chinese new year
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Apple suppliers had a very tough February
February is usually not a great month for the companies that supply Apple with its iOS and Mac device parts (Chinese New Year usually falls right in that month, and production in China always take a big downturn as people celebrate there). But this particular past February was especially bad, according to reports: Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White says that the suppliers for Apple that he tracks saw their sales data fall 31 percent over the past month, as compared to the usual 8 percent drop in past years. That makes for the worst February on record for Apple's suppliers, which may or may not soon have an impact on Apple. Now, with Apple's suppliers showing low sales data, that could mean more opportunity for Apple to step in with its big pile of cash and make sure that it has more components than ever to build new devices with, so it's not entirely clear that this will be a bad thing for the company from Cupertino. But of course Apple depends on these suppliers, and if they suffer increased economic pressure for any reason, Apple could experience consequences for its own business.
All PopCap games half-off this weekend
To celebrate the Chinese New Year, PopCap put every game in its library on sale through Tuesday, February 12. All downloadable PC games are 50 percent off though the developer's store, including Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle and Bejeweled 3.The sale could certainly fund PopCap's "AAA console title" ambitions, but the savings are passed on to you, the player. That extra money equates to a lot of burritos, or in this weekend's case, egg rolls.
Apple's Chinese New Year sale begins Jan 25
Apple has announced its annual "Red Friday" Chinese New Year sale. The sale will take place this Friday, January 25th from 12:01AM to 11:59PM SGT. The sale is valid at Apple's online store in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan. The Asian market -- and China in particular -- is of increasing importance to Apple and its Red Friday sale, which originated last year, is a sign of that. There are no details yet as to what deals will be had, but last year the deals included 8 percent off iPads and 10 percent off iPod touches, plus a HK$770 discount on MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros and iMacs. The term "Red Friday" is derived from the term "Black Friday," which originated in the United States and is the Friday after Thanksgiving when holiday sales have traditionally kicked off. Chinese New Year -- or the Lunar New Year -- is as big a holiday as Christmas in many parts of Asia. This year Chinese New Year takes place on February 10th. Apple launched a Chinese New Year gift guide earlier this month.
Apple publishes Chinese New Year gift guide
Apple has enjoyed a recent burst of success in China, with the new iPad mini selling out faster than supplies can be replenished, but rather than sitting back and enjoying the regional boom, the company is going on the offensive with a new Chinese New Year Gift Guide. M.I.C. Gadget reports that the new buyers guide is included in Apple's online store in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Not surprisingly, the iPad mini is featured prominently in the guide, along with both first-party accessories like the Smart Cover and third-party wares from the likes of Logitech and Plantronics. Prices are displayed in the appropriate regional currency, and each Apple gadget on the page is accompanied by a bounty of related products. Apple is also promoting free shipping and gift wrapping as part of the holiday guide.
League of Legends pops the cork for Lunar Revel
Feeling the doldrums of winter settling into your bones? Missing the colorful lights and excessive sugar dosages of last month? The good news is that there's still a great holiday to celebrate this month -- the Chinese New Year -- and League of Legends is totally on board with any excuse to party. Coming to the game is the brand-new Lunar Revel holiday, which is "a time to celebrate the possibilities of the future with the coming of the new moon." Not only will the game be decorated with cheery lanterns, but Riot Games is adding some new goodies to enjoy, including special consumables in the store and unique skins for Talon, Sona, Wukong, and Lee Sin. The devs say that this marks the beginning of many cultural-themed holidays as they go on a "world tour" to highlight the many countries that play League of Legends. You can get an advance sneak peek at the new Lunar Revel costumes in the gallery below. [Source: Riot Games press release] %Gallery-126155%
Breakfast Topic: Did you accomplish your Lunar Festival goals?
