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[Blablurn]

SHANGHAI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The revenue of video-game console facility sales in China is estimated to reach 3.37 billion yuan (488 million U.S. dollars) in 2016, an official said Sunday.

Ma Feng, a deputy department director with the Ministry of Culture, told a gaming conference in Shanghai that console sales in China will grow 56.7 percent over that in 2015, surpassing growth pace of the entire gaming industry.

"The console market is becoming China gaming industry's most active and fastest growing sub-sector," said Ma.

He contributed the boom to improving environment for home-grown game designers and console manufacturers to do businesses and opportunities to cooperate with foreign partners.

More domestic companies are investing in developing new games, while the latest products, including virtual reality gadgets, from foreign titans like Microsoft and Sony are faring well on the market, Ma added.

At the conference, Chinese gamers were also told that they would have simultaneous access to Square Enix's popular role-playing video game Final Fantasy XV upon its global release later this month.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-11/27/c_135862001.htm

Whoever completely breaks into China first, will get a lot of money.

Sony is doing a solid job, but the anmount of official game releases still lacks. At least you can still buy all the games you want on sites like TaoBao or 3rd party sellers in malls.

Xbox ain't doing much btw. The console is still overpriced too. And there is no sight of the S yet.

And Nintendo...? They didn't do anything so far. Let's see if they dare to release the Switch here.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

getting closer and closer to that legendary 1%

 

[potatohead]

The number of middle class people able to afford official games merchandise is something pegged like 60 million to 120 million people in the country overall (last time I read about the topic said 80 million and that was like 2 years ago) so it's a huge population to try and market to, and yes whoever gets their first will reap the rewards long term in brand loyalty.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

Based on general Chinese tastes in games, Sony and Nintendo should have the China market locked down.

In Taiwan and HK where consoles have been sold for quite a while officially now, it's pretty much like Japan. China will just be like TW and HK but magnified.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Based on general Chinese tastes in games, Sony and Nintendo should have the China market locked down.

I guess they prefer japanese games?

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

I guess they prefer japanese games?

Yup pretty much the same as Japan. With more of a preference for PC.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Very big market to tap .
Which is why Sony and other software companies seem to be putting in the work .
MS and Nintendo on the other hand don't seem to be doing much .

 

[onQ123]

getting closer and closer to that legendary 1%

I came in this thread just to see if anyone posted 1% jokes & it was the 1st post lol

 

[StrategyFan]

is piracy less of an issue now?

i don't know how the new consoles work, but it was crippling in the cd/dvd era

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

is piracy less of an issue now?

i don't know how the new consoles work, but it was crippling in the cd/dvd era

I'm also curious about this.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

Very big market to tap .
Which is why Sony and other software companies seem to be putting in the work .
MS and Nintendo on the other hand don't seem to be doing much .

Nintendo has put in work and dating back longer than Sony too. They've released their handhelds through Chinese companies to get around the previous ban. I think the DS was called the ique or something.

MS knows there's a market to tap but I think they aren't putting in all that much effort because they know it'll be sort of like Japan where their efforts will be mostly futile.

is piracy less of an issue now?

i don't know how the new consoles work, but it was crippling in the cd/dvd era

I'm also curious about this.

Still an issue because there's still huge portions of the population that are destitute. What you're seeing is that the relatively new middle and upper class no longer need to pirate. Generally with wealth comes a decrease in piracy.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

PC will probably continue to have 99% of the Chinese gaming market. It'll be nearly impossible for consoles to compete with it.

 

[ggx2ac]

Very big market to tap .
Which is why Sony and other software companies seem to be putting in the work .
MS and Nintendo on the other hand don't seem to be doing much .

It's not like Nintendo haven't had DS and 3DS in China for years with the iQue brand and even had Pokémon Sun and Moon localised in traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese to release the game in China.

*rolls eyes*

 

[gundamkyoukai]

It's not like Nintendo haven't had DS and 3DS in China for years with the iQue brand and even had Pokémon Sun and Moon localised in traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese to release the game in China.

*rolls eyes*

What has Nintendo done this gen .
Plus since when do handhelds get call consoles .

 

[mieumieu]

It's not like Nintendo haven't had DS and 3DS in China for years with the iQue brand and even had Pokémon Sun and Moon localised in traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese to release the game in China.

*rolls eyes*

technically speaking Pokémon was only released in HK but with simplified Chinese language options. It most certainly caters to the mainland market of course, but simplified Chinese is also used in Singapore and Malaysia.

iQue pretty much stopped publishing games in China around 2012, so it is not a good example of current Nintendo actions toward the Chinese market.

