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

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.

24 Holiday Inn and Resorts host Super Mario Party vacations

If you're looking to plan a vacation this summer with equal parts exploration and relaxation, or if you've dreamed of hosting a game night with friends but live in an apartment that's far too small, then Tencent's recently announced collaboration with Holiday Inn might provide a welcomed solution. Between now and Aug 31, the famed hotel chain will be bringing Super Mario Party to 24 of its locations across China. 

The game will be featured in two different capacities. First, all of the designated hotels will have a special gaming area where guests can play Super Mario Party during their stay. Second, a few of the hotels will also provide special suites that visitors can reserve, meaning no fighting over the controller with some rando you've never met before. And if that weren't enough, Tencent and Holiday Inn targeted China's most popular summertime tourist destinations, with participating hotels spanning from Sanya to Changbai Mountain and Shanghai to Chengdu.

Even if you decided to stay at home this summer, you can still get your hands on this game by going to 12 IKEA that converted some of their sample rooms into the Mario Party themes. Taking Beijing as an example, you can try the game out at the Xihongmen IKEA from Jun 26 to Jul 25, then from Jul 31 to Aug 29, Siyuanqiao IKEA will be the place to go.

Click here to see more about this campaign and the full list of hotels and IKEA stores.

The promotion coincides with an announcement earlier this year that Super Mario Party – the newest title in the prestigious franchise – was officially green-lit for sale in China. 

Livestream: Elimination rounds in China's first Mario Kart Tournament

The first round of China's inaugural Mario Kart Tournament concluded earlier this month, and elimination rounds between the remaining 16 teams are set to begin this weekend. Hoping to share this historical moment in Chinese gaming history with more gamers and spread the joy of this iconic title, Tencent will be live streaming the fierce competition between some of the best drivers in the country, every Friday to Sunday on multiple platforms including Tencent Video, Tencent Nintendo Switch official Wechat channel (search 腾讯Nintendo Switch to find it), Bilibili and more. The drivers who survived this round will later be racing with each other face to face on-site later.

It's a great opportunity to support your favorite team, or even up your own game by learning a trick or two from the pros since Tencent Nintendo Switch official Wechat channel recently released a highlight reel from the first round of the tournament on their WeChat channel, and some of the clips are truly impressive.

Pokémon UNITE completes the first public test, available soon

Last year, we reported on Tencent and The Pokémon Company's newest collaboration, Pokémon UNITE, the first MOBA game for the world-renowned franchise. Well, after months of development and numerous internal tests, the game underwent its first – and hopefully only – public test last month, bringing us one step closer to a release date.

According to an announcement from The Pokémon Company on Jun 17, the game will be available on Nintendo Switch this July, while the phone version should be out in September. However, as its name suggests, no matter which device you choose to play on, you can still build and battle teams across platforms. What's more, all progress will be saved under a player's Nintendo or Pokémon Trainer Club account, which will allow gamers to continue the fight even after switching devices.

Many loyal Pokémon fans had low expectations for the ambitious effort from this 25-year-old franchise, especially given Tencent's involvement. Frankly, the local gaming community figured it would just end up another 王者荣耀 Honor of Kings, Tencent's most famous and successful game to date. Nevertheless, feedback thus far has been relatively positive, outshining many gaming KOL’s predictions, as many of the folks who participated in the public test – which took place from Jun 24 to 26 – gave their seal of approval. Apparently, compared to traditional MOBA games that focus on tearing down an opponents' defense, capturing and evolving Pokémons proved a breath of fresh air for this increasingly saturated genre. On the other hand, haters gonna hate, and some testers claimed the game still could use a stronger UI design and a better balance between certain Pokémons.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if this game can stoke another wave of Pokémon frenzy both here and abroad.

More games receive publishing approval in China

Last Monday, Jun 28, China's National Press and Publication Administration released its updated list of games that have received the country's coveted publishing approval, including four games for Tencent Switch:《疯狂兔子 奇遇派对》(no official English name yet), Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Mini Metro, and Doraemon Story of Seasons. Meanwhile, news broke that Yoshi's Crafted World – which received publication approval last year – will be up for presale on Tencent Switch on Jul 5, and will be playable on Jul 9.

Although it's certainly good news, gamers remain wholly skeptical of the standards and efficiency of the approval process, given that some games have been sitting on the "to be approved" shelf for longer than a year. Moreover, many netizens were shocked to see a game like The Division 2 get an official mainland release due to its gratuitous gunfire, blood, violence, and themes of political conspiracy. To be sure, people are thrilled that such an outstanding title is now available in China, but it does beggar the question: If The Division 2 can get its pass, then why are we still waiting on the decidedly less violent Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to be released? 

Read: Kapital Koopas: Games for Kids, or the Inner Child That Never Ages

Images Courtesy of corresponding game developing and publishing companies