China lifts console ban. Console boom inevitable.

[hhs]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/10/technology/china-video-games/index.html

China is expected to lift a 13-year ban on the sale of video game consoles, as long as they are manufactured within Shanghai's new free trade zone, the South China Morning Post is reporting.
Consoles have been available on the black market in China, but video game manufacturers, such as Nintendo, Sony (SNE), and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), have not been able to sell their products legally there since 2000 -- even if the consoles were manufactured in the country. Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's Playstation have been manufactured in China, according the the newspaper.
The change is part of a broader policy supported by Premier Li Keqiang, aimed at opening up the Chinese economy. The government is also expected to allow foreign banks to set up subsidiaries in the new Shanghai free trade zone, as well as allow foreign firms to participate in commodities exchanges there. Beijing approved a plan to launch the Shanghai zone on July 3, the report said.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/14/technology/innovation/motion-control-games/index.html?iid=EL
Although the new rules have not yet been made public, they are widely expected to allow the sale of gaming consoles once the Ministry of Culture approves them. That ministry spearheaded the ban on the sale of consoles more than a decade ago, citing concern about the content of video games.


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China opening up to console developers means big money for anyone who can tap into even part of that market. While not everyone in China can or will want to afford a console, the sheer size of the nation means that a surge of sales will occur for any of the big three that step into the zone. Could this rebound systems like the WiiU? Who will do the best in China? How far will their loosening censorship go? This could be huge business news if it happens.

 

[AshuraZro]

Now Costello can get his Xbox One!

 

[nukeboy95]

wow that's great news

 

[DinohScene]

DSi had China firmwares..
And some games iirc.

Sweet.
360/PS3/Wii will sell 50 million more + next gen coming?

 

[Walker D]

Consoles have been available on the black market in China, but video game manufacturers, such as Nintendo, Sony (SNE), and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), have not been able to sell their products legally there since 2000 -- even if the consoles weremanufactured in the country.

That's not entirely true.

The Nintendo's iQue Player was released in Novembers's 2003. Was manufactured and legally selled there. It's a interesting case too

Actually, as far as I know, iQue has also released almost all Nintendo handhelds legally in China..
(the ones that I know about are the orignal gba, the SP, the micro, DS Lite and DSi...)

 

[Gahars]

I'm happy that more people will be able to access the great games and experiences home consoles may offer, but I do have to say I'm a bit apprehensive.

As China has opened up to Hollywood, we've seen more and more movies self-censor and alter themselves in an attempt to win the government's favor. From hasty rewrites to avoid showing the nation in any sort of negative light (World War Z, Red Dawn, etc.) to inserting entirely superfluous characters/sub-plots (Iron Man 3), filmmakers have to alter and sanitize their vision for this new market. Considering how restrictive the government can be (Back to the Future is banned because it features time travel and no I'm not kidding you)... well, it could really limit what we end up seeing on the screen.

Could games go down a similar path? Some games already have altered versions for the Chinese market (reskinning or entirely removing zombie characters, for instance). We've already seen whole games get changed for one region's sensibilities (like Fallout 3 changing the names of real world drugs to fictional ones), so could this happen if the Chinese console and game market explodes? Developers might figure it's better/cheaper to develop with China in mind from the get-go than to make the changes after the fact.

I'd just hate to see something as sweet as this news turn sour and constrain the works of game developers.

 

[Flame]

I'm happy that more people will be able to access the great games and experiences home consoles may offer, but I do have to say I'm a bit apprehensive.

As China has opened up to Hollywood, we've seen more and more movies self-censor and alter themselves in an attempt to win the government's favor. From hasty rewrites to avoid showing the nation in any sort of negative light (World War Z, Red Dawn, etc.) to inserting entirely superfluous characters/sub-plots (Iron Man 3), filmmakers have to alter and sanitize their vision for this new market. Considering how restrictive the government can be (Back to the Future is banned because it features time travel and no I'm not kidding you)... well, it could really limit what we end up seeing on the screen.

