| Dragon Next has become one of China’s favourite online games of 2010: when it was released for testing in July, hundreds of thousands of people played it simultaneously.
| 《龙之谷》(Dragon Nest)已成为**2010年度最受欢迎的网络游 戏之一：当它7月份进行公测时，同时在线的玩家达到了数十万 人。
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| Now the company that developed Dragon Next - South Korea’s Eyedentity - has been acquired by China’s second-biggest online gaming publisher, Shanda Games, for $95m.
| 如今，这款游 戏的开发商——韩国的Eyedentity已经被中 国第二大网络游 戏发行商SNDA游 戏(Shanda Games)收购，价格为9500万美元。
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| The move looks like an effort by Shanda to defend its 16-per-cent share of the Chinese market - a multi-billion dollar, and increasingly competitive, place - by getting access to new games.
| SNDA此举似乎意在通过掌握获得新游 戏的渠道，来捍卫其在中 国网游市场16%的份额。中 国网游市场规模高达数十亿美元，竞争也越来越激烈。
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| Chinese consumers have long opted for online gaming, at internet cafes and elsewhere, over the use of gaming consuls, such as Sony’s Playstation or Microsoft’s Xbox. Niko Partners, a market intelligence company, estimates that there were 70m online gamers in China last year, creating an industry worth $3.6bn. It predicts the figures will double within five years - to 141m gamers, who will generate $9.2bn in turnover.
| 中 国消费者长期以来一直喜爱网游，不论是在网吧还是其它地方，或者是使用索尼(Sony) Playstation或微软Xbox等游 戏机。市场情报公司Niko Partners估计，去年中 国在线玩家为7000万，网游业总产值为36亿美元。它预测，未来5年内这两个数字将翻一番——即玩家人数达到1.41亿，营业额达到92亿美元。
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| “While the global economic downturn hurt video game publishers through much of the world, China’s online game industry reflected no pain in 2009 and gamers continued to embraced online games as the best inexpensive source of social entertainment available,” Lisa Cosmas Hanson of Niko Partners said in March | Niko Partners 的丽莎•科斯马斯•汉森(Lisa Cosmas Hanson)3月份表示：“尽管经济低迷影响了世界大部分地区的视频游 戏发行商，但中 国网游业在2009年未受影响，玩家继续将网游作为可获取社交娱乐的最佳廉价来源。”
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| The authorities also seem to be warming towards online gaming: the State Council recently stated its importance for the country’s creative economy.
| 政 府对于网游的态度似乎也逐渐升温：国务院最近强调了该行业对于中 国创意产业的重要性。
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| However, Shanda Games’ revenue fell last quarter due to competition from bigger rival Tencent, contributing to the lowest profits in two years for its owner, Shanda Interactive Entertainment. The purchase of Eyedentity should improve Shanda’s access to new games, adding to current favourites such as MirII.
| 不过，由于来自更大竞争对手腾讯(Tencent)的竞争，SNDA游 戏上季度收入出现下滑，导致其所有者SNDA网络(Shanda Interactive Entertainment)的利润表现达到两年来的低点。收购Eyedentity应该会增强SNDA研发新**的能力，从而在《热血传奇》(MirII)等当前热追游 戏之外再添新作。
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| The company is also working on new distribution channels, announcing this week a joint venture with China Network Television to establish an online game video channel.
| 该公司还在努力推动建设新的发布渠道：已于本周宣布，将与中 国网络电视台(China Network Television)成立一家合资企业，创建一条网游视频渠道。
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| Such moves may be the minimum required for Shanda to fend off its rivals.
| SNDA要想击退竞争对手，这些举措可能是最低的要求。
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