450°

Sony, Microsoft Could Make Billions if Chinese Ban is Lifted

While Apple, Samsung and Google are free to ship their devices nearly anywhere, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been prevented from selling their most successful hardware items — video game consoles — in China. That could change in the near future.

According to China Daily USA, Chinese authorities are reconsidering their decision to ban game consoles in 2000.

The ban, which has prevented the legal sales of PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360 and other game consoles, was implemented after seven Chinese ministries concluded that video games could potentially harm the physical and mental development of children.

flankhim4256d ago

Nah. They will just re-manufacture counterfeit systems with worse quality.

PirateThom4256d ago

This isn't like the NES where they can mess about with a lock out chip.

4256d ago
flankhim4256d ago

@lorettajason3

Another chinese post!

blackbeld4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

Nice!

Finally they lift that crazy ban.

Chinese folks also deserve some entertainment not only hard labor. They work to much more then 10hours a day. Chill out please.

Daoshai4256d ago

@blackbled

Actually China only allows a maximum of 48hrs a week. The average is 44 hours I believe. I'm from Nippon where a lot of workers end up with many more hours, but I believe that is changing now.

The ban is more about keeping the public sheltered than depriving them of entertainment.

Bereaver4256d ago

Well, I live in Shanghai and I've said it many times before.

You can already buy 360's and PS3 anywhere you want pretty much. Just because it's "Illegal" doesn't mean you can't buy it. They don't really enforce the law. Take a look here.....

http://s.taobao.com/search?...

Or here

http://s.taobao.com/search?...

SolidStoner4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

the fun part is that 50 % of world consoles and equipment comes from China! Yup just checked.... everything about consoles in my house is made in China!!! :)

jony_dols4256d ago

I'd say that both Sony & Microsoft are waiting till they their next-gen consoles are better secured against piracy, before officially releasing in China.

Kurt Russell4256d ago

SOWWY YOR PWINSESS IS IN NUVA CARSHOLE!

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4256d ago
Knight_Crawler4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

Actually no they wont as I am pretty sure Chine will be in 100% control on which games will be allowed in China.

So No Halo, Killzone or Call Duty in China just good old fashion family game rated E for everyone.

Edit: at blackbeard - true plus the Asian community is not crazy over shooter like the west is and they enjoy RPG's more.

Would be interesting to see what Chinese people are into, Japan loves JRPG's and Korea loves dancing and strategic games like StarCraft so I wonder what Chinese people are into.

Edit#2: Also how will PSN and Xbox Live work in China? I know the government likes to keep tab on everything that goes through the internet so they would want full access to PSN and XBL and I do not see MS or Sony agreeing to this...Google has had a hard time in China and are thinking about pulling out since the Chinese Gov wants to control every thing that comes in and out of China through the web.

blackbeld4256d ago

No shooters, but they can life with that.

They still can enjoy Fighting games, RPG's, racing games, sports games, etc.

Wenis4256d ago

They aren't allowed to make/let games in their country that 'dishonor' the Chinese military as well, or games that dispute China's 'territorial integrity'. But I guess that probably goes for all forms of media/speech in China at the moment..

Oschino19074256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

They have a F2P PC version of COD in china that's basically a mash up of Modern Warfare games.
http://m.pcgamer.com/2012/0...

Also you can get PS3s and such in China, they openly sell them in backstreet stores and local shops. I even have a few online British friends who live in China (Beijing area) and anyone playing COD can see most major Chinese cities have some lit up areas on the world map.

I think the deal with Chinese Government is they don't want other countries making money off of their people without getting a nice slice of the pie for themselves.

Bereaver4256d ago

Most people will just use the Hong Kong servers. Yes, even though Hong Kong is in China, it's still kind of different. And they do have Hong Kong servers. (well at least ps3 does, not sure about xbox)

_-EDMIX-_4256d ago

Favorite comment "they openly sell them in backstreet stores" LOL

HappyGaming4256d ago

@_-EDMIX-_ I remember in the PS2 era they openly sold copied PS2 games and chipped PS2s in Greece :P

kevnb4256d ago

"They aren't allowed to make/let games in their country that 'dishonor' the Chinese military as well, or games that dispute China's 'territorial integrity'. But I guess that probably goes for all forms of media/speech in China at the moment.."

