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A showdown for video game makers is taking center stage in Asia. “TheGame08” invites wannabe game designers from China, Korea, Japan and India to create a social game that works on MySpace. If you’ve seen the social network’s games site, you know it’s already got everything from checkers to cartoony takes on 1980s arcade classics.

TheGame08 contest is announced

TheGame08 contest kicked off July 17, and in classic game style, they’ll be narrowed down to semi-finalists from each nation, with a final big winner named at the Tokyo Game Show in October. You can play the final game, whatever it is, anywhere, as contest organizers say it will be translated into English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

If you’re a game designer who’s also a legal resident of one of the big Asian countries, or you know someone who is, this contest might be for you. It’s got the expected list of requirements, including that the game must be completely unique (no sending stuff from other contests), and that it can’t use any third party trademarks (no trying to cash in on “The Dark Knight”). Entries into TheGame08 will be OpenSocial compatible, meaning people already making applications within MySpace might have a leg up on their competition.