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The media needs to find out what is going on with PS4 in China

Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
This is a really interesting story to me. There's a very unique market dynamic for consoles in that market and Microsoft and Sony launching there was a big story of the past 12 months.

Out of nowhere, Sony delayed the launch of the PS4 in China indefinitely. No word from Sony has come since the delay, and no one has seemed to ask.

Isn't this a really big story? Microsoft met with a delay as well but it was short. Sony's delay seems to be longer. What's up there?

VentureBeat did a really good story on the market in general but didn't explore the delay.

This is just really interesting to me. Far more interesting than something like Dying Light or Evolve existing.

Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
 
O

Ouren

Member
Chinese law for releasing anything that has anything to do with owned property, IP or technology is totally crazy right now



its why i like looking at alibaba late at night
64bit_wireless_game_console_with_3D_game.jpg
 
S

Sangetsu-II

Member
Chinese government received angry fanboys letters that Sony's console was region-free and their console was region-locked. The government found out and told Sony to lock it or no sale. Sony retracted PS4 consoles to other markets and are currently making region-lock consoles to ship to China. Could take about a month for 100k lock consoles to be made. Or so I have heard. So far it was all the forums fault for releasing info about PS4 being region-free.
 
H

_hekk05

Banned
Sangetsu-II said:
Chinese government received angry fanboys letters that Sony's console was region-free and their console was region-locked. The government found out and told Sony to lock it or no sale. Sony retracted PS4 consoles to other markets and are currently making region-lick consoles to ship to China could take about a month for 100k lock consoles to be made. Or so I have heard.
Click to expand...

Welp the dream is dead. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.


If this impacts future CN games being default region locked I will be pissed.
 
T

TalonJH

Member
I thought I saw an article confirming that it was because of the lack of region lock. They probably have to implement it and re-submit to the government.
 
C

champloo

Member
here is what I think is behind this delay,
The PS4 wasn't supposed to have region lock here, and everyone was happy about it. Except this one dude who got really upset and reported it to the law enforcers right before it hit the market. So it seems Sony has to shoehorn in some region lock now and that is why the delay happens.
 
S

Sangetsu-II

Member
_hekk05 said:
Welp the dream is dead. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.


If this impacts future CN games being default region locked I will be pissed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if Sony would have gotten away with it we would be seeing 500k units sold right now. (That's Sony current limit for PS4 sales in China that the government permitted.
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
champloo said:
here is what I think is behind this delay,
The PS4 wasn't supposed to have region lock here, and everyone was happy about it. Except this one dude who got really upset and reported it to the law enforcers right before it hit the market. So it seems Sony has to shoehorn in some region lock now and that is why the delay happens.
Click to expand...

That sucks for chinese gamers. I'd imagine a lot of people (that can afford it) will import a non region locked one and import stuff from HK or SE Asia?
 
S

sohois

Member
The Sony stores in Shanghai still have all their big PS4 displays up and around - they appear to be quite popular as well.

It probably comes down to some party bigwig changing his mind about something - region locking presumably - at the last minute.

Getting information out of China would be like extracting blood from a stone, even for serious journalists, let alone the gaggle of miscreants making up your average gaming outlet.
 
H

_hekk05

Banned
Y2Kev said:
Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

The console is only going to be sold in the Shanghai economic zone, I believe? At least tentatively. That's a lot less sales
 
D

duckroll

Member
Yeah this delay is pretty curious. Something must have fell through, especially since they were expecting to go ahead with the launch as late as December.

I don't really think it has to do with region locking though. At least not the way we usually see it. Region locking something is generally economical in nature (to give the local market a leg up, to prevent external markets from benefiting from a lower price, etc) rather than a form of censorship.

What I think is more likely an issue is the sort of deals and partnerships required on the services end of things. When entering a market like China officially, you have to partner to deliver services. So it could be what the company or companies Sony was going to tie up with to run the Playstation Network stuff, or provide streaming services or whatever, simply couldn't agree to terms in time for it to launch. Or maybe they just didn't have enough games approved by the authorities for the launch to be worthwhile this month.
 
S

Schreckstoff

Banned
_hekk05 said:
The console is only going to be sold in the Shanghai economic zone, I believe? At least tentatively. That's a lot less sales
Click to expand...

and not like 1% could even afford one.

duckroll said:
Yeah this delay is pretty curious. Something must have fell through, especially since they were expecting to go ahead with the launch as late as December.

I don't really think it has to do with region locking though. At least not the way we usually see it. Region locking something is generally economical in nature (to give the local market a leg up, to prevent external markets from benefiting from a lower price, etc) rather than a form of censorship.

What I think is more likely an issue is the sort of deals and partnerships required on the services end of things. When entering a market like China officially, you have to partner to deliver services. So it could be what the company or companies Sony was going to tie up with to run the Playstation Network stuff, or provide streaming services or whatever, simply couldn't agree to terms in time for it to launch. Or maybe they just didn't have enough games approved by the authorities for the launch to be worthwhile this month.
Click to expand...

Then they'd have delayed it much sooner, Sony partnered with the same company MS did btw.
 