What do you think would happen if there was a game that disrespected the US army?

slaton244256d ago

chinese = karata= fighting games

BISHOP-BRASIL4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

@Kevnb

I understand what you are saying, I agreed, but as much as US government would protest and try to ban it, they don't actually have the laws to do so. Even more, they have the laws protecting the creative force rather than the government... Yes it can still be banned, but at the very least, a legal struggle would take place before it happening, they would have to go around the freedon of speech law and try to put it in a light that makes such content look harmfull to the country, it's easier said than done.

In China it's already illegal, so if the government want to enforce a ban, they'll just do it. They don't need to go around and developers couldn't appeal to anyone.

But we know all countries have laws that don't actually get enforced. I don't know of anyone that tried to make a game that would offend the Chinese army (also we had to read the law to see if it specifies what is considered offensive and/or how far offensive to be considered a "dishonor"), so I think we don't know if they would actually ban anything...

The way I see, for all governments, it has little to do with honor and a lot to do with money and public support... If something will burn a hole in the pockets of the Estate or if it will turn the population against the government I would bet at least some politicians would try and (eventually) get such material banned. They always do.

EDIT: Bad grammar... Still not perfect, sorry.

violents4256d ago

@kevnb

If i remember correctly we already had a COD game where russia invaded the US after a failed espionage attempt on a terroist group made the american take the fall(ie contraversial scene called the russian, i belive) and then we had a game called homefront, where the US was being invaded and you are a normal citizen trying to defend your country.

In the middle east they ban games like these all the time because it shows US forces invading thier countries, The US has never banned a game for making us look bad and dont try and act like they do. They dont have the laws to ban things like that because no matter how much you dont like it, by our constitution we are allowed to say what ever we want about our government, good or bad.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 4256d ago
yeahokchief4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

remember when sony's stock was at $9? this could change that.

wow. it already jumped up to $15.

that son of a bitch parappa the rappa was right. you gotta believe.

Mutant-Spud4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

@ bereaver,
Interesting, the prices in that link convert to roughly what we pay at retail for a PS3 in Australia, so I'm guessing game consoles aren't exactly "black market" items in China?

4256d ago Replies(2)
MysticStrummer4256d ago

"They will just re-manufacture counterfeit systems with worse quality."

If they copy one of the original 360s with even worse quality, there might be an international incident.

kevnb4256d ago

queue more ignorant posts...

lfclee4255d ago

I agree they will copy everything including consoles and there is absolutely nothing the console manufactures can do because of the Chinese laws , crazy or what !

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4255d ago
GribbleGrunger4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

I've been thinking about this since the first mention of China opening it's doors to consoles. They closed that door because of violence in games and it would stand to reason that IF they did open those doors, it would likely be the consoles with a more 'casual' appearance that makes the most from it. Kinect seems the perfect fit, but Sony and Nintendo being Japanese isn't going to help their cause. I might be wrong but I would be very surprised if Sony made more from this than Microsoft. If, of course, it happens. I'm willing to consider any counterpoints though.

ChronoJoe4256d ago

Doesn't make much sense. Sony's products are made in China and typically sell pretty well in China.

Furthermore, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - they currently have xbox 360 / ps3 knock offs because Japanese consumers desire ps3s / 360 systems.

With that said not much of the 360 lineup will appeal to a chinese market. 360 exclusives are very westernised and the PS3 offers many more games that're popular in the rest of Asia (Korea / Japan etc). So if anything I imagine it'll be the other way around to what you expect. I don't see this benefiting Microsoft all that much unless they want to come up with new content to back a Chinese launch.

Daoshai4256d ago

Chinese boycott Japanese products all the time. We do not have a very good relationship with the Chinese and at the moment its pretty harsh.

I believe China will come out of its shell sometime soon though. I'm sick and tired of my family (parents and grandparents) with their unnatural hatred towards the Chuugoku.

hellvaguy4256d ago

"Doesn't make much sens

It makes perfect sense when you think of it this way. The Chinese have an oppressive communist government that is opposed to any form of freedom of speech. You cant use the regular internet there. It's a heavily government censored internet.

NateCole4255d ago

Well they are not that much more friendlier to the US.

EddieNX 4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

Sony , Microsoft and Nintendo could make billions*

@shut up and take money - Indeed , just seemed like a bit of an ignorant headline lol.

Nintendo and Sony would probably shaft China.

shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

fixed.. We both know MS will still have USA and sony wiiU the rest of the world.