 

[nephilimdj]

"One Smile is Very Alluring" staring Angelababy is a really cheesy Video game movie from China. If anyone wants to see it, use google-fu.

Not surprising its growing.

 

[ggx2ac]

What has Nintendo done this gen .
Plus since when do handhelds get call consoles .

So you're saying that the console revenue reported doesn't include handhelds?

That's like saying NPD reports don't include handhelds in their hardware revenue reports.

Are you serious?

 

[4Tran]

Based on general Chinese tastes in games, Sony and Nintendo should have the China market locked down.

In Taiwan and HK where consoles have been sold for quite a while officially now, it's pretty much like Japan. China will just be like TW and HK but magnified.

The problem with this theory is that Mainland tastes differ from Hong Kong and Taiwan. There, competitive PC games rule and traditional console genres languish. China is more like South Korea than anywhere else - Japanese aesthetics are popular, but the games themselves generally aren't. And in this market, Sony is fairly well positioned, but Nintendo isn't.

 

[4Tran]

So you're saying that the console revenue reported doesn't include handhelds?

That's like saying NPD reports don't include handhelds in their hardware revenue reports.

Are you serious?

It doesn't matter that much in this case because Nintendo handhelds aren't very popular in China to begin with.

 

[ggx2ac]

technically speaking Pokémon was only released in HK but with simplified Chinese language options. It most certainly caters to the mainland market of course, but simplified Chinese is also used in Singapore and Malaysia.

iQue pretty much stopped publishing games in China around 2012, so it is not a good example of current Nintendo actions toward the Chinese market.

I don't get what they're doing then since they owned 100% of iQue since 2013. (They're listed as a subsidiary now.)

All I can find is that the localised Nintendo Hong Kong games work on the iQue 3DS but that's about it.

 

[Renekton]

How is Monster Hunter doing in China?

 

[gundamkyoukai]

So you're saying that the console revenue reported doesn't include handhelds?

That's like saying NPD reports don't include handhelds in their hardware revenue reports.

Are you serious?

I am saying there not part of the growth of the market .
Truth is i forget that handhelds do get put with consoles revenue since sometimes we a break down of the data .

 

[BigEmil]

MS was doing major advertising/marketing for Xbox in China wasnt it

 

[wapplew]

If Ministry of Culture don't cock block everything, growth might be double that number.

 

[mieumieu]

How is Monster Hunter doing in China?

The Online game made by Tencent doesn't fare too well in the MMO market.

But monster hunter still has potential.

 

[crinale]

Is it like Nintendo is banned or screwed up relationship with Mainland Chinese government? Just asking..

 

[4Tran]

MS was doing major advertising/marketing for Xbox in China wasnt it

Try were but it's largely a wasted effort because they're ceding all the oddball Japanese games to Sony. That probably represents the largest chunk of the potential console audience right there.

If Ministry of Culture don't cock block everything, growth might be double that number.

Nothing can escape the reach of SARFT!

 

[mieumieu]

If Ministry of Culture don't cock block everything, growth might be double that number.

I still remember not translating 'steal' as steal in FFX because it is antisocial behavior done by the protagonist. /facepalm

 

[Renekton]

technically speaking Pokémon was only released in HK but with simplified Chinese language options. It most certainly caters to the mainland market of course, but simplified Chinese is also used in Singapore and Malaysia.

At least simplified/traditional is not a factor for SG/MY since everybody goes by pinyin anyways.

Malaysia also has local newspapers in traditional.

 

[4Tran]

Is it like Nintendo is banned or screwed up relationship with Mainland Chinese government? Just asking..

It probably has more to do with bad timing and Nintendo not having the foggiest idea how to penetrate the Chinese market.

 

[Terrell]

After Nintendo consolidated all of its non-mainland Chinese business activity to its Hong Kong division, things went pretty quiet on all fronts regarding Nintendo's business strategy for China. I'd imagine that Nintendo's activity on the mobile front is likely being used as a way to introduce the average Chinese mobile gamer to brands and games they're likely not all that familiar with. So instead of trying to fix their dud of a Wii U and continuing releases on the iQue brand for 3DS, Switch seems like the first time ever that Nintendo will be able to position its own products under its own name in China and has potentially consolidated all of its divisions in preparation.

It wouldn't surprise me if they're going to try to make a move into China. Nintendo has been making moves to bolster its Asian business outside of Japan, starting with the opening of an official Korean division in the Wii/DS era that was downsized this generation due to 4 years of operating losses.

