美国国家公共电台 NPR China's Most Popular Mobile Game Charges Into American Market

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Chinese tech giant Tencent is trying to do something that's never been done before - take the biggest online mobile game in China global.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The game is called "Kings Of Glory." Tens of millions of Chinese play it every day. Now it's being released. This new version, though, isn't exactly the same, as our co-host Steve Inskeep discovered while playing it with international gamer Drew Miller¹.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It sounds, you know, like James Bond or something except with games.

DREW MILLER: (Laughter) Very similar to James Bond just with video games. Recently I got back from Korea. I was on Team Liquid and we played against Team SK in a showmatch for the Asia International Championship for "Arena² Of Valor³."

INSKEEP: What's the game in its Chinese form?

MILLER: It's called "Kings Of Glory."

INSKEEP: OK. So "Kings Of Glory." What is the concept of "Kings Of Glory?"

MILLER: It's basically a mobile version of "League Of Legends" or "Dota." And this breaks it down into, like, a 15-minute game, whereas the PC versions take up to an hour or even an hour and a half. You pick a team of five and then the other team picks a team of five, and then you fight against each other with magical spells and you try and defeat the enemy's base.

INSKEEP: As best you can tell, what is it about "Kings Of Glory" that has made it so appealing?

MILLER: Well, they basically did a bulk of their advertising⁴ through the WeChat app, and it's the No. 1 used messaging app in China.

INSKEEP: Oh, this is huge. Hundreds of millions of people are on there, so they have an opportunity to advertise to that market.

MILLER: Exactly. So through the WeChat app, it turned it from a game into more of a social aspect as it has the nearby feature within the game. So you can see who's playing around you, like...

INSKEEP: You could play some stranger who just happens to be 50 feet away from you at the time.

MILLER: Yeah. And the game is simple enough that it's the only mobile game that I would ever consider trying to play with my mom as well. So it's simple enough...

INSKEEP: (Laughter).

MILLER: It's true because most MOBAs are considered the hardest multiplayer games to play online.

INSKEEP: You just said MOBA game. What is a MOBA game?

MILLER: Multiplayer online battle arena.

INSKEEP: Well, I've got a phone here, and the app is loaded and there's a number of choices. What do I do?

MILLER: We can do the grand battle.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

INSKEEP: OK. I just pressed it. Wow. That was quite a sound effect. Your screen name is alwaysgreen (ph).

MILLER: Yes.

INSKEEP: So I'm in the game. Alwaysgreen is in the game. And now it says find a match.

MILLER: You can go ahead and hit find match now.

INSKEEP: Match found. There's a bunch of players here, I guess.

MILLER: You're going to pick which one you want to play as.

INSKEEP: OK. What about this guy here?

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Freedom is hard fought.

INSKEEP: Freedom is hard fought says this hero. Oh, my gosh. I am now a guy in shining armor with a sword.

MILLER: That is Arthur.

INSKEEP: That's Arthur. OK, great.

MILLER: The match is about to begin.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

INSKEEP: Look at it. There's a bunch of our characters now standing⁵ around in a kind of arena.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Get ready. Minions⁶ will be deployed⁷ in five seconds.

INSKEEP: OK. I - oh, I can move around my character using my thumb.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Dare to engage.

MILLER: Now you've found the joystick.

INSKEEP: Yeah. And now I got to start whacking⁸ people, except I'm facing the wrong way, which is really not good.

MILLER: You can follow me.

INSKEEP: I'm following you.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Stand your ground.

MILLER: If you swing the sword - yeah.

INSKEEP: OK.

MILLER: There you go.

INSKEEP: I just like the old sword swinging.

MILLER: They're going to kill us here.

INSKEEP: Oh. Oh, my goodness. It's like a nuclear explosion almost.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) You have been defeated.

INSKEEP: Boo. And there I am, dead on the ground.

MILLER: Yes, that's your body.

INSKEEP: OK. Good to know. At this point, I think I'm going to retreat from the field of battle. Is that OK?

MILLER: Yeah.

INSKEEP: OK. So I'm just going to close the app.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ARENA OF VALOR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Enemy onslaught.

INSKEEP: Enemy onslaught. OK, we're getting out of there. Hey, that was fun. Thank you for guiding me through that.

MILLER: Yeah, no problem.

INSKEEP: I guess we should note that video games are designed to be addictive⁹. What about this game would you say is addictive?

MILLER: This sort of provides a similar competitive feel as playing like a pick-up basketball game or something else of that nature.

INSKEEP: Pick-up basketball game - that's what this is. Like, it's a group of random¹⁰ people who get together to play maybe one time, maybe 20 times. You never know.

MILLER: Yeah.

INSKEEP: Well, Drew Miller thank you very much for taking the time to guide us through, as alwaysgreen, this American version of a Chinese game, "Arena Of Valor."

MILLER: Yeah, it's been my pleasure to talk with you.

(SOUNDBITE OF HANS ZIMMER'S "LOBBY THEME")

MARTIN: That was our own Steve Inskeep gaming his way to greatness. He was talking on skype with international gamer Drew Miller.

(SOUNDBITE OF HANS ZIMMER'S "LOBBY THEME")

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

3 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 whacking   

adj.（用于强调）巨大的v.重击，使劲打( whack的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a whacking great hole in the roof 房顶上一个巨大的窟窿
• His father found him a cushy job in the office, with almost nothing to do and a whacking great salary. 他父亲给他在事务所找到了一份轻松舒适的工作，几乎什么都不用做，工资还极高。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

10 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。