9you Is the New Dancing Star in China

"The China Angle" is one of Gamasutra's regular columns, dealing with all recent developments in the exhaustive republic's gaming scene. In the latest issue, we learn via Pacific Epoch's Shang Koo about the latest trend in the Chinese gaming markets. Last week, advanced casual game operator 9you acquired top sponsorship for the second season of the Dancing Star (Wu Lin Da Hui) talent show. The impressive transaction provided 20 million Yuan to the Shanghai Media Group owners, at a going rate of 8 Yuan for US$1. Being subsequently renamed 9you Dancing Star, the show is renewed and the official site is now hosted at www.9you.com. In addition, 2007 will also see an online game based on the show.

9you is well known in China for its casual music games. The concept took shape in 2005 with O2Jam and Audition, two licensed games from Korean O2Media. Following their wide range success, the company developed their own Super Dancer Online and Burst a Fever titles. It is estimated that the four games managed to bring together more than 100 million registered user accounts, fueling 9you's drive for music games in 2006 just as well. In addition, 9you has organized several parties in Shanghai dance clubs, with the main event being a real live concert taking place in July.

Yet, none of these could predict 9you's most ambitions and daring move of acquiring Dancing Star. All their existing games had a deep urban connection to the club life and commercial media tie-ins, a fundamentally different experience compared to the high class sophisticated Latin and ballroom dance competitions featured in the show. It appears Dancing Star has a different target audience than 9you's current area of expertise, thus, it's still a mystery how the company will be able to turn things around. Two other Shanghai Media Group shows, My Show and My Hero, are considered to be the most popular shows for the younger audiences, yet they have already been signed off to Lycra and Sprite.