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Is China finally opening up to videogame consoles?

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ChineseGamers

We all know about China’s wealth and how they are pretty much dominating every industry they enter but what a lot of people don’t realise is that gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are still not sold in the country of a billion people.

Way back in 2000 the Chinese government decided that videogames could possibly corrupt the youth of their perfect communist country and as such games were subsequently banned.

However that may be about to change with the Chinese government debating whether or not they will start to allow the sales of videogame consoles in the Shanghai free trade zone. The plan is to sell the console for a short period of time in Shanghai and then monitor how it progresses. If it goes well then the entire market may open up with could turn out to be a massive turn of events for the console manufacturers.

Which in turn will change things for every one of us. Could you imagine the development budgets of publishers when they know the market is now three times the size it used to be. Granted we may all end up with some seriously weird games with Chinese ethics in all the wrong places but I for one am ready to worship my new overlords if we get more quality games.

Last Updated: July 22, 2013

57 Comments

  1. TiMsTeR1033

    July 22, 2013 at 15:03

    I feel sorry for the chinese, no ps2 no ps3 not xbox or xbox 360 hell no Wii! Pc all the way for them! but then again they are very very good at pc games!

    Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      July 22, 2013 at 15:27

      PC all the way? Then no need to feel sorry ;P

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        July 22, 2013 at 15:29

        But PCs are the devil’s creation! CONSOLES FOR THE WIN!!

        Reply

        • Trevor Davies

          July 22, 2013 at 15:32

          SILENCE HERETIC!

          Reply

  2. Vampyre Squirrel

    July 22, 2013 at 15:09

    I’d laugh really hard if they decide to allow the PS4 but not the Xbone…

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      July 22, 2013 at 15:14

      chinese and american made things not good….

      Reply

    • Concerned

      July 22, 2013 at 15:15

      Yeah, if only they could hold off their impending war with the Japanese and all that! Then again, don’t think China will be too impressed with the NSA Kinect and all that either!????

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        July 22, 2013 at 15:24

        lol, the Chinese-Japanese relationship is a strange one, but trading-wise they’re the best of friends. A lot of Japanese tech firms actually outsource to Chinese factories. Take Sony for instance! Or even Toshiba! A few years ago, Toshiba built the largest laptop factory in China. If I’m not mistaken it’s still the largest in the world.

        So, I’m sure Japanese video-game companies are salivating at the idea of China OFFICIALLY opening the borders to game trades.

        What I’m excited for is Chinese developers getting a chance to make games with that distinct Chinese flavour. A bit like what happened with Chinese and Korean manga in the 90s.

        Exciting times, lads!

        Reply

  3. Slade Boender

    July 22, 2013 at 15:16

    Is the header image a house of mirrors? Just me? Ok. *goes to sit in naughty corner*

    Reply

  4. RinceWind

    July 22, 2013 at 15:17

    For once I can go on about something I know about! I lived in China for 4 years and saw first hand with my students the negative effects that PC gaming had. Now it isn’t the PC’s fault, I am not saying that, it’s the society’s. The pressure that the average Chinese kid is under is something that most of us will have had no experience with. Imagine living in a population of 1.5 billion, with very few spaces in universities, so most of their childhood life is spent in studies. My ex-Chinese girlfriend’s son spent on average 16 hours a day studying (including school) with little time to actually spend outside damaging his lungs from the horrendous pollution. This leads many kids, mostly boys, to actually become addicted to gaming (I was going to put an example here but thought it too disturbing so deleted). Before I left special clinics were opening where they ‘de-programmed’ children from being obsessed with games. It’s understandable though, it is their only release. I wonder how having a wider market and choice pool is going to affect them.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

      July 22, 2013 at 15:25

      “de-programmed”???

      Sounds ominous

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 22, 2013 at 15:26

        It is. really, there were cases in the news all the time, kids cutting their damn thumbs off because they couldn’t stop playing games. Scary stuff.

        Reply

        • Skyblue

          July 22, 2013 at 15:32

          1.5 billion ppl. You would think the genepool would be big enough to avoid craziness. Jokes aside though, that is seriously fucked up.

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:35

            Very good point on the gene pool. They are no like 80% Hann I think, so there is going to be HUGE strain in the future. Especially considering they have an inverse pyramid as far as having few young, and LOADS of elderly.

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          July 22, 2013 at 15:36

          Yeah, my former English teacher went to S.Korea, and she also came back with stories of the amount of pressure the kids are under. It really makes you wonder.

          Meanwhile in South Africa, you don’t even need a 50% matric pass to go to a University of Technology…

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:38

            Agreed. And also the other aspect is that even if you are a brilliant, 100%er student, this may not be enough. I taught University students English, and they would often go on about how they would have to spend R10,000 on buying gifts for certain tutors at uni in order to win their favour when selection came. You think SA is corrupt? We’re positively My Little Pony in comparison.

          • Trevor Davies

            July 22, 2013 at 15:55

            Eish don’t remind me about my CPUT studies. You want to see people drop like flies? Go to night classes lol.

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      July 22, 2013 at 15:26

      Well said sir, well said!

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 22, 2013 at 15:27

        Why thank you! Was very interesting. I came back to SA with her and Ran (her son) when he was 12. His maths level was higher than my boet in Matric doing maths!