 

[mieumieu]

At least simplified/traditional is not a factor for SG/MY since everybody goes by pinyin anyways.

Malaysia also has local newspapers in traditional.

Most mainland Chinese can read traditional. A lot of us just doesn't feel like reading it and prefer simplified since the loanwords and slangs are different across regions. If you don't publish in mainland there is no obligation to create simplified Chinese options (and have every word in the game translated per the govt's requirements, I might add, which requires extra budget).

 

[ggx2ac]

I am saying there not part of the growth of the market .

If you had said that in the first place it would at least sound more reasonable than this:

Plus since when do handhelds get call consoles .

_____

Truth is i forget that handhelds do get put with consoles revenue since sometimes we a break down of the data .

Yes, that is correct. In NPD threads, Media Create sales threads and PAL threads, home consoles and handhelds are always grouped together when they report rankings/charts for software sales and when revenue is reported, it is by hardware and software, it can be broken down but for simplification they just report hardware and software figures for how the industry as a whole is doing.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

As long as Western game studios don't start blatantly pandering to the Chinese like Hollywood is doing, then I'm all for another market opening up.

 

[Devilgunman]

Nintendo has put in work and dating back longer than Sony too. They've released their handhelds through Chinese companies to get around the previous ban. I think the DS was called the ique or something.

MS knows there's a market to tap but I think they aren't putting in all that much effort because they know it'll be sort of like Japan where their efforts will be mostly futile.





Still an issue because there's still huge portions of the population that are destitute. What you're seeing is that the relatively new middle and upper class no longer need to pirate. Generally with wealth comes a decrease in piracy.

This is what happens in South East Asia, where piracy was very severe, as well. The millennial gamers have grown up to be adults with disposable incomes so they have money to afford games for themselves and their kids. Sony is doing a really good job in Asia. They have games translated in Chinese and English for this regions and sometimes we get games with simultaneous launch with Japan, which is awesome.

 

[4Tran]

After Nintendo consolidated all of its non-mainland Chinese business activity to its Hong Kong division, things went pretty quiet on all fronts regarding Nintendo's business strategy for China. I'd imagine that Nintendo's activity on the mobile front is likely being used as a way to introduce the average Chinese mobile gamer to brands and games they're likely not all that familiar with. So instead of trying to fix their dud of a Wii U and continuing releases on the iQue brand for 3DS, Switch seems like the first time ever that Nintendo will be able to position its own products under its own name in China and has potentially consolidated all of its divisions in preparation.

It wouldn't surprise me if they're going to try to make a move into China. Nintendo has been making moves to bolster its Asian business outside of Japan, starting with the opening of an official Korean division in the Wii/DS era that was downsized this generation due to 4 years of operating losses.

Of the big three, Nintendo is going to have the hardest time of it. They're both poorly positioned to enter the market and they traditionally lack the flexibility to take the kinds of risks that might pay off. Even Microsoft is better off because we know that they're willing t take those kinds of risks despite their lack of success.

Most mainland Chinese can read traditional. A lot of us just doesn't feel like reading it and prefer simplified since the loanwords and slangs are different across regions. If you don't publish in mainland there is no obligation to create simplified Chinese options (and have every word in the game translated per the govt's requirements, I might add, which requires extra budget).

Yeah, it should be pretty obvious that anyone willing to localize into Simplified is making a play for the Mainland market.

 

[ggx2ac]

After Nintendo consolidated all of its non-mainland Chinese business activity to its Hong Kong division, things went pretty quiet on all fronts regarding Nintendo's business strategy for China. I'd imagine that Nintendo's activity on the mobile front is likely being used as a way to introduce the average Chinese mobile gamer to brands and games they're likely not all that familiar with. So instead of trying to fix their dud of a Wii U and continuing releases on the iQue brand for 3DS, Switch seems like the first time ever that Nintendo will be able to position its own products under its own name in China and has potentially consolidated all of its divisions in preparation.

It wouldn't surprise me if they're going to try to make a move into China. Nintendo has been making moves to bolster its Asian business outside of Japan, starting with the opening of an official Korean division in the Wii/DS era that was downsized this generation due to 4 years of operating losses.

That's why I don't know/get what Nintendo is doing.

They are releasing Super Mario Run in 150 contries, China and Hong Kong aren't listed while Korea is delayed to 2017.

Maybe Nintendo are having to get the game approved or that they want to release it on both iOS and Android in China at the same time.

