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China says it will lift ban on video game consoles
- Thread starter jaask
- Start date
jeff_rigby
Banned
Yeah, it's been speculation since Jan 2011 when Sony opened training and R&D in China.
Game consoles were banned in China since 2000 yet Sony planned expansion into China Jan 2011
and in an article dated Nov 2012, Sony receives SAFETY approval to participate in the China market...one of multiple barriers they have to meet.
And now China says it will lift ban on video game consoles
Marketing Game consoles in China applies to BOTH the PS3 and Xbox 360, it's a huge market that changes the end of life conditions for both. Sony has known this was going to happen since before Jan 2011. We have to look at rumors like the 32nm Oban PPU CPU package and Xbox 360/ARM with the above in mind.
I also find it interesting that Sony, Via Goto of PC watch, said in 2011 they were skipping the 32nm node for cell and we have a IBM Linkedin post with work on a 22nm Cell.
What is needed for selling to China: Cheap, Low Power and security. The last refresh for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 didn't include a refresh of CPU and GPU, they were minor cost reduction placeholders for a major refresh that is likely coming in 2014 which is designed in part for the China market.
I incorrectly assumed the last refresh was the one mentioned in the leaked Xbox powerpoint and Sony was doing the same to support low power IPTV. Currently both the Xbox 360 and PS3 use about 80 watts to stream IPTV while a Google TV box uses about 7 watts and a Sony network connected blu-ray player uses less than 20 watts.
But the DS is out of production, and the 3DS, according to some in this thread, is already there. So if we're just talking about consoles, I have a hard time seeing a non-hd console that was effectively killed years ago gaining much traction. Does nintendo push the Wii in other developing markets?
Ardenyal
Member
I'mma become a gold farmer for the chinese!
Yes, it does.
Like the 3DS, I don't expect the HD consoles to gain much traction. It just isn't a strong market for what any of these companies are pushing. Nintendo at least won't have most of their top games censored, but giving them a slight edge doesn't actually mean any of them will do well.
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
Do you think Capcom should be able to sue over Mighty No 9?
ed
Gimme a minute and I'll dig up some iQue 3DS sales. I don't think it's done poorly.
ed
Can't find em.
Fushichou187
Member
Should be able to? Yeah, absolutely. However they'd likely lose in court because even though MN9 seems by all accounts to be blatantly derivative, it's different enough to seemingly steer clear of actual copyright infringement. Also given how poorly Capcom has treated the series, they would just encourage more hostility toward their brand by attacking an attempt by a competitor to modernize the formula. But do I think Capcom ought to have the ability to take Comcept to court over MN9? Sure.
AlucarD.eq
Member
Well, you can actually buy consoles in most of the cities in China and also online over www.taobao.com
Most of my Chinese friends have Microsoft consoles since they play together in Halo, NBA or NFL games. For portable consoles PSP (yes PSP and not Vita) is one of the most recurrent handhelds to be seen in the Metro but they are usually modded to play other media.
I'm not sure how this will play out but it will be interesting for all of us over here. (I have been living in Shanghai 3 years so far just in case)
Most of my Chinese friends have Microsoft consoles since they play together in Halo, NBA or NFL games. For portable consoles PSP (yes PSP and not Vita) is one of the most recurrent handhelds to be seen in the Metro but they are usually modded to play other media.
I'm not sure how this will play out but it will be interesting for all of us over here. (I have been living in Shanghai 3 years so far just in case)
soulassssns
Banned
Exactly what part of the Chinese population can afford a PS4 or X1?
AlucarD.eq
Member
I would say less than 1%, mostly from big cities.
Only if they feel like making a point. Otherwise most people don't care, especially the age group buying video games.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
That's still like 13 million.
Also people are underestimating the middle income boom in china.
"Black market" gives the wrong connotation about console availability in China. It's not like you're going to some dealer on the bad side of the town who'll get you the 'hook up'. They're widely available at various 'regular' shops, just about always pre-modded and loaded to capacity with games.
It's great news but I don't see anything coming from this.
It's great news but I don't see anything coming from this.
Wii Mini won't work, iQue relies on digital delivery over physical due to the nature of the Chinese market. I think a new Wii with a 32GB flash drive and no disc drive would work best. They can release localized Wii games like Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports, etc, plus they can also release all the previous iQue Player games as Virtual Console titles. The console itself would be super cheap to produce too.
I Stalk Alone
Member
I wonder what Gaben is doing about this.
Chairmanchuck
Member
The same that can afford an iPhone, Samsung, HTC-One, Samsung Phones, TVs and such. So the "normal" working population in bigger cities.
Not that much. They could have pushed Steam a lot when they would have released DOTA2 on Steam for that. Instead it is released through some 3rd-Party.