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          July 22, 2013 at 15:28

          You were teaching there right?

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:30

            Yeah, and also doing some freelance reporting work.

          • Skyblue

            July 22, 2013 at 15:32

            I think you missed Jim’s compliment…

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:36

            I did! 🙁

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:42

            Uh.. I’m confused too… 😮 I had a deeper message in my question? Sweet Xenu balls!!!

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:42

            I’m still scratching my head, though that may be the SARS I picked up in China returning…

          • Skyblue

            July 22, 2013 at 15:58

            Our SARS is far more effective at breaking adults out in shivers, sweats and eventual heart failure.

    • Trevor Davies

      July 22, 2013 at 15:31

      I’ve read a bit about the pressure they get put under, it’s insane. How they expect kids to cope under that weight & still be normal I don’t understand.

      Also, how did your girlfriend become ex-Chinese?

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 22, 2013 at 15:40

        You shut up! Edit: “My ex-girlfriend, who IS Chinese” HAPPY NOW?! (Note to self, with English like that, it’s no wonder my students had to fucking bribe their way into University)

        Reply

        • Trevor Davies

          July 22, 2013 at 15:45

          I’m always happy when I can help others improve themselves 😉

          Reply

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:46

            Get a room you two!

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:47

            Oi!

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      July 22, 2013 at 15:35

      “My ex-Chinese girlfriend’s son”

      YOU CAN BECOME AN EX CHINESE? TELL ME HOW?

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 22, 2013 at 15:36

        Bwahahahahha! Well, he moved to Canada, anyone living there loses all semblance of what they once were 😛

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          July 22, 2013 at 15:48

          This is true, I have a buddy who went to Canada, and he’s now even more Canuck then all the Canadians in Canada. They visited a while back, and he wore a hockey jersey…

          Who wears an ice-hockey jersey in South Africa? 😮

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:49

            Oh damn man. I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you still have good memories of your mate, because everything he was, and all the potential he/she/it had, is now gone. A *shudders* hockey jersey.

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:51

            I suspect it’s the winters…

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:52

            Yeah, it also means they have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It if I spent all my time staring at snow I’d also lose it. Oh, and, Canada.

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:53

            Indeed, Canada!

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        July 22, 2013 at 15:41

        I can already see a couple sangomas and one strange West African herbalist/masseuse concocting something aromatic and expensive for a certain segment of South Africa 😛

        Reply

        • RinceWind

          July 22, 2013 at 15:42

          *looks up, eh?

          Reply

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:43

            Please, Sifu Tim is a black South African. It says so in the constitution. 😛 (South Africa is such a strange place) hehehe

      • Trevor Davies

        July 22, 2013 at 15:43

        Wear a “Not Made In China” t-shirt?

        Reply

        • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

          July 22, 2013 at 15:48

          DONE!. When does my pee pee become bigger?

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 22, 2013 at 15:49

            0-O

          • Trevor Davies

            July 22, 2013 at 15:49

            You stop using a console.

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            July 22, 2013 at 15:53

            So that’s what a keyboard is for… Iron Penis Qigong!!!

          • Trevor Davies

            July 22, 2013 at 15:55

            GIANT Iron Penis of Fury damn it.

          • OVG

            July 22, 2013 at 16:39

            When U play with your Wii Wii

  5. OVG

    July 22, 2013 at 15:20

    I do not see it happening. Just to much western propaganda in games. The PC will remain their choice of weapon. The censorship laws will be nuts. Even the skeletons in WOW had to be banned over there. I also red that some colours offend people.
    They hate the Japanese and Americans anyway.

    Even if they did get to make their own home brand console, it would be like the Chinese Car designers. Just knock off after knock off.

    I feel for them. But not even we are able to fully control the freedom that comes with our medium. The Polichickens are still baffled by our hobby.

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      July 22, 2013 at 15:34

      Yeah, I just hope our polichickens don’t discover games before GTA 5 is released. They tend towards retardation quicker than you can say “Limpopo needs to be sold off to Zimbabwe. What a worthless province”.

      Reply

  6. Jakster

    July 22, 2013 at 15:21

    They’ll allow a few consoles in at first but by then the time the second wave hits, they would’ve released Golden China PS3 and XBx Golden China with tentacle controllers.

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      July 22, 2013 at 15:31

      LOL! That made me chuckle!

      Reply

  7. Mabenito

    July 22, 2013 at 15:37

    Get ready for some super reverse-engineered grey console which plays both PS4 and Xbox games. Plays MMOG offline too. It’s gonna be called “The One X-Play Box Station”…

    Reply

    • RinceWind

      July 22, 2013 at 15:41

      And today’s winner is! YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

      Reply

  8. RinceWind

    July 22, 2013 at 15:48

    I suppose this would be a cunning way to take back the east. Distract them with Last of Us, and dominate!

    Reply

  9. Terri-Lea Chowles

    July 23, 2013 at 03:41

    Of course it’s possible to buy anything in China, Xboxes, Playstations…I live here and have both. They’re just ‘illegal’, but so are fake DVDs, fake clothes, etc. There’s a massive gaming community here.

    Reply

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