UPDATE: Congrats to our winners: Jolleen Filio and Michael!

This is part of 8Asians’ 2011 “8Days of Giveaways” Celebration.

Since 1997, Sunflex has been creating third-party peripherals and accessories under their Snakebyte mark. Instead of looking to create cheaper versions of controllers, Snakebyte aims to add innovation to their offerings and give you an even better version of the items offered by original manufacturers.

Over at GASP!, we loved how their Playstation 3 Premium Bluetooth Control would let you prevent that ‘uh oh’ moment when “someone walks into the room, trips over the controller cord, and sends your entire gaming console to the ground in smithereens.”

Snakebyte is giving two lucky 8Asians readers a chance to win a pair of Snakebyte controllers!

Ok, ok, so you you’re ready to enter? Read on!

What you could win from 8Asians and Snakebyte USA?
Two (2) random winners will each receive a pair of Snakebyte controllers, a choice of:

• PS3 Premium Bluetooth Controller

-OR-

• PS3 Wired Controller

Hint: We have a pair of each to giveaway, so choose accordingly!

Hurry, this contest closes soon!
One entry per person, please.

How do you enter?
1) Like the 8Asians Facebook Page!

2) Like the Snakebyte Facebook page!

3) Fill out the form below:

Why do I have to fill out this form? We’re just trying to capture all the info needed to fulfill the prizes faster.

Can I enter more than once? No! Why you being so greedy?!

Prizes courtesy of: 8Asians.com and Snakebyte USA.

Last week, a video surfaced online of a Chinese theme park showing off their new game: a real life Angry Birds where players can use a giant slingshot to throw stuffed birds at targets. Of course, it’s completely illegal and Rovio, the game company responsible for the insanely popular mobile game, had nothing to do with it.

But there’s a happy ending to this story, because they’re now reporting that Rovio could be partnering with theme park.

[It] fits into Rovio’s strategy to not only expand the presence of its Angry Birds game in China, but also sell more merchandise around the game.

The company has high hopes for the Chinese market, and wants its Angry Birds game to reach 100 million downloads in the country by the end of this year. To this end, it is working to create Chinese versions of Angry Birds, which the company plans to release this month.

On top of that, they recently released a Moon Festival update for Angry Birds to help celebrate the Chinese holiday with rabbits, pagodas and a full harvest moon.

It looks like things could be working out between Rovio and the theme park, but this incident is one of the many where China has outright stolen intellectual property for profit. There were the 22 fake Apple stores, there was the Vii console that looked just like the Nintendo Wii, the totally unauthorized World of Warcraft theme park, and even a fake Ikea! (Question: do they also offer $3 meatballs and lingonberry juice?) Is there anything that China hasn’t illegally copied from others?

Granted, all of these examples could just be the news targeting outrageous stories about China. But do you think there’s a connection between culture and blatant copyright infringement? Is this related to an idea of anti-individualism?

Ernie brought up an interesting point that this could be related to the lack of innovation, which Tim wrote about back in 2009. In the article, Can Asians Innovate In Business?, he writes about Randy Pollock’s experience of working with Chinese MBA students who each copied his idea for an assignment. He says Chinese people are “so ingrained with the idea of conforming and being respectful” that it’s hard to be creative and original.

I can see how the opposition to innovation can translate into this current trend of directly copying other products, ideas and business plans. Perhaps these people in China don’t see themselves as stealing trademarks but adopting an idea for their own use. Or maybe they’re just looking to make a quick buck, knowing they can get away with it. Protection of intellectual property does exist there, so why do these copyright infringements keep happening?  And why is everyone okay with it?

I’m obviously the farthest thing from being an expert about China so I’d love to hear how our readers feel about this issue. Why do you think copyright violations are so prominent in China?

In the last weekend of July, the Major League Gaming had a competition in Anaheim where Korean Starcraft 2 competitor MVP, Jeong Jong Hyeon, pwned opponents and walked home with the trophy and $5K in prize money.

Concurrently, one of the latest viral videos making rounds in geek gamer circles on the Internet is a Korean variety show with a little skit of live-action StarCraft. Though I don’t understand Korean, I laughed until I cried when I watched this little video clip. I’m no good at StarCraft, but I love playing it, so apparently it’s the only Korean I speak.

If you’re not familiar with the role of StarCraft in Korea, you may not understand why such seemingly obscure gaming references would be such a big hit with the average Korean viewer. Let’s put it this way. When Starcraft 2 was released, it was the U.S. equivalent of releasing Football 2.

The Koreans…they’re back.

You best believe.

Meet Bay Area Filipino twins Justin and Jeremy playing Just Dance 2 on the Nintendo Wii. Justin is the one with the white Wii remote singing along, Jeremy is the one with the black Wii remote with the hip-shaking swagga. (Or it may be other way around. What? They’re twins.)

Yes yes, I know: the truly viral video is their rendition of Hey Ya by Outkast, which has received over two million views and has been linked by Yahoo! and VH1′s Best Week Ever. So why link to this video of them doing Vampire Weekend’s A-Train? Because we can always stand to have a couple of more Asian Hipsters in the world and OMG have you SEEN the part where they raise their arms and twirl around? I’m a dude, and even my ovaries just asked my brain to bear a couple of children.

Hey kids – we hear Pinoy Big Brother is casting its newest season with three year olds, so you might want to start your singing and dancing careers pronto.

When I hear someone even mumble the words “Street Fighter,” my heart rate sky rockets and my eyes light up. I imagine pushing buttons, throwing projectiles and super combos upon some poor newbie.

Capcom is very well known for collaborating with other well known companies, with games like Marvel vs Capcom, Street Fighter vs X-Men, Street Fighter x Tekken, and so forth. I love it these crossovers because it shows us, the gamers, for their artistry, their creativity and respect for competition.

Now, Capcom has announced an odd collaboration with Sanrio’s famous feline, Hello Kitty. Yes, that’s right, the red bow-tied, clad in overalls cat will have a say in the beloved Street Fighter franchise.

This has to be a joke right? Wrong.

I immediately jumped to the conclusion of the poor feline getting her behind kicked by the Street Fighter characters with no mercy. Before “meow” can come out of Hello Kitty’s nonexistent mouth, she’ll get blasted by Ryu’s haddoken or fall victim to Zangief’s piledriver.

Sadly, the adored kitten won’t have a chance to participate in the video games. She’ll be shooting out merchandise. Fans of both franchises will be able to purchase Street Fighter inspired Hello Kitty products, meaning Chun-Li’s outrageous, revealing clothing and Vega’s over the top tights will be showcased by none other than Japan’s unofficial cat mascot.

I’m a little outraged over this future cross brand of the franchises. I understand that some companies are running out of ideas and they must sacrifice if not completely surprise their fans, but I’m not sure if this is the right way. I feel a little cheated and robbed of my childhood hobbies. The franchise that I hold so close is collaborating with another brand that mainly appeals to little girls.

Now, I don’t mind Hello Kitty, but it seems like everywhere I turn, there she is, in my face, or at school. Soon, it’ll be dressed as the video games characters I grew up with. I’m sure all the little girls will soon be kicking veteran gamer butts during one on one matches.

Jill Koch, the vice president of brand management and marketing of Sanrio said:

Hello Kitty and Street Fighter have a dedicated core following around the world and our collaboration brings the legacy of both brands together in a fun and unexpected way.

Unexpected? Yes. Fun? I’m not too sure. The SF inspired merchandise is set to go on racks this fall. Believe or not, it’s going to happen and when that day comes, I’m completely avoiding every little kid on the planet.