L

Led_Zeppelin

Member
Y2Kev said:
This is a really interesting story to me. There's a very unique market dynamic for consoles in that market and Microsoft and Sony launching there was a big story of the past 12 months.

Out of nowhere, Sony delayed the launch of the PS4 in China indefinitely. No word from Sony has come since the delay, and no one has seemed to ask.

Isn't this a really big story? Microsoft met with a delay as well but it was short. Sony's delay seems to be longer. What's up there?

VentureBeat did a really good story on the market in general but didn't explore the delay.

This is just really interesting to me. Far more interesting than something like Dying Light or Evolve existing.

Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

I remember the thread on /v/ that announced the delay and linked to a Chinese forum where there the leak of the original release date and price were leaked and how it was being leaked now the delay. It also said that the original leaker was saying that the cause of the delay was that the government was going not going to allow (when previously they were) a non region locked console.
 
S

Sangetsu-II

Member
duckroll said:
I don't really think it has to do with region locking though.
Click to expand...

Well from what the few info we have, it points to region locking.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House said the decision to delay the PS4's launch was due to "a request from the authorities to make an adjustment to the business plan."
Click to expand...

Also:

the delay does jeopardize Sony's "go-to-market strategy" for the PS4, House said
Click to expand...

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-china-delay-unrelated-to-psn-attack-sony-says/1100-6424562/
 
N

Noobcraft

Member
I think it's probably related to the region locking (or lack thereof) with Sony's original plan.

Just out of curiosity, how is the Xbox One doing there in terms of released titles?
 
F

furious

Banned
Noobcraft said:
I think it's probably related to the region locking (or lack thereof) with Sony's original plan.

Just out of curiosity, how is the Xbox One doing there in terms of released titles?
Click to expand...

Not great. (Just blew through the online store).

5 Apps

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11 Games

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  • 《无冬Online》 (Neverwinter Online)
  • 决战喵星 (Naughty Kitties)
 
C

Callibretto

Member
Noobcraft said:
I think it's probably related to the region locking (or lack thereof) with Sony's original plan.

Just out of curiosity, how is the Xbox One doing there in terms of released titles?
Click to expand...

I think someone mention there's only like 11 titles totals released for xb1 in china...

yup, here it is
Chiaroscuro said:
I bought a Chinese Xbox One at launch (but I am not chinese and I live in Brazil, just a collector).

I only got digital games for it so I can comment on game activations, but The console does have a single time activation that must Be performed over sms in a valid chinese Mobile operator.

Well, people over there may be angry about the game selection. Not a single game was releases after launch, not even in this years end. Only the initial 11 games are available. That may be die to chinese regulations and not ms fault, but it sure may look bad in costumer's eyes.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dee Dee

Member
This is a very interesting topic, and I thank everyone with further insight for providing information on what is happening. I apologize that I post here without having much to contribute, but....

furious said:
决战喵星 (Naughty Kitties)
Click to expand...

... what?

Ah, one serious question though: Does the 500 000 units restrictions apply to PS Vita and PS4 combined?
 
S

STEaMkb

Member
According to Chinese gamers, here and elsewhere, Xbox enthusiasts threatened to protest PlayStation 4's launch upon hearing the news that it would not be region locked. And sure enough, a few weeks later, the Beijing Bureau of Cultural Affairs published letters of complaint from 'concerned' members of the public. These complaints focused on a number of PS4 titles, but most notably Grand Theft Auto V, which they said advocates drugs, violence, murder, promiscuity, and will generally corrupt the minds of children.

Andrew House was quoted by the Chinese press saying they are working to resolve the situation.
 
Yoda

Yoda

Member
Y2Kev said:
Snip
Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

The only people who would buy it are the middle-class/upper-middle-class that is present along the coastal cities. China's per-capita GDP is $6807.42. Given that this would be an import it wouldn't benefit from the phenomenon of consumer goods being cheaper in China, unless Sony wants to do special subsidization.

Lets compare it to North America, where consoles have had a presence for 20+ years and both primary markets (USA and Canada) have a per-capita GDP that 4-5 times as higher and the same with per-capita income. For arguments sake lets say both consoles combined have sold 10 million combined so far in the USA. That is 2.8% of the population buying a console. Now introduce the platform in a new market with substantially lower purchasing power for imports and a market which has never had success with consoles ever.

I'm not arguing against introducing the hardware, it will sell a bit in the more developed areas, but lets not fool ourselves if looking @ the population and assuming it would follow the paradigm of western consumer markets. The same argument could just as easily be made for India, its 2nd in population (it will eventually pass China) and solid GDP growth; of course it isn't as spectacular as China's but who's is? If they sold "just" to 1% of the population there it would make the LTD sales explode, but the people in those countries aren't going to spend 1/3 a year's pay on a videogame console.

EDIT: Your math is either off, or its troll math.
 
H

_hekk05

Banned
Schreckstoff said:
and not like 1% could even afford one.
Click to expand...

Take that condescension out of here. Shanghai is developed quite well and the people there are a lot more well-off compared to the entire country.