Belking4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

We don't know nothing because nothing has been lifted.

adorie4256d ago (Edited 4256d ago )

China's game industry will make the US look like Japan's, once fully established. they are pushing it too, fast tracking it even. China is nothing to joke with.

Daoshai4256d ago

@adorie

You are giving china way too much credit for its economy. The US dwarfs it, the average person in the US makes 10x that of a China.

solid_warlord4256d ago

Don'f forget the UK...UK is Xbox territory.

Ezz20134256d ago

@solid_warlord

you do know UK is in europe right ?!

europe is ps3/wii land

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4256d ago
DA_SHREDDER4256d ago

I hope i meet the most sexy and beautiful Chinese woman in my nerd life online some day.

PopRocks3594256d ago

Hey, as long as they can all make better products and give us more content, power to all of them.

Show all comments (90)
240°

Ex-343 QA Claims Microsoft Contracting Policies Main Issue MS Exclusives Seeing Downturn in Quality

One former 343 Industries QA Tester blames Microsoft's contracting policies for the Halo franchise's hardships and MS' exclusives downturn in quality.

Sonyslave311h ago

Microsoft biggest opp is the main stream media lol suda 51 hit it on the head on metacritic and media bias.

Sciurus_vulgaris11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

The contracting policies do cause a decrease in developer productivity. New contractors are continually having to adjust to new dev tools and workplaces. Once a contractor has fully adjusted to a studio and its development tech, they are often let go and replaced.

excaliburps5h ago

Exactly. Save on money but compromise quality.

pwnmaster30004h ago

Literally all big companies get the same treatment… maybe not Nintendo as much but Sony and MS definitely do.

ThinkThink10h ago

Downturn in quality? Aside from redfall, they've been doing pretty good.

isarai8h ago

You're not living up to your username bro, nearly every MS studio release has been met with sizeable disappoinment of some kind besides Hi-Fi Rush for the past decade.

BeHunted6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Concord, the PS5 game that cost $400 million, flopped within 12 days of its release, surpassing E.T. to become the biggest flop in gaming history. What happened? Did they forget to include gameplay?

isarai6h ago

@BeHunted

Absolutely no one is defending Concord 🤣, also the $400mil has been debunked. And lastly this has nothing to do with Sony or Concord.

Hypertension1406h ago

@BeHunted

I think he means Microsofts old studios, the ones responsible for halo, gears and forza. Every new game has had a noticeable drop in quality.

Concord is from one of Sonys newest studios, and Microsoft buying what's already popular studios don't count.

OtterX4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

@BeHunted lol, that's like s***ing your pants and saying "Hey, that guy over there p***ed his pants, it's ok!"

No dude, you still s*** your pants. Many times. Now nobody wants to play with you.

At least the other guy is cleaning his pants.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4h ago
Profchaos6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Look at first party games pre Halo 5 and gears 4 some amazing generational hits that stand as some of the greatest games ever made like halo 1/2/3, mass effect 1, gears 1/2, Crackdown, fable etc.

And look at them since the Kinect on 360 where the focus turned to trying to capture the casual market pivoting back trying cloud and gamepass and giving up then going on a spending spree because they failed to compete on their own merits.
Stellar games like
Halo 5/ infinite, gears 4, recore, starfield and red fall are the result. I don't think anyone will look back in 20 years like man that whole moment between master chief and locke when they teamed up with amazing but everyone recalls the fall of reach.

Yeah I've noticed a significant downturn in quality for the last decade or more

Hi-fi rush was born out of a side project and that is their most acclaimed game in the last decade

XiNatsuDragnel9h ago

I am not surprised Microsoft is there own enemy.

Knightofelemia9h ago

I found that after Microsoft bought 2 certain ip's from Bungie and Epic their quality has gone down. The exclusives are boring Gears 4 and 5 I thought were boring Halo 5 I also thought was boring. And yes the quality was there when XB360 had exclusives. But since XB1 and Series X the quality and lack of exclusives has gone down. And yes it sounds like Microsoft is a prick to work for. Work today get turfed tomorrow.

Hotpot6h ago

It was downturn anyway since they bought Halo and Gears from Bungie and epic.

Show all comments (23)
760°

State of Play returns tomorrow

State of Play is back tomorrow, September 24! Tune in live for news and updates on more than 20 upcoming PS5 and PS VR2 games from studios around the world.

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Sonic188120h ago

Hopefully not a lot of remasters

Eonjay19h ago

Agreed, but if I could pick one game to remaster first it would be Killzone 2. If you had to pick one which would it be?

