Over the last three years, I've been attending the Game Developers Conference China (not to be confused with the China Game Developers Conference) and I've had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the creations of many independent developers show casing their work for the Independent Game Festival China. I've got around to playing FTL: Faster Than Light last year, and another game whose name escapes my memory today, but one game for some unknown reason has etched itself in my mind (perhaps because it's so recent). That game, is Uncle Go!.

Uncle Go!, developed by Leung Kin Fung, an indie developer based in Guangdong province in Southern China, isn't a pretty game. By all means it's actually quite revolting, however the one tap feature of the game, and the absurdity of its simple plot reminds me of a simpler time. Also, the enthusiastic catch phrase that Leung screams every time someone says the name of the game really caught my attention. Okay, so let's go... delve into Uncle Go!

Long story short, Uncle Go! is a one tap game side-scroller where "Uncle Go" has to make money. Whenever the player taps the eponymous character, Uncle Go does a high flying kick going either up or down. The point of the game at this point is both collecting as many coins as you can for points ala Super Mario, and kungfu kicking as many pedestrians as you can.

As Uncle travels from left to right cars, bikers, regular pedestrians and fat ladies all come hurdling at Uncle at top speed. Some characters require more than one kick to defeat (the fat lady).

Graphically, Uncle Go! isn't much to look at. It's a black and white 8-bit side-scroller. The character designs because of the limited pixel bits look a bit plain, however when it came to designing bosses, it seems Leung went overboard. The tank boss, the one that I battled in the demo was very well done.

On an audio standpoint, the music is very much exaggerated and well fitting for an 8-bit style game. The coin ring is reminiscent of Mario games but the background music is where it'0s at. I'm not a music expert but the sound effects and the music for me made Uncle Go!; they gave me an urge to go faster and kick more people in the head.

Unfortunately, Uncle Go! isn't exactly finished now—so far there are 2 playable levels and one boss fight. Leung says he should be done with the core game in a few months and that some color may eventually be added to the monochromatic black and white.

---

Seeing the original Karate Kid as, um, a kid, I was amazed that there were little trees that needed to be cut with little scissors. Those trees, of course, are bonsai trees.

Via botanical artist Makoto Azuma, come these bonsai trees made out of LEGO. All that's missing are little LEGO clippers!

As website Spoon Tamago points out, the attention to detail, from the leaves to the mossy ground, show that Azuma's attention to detail isn't only evident in real bonsai trees, but brick ones, too.

---

LEGO bonsai tree by Makoto Azuma [Spoon Tamago]

---

This last weekend in Tokyo, Square Enix held an open conference centered around its real-time tech demo, Agni's Philosophy: Final Fantasy. While presenting the technical aspects was paramount in the design of Agni's Philosophy (as it was meant to showcase the detail and flexibility of Square's new Luminous Engine), its creators were adamant it feel like a Final Fantasy. But what exactly makes a Final Fantasy a "Final Fantasy"? To answer this question they put together a list of the five minimum components for a Final Fantasy.

The first item on the list is "magic," an obvious point on the list given it is a key component in every iteration of the franchise. The second is "summoning," which has been a staple of the series since Final Fantasy III. The third on the list of needed components is "gorgeous beauty." This one is interesting as, given the sprite-based nature of the first six Final Fantasies, "gorgeous beauty" didn't really enter the equation until the PS1 era. Still, no doubt modern Final Fantasies are very much into being visually stunning in both design and graphics.

The fourth thing needed in a Final Fantasy is a little ambiguous: "refinement." They didn't specify refinement of what exactly, but each game in the series has at least tried to refine the parts of gameplay that didn't work in the previous iteration. The same can be said of graphical refinement as there can be no doubt that each Final Fantasy has looked better than the previous incarnation (with the possible exception of the MMOs).

Lastly, they stated that Final Fantasies need "change and challenge." The "change" part is obvious, with each numbered Final Fantasy taking place in a new world with a new cast. The battle system also changes from game to game as well. As for "challenge," that is a bit more ambiguous, but it could mean that each world has a challenge that must be overcome. It could also speak to finding the balance in gameplay between tedious grinding and welcome challenge.

So there you have it: what Square Enix thinks are the basic components to a Final Fantasy. For the most part I agree with this list, though I think things like "a world threatening conflict" and "an unlikely group of heroes" are also key components to the Final Fantasy formula... not to mention Moogles. I don't know about you, but I get really angry if my Final Fantasies are Moogle-less.

