Chinese game developer readies Xbox Live Arcade game

IDG News Service — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:47:44 -0700

The first Xbox Live Arcade game designed in China will be released this week, marking a milestone for an incubation center set up in China by Microsoft for local game developers. But Chinese gamers won't get to play it as the Xbox 360 isn't sold in China.

"This game wasn't developed for release in China, it's for global release," said Julie Leong, a Microsoft spokeswoman in Hong Kong.

Called Crazy Mouse, the game was developed by Ultizen Games of Shanghai and will be released on Oct. 16, Microsoft said. The mouse theme was chosen in part to mark the Chinese zodiac's year of the rat. Players compete alone as a mouse running through a two-dimensional maze, or can compete against other players.

The Crazy Mouse game was developed at Microsoft's Chengdu Incubation Center, in southwestern in China. But a Chinese government ban means Chinese gamers can't buy the Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 console.