Or maybe it sounds worse than that. lol

From their Q&A at their last financial briefing:

Q5 Can you tell me about any plans to release Super Mario Run on iOS or Android in China?

A5 Kimishima:
We have not yet determined if this title will be released in China. We are not ruling out the possibility, but currently we have not made any decisions as to when and how this might occur.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2016/161028e.pdf

 

[4Tran]

As long as Western game studios don't start blatantly pandering to the Chinese like Hollywood is doing, then I'm all for another market opening up.

It's only a matter of time. Developers aren't going to ignore a huge market if the see an opportunity, and SARFT is always going to demand compliance. Look at all the WWII games out there and just note how few swastikas you see in the. Why? It's because swastikas are banned in Germany and developers don't want to make two versions of the artwork. The good news for console gamers is that consoles are only a tiny portion of the Chinese gaming market and it's not that hard to have one version for China and another for the rest of the world.

 

[Qvoth]

Most mainland Chinese can read traditional.

is that still the case for the younger generation though?

 

[mieumieu]

is that still the case for the younger generation though?

I don't know about people younger than 20 but most of my colleagues can. I am 31 so I feel old sometimes...

There is no real difficulty learning traditional characters now since you can type in traditional Chinese very easily.

Any locals know how the Fuze is doing?

A reminder for people that may have forgotten:

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1216648

Quite poorly. I have one and most games on it (you can try them out for free) doesn't run smoothly. It is quite old hardware, at least one generation behind the switch. Although if you like neptunia then it has the only Chinese localized version of the first game.

 

[ggx2ac]

Any locals know how the Fuze is doing?

A reminder for people that may have forgotten:

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1216648

 

[chillybright]

is that still the case for the younger generation though?

I would say so. No one younger than 50 yrs old in China learned any T Chinese in school, yet most can read them no problem.

Any locals know how the Fuze is doing?

A reminder for people that may have forgotten:

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1216648

nobody cares.

 

[Aters]

Piracy is a big problem in China, but on the other hand, even only 30% of the gamers buy their games, it's still a big market, and with the consoles harder and harder to hack and online service more and more prevalent, the percentage can only goes up. Some publishers like Sony, MS, Sega, BNGI and SE are actually making good money in the market.

is that still the case for the younger generation though?

Yes. Most Chinese games are only translated in traditional Chinese and people have no problem reading them. It doesn't take nearly as effort as some people think for a native speaker to read traditional Chinese.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

I was in China over the summer of 2013. I was mostly in a middle of nowhere coastal port town and can remember LoL tournaments being on one of the few channels in the hotel. That was quite a surprise for me to see.

 

[Welfare]

Xbox One + PS4 reached 500,000 last year for reference. https://zhugeex.com/2015/11/ps4-xb1-install-base-in-china-reaches-500000/

 

[4Tran]

From their Q&A at their last financial briefing:

Q5 Can you tell me about any plans to release Super Mario Run on iOS or Android in China?

A5 Kimishima:
We have not yet determined if this title will be released in China. We are not ruling out the possibility, but currently we have not made any decisions as to when and how this might occur.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2016/161028e.pdf

Translation: "We don't really know how to proceed in China". In many ways, China is going to be one of the most impenetrable markets for Nintendo - no nostalgic fans, no real interest in Nintendo-style games, and no real space for the games that really interest Chinese gamers. It's going to require a lot of rethinking for Nintendo to do well in China, and they're just not in position to do that right now.

 

[Terrell]

Of the big three, Nintendo is going to have the hardest time of it. They're both poorly positioned to enter the market and they traditionally lack the flexibility to take the kinds of risks that might pay off. Even Microsoft is better off because we know that they're willing t take those kinds of risks despite their lack of success.

Might you be inclined to expand on the "kinds of risks" you talk about?

 

[wapplew]

Translation: "We don't really know how to proceed in China". In many ways, China is going to be one of the most impenetrable markets for Nintendo - no nostalgic fans, no real interest in Nintendo-style games, and no real space for the games that really interest Chinese gamers. It's going to require a lot of rethinking for Nintendo to do well in China, and they're just not in position to do that right now.

But Nintendo games are most likely to pass censorship, they just need to localize them.

 

[{insert code here}]

I'm surprised we still haven't seen a strong effort at penetrating the Chinese market from one of the big three. There are tens of millions of potential new customers there just waiting to be tapped.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Xbox One + PS4 reached 500,000 last year for reference. https://zhugeex.com/2015/11/ps4-xb1-install-base-in-china-reaches-500000/

That source is banned on Neogaf I believe.