Diablo III is a Big Pineapple

[Shawn Zipay]

For its release in China, Diablo III is being called Big Pineapple in order to avoid a sales ban in the area. At present, Diablo III is in the review process in the country.

Given how strict they are with imported titles and how Starcraft 2 took over half of a year in order to be approved, some retailers are selling the unapproved title as Big Pineapple. In fact, the online retailers are also showing the box art preview as a ... well, a pineapple.

This move allows them to bypass the censorship and to start selling the game prior to it being officially approved under the Diablo III name. This also allows some retailers to sell the game at a premium, roughly $80-$90 (USD) a pop.

(via)

[nemes1s3000]

Too much fuss over a game that lived up to half its hype factor. China has some amazing RPG's, not sure why they're so focused on Diablo 3.

[K-16]

To provide some context and perhaps some irony as to why they chose "Big Pineapple" as Diablo III... Well... Actually it doesn't make sense when it comes to China, as their primary language is Mandarin. However, saying the words "large pineapple" in Cantonese is phonetically similar to Diablo (pronounced Die-Boh-Law). Honestly, only certain parts of China would understand the joke (such as Hong Kong for example), and they would be the minority as saying "large pineapple" in Mandarin sounds rather different.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Diablo III is a Big Pineapple

Now K, you cant go saying something awesome like that without telling how you know that? Did you just read that somewhere or what?

[K-16]

This story originated (read flooded in a rioting laughter) in various chinese news sites (that aren't controlled by China), that my friends read and later told me about it. It also helps to know the language. Mind you, everyone is still confused as to why they chose a phonetically similar name in Cantonese rather than China's primary language, Mandarin.