Seeking damages and reparations for money he lost, Mr. Shao of Foshan, Guangdong, has filed a lawsuit against two of China's largest game companies, as well as China's equivalent of PayPal, and a bank. What exactly is Shao so peeved about, apart from his lost cash? Apparently the money was going into accounts for online games that Shao doesn't play; in fact the 47-year-old Shao doesn't even play video games.

In September, Shao was attempting conduct some online banking, setting up accounts and putting money aside. After following the directions on the pamphlet that came with his ATM card, Shao tried to put 8,000 yuan ($1,285) into his Alipay account. Alipay is a service similar to PayPal in China that is run by Alibaba. After receiving a message that showed his transaction was complete, Shao was then greeted by another message saying his payment failed.

Freaking out that his transaction failed, Shao immediately checked his bank balance only to find that his balance was 8,000 yuan lighter. Checking under the transaction tab, he saw that the money was sent to Shanghai Giant Corporation. Confused as to why a gaming company was getting his money, Shao called Giant in Shanghai and asked them to put a freeze on the account where his money ended up. He also asked the money to be returned.

Giant denied his request.

Despite being angry and short 8,000 yuan, Shao wasn't turned away from online banking. Only a month later, he caught his eye on a DSLR camera on Taobao.com (China's version of Ebay/Amazon). This very same camera was priced at 8,000 yuan and Shao decided to try online banking again. He logged onto his account and transferred the money over to his Alipay account. Unfortunately it didn't go through again and this time his money some how wound up funding a gaming subscription with the Chinese gaming company, The Nine.

After finding out that his purchase didn't go through, Shao called The Nine to have his money refunded. The Nine however denied his request citing that there was money coming in from Shao's account number, however the name on the game account belonged to one "Han Qingqing". This "Han Qingqing" also immediately emptied the account of cash, converting it to online subscription renewal vouchers that were distributed to 40 different online accounts.

Sick and tired of this ridiculous game, Shao decided to sue his bank, the gaming companies of The Nine and Giant, and Alipay in an attempt to recoup his 16,000 yuan ($2570) as well as any additional legal costs he may incur.

As of right now the case doesn't seem to be going well for Shao. Giant and The Nine both claim that they have no fault in this case. Their argument is that they can not arbitrarily freeze player accounts and that despite having a valid account transaction and account number there was no way to verify that Shao was the account holder or that he and the game accounts have nothing in common.

The Nine also argued that Shao should have had authorities reach out to them. They also stated that they did not benefit from the recharge as the money went directly to players.

Alipay also had threw Shao a similar curveball, stating that Shao isn't a customer of Alipay but instead a user. According to Alipay, the real holder of the online transactions account is the People's Bank of China.

Shao's bank also seems to be against him. His bank's lawyer said that Shao probably had a virus on his computer and it might be the reason why his online payments have failed. The bank also said that Shao was too slow to respond and that the bank isn't at fault in this instance.

All of this looks very grim for Shao, but one thing that I've learned in China during my time here is that, you don't mess with the bank. My office building has an ATM that allows for deposits—this ATM is only used by the people in my office and refilled by the Bank of China. I ended up withdrawing a fake bill from the ATM, when I called the bank, they blamed me. I really feel for Shao but it seems he's fighting a losing battle.

男子误为网游充值过万 状告四公司要求赔偿 [Southern Morning Daily via People's Daily]

---

Naoki Yoshida is about as far away from the stereotypical image of a Japanese businessman as you are likely to get. Clad in designer jeans with expertly styled hair and numerous finger rings, he looks more like a rock star than anything else. His business card even features a caricature of himself smoking while relaxing with a cup of coffee. But regardless of what he looks like, he is, at heart, a passionate MMO gamer who wants to turn Final Fantasy XIV from colossal failure into striking success.

While not a member of the team working on the original version of Final Fantasy XIV, Yoshida feared the game was doomed even before its release. After the bad reaction from players during the Beta test, even the staff thought the game wasn't ready for it to go on sale. "When I heard that it was going to go on sale as planned, I thought, that will probably be a big mistake."

