ws better for the
corporations to remain in China, because - even if they were censored
by the Chinese government - their presence would slowly moderate and
"westernize" the country so it became more free and open.

Two decades down the line, this line of reasoning needs to be
questioned and companies that continue to blindly do business with
China need to be held to account. The bottom line - whether its in
regard to our own purchases or the actions of a corporation - cannot
continue to be the only measure we use to determine our activities in
this world.

On 7/31/2022 11:40 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 13:08:07 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> Something I just found out about but when I did it was an "Of course
>> they do!" moment.
>>
>> All computer and video games sold in China have to include built in
>> censors to prevent players from using offensive words or phrases when
>> they name characters or other things in the game. And apparently the
>> translation database used by the government for translating forbidden
>> character strings from Chinese to other languages has issues. So things
>> like naming something after a German company doesn't work because many
>> such companies name's end with 'B' and that triggers the software censor.
>>
>> Given the pressure such measures have imposed on getting non-Chinese
>> movies allowed in China and the way movie studios edit their world-wide
>> releases as a result, I can only imagine who much of an impact that has
>> on video and computer games around the world.
>
> In the early 2000s, when oh-so-many tech companies were - after
> rushing into China - were starting to bump into these sorts of
> restrictions, the common argument was it ws better for the
> corporations to remain in China, because - even if they were censored
> by the Chinese government - their presence would slowly moderate and
> "westernize" the country so it became more free and open.
>
> Two decades down the line, this line of reasoning needs to be
> questioned and companies that continue to blindly do business with
> China need to be held to account. The bottom line - whether its in
> regard to our own purchases or the actions of a corporation - cannot
> continue to be the only measure we use to determine our activities in
> this world.
>
There are a few signs that Hollywood has gotten fed up with China's
demands after the Chinese Film Department demanded that Marvel remove
the Statue of Liberty from one of the latest Spider-Man movies when it
was a central part of a critical "big" scene....

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Sun, 31 Jul 2022 13:29:35 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 7/31/2022 11:40 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 13:08:07 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
>> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Something I just found out about but when I did it was an "Of course
>>> they do!" moment.
>>>
>>> All computer and video games sold in China have to include built in
>>> censors to prevent players from using offensive words or phrases when
>>> they name characters or other things in the game. And apparently the
>>> translation database used by the government for translating forbidden
>>> character strings from Chinese to other languages has issues. So things
>>> like naming something after a German company doesn't work because many
>>> such companies name's end with 'B' and that triggers the software censor.
>>>
>>> Given the pressure such measures have imposed on getting non-Chinese
>>> movies allowed in China and the way movie studios edit their world-wide
>>> releases as a result, I can only imagine who much of an impact that has
>>> on video and computer games around the world.
>>
>> In the early 2000s, when oh-so-many tech companies were - after
>> rushing into China - were starting to bump into these sorts of
>> restrictions, the common argument was it ws better for the
>> corporations to remain in China, because - even if they were censored
>> by the Chinese government - their presence would slowly moderate and
>> "westernize" the country so it became more free and open.
>>
>> Two decades down the line, this line of reasoning needs to be
>> questioned and companies that continue to blindly do business with
>> China need to be held to account. The bottom line - whether its in
>> regard to our own purchases or the actions of a corporation - cannot
>> continue to be the only measure we use to determine our activities in
>> this world.
>>
>There are a few signs that Hollywood has gotten fed up with China's
>demands after the Chinese Film Department demanded that Marvel remove
>the Statue of Liberty from one of the latest Spider-Man movies when it
>was a central part of a critical "big" scene....

This is less because of the censorious demands and more because the
movies aren't as profitable in China as you'd expect. That's not to
say that Western movies aren't popular in China - they are, although
its hard to gauge which movies will be a success and which will flop
due to cultural differences - but because of ticketing shenanigans. As
I understand it, movie theaters are supposed to promote Chinese movies
over Western ones, and failure to do so gets your business
investigated/shut-down. So the theaters sell people tickets to a
Chinese movie and then let them instead watch the western film.

Unfortunately, this means that the Hollywood film doesn't get any
revenue from the sale, so even though millions of people in China
might see "Space Trek XXIV: Avengering Twilight", the sales figures
are miniscule. Since all these profits in China are flowing to Chinese
film companies /and/ it keeps the populace happy, the Chinese
government isn't doing anything about this (except when the messaging
of the movie is considered too extravagantly anti-China).

So despite there being a potential market of over a billion viewers in
China, Hollywood is becoming less enamored with with the market.
They'd happily chop out the Statue of Liberty if it meant they were
getting the cash, but since they're not, why bother?