Could games go down a similar path? Some games already have altered versions for the Chinese market (reskinning or entirely removing zombie characters, for instance). We've already seen whole games get changed for one region's sensibilities (like Fallout 3 changing the names of real world drugs to fictional ones), so could this happen if the Chinese console and game market explodes? Developers might figure it's better/cheaper to develop with China in mind from the get-go than to make the changes after the fact.

I'd just hate to see something as sweet as this news turn sour and constrain the works of game developers.

hey man, does that mean in pokemon, you will need to go work for team rocket making devices and not becoming a pokemon trainer when you turn 10?

 

[Pong20302000]

That's not entirely true.

The Nintendo's iQue Player was released in Novembers's 2003. Was manufactured and legally selled there. It's a interesting case too

Actually, as far as I know, iQue has also released almost all Nintendo handhelds legally in China..
(the ones that I know about are the orignal gba, the SP, the micro, DS Lite and DSi...)

 

[Taleweaver]

So...how long before the first Chinese "how do I jailbreak my wii?" posts will show up?

 

[FAST6191]

So...how long before the first Chinese "how do I jailbreak my wii?" posts will show up?

There might be some but there is already a massive grey market, it is where most flash carts and a related devices come from, game hacking wise they are some of the most prolific hackers out there (there is a very good chance that Japanese to Chinese is the most popular translation hack, narrow it to the GBA, DS and PSP and I would not bet against it) and there are several rather large websites already dealing with console hacking.

 

[notmeanymore]

I'm happy that more people will be able to access the great games and experiences home consoles may offer, but I do have to say I'm a bit apprehensive.

As China has opened up to Hollywood, we've seen more and more movies self-censor and alter themselves in an attempt to win the government's favor. From hasty rewrites to avoid showing the nation in any sort of negative light (World War Z, Red Dawn, etc.) to inserting entirely superfluous characters/sub-plots (Iron Man 3), filmmakers have to alter and sanitize their vision for this new market. Considering how restrictive the government can be (Back to the Future is banned because it features time travel and no I'm not kidding you)... well, it could really limit what we end up seeing on the screen.

Could games go down a similar path? Some games already have altered versions for the Chinese market (reskinning or entirely removing zombie characters, for instance). We've already seen whole games get changed for one region's sensibilities (like Fallout 3 changing the names of real world drugs to fictional ones), so could this happen if the Chinese console and game market explodes? Developers might figure it's better/cheaper to develop with China in mind from the get-go than to make the changes after the fact.

I'd just hate to see something as sweet as this news turn sour and constrain the works of game developers.

Wait... Gahars posted something non-sarcastic?

 

[Thanatos Telos]

Why did they ban it to begin with? (No, seriously, does anyone know?)

 

[Cartmanuk]

So the temp will have even more Chinese members, that's never a bad thing.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Why did they ban it to begin with? (No, seriously, does anyone know?)

Short version of the reason

 

[narutofan777]

china is late to the party.

 

[Qtis]

china is late to the party.

More like China is back to the party. They were there, but got grounded

 

[Walker D]

There might be some but there is already a massive grey market, it is where most flash carts and a related devices come from, game hacking wise they are some of the most prolific hackers out there

Shenzhen Nanjing Technology for example ..they have made some interesting hacks for the Nes.. lot of potential indeed.

Lugia2009 from RomHacking also do some cool fixes to some of this games..

 

[Foxi4]

The console ban wasn't really executed considering the iQue devices (AKA "Chinese Nintendo) and the Chinese rip-offs we all know and love like the Kensington Vii. I sincerely doubt that the population will get access to all the games available abroad anyways having their well-developed institutional censorship in mind, so all this means is that Nintendo won't have to use the while iQue cover-up to sell their products there and that Sony and Microsoft will be able to enter the marketplace.

 

[Snailface]

Why did they ban it to begin with? (No, seriously, does anyone know?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectionism

So the temp will have even more Chinese members, that's never a bad thing.

Hopefully this bodes well for the homebrew scene.