To Yoshida, the biggest problems with the original Final Fantasy XIV came from how the game itself was envisioned and developed. Final Fantasy XI, Square Enix's other Final Fantasy MMO, was developed as a game where Final Fantasy would meet EverQuest—the top MMORPG of the day. In fact, according to Yoshida, the entire staff played EverQuest for at least a year while developing FFXI, trying to figure out just what exactly made it work so well. "I think it would've been good to do the same thing [for the original FFXIV]."

In Yoshida's opinion, the reason FFXI was a success is that it took the areas where Final Fantasy was strongest—cutscenes, dramatic scenarios, and story-driven content—and input them into an EverQuest inspired framework.

However, when the original FFXIV was in development, the goal of the project was simply to make a game that was different from Final Fantasy XI. Yoshida feels that the creators didn't recognize that the global standard of MMOs had been significantly raised in recent years. He would have suggested a different path for the game—one that mirrored FFXI's own creation. "I think it would've been good if they tried seeing what happened if they turned World of Warcraft into Final Fantasy. So, because they tried only to make something that was 'different from FFXI,' they ended up with not much of anything."

"They should have said, 'Hey you, go play WoW for a year [for inspiration].'"

Yoshida then talked at some length about the origins and development of MMORPGs. How they developed from tabletop RPGs into games like Ultima and Wizardy—before moving to the online world. What was important in his eyes is how early RPGs borrowed the best elements from and influenced each other. That's how the genre advanced and made new games. "Unless you are a genius, you cannot make something completely new from nothing."

When it comes to his FFXIV, A Realm Reborn, Yoshida believes they are on the right track. He has the best of the best from inside the company to work on this game and they are adamant the game not be released until it is ready. "We won't make a mistake like FFXIV again—if we did, it would be like at the level of destroying the company."

That said, Yoshida said his biggest worry while making A Realm Reborn has been the schedule. World class MMOs have so much in them that time is always an issue. There's got to be a lot for players to do. When coding started for A Realm Reborn, Yoshida and his team only had 16 months until the planned relaunch. At times, he had wondered if it was really possible to do all the work in two years. He lamented that he knows players wanted it fixed as quickly as possible, but if it is released before next year, he thinks they won't enjoy it.

When asked in closing how he would play A Realm Reborn, on PC or PlayStation 3, Yoshida responded, "I became an online gamer 16 or 17 years ago and I've always played on the PC. I played Diablo, Ultima Online, EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, and World of Warcraft—all always on the PC." He feels that, personally, if he did things like PvP without his trusty mouse and keyboard, he would definitely lose. But he mentioned that there was more than a little appeal to lying on his couch with the controller.

Coming out of the interview, I found myself more than a little impressed. Yoshida was upfront and frank about the problems of Final Fantasy XIV and the challenges that await Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. But more than that, our short talk left me with faith that if anyone can fix the game, it's him.

Rumor has it that the immensely popular card game Three Kingdoms Killers became popular because of the Communications University of China in Beijing. So it only makes sense now that a mock game, "Three Kingdoms Chef Killers", is something that students at the University would come up with.

The mock game replaces the base characters from Three Kingdoms Killers, characters such as Cao Cao and Guan Yu, with cafeteria workers. Cafeteria workers.

The 12 "chefs" of the Communications University of China's cafeteria had their photos made into Three Kingdoms Killers cards complete with card titles, actions, and descriptions. One of the 12 chefs immortalized into a card says that she didn't notice her face on a card until after heading into work.

"So I'm now the cold dish wizard," said Qin Shufen, a cafeteria worker who has worked at the university for the last 20 years. "I wonder if my photo is online, I'll have to check when I get home."

Reporters at the Beijing Evening News have discovered that the students union (something akin to student body council) decided to create the cards as a means to both honor the cafeteria workers as well as to make students more interested in how their cafeteria runs. In the long run it's supposed also to help students eliminate the wasting of food.

Right now there is only one set of 12 cards, but eventually there will be two more sets of 12 for the other two cafeterias at the university, making each cafeteria one of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu.

中国传媒大学食堂点将 12位大厨"三国杀 [Beijing Evening News Via People's Daily]

---

Welcome to the realm of dust particles and hair strands. Tinyland! It's also the scale at which some truly minuscule—and impressive—sculptures have dazzled Japan, a country with a long tradition of making things small.

