Video game fans awaiting the release of Diablo 3 in China fear that the game will be heavily censored. Amid reports that the game has entered the beta-testing phase, rumours that it is quite bloody are making Chinese fans nervous that they will face a toned-down version, as they did with World of Warcraft. The Chinese version of World of Warcraft, made by Blizzard the same company as Diablo, was changed. Gamers took to Weibo with comments such as “#Diablo3# We’re not asking for much, just to play the goddamn original version, as long as it’s not censored it’s fine…”
A Belarusian opposition activist has claimed he was beaten and detained by police before being sentenced to 15 days in prison. Kastus Zhukouski was charged with insulting police and resisting arrest. The activist said he noticed a police car outside his house on Wednesday, containing several officers wearing special security uniforms. As Zhukouski began to film the car, he was attacked by three people from behind a dumpster and two others from the car. In court, Zhukouski complained of headache, nausea and pain in his neck, legs and hands. The judge ruled he should be taken to a clinic for an examination and treatment before the trial resumes.
While the likes of Andy Samberg attempt to resuscitate the American television programme, Saturday Night Live (SNL), many of us remember times when the show was actually funny. The 1998 “Delicious Dish” sketch, which was based on a fictional National Public Radio (NPR) program, involved cast members Molly Shannon and Ana Gastayer admiring the confectionery balls of Pete Schweddy, played by Alec Baldwin. The double entendre filled sketch is an SNL classic, and Alec Baldwin manages to continue glorifying his mouth-watering treats without breaking character. Ice cream makers Ben & Jerry decided to celebrate the popular skit’s character with a new flavour called “Schweddy’s balls”.
The duo’s new flavour was met with outrage from conservative group One Million Moms, who called the flavour’s name “vulgar”, and felt that it defiled the innocent pleasure of ice cream. Officials with the organisation are calling for supporters to push the ice cream makers to stop distribution of the limited edition ice cream, which is made of rum laced vanilla ice cream mixed with fudge covered rum as well as milk chocolate balls.
But fans with a sense of humour are delighting in the new flavour, and Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson Sean Greenwood told NPR that 90% of the 500-600 e-mails and messages received following the public statements of the conservative group have been positive. He also added that the flavour was not given the name for shock value, and that it has been “absolutely crazy popular”, and will continue to be sold as planned.
As the Malaysian prime minister implements change and moves to create a “functional and inclusive democracy,” the future of freedom of speech in the country looks brighter. But Malik Imtiaz Sarwar believes it’s still too soon to celebrate (more…)
