Topic: China discussing removing Console Ban

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/01/28/nintendo-so...

Yeah, this seems like big news. I'd assume it's pretty big, considering the rise of both Nintendo's and Sony's stock.

Does someone more versed in the ways of the market wanna elaborate just how big of a deal this is or isn't?
...and by that I mean @Bankai.

I don't mean to nitpick, but the title says "Chia." That made me think of

this.

Thats what I thought too.

Whoops. I'm talking from school on a phone. Fixing now.

I'm not sure but I think I remember seeing something about sony getting the PS3 in china. I dont think china labled it a game console when they let it in though.

Consoles are banned there?! Good god...

@Retro_on_theGo

And if the ban is repealed, the floodgates will open.

Or at least, that's the expectation from what I've heard.

I'm not entirely sure I understand why the console makers are excited about this. On paper the numbers of people in China make for a potentially massive market, but China is an incredibly difficult market.

You're dealing with a country where 95 per cent of the people wouldn't be able to afford your consoles, and of those that can afford it, they only interest in buying one would be to hack it and then pirate games onto it.

Not that the Chinese lawmakers care, either. China has a very strange legal system where it doesn't really recognise things like IP rights and patents. If Sony and Nintendo were to release consoles there, it would take about a day before some enterprising Chinese person reverse engineered a knock-off, sold it cheaper, and beat Nintendo and Sony in the market.

Even Apple struggles in China. Really, really struggles. It's a hostile market for any western sense of doing business.

On the other hand, these companies could be taking the market seriously like the are taking Brazil seriously - working on the assumption that eventually the Chinese will start caring about IP and Patents, and assuming that over time an emerging middle class will spend more money on games. If that's the case then Nintendo and Sony might look forward to China as a loss leading market - for the next ten years or so assume you'll lose money there to build a brand and a reputation, and THEN reap the benefits.

But really, you may as well release a console in North Korea for all the hardware it's going to sell in China in the short term, I would have thought.

More than happy for one of the executives in Nintendo or Sony to come in and correct me. My understanding of the Chinese market is sketchy and largely based on the experiences of people who failed to break into it.

@Bankai Actually, your knowledge of the Chinese market sounds professional. Not that I know anything about it.