Interesting. Have to see how Sony responds.
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[Confirmed] Microsoft to launch Xbox One in China
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Interesting. Have to see how Sony responds.
Nightengale
Member
Kyan knows his shit. Chinese market is huge, but extremely different compared to what one would think of the average gaming market.
In terms of cultural differences, it has more in common with Japanese gaming market than US/UK in different ways.
It's sold in China right now. Illegally. Out in the open.
In terms of cultural differences, it has more in common with Japanese gaming market than US/UK in different ways.
It's sold in China right now. Illegally. Out in the open.
travisbickle
Member
I wouldn't hold my breath on this. It will be a really interesting thing to see, but I think MS has other battles at the moment and "soon" means a few years while they reduce costs and develop a market.
Nintendo already released a console there (iQue player in 2003). It'll be a waste of time for all three of them.
Surely not for all. Isn't there 1 billion people in China?
Nightengale
Member
The same was said for India.
It took PS2 close to 10 years to sell more than a million consoles there.
And that was with much cheaper games regionally and games that cater to the Indian audience like Cricket.
Oh I didn't know that, thanks for the info. I guess this is a more "wait and see" situation.
funkystudent
Member
Even if they get around the console ban by really pushing the media experience wont games still be policed pretty hard? I could them having to add region locking to prevent importing of content the gov didnt approve which again would just push people to black market systems.
Chinese market is weird.
Chinese market is weird.
But my homeland - CHINA is quite a Sony land.
OG Xbox sold very poor due to non-Asian (Japanese) style games and Xbox 360 sold quite well there only because 360 was popular hacked, but still way less than PS3.
OG Xbox, Xbox360 and Xbox One can be easily purchased in local store although they were not official launched. Retailers just import the consoles from Japan, HK& Taiwan illegally.
OG Xbox sold very poor due to non-Asian (Japanese) style games and Xbox 360 sold quite well there only because 360 was popular hacked, but still way less than PS3.
OG Xbox, Xbox360 and Xbox One can be easily purchased in local store although they were not official launched. Retailers just import the consoles from Japan, HK& Taiwan illegally.
Nightengale
Member
Yeah. I'm not saying history will repeat itself, but just,because a country is huge with a growing middle class doesn't mean that the gaming market's conditions there are comparable with other console focused markets.
Mobile and PC in China is a monstrosity. A real paradigm shift is needed for consoles to matter in the eyes of your average Chinese gamer.
Terbinator
Member
There was, but I think it was more a case fo someone just suggesting it than anything serious. I'm not even sure it would be beneficial to Riot to have it exclusive only to XB1.
The Cool One
Member
Zing
Guys if China give MS the license they will give Sony the license at the same time too. Its part of the initiate that turns Shanghei to another special economic zone.
I doubt it will sell that much initially. Whoever has a localized Dynasty Warriors probably will sell some units. I predict the break down of the 2 consoles this gen will be close to a PC centric country, like Germany.
I doubt it will sell that much initially. Whoever has a localized Dynasty Warriors probably will sell some units. I predict the break down of the 2 consoles this gen will be close to a PC centric country, like Germany.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Isn't Nintendo already in that market? How well has that worked out for them?
Their average yearly gross income is also something like $7000 (?). Internet Cafe's and Arcades offer great value, PCs and mobiles are useful outside of gaming and can play pirated games. Their entire homegrown games industry is entrenched in PC and Android.
Consoles are luxury items that don't have a strong value proposition, especially now that they can't be modded and require online fees.
I'm shocked nobody has created one yet.
iceatcs
Junior Member
Oh its around, but you might get some bad PMs if you post it.
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
PS4 and Sony probably has a better chance at this than MS. Doesn't the PS4 have more free to play games? Sony's policies for online play is also easier to work around, since they exempt certain online games from needing PS+. Not to mention that Sony has been helping Japanese dev localise games into Chinese over the past few years. Previously most games that have Chinese translations are first party games but more and more 3rd party devs are releasing games in Chinese for the HK, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia market.
How often do Xbox games get Chinese translations?
How often do Xbox games get Chinese translations?
Chinese buy plenty of high end appliances, see DSLR sales number. They just don't buy console games.
If console game devs bend over backward to make games for the Chinese taste like Hollywood is doing with their AAA movies ("tent pole movies" in Hollywood speak), they will sell in China.
Cornbread78
Member
Wait though, doesn't Chinese government and the people highly dislike Sony, and/or Japanese industry? If that is the case, Sony has no shot over there. It will be all MS all day long. I'll have to look for the link, but there was a huge article/debate about this when China first stated they would allow console sales. MS has a huge in there from other business ventures with China as well. In all seriousness, if all the cards fall in place for MS, there is huge potential for them there and their global sales numbers.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
Wasn't the same thing said about India? Lol what happened there guys?