For several years now, these carved figures have appeared on Japanese bulletin boards. The figures are called "100 Yen Coin Person" ("hyaku en dama no hito" or 百円玉の人). To give you an idea of scale, 100 yen coins are slightly smaller than a quarter.

Every once in a while the latest 100 yen carving appears online—and those all seem to be uploaded and done by the same anonymous (and extremely talented) artist, with the same background and photo editing style.

Kotaku has covered these millimeter figures before, when a Kyubey sculpture appeared online last year.The most recent sculpture, Girls und Panzer, popped up on Friday.

Other artists have joined in, too, making their own figures that are smaller than 100 yen coins, but no one seems to have surpassed this anonymous artist.

In Japan, there is a long tradition of making small sculptures like this. In the 17th century, "netsuke" (根付) were, in short, small, intricate carved ornaments that were used to to hold up pouches on kimono belts. In an indirect way, the 100 Yen Coin Person figures are a modern continuation of this tiny-sized craftsmanship.

---

100円玉の人 [Private Museum]
ホビコン05 神戸 後書とかそんな感じの [BeboxOS]
1/72の三浦あずさを作りました [ふたば☆ちゃんねる]
1/72の宮藤芳佳を作りました [ふたば☆ちゃんねる]
小型化は日本人にお任せ！らき☆すたに登場する柊つかさの手作りフィギュアが凄い [Digimaga]
「100円玉の人」 [Twipple]
「ガルパン 1/72 西住みほ＋ボコ」今回もスゲエ！ [HobbyLog]

---

Some say artistic talent is innate. Other claim it's the result of hard work. Whatever it is, this Japanese third grader has it.

On November 24, a Japanese Twitter user named Shin_Toto uploaded the above image online, writing, "My daughter's (third grade) drawing. Ball point pen on A4 photocopy paper. What's the best way for her to develop this talent..."

The photo has since gone viral in Japan and has been retweeted over 22,000 times, with countless people offering advice and encouragement.

"Twitter's spreading power is so overwhelming," Shin_Toto tweeted. "Never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine anything like this happening."

According to Shin_Toto, the young girl has been drawing every day since she was three years old, adding, "I want her to continue like this, doing what she likes to do".

That's all Shin_Toto can do. Spot talent, encourage what makes them happy, but ultimately let the child do what she or he wants to do.

娘（小3）の絵 [@shin_toto]

---

In Japan, it's been popular for the past several years to make "-tan" versions of electronics. These are cute personifications of game hardware or even computer operating systems. Most recently, Microsoft released the official Windows 8-tans; however, most of these "-tan" creations are not official. They are fan creations, like "Siri-tan".

Everyone's favorite virtual personal assistant is making her totally unofficial album debut, with enough logo tweaks to (hopefully) avoid the wrath of Apple's attorneys. One of the tracks, "Hello Siri-tan", first hit online this spring. You can hear it here. The six track album even features a rap battle with Android's voice app N2!

The personification of Siri into a cute anime girl isn't unexpected. Siri-tan's personification does vary: sometimes she's a bookish librarian type and other times she's decked out in a necktie and underwear.

So what's with the butt motif here, you may be wondering. In Japanese, "siri" is "shiri", because "si" is "shi" in Japanese. And "shiri" (しり) can mean "butt" (尻) in Japanese. So "Siri" not only evokes Apple's personal assistant in Japan, but asses as well.

世界初、「Siri」の擬人化CD「おしえて しりせんせい」リリース決定 [IT Media]

---

For those worried that the Wii U doesn't work on outside, say on Japanese high speed rail, take heart. Apparently, it does. And here's the photo proof.

Kuzo from Japanese site Rocket News recently boarded the Nozomi bullet train—the N700 series Nozomi, to be exact, which is outfitted with electric sockets and WiFi. Besides being a stunt, the test's goal was to see the breadth of the Wii U's play space.

According to Kuzo, lugging the Wii U around wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, especially compared to, say, carrying the PS3 in some sort of portable contraption.

Will this become a new trend, people carrying around their Wii Us in public so they can play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U? Probably not. But if you have three hours to kill on the bullet train and you don't might the extra load, bringing your Wii U seems entirely feasible.

In case you missed them, here's Kotaku's New Super Mario Bros. Wii U review and the Wii U review.

---

Wii Uは外出時も遊べる！ 新幹線に乗りながらWii Uで遊んでみた [ロケットニュース]

---