Your first kiss. The night of your senior prom. Lunar Festival 2011. Some events are just so memorable they live in your heart forever. And though we may wish they could last forever, they don't -- all good things must come to an end. Try to hold back your tears: Lunar Festival, the World of Warcraft in-game holiday based around the Chinese New Year, has come to an end. Personally, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that the event is over. I've been spending the past few weeks obsessively running old and outdated dungeons on my max-level characters, watching 20 different people standing around Moonglade without any idea about how to summon Omen, and deleting tons of spam-like in-game mail from all sorts of "elders." And what do I have to show for it? Nothing, because I still haven't done the stupid Children's Week PvP achievements. (And I probably never will.) But enough about me. What about you? Did you accomplish your goals for the Lunar Festival? And, gosh darn, how are you ever going to survive the next 40-plus months without experiencing the joy and fun of the holiday? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The pros and cons of long-running events
I'm writing this while I wait for the next round of the Canthan New Year finale to begin -- I need my fourth lion mask; it's important! Guild Wars festivals are always fascinating to me, and not just for the bump to my sugar, booze, and party points. They are a great opportunity for people-watching, so to speak. Canthan New Year has been a recurring festival for a long time in Guild Wars, and today I want to take a look at the ups and downs of having the same event over and over. First, though, let's take a peek at what MVOP has been up to for the past week. We are still blasting through Factions, but we took a small break last Thursday night to enjoy the festival, run a few quests and frankly embarrass me during a few rounds of Dragon Nest. Once the guild learned that I have never participated in that particular festival event, it was insisted that I remedy that right away. As it turns out, a speed buff of some sort is highly desired in Dragon Nest, and if you don't have one, you will likely spend a lot of time trundling around trying to tag baby dragons while competing players zip past you shouting about sugary blue drinks. Note to self: Save up some chocolate bunnies next year. Once we'd enjoyed some festival events, it was back to our regular path in Factions: Unwaking Waters. We completed that quest and set plans to continue next Thursday night as always, so if you'd like to join us, visit our forums and drop us a line! For now, follow along after the jump to read about the pros and cons of a long-running festival like Canthan New Year.
Hong Kong gadget flea market: a blast from the past
If you've seen our Hong Kong feature from awhile back, then you would've already heard about my favorite gadget hangout Sham Shui Po. By chance, my post-flight stroll in said district yesterday coincided with Apliu Street's Chinese New Year flea market, which featured many vintage items like jade figurines, paintings, jewelry, video tapes, vinyl records, etc. Naturally, what really caught my attention were the old gadgets that were literally piled up along the street, and from just HK$30 (US$3.85), you could easily pick up an old classic such as a Sony Clié, an HP iPaq, a WonderSwan Color, an original GameBoy, a MiniDisc player, or even a proper old school laptop or camera. Hell, some guy even had a couple of Nintendo Micro VS Systems (Donkey Kong Hockey and Boxing)! The catch? Well, there was obviously no warranty for these old timers, plus the broken screens or the lack of compatible batteries for some meant that most were more suitable as collectibles. Regardless, we took a $6 gamble with a Sony Clié PEG-NR70 Palm PDA with docking station and boom! It works! Well, except for the battery that only lasts for an hour, but I'll figure something out. %Gallery-115754%
War of Legends celebrates Chinese new year with prizes
Game developer Jagex is perhaps best known for its popular browser MMO RuneScape, which is still going strong after over 10 years of development. Just over a year ago, the company made a move into the MMORTS market with its free-to-play browser game War of Legends. Last month, the game celebrated its first anniversary by giving players a free birthday cake filled with items to speed up construction, resource gathering and other parts of the game. With that celebration barely over, War of Legends has launched head-first into yet another event with the Chinese New Year. As War of Legends is based heavily on ancient Chinese mythology, the Chinese New Year is a big time of year for the game. In keeping with a traditional Chinese theme, Jagex will be giving away red envelopes containing prizes to players every day for the next two weeks. Each envelope contains in-game items valued by the company at up to $20 US, and players have the opportunity to find more prizes by invading the Wildlands during the two-week celebration period. For those players who want something simpler, Jagex will also be running some limited-time daily tasks during the Chinese New Year with a variety of helpful rewards.
