Kapital Koopas: Kris Wu's Music Removed From "Just Dance," Mario Kart Tournament Hosted by Nintendo Hong Kong

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.

Ubisoft removes Kris Wu’s music from Chinese version of Just Dance

Last weekend, the scandal around Kris Wu shook Chinese social media to its core. Now, as more and more victims of his alleged harassment and sexual assault come to the fore, both domestic and international brands are severing ties with the once-lauded pop star.

Although Ubisoft doesn't have any direct collaborations with Wu, his track 大碗宽面 The Big Bowl of Wide Noodles does appear on the playlist for China's Just Dance. As such, last Tuesday Ubisoft announced that in light of the allegations, his music would be removed from the game, and replaced with the track 最炫民族风 Most Dazzling Folk Style.

Nintendo HK to host its first Mario Kart Tournament

As mainland China's first Mario Kart Tournament gets deeper into its elimination rounds, loyal fans across the country who don't own a Tencent Switch have lamented not being able to join the fun. 

And yet, Nintendo Hong Kong offered up an alternative earlier this week, when the company announced that it would be hosting a new tournament, set to take place this Saturday, Jul 24, from 3 to 10 pm. While it's not the first time Nintendo HK has hosted a Mario Kart event, it does mark a new era in prize-winning. Previously, the only reward participants could earn was getting their name mentioned on the website if they placed in the top 50. This time, however, Nintendo Hong Kong is leveling up with some sparkly prizes. Besides the honor of being mentioned on their website, the first-place winner will take home a crystal trophy, while those in the top ten will get a memorial pin.

Unfortunately, if you happen to be the lucky – nay, incredibly skilled – winner of the Mario Kart HK tournament it will prove tricky collecting your prize, as all of the physical rewards need to be picked up in person, in Hong Kong. If you have a local Hong Kong friend that can pick it up and ship it to you, great! If not, you can go the too-cool-for-award-shows artist route and win the competition, but shun the trophy. After all, you're doing this for the love of the game, right?

All you need to play is a Hong Kong Nintendo account (you can change the country and region in your account settings) and valid Nintendo Switch Online membership!

And finally, some Pokémon news...

Since 1998, Pokémon – arguably the world’s biggest gaming franchise – has released a film every year. Unfortunately, for audiences in mainland China, only two have hit official cinemas. This year, however, good news has come relatively early, as a few industry insiders and ACG KOLs divulged that the copyright of the newest Pokémon film – which was released in Japan last year – was recently purchased in mainland China. Stay tuned for more details on that! 

In other Chinese Pokémon community news, the developer of Pokémon Go, the absurdly popular augmented reality game that took the world by storm a few years ago, registered an official account on Weibo and also revealed its Chinese name 哪探, which is also the name for their newly registered company in Guangdong, China. Five years after it was first launched, most Chinese gamers still don’t have access to the game. Admittedly, the hype surrounding it has long since dissipated, and its actually become a sort of social and fitness tool for older folks in many regions. Still, local Pokémon fans are keen to play the game in their hometown. Incidentally, the de-platforming of Didi over concerns about harvesting user's geographic data may make it harder for Pokémon Go to get approval in the Chinese app market. Nevertheless, the registration of the Weibo accounts augers well for anyone eagerly awaiting the localization of the game.

Read: Kapital Koopas: Who Needs Euro Cup With Mario Kart Tournament Livestreams

Images: Ubisoft, Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Weibo