Though the ChinaJoy game expo doesn't start for another day or so, I'm out here in Shanghai meeting with a number of local companies, and the fruits of my labor are up at Gamasutra.

Specifically, there's two write-ups so far - 'The State Of The China Game Biz - Part 1', in which I give an overview, and also comment: "On the way to my hotel from the airport, it's clear that Shanghai is the in the midst of a significant boom - massive new multi-level apartment buildings in various stages of construction dotted the side of the road on the way from the Pudong Airport. And, even though the roads were populated with a combination of souped-up BMWs and trucks containing pigs or watermelons, the amount of tech companies setting up in the industrial parks along the way showed this is, in many ways, a rising force."

There's also 'What Chinese Gamers Look For In MMOs', in which lots of fun insight from Radiance's Monte Singman (my old boss at Infogrames!) is relayed: "As for the graphical sophistication of Chinese MMOs, especially in a post-World Of Warcraft market, the stereotype that the Chinese are happy to play purely 2D titles is going away - Singman noted: "Pretty soon in China 2D games are going to be history, just like in the U.S."... In addition, it was noted: "PK is almost a must for Chinese MMORPGs" - definitely not the case for the North American or even the Japanese market, where player killing is not a major factor in an MMO game's success."

[I've also been taking some pictures, but since ChinaJoy hasn't started yet, most of them aren't relevant to games - though there is a tragic picture of a closed-down 'Sega World' arcade, as well as a billboard for a racy Chinese MMO to tide you over for now.]