Chinese Apple Stores plan special New Year events
While India's Krishna Kalyan ate an iPhone 4 cake to celebrate the New Year, Apple's four retail stores in China have something else in mind to celebrate the Chinese New Year. According to ifoAppleStore, Apple has emailed an invitation to their customers in China to visit the retail stores between January 26 and February 13 for select events such as workshops, One to One training and shopping specials on Apple and third-party products. Apple currently has stores both in Beijing and Shanghai, but we here at TUAW are partial to the first one to land in Shanghai back in July of last year. With the four stores already under its belt and a growing online presence in China, it seems that Apple heard Lenovo loud and clear when it was declared that Apple hadn't stepped up efforts in the Far East.
China sent 23 billion text messages during Chinese New Year
23 billion text messages in one week, with 13 billion from the first two days alone. Pretty mind-boggling, isn't it? And this 10 percent growth in the number of gung-hey-fat-choi messages is the work of just 747 million phone users in China -- imagine what would've happened if all 1.3 billion people in the country had a phone during Chinese New Year. Throughout the same period, China also produced 1.33 billion MMS messages -- a staggering 40 percent increase from last year -- while China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom operated 127.6 percent, 19.5 percent and 15.7 percent more voice calls respectively. Looks like someone's bagged themselves some extra red pockets here. Now, any guesses for next year's figures?
A whole mess of LittleBigPlanet Valentine's DLC coming this week
The world of LittleBigPlanet is scheduled to become a much more loving place this Thursday, when a few Valentine's Day-themed content packs arrive on the PlayStation Store. The PSP iteration of the game is getting a free costume (the one on the left in the above image), as well as the "Luvre Theme Pack," which adds four costumes and 15 romantically-inclined stickers for $2.99. The PS3 version of the game will see the return of last year's Valentine's Day Mini-Pack, which adds a Cupid costume and a few new materials and stickers to the game for $2.99. Oh, Media Molecule is also making the free Chinese New Year costume pack available until February 25. Just imagine: You can finally fuse Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Year into the single, unstoppable uber-holiday they were meant to become.
Official World of Warcraft websites feature Spring Festival gallery
Earlier this week, the World of Warcraft community sites (multi-regional) updated with a gallery from WoW China. Chinese WoW players participated in an event called, "I Love World of Warcraft, I Love Spring Festival" that combined a passion for WoW with the Lunar New Year celebrations. Chinese players submitted pictures of themselves that incorporated both of these things and the community picked their favorites. This is, by far, one of my favorite galleries that any of the official community teams has ever done. As a blogger here on WoW Insider, I see every day just how much community has been built up around this game, and I know very well that there are faces behind the characters. I've met many of my guildmates in person, and I hear similar stories every single day through WoW Insider's tipline. I love seeing the faces behind the characters, and that is exactly what this gallery does. Sure, they posed for these things and they're not exactly candid, but it still shows that the game is very personal.We're all players, but we're also people. I much prefer galleries that display that, rather than yet another mount gallery. Mount galleries are cool and all, I just like this better. Go on, check it out!
A comprehensive look at WoW's Lunar Festival achievements
Holiday festivals in MMOs aren't limited to Christmas events. The Lunar Festival in World of Warcraft began this weekend, and is timed to coincide with the real world Chinese Lunar New Year (January 26th). WoW celebrates the holiday with quests to find Elders, unique items like season clothing, fireworks, and seasonal decor splashed all around WoW's major cities, Booty Bay, and Moonglade. Our sister site WoW Insider has put together a comprehensive guide to all of the Lunar Festival achievements, and explains how to complete the meta-achievement "To Honor One's Elders." The WoW Insider guide is well worth a look if you want to get the most out of the annual event, this year being the fourth time around for WoW's Lunar Festival. The event runs from January 24th to February 12th, so there's still plenty of time to get in on the fun. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Guild War's Canthan New Year's celebration
Many MMOs celebrated Chinese New Year this year, and Guild Wars was no exception with its Canthan New Year's event, covered here. Reader Shawn W. took a few great photos of the festival area, available in greater resolution here, here, and here. This shows how just a little extra ornamentation can do wonders to spruce up a piece of well-trod ground. In fact, is there any reason why developers couldn't do something like this on a regular basis? Maybe create texture maps for environmental damage? Display the detritus of a particularly apocalyptic party thrown the night before? If game makers really want to sell the idea of their worlds as living environments, some way to show actual change needs to be developed. [Thanks, Shawn!]