Microsoft was actually very progressive in getting games translated and released worldwide and I think this put pressure on Sony to make a bigger effort in those regions.
The Sony of today often brings out a Traditional Chinese version between the Japanese and English releases of a game. Danganronpa Vita was a recent example and I think Dynasty Warriors PS4 came out in Chinese first before any English or Japanese release.
This is a big different to how it used to be and they only started to put more effort into localized PS3 releases a year or two before PS4 release.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
IISANDERII
Member
I'm sure some of it must go to the CIA.
I read "China suspends ban on video game consoles after more than a decade" a few weeks ago, after reading I'm skeptical at the success any of the big 3 can obtain there until China's GDP per capita increases.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
They would be really smart to push all of their available f2p franchises.
Aquamarine
Member
Because the DS and 3DS were just so successful in China, right guys? 
But they love falcom gamesBecause the DS and 3DS were just so successful in China, right guys?
pffff, no ones saw my post at #60. I am a Chinese and quite understand the Chinese market.
1. Video game is not big in China due to it was banned by the government although you can get the consoles and games easily from the stores which are imported from Japan/HK/Taiwan;
2. PC gamers are huge in China and console gamers are small. There is always argument between 2 groups about which is better, PC gamers or TV games;
3. We Chinese dislike Japanese but we are still supporting their products, In fact, there are big amount of people can be called Sony fans;
3. Most of Chinese gamers only play Japanese style games and dislike western games (the situation are changing now because Japanese games were quite weak in the past gen and the gamers started to try western games.) Therefore, Sony PS & PS2 were popular in China, but OG Xbox was sold very poor;
4. Xbox 360 was popular in China due to hack, but still way less than PS3;
5. Most of Chinese gamers dislike Nintendo because they think Nintendo games are for kids & housewives.
So far, I don't see launch Xbox One will be a game changer to Microsoft. Just no way.
1. Video game is not big in China due to it was banned by the government although you can get the consoles and games easily from the stores which are imported from Japan/HK/Taiwan;
2. PC gamers are huge in China and console gamers are small. There is always argument between 2 groups about which is better, PC gamers or TV games;
3. We Chinese dislike Japanese but we are still supporting their products, In fact, there are big amount of people can be called Sony fans;
3. Most of Chinese gamers only play Japanese style games and dislike western games (the situation are changing now because Japanese games were quite weak in the past gen and the gamers started to try western games.) Therefore, Sony PS & PS2 were popular in China, but OG Xbox was sold very poor;
4. Xbox 360 was popular in China due to hack, but still way less than PS3;
5. Most of Chinese gamers dislike Nintendo because they think Nintendo games are for kids & housewives.
So far, I don't see launch Xbox One will be a game changer to Microsoft. Just no way.
Dreamgazer
Member
There are already ton of those on PCs.
Not to mention the market has proven time and times again that devs are better off making MMOs.
Consoles were banned in China until this year... so if you wanted to get it, only way is black market.
As to freemium, console's can have freemium models just like anything else. Lots of freemium PS4 games. Usually users pay more (in the end) for freemium than retail games.
Obviously - it is $14 billion market, so they are paying the crap out of it.
Nothing wrong with Microsoft trying but if anyone is going to succeed it's gonna be Sony. They understand the Asian market and Japanese games can probably appeal more to the Chinese than western ones can.
I'm surprised Nintendo didn't find success there. I mean not even with the ds and 3ds?
Chinese gamers must really only care about mobile and Pc games. Microsoft should focus more on that than the Xbox one. I mean, even in its home country it's not number one.
I'm surprised Nintendo didn't find success there. I mean not even with the ds and 3ds?
Chinese gamers must really only care about mobile and Pc games. Microsoft should focus more on that than the Xbox one. I mean, even in its home country it's not number one.
"Black market", also called the local shopping mall.
I don't think China will be as big of a deal as many people expect. The people actually making money in China for gaming develop MMOs and other games which are popular in internet/gaming cafes. Most consoles you can find in China already hacked and loaded with pirated games, and you can buy them at your local mall. With that being said, I doubt many people are going to pay full price for consoles, or games. It's a completely different gaming culture that won't abide by the Western mentality of spending hundreds of dollars per console and then 50-70+ dollars a pop per game. It just isn't happening.
Wut? A PC that can play League of Legends is cheaper, and it doesn't need a subscription to play. This is a awful plan.
^ This.
And is actually useful outside of gaming, which is a pretty important factor.
They already are affecting our autos...
Dreamgazer
Member
More like any kid attempting to play video games in the living room would get yelled at for not studying harder lol.
PC shops also give away "free" games to entice people to buy or repair their PCs.
They have more of a chance making it into a set top media box with F2P gaming capabilities on the side. The problem is there are already tons of these machines around.