So, I was reading an article about the change of the "POW-Block" texture in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in China. The image that they showed was the same blue block we all know and love, but instead of saying "POW" it said "OOO" or "000" (can't really tell tbh).
The article was about the reasons why it was changed, and it said: "Due to a new Chinese regulation that forbids English alphabets and roman numbers from names and items in video games, the word “POW” had to be stripped off from the POW block."
I was like "Yeah, that sounds plausible". But I tried to find more pictures of it online but I could only find the same one (were the block stands on an orange platform in some sky-level). Then I saw when the article was posted, and it was on April 1st, 2020. So then I thought this was just some April Fools joke, but then I found an article about the same thing posted on GoNintendo on March 16th, 2020.
So... now I'm confused. Is this real or just some joke? I even tried to find chinese gameplay of NSMBUDX and the "POW-block" was just the regular one. Any info on this?
@TechnoCharlie Weird. Although, these days, some outlets/people will make up emotional stories for the clicks, shares, likes - stories like, "can you believe they do this!?", or us-vs-them type baloney.
If true, I would think there must be kanji for a sound similar to POW.
@WoomyNNYes Yeah that's true, it would make sence if they are removing English characters from the game.
But this is even weirder... I found a video on YouTube that shows all the different POW-blocks in China (an evolution-style video), and the changed block is there! But from another video (that is newer btw) of the chinese version, the block is just the old one!
Evolution of POW Blocks in Mario games officially released in China:
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe chinese gameplay from April 3, 2021 (go to 6:27):
Fun sort of related fact. In the Super Mario Bros the manual explained what the bocks were. The population of the Mushroom Kingdom was turned into those normal blocks so everytime Mario jumps into and breaks one he killing an innocent citizen.
@VoidofLight Nah, they are canon like Birdo being the first trans game character but the are trying to take it back to conform with the Chinese goverment so can they get it released over there. DON'T LET THEM REWRITE HISTORY! ;P
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Topic: Chinese "POW-Block"
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