TR's Chinese New Year late?
Earlier last month the Destination Games crew announced that they'd be honoring the Chinese New Year in Tabula Rasa by sticking some black, blue, orange, yellow, and red fireworks in the pack of every member of the AFS in good faith. I was looking forward to seeing the mini fireworks shows that were bound to spring up in Foreas Base and all the other big player hubs. So you can imagine my confusion when I log on today and find no goodies waiting for me! Was the Chinese New Year delayed?Sort of, it would seem. I logged onto my new Forean hybrid and started going about all the newbie motions in the Forean Wilderness when I spotted GM_Bellum putting on a little fireworks show around the Alia Das waypoint. He wished me a Happy Year of the Rat and traded me some fireworks. I asked him when the event was starting, as the original announcement had pegged the event for today, February 7th. He said he'd just jumped the gun a bit with the fireworks, and wandered off. By all indications, I would assume that they'll announce the celebration tomorrow, as Fridays have always been their favorite day to announce things.
Guild Wars' version of Chinese New Year starts Friday
The beautiful continent of Cantha celebrates the Guild Wars New Year in style. The 2008 celebration begins tomorrow at noon PST, ending at the same time on Monday the 11th. The main food-packed celebration happens in the Shing Jea Monastery, with smaller celebrations taking place at Kamadan and Lion's Arch. Freebie goodies given out at the festival includes plenty of fireworks, bean cakes, champagne, and (if your fortune augurs well) perhaps even a new mini-pet.Festival events include ensuring that fireworks supplies are kept up, access to the Shing Jea Boardwalk for games of fortune, the annual Rollerbeetle Racing Arena, and a cooking competition. A brand new patch dropped yesterday to support the holiday, along with new the 'Party Animal' Title track and numerous class skill balances. If you're interested in participating, make sure to stop into the party on Sunday; the Celestial Rat will be showing up every three hours to hand out some great holiday bennies.
The Lunar Festival is underway in Azeroth!
World of Warcraft has a ton of special holiday events all year 'round, most of them in homage to real-world events. The Lunar Festival is no exception. Coinciding with Chinese New Year, the Lunar Festival has more to offer players than just eye candy. Inhabiting every major city in Azeroth, on both sides of the fence, stand elders of each race, ready to provide special Coins of Ancestry to those who show respect. These Coins may be redeemed for various novelty items.And don't forget to check out the fireworks celebration in each city that begins after sunset and runs each hour. This event will run until February 23rd, and today, which marks the actual Lunar New Year, there will be festivities Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, Booty Bay, and Moonglade. For a complete listing of elder locations and rewards, check out this link. Kung Hei Fat Choi, warriors!
Goodies galore in Tabula Rasa Feedback Friday
Gamer goodies abound in this week's version of Tabula Rasa's Feedback Friday from the fine folks at Destination Games. There doesn't appear to be terribly much development as far as the 1.4 patch is concerned (for those were sleeping under a rock last week - they gave a little preview of the new content), beyond that they're shoring up some of the bugs before they drop the patch on the public test realm. They also announced a new /robot emote and kirin mask for the three month veteran reward, and revealed that players will find some fireworks in their packs post-patch to help celebrate the Chinese new year. Sounds fun!The biggest development this week is the announcement of Sanctus Grotto, a level 50 instance coming out later this month that will have players racing against the Bane to get to an Eloh artifact deep in the instance's bowls. They describe the instance as a "desperate race" against time, and we're hoping that this means it will actually be timed, and not just an inconsequential part of the lore. The end-game is in desperate need of being fleshed out, so the more content, the better. We'll likely hear more about this next week as 1.4 moves closer to being released on the PTR. Can't wait!
