China made a big deal in 2008 with the Summer Olympics, and in many ways they’re gearing up to be much more open and pro-active in the world through their international activities, including hosting the World Expo in 2010. But what about it, especially Shanghai the “Pearl of the East”, popping up on games?

While an abstract form of ancient China has existed in the game world for quite some time thanks to kung-fu action games and RPG such as “Jade Empire” many modern day aspects of the eastern powerhouse are starting to pop up as well, including the entire setting of the upcoming “Army of Two: The 40th Day” taking place in a virtual city under siege.

So what do the Chinese have to think about this? If Mission Impossible 3 with its grossly inaccurate depiction of Shanghai and the frustration it left in the hearts of many local citizens is any clue about how seeing their entire hometown destroyed, the people held hostage, and then having two Americans of all people come through to save the day might make them feel then I’d speculate some waves to be made on the game’s release in the industry, at least in China.

Still, what about the positive aspects this shows as well? For China this shows a growing interest in their country, which is a big plus there in itself. For gamers it means a fusion of tradition and modern life while being thrown into a high-tech society that is struggling with finding itself as it quickly adapts to existing Western advancements while developing its own that are out-pacing European or American endeavors more and more each day. The result? A perfect atmosphere for just about any modern sci-fi or fantasy game you’d like, either open-ended or restricted to specific areas.

Personally I wouldn’t be surprised to see other well-known Chinese cities such as Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing popping up in more games in the coming months and years, and eventually maybe even less well-known major tourist or business locales such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Suzhou or Hangzhou too. With such a large country offering a huge selection of geographic locations to model games after as well as extensive history and culture the game industry would do itself harm by overlooking what’s to be had for inspiration and more. After all, who doesn’t want to fly using kung-fu alone? Superpowers are so overrated.