Do you still remember the popular outdoor games you played as a child? Games where you threw beanbags around or Chinese jump rope once were must-play games among many Chinese kids after class. Kids today, however, have moved on to other games, usually played on smart tablets, leaving these once popular games to quietly disappear without notice.
However, some in China feel that, like many other types of intangible cultural heritage, traditional games that have long accompanied human beings throughout history should not just be forgotten due to technological advances. This thinking has given rise to the question: Would it be possible to revive these traditional games and make them popular again via today's technology? Chinese tech and game tycoon Tencent has united with UNESCO to give it a try.
Inspired by music
"Inspired by our art consultant Tan Dun's persistent engagement in linking the ancient past and future with his music, Tencent has involved itself in protecting and promulgating traditional games for a few years now," explained Cheng Wu, a Tencent vice president who is also CEO of Tencent Pictures. At the Tencent Art Summit on Thursday, Cheng introduced why the company decided to make this its mission and how it started to cooperate with UNESCO to protect traditional games.
Tan, in the words of Cheng, is well-known for his five-year effort to produce the epic symphony Nü Shu, which he did by transforming the traditional syllabic script that was solely used by women living in Yongzhou, Hunan Province.
An established company that became an Internet giant through its online games business, Tencent executives felt the company was uniquely suited to bringing traditional and modern online games together using its technology.
"In two weeks' time, we laid out a program initially called the Gene Pool of Global Traditional Cultural Games," said Cheng. "Later, we happened to learn that UNESCO was also searching for a leading Internet company to protect these various traditional games via cloud technology, and that Tencent was on their list of potential partners."
A different digital game library
After Tencent began cooperating with UNESCO at the beginning of this year, the name of the project was changed into the Open Digital Library for Traditional Games. No matter the name, Tencent's mission is to call people's attention to traditional games through the most effective means possible.
Some ancient games that are still popular today have found new life in digital formats. For instance, online chess, at least in China, is very popular among Chinese students and white collar workers. Taking a similar approach, Tencent is seeking ways to digitize these traditional games, if not in game form then in the form of other entertainment products such as online web series and even films.
Merging with Super IPs
The idea of merging traditional games with pan-entertainment strategy originated with the concept of "IP." Originally referring to Intellectual Property, the term "IP" in China today is closer to meaning a star product that can serve as the foundation upon which various derivative cultural products can be developed and sold to consumers who are passionate about the core product. Many industries have started referring to these foundation IPs as "Super IPs."
This is one of the reasons that Tencent has invited Nanpai Sanshu, the holder of one of China's most influential Super IPs, to join in the program. Getting his start as an online writer, Sanshu has been fervently courted by streaming sites and film production companies for his works such as The Lost Tomb. The author has also gotten into the Super IP business himself by developing current hot IP Brave Adventures, which was first developed as an online game in 2013 and is now being expanded into other derivatives such as cartoons and novels.
"When we searched for information about traditional games online, we found that they actually already exist on the Internet and are being recorded, but they are still caught in a very embarrassing situation," Sanshu said at the summit.
"The problem is young people today don't proactively look for this information nor do they take a fancy to these games. They need a reason to concern themselves with these traditional games, and this reason is IP."
Combining the Open Digital Library for Traditional Games with Brave Adventures seems like a natural fit, especially considering the latter's nature is exploring the myths of various places, but unlike chess which is mainly an intellectual game requiring very little physical interaction, many other traditional games, such as Chinese jump rope, have a huge physical component. Figuring out how to take these games online without hurting player experience is a major hurdle that Tencent must figure out. Fortunately, technology advances every day. With maturing technology such as VR (virtual reality), players may have a way to learn about traditional games not just for educational purposes but also for fun.