Where there's ever-permeating smog, there's people able to afford a ps4 (lol)
 
D

doraemoe

Member
Sigh, It's because the media cannot figure out what's happening. The thing is, following the law in China is not enough, there are tons of other factors involving the people and Interest groups who are in charge of this kinds of things. If they want something, not even law can stop them. Even wores, most of the time you can only guess what they want, they won't say you can't do this or that, but if you do something they feel uncomfortable, you're in trouble.

And about that 1%, I hope it's only a joke. Since this reminds me after the first opium war, Qin(China at that time) was forced to open market. British company was so excited because they think even 1% Chinese by their product, they will make lots of fortune. Unfortunately it never happend since Chinese do not need their products in the first place.
 
OuterLimits

OuterLimits

Member
Y2Kev said:
This is a really interesting story to me. There's a very unique market dynamic for consoles in that market and Microsoft and Sony launching there was a big story of the past 12 months.

Out of nowhere, Sony delayed the launch of the PS4 in China indefinitely. No word from Sony has come since the delay, and no one has seemed to ask.

Isn't this a really big story? Microsoft met with a delay as well but it was short. Sony's delay seems to be longer. What's up there?

VentureBeat did a really good story on the market in general but didn't explore the delay.

This is just really interesting to me. Far more interesting than something like Dying Light or Evolve existing.

Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

100 million consoles for 1% of population? China is 1.3 Billion people. Wouldn't that be closer to 13 million?

Oh I suppose you are talking about world wide lifetime console sales? Yeah they would top 100 million lifetime with China involved most likely.

Definitely an interesting situation though. Hopefully it is resolved soon.
 
L

LizardKing

Member
Why is everyone pretending 1% of 1 billion is 100m? It's 10m. Some kind of in-joke?

Edit: Or yeah, guy above, 13 million of 1.3 billion. Whatever the population is.
 
X

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Hahaha at people taking the 1% thing seriously. It is a joke on a post made by the most worried guy on GAF.
 
S

Shadow780

Member
Sangetsu-II said:
Chinese government received angry fanboys letters that Sony's console was region-free and their console was region-locked. The government found out and told Sony to lock it or no sale. Sony retracted PS4 consoles to other markets and are currently making region-lock consoles to ship to China. Could take about a month for 100k lock consoles to be made. Or so I have heard. So far it was all the forums fault for releasing info about PS4 being region-free.
Click to expand...

So Chairman Xi is a xbot, or nintendo fan?
 
H

hatchx

Banned
Y2Kev said:
Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

Correct me for stupidity, but isn't 1% of China only 10 million? Does MM even mean million?

Edit - beaten! and I clearly don't get the joke
 
kubricks

kubricks

Member
No one can find out what actually happened in China.
Law in China? What Law are you guys talking about?

Y2Kev said:
Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...
This is what everyone thought, but then everything you do will have to play by the Communist-China rule, which means you get almost nothing out of it.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
elelunicy said:
I'd say ~50% of population can easily afford one.
Click to expand...

Even if that were true, they still have to be able to afford games and even want to pay for games.

The reason why the PSP was popular here was because you could pirate every game.
Most of the chinese "Hardcore" PC gamers could buy games, but still pirate everything, because they are used to get almost everything for free.
 
J

Javin98

Banned
LOL @ people actually taking the 1% joke seriously. Anyway, back on-topic, Sony really needs to fix this issue before Chinese New Year. Missing out on CNY would cost them a hell lot of sales
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Y2Kev said:
This is a really interesting story to me. There's a very unique market dynamic for consoles in that market and Microsoft and Sony launching there was a big story of the past 12 months.

Out of nowhere, Sony delayed the launch of the PS4 in China indefinitely. No word from Sony has come since the delay, and no one has seemed to ask.

Isn't this a really big story? Microsoft met with a delay as well but it was short. Sony's delay seems to be longer. What's up there?

VentureBeat did a really good story on the market in general but didn't explore the delay.

This is just really interesting to me. Far more interesting than something like Dying Light or Evolve existing.

Plus, if Sony sells to just 1% of the population, they will have sold 100MM+ consoles and that is amazing.
Click to expand...

Wow I missed this news. Is it related perhaps to the unique rules China has about where and how one must manufacture consoles in order to sell on mainland China? I'm vague as to the details, but I definitely read up on the subject before. There's a host of intense regulations that don't seem to make a whole lot of sense on the surface. Perhaps Sony got caught in that web?

A delay indefinitely in China is weird for sure. I hope someone delves deeper into it, because China is such a ripe territory for meaningful growth if someone can find the formula for appeal there.

Hehe @ 1% parody post ;)
 
E

elelunicy

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
Most of the chinese "Hardcore" PC gamers could buy games, but still pirate everything, because they are used to get almost everything for free.
Click to expand...

I don't know. Obviously some people still pirate games, but Steam is very big in China these days (over 7 million discussion posts on Baidu) and plenty of PC gamers pay for their games. For instance, if you visit GTA V's Steam community, you can find hundreds of threads posted in Chinese and many of them have already pre-oredered the game.
 
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