Mr_cheese19h ago

I know it's not the same but I'd love a reboot of resistance or warhawk

u-bEttA-rUn19h ago

If they announce Kill Zone 2 remake or resistance 2 that multiplayer would be crazy. But Warhawk I would cry like a 2 year old 😂😂😂 give me bloody roar

ravens5218h ago

God of War 1-3, Ascension, Ghost of Sparta and Chains of Olympus all in One.

RaiderNation18h ago

I love Killzone, but I would prefer a complete reboot of the franchise, using the newest version of the Decima engine, rather than simply a remaster of part 2.

SimpleDad17h ago

Sony will not do Killzone 2 or any Killzone because they don't have plans for it in the future... No TV shows, no sequel, no Lego game, no multiplayer...

This is dead for Herman... Only Aloy.
And that's sad.

Zero hype for tomorrow.

Kingrizzy9017h ago

legacy of kane, resistance, or just something totally new that hasnt been already done

Cacabunga16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

Hopefully zero gaas, will show that they’re starting to reason!!!
And yeah the remaster trend must also stop.
PS5 exclusives or nothing go home

A new Killzone, Uncharted, Tsushima, inFamous, Resistance, Wolverine or something original single player.

CobraKai16h ago

Killzone 1. In think that needs a retelling

Profchaos14h ago

I either want something from the infamous franchise or the cheeky answer is being lemmings back as that's now Sony

DarXyde11h ago

Killzone 2 I think falls into remake territory.

I'll take a Warhawk remake or even a remaster but that's it, really.

Any remasters for a last generation game on a backwards compatible console is just insulting.

fr0sty4h ago

If they do any online only live service stuff, give us MAG or Warhawk, games that actually perfected that formula.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 3h ago
IAMRealHooman19h ago

only remasters, even remasters of games that aren't even out yet

DodoDojo19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

Wrong, there will also be a 2 minute snippet of Lego Horizon.

bloop16h ago

If they don't show something from a couple of their big studios after the absolute disaster they've had with Concord then I'll lose all hope. This generation has been a complete letdown so far and there's very little to look forward to at the moment.

RaidenBlack19h ago

Pretty sure : RE9, Days Gone Remaster, HZD Remaster, 1 last SH2 trailer, Wolverine trailer, Until Dawn trailer
Maybe(s) : GoT 2 announcement, DS2 (but already happening@ TGS), Pragmata, TLOU2 or SpiderMan 2 PC announcement,
Wishlist : Santa Monica & Naughty Dog's new project tease, Marathon gameplay trailer
Don't Want : Any AC Shadows trailer, Any more remasters other than the ones leaked

Eonjay19h ago

You really think that other remaster is Days Gone? And my God what happened to Pragmata?!?

seanpitt2319h ago

It’s 30 minutes, I think you’re being optimistic there, don’t have high expectations, I know mine are the lowest they have ever been since what i have witnessed these past 4 years!

crazyCoconuts18h ago

Agreed w/ Sean. Keep expectations low.

Juiceup9h ago

jfc what is this trash lineup Sony please

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 9h ago
Christopher18h ago

Only 5 remasters. They had to cut back to squeeze in 1 new announcement. They will have another SoP next month to cover the other 12 remasters.

-Foxtrot18h ago

*monkey paw curls*

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

Gravity Rush 1 & 2 Remastered

Until Dawn Remastered

DarXyde10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

In the case of Gravity Rush, a remaster of a remaster that plays on PS5 now would be bizarre. Then again, so does Horizon.

This only makes sense if it means a PC release, but they still closed the studio and releasing this would be very poor taste.

potatoseal18h ago

I'm presonally looking forward to a Days Gone one. Would love any excuse to play that game again. I loved it

darthv7213h ago

Why wait for an excuse... just go play it now.

CobraKai16h ago

Im thinking showcasing Pro versions of existing games.

neutralgamer199215h ago(Edited 15h ago)

They could do a lot right by simply announcing a blood-borne remastered so many people have been waiting for it and they should not only bring it to PlayStation 5 but also PC

If they are all intent on doing a lot of remasters, how about doing some of the remasters from the games during the PlayStation 2 and three generation instead of PlayStation 4 games?

Can we get infamous collection? Can we please get Socom from the PlayStation 2 generation? Uncharted trilogy God of war trilogy twisted metal collection, kill zone trilogy, resistance trilogy some of these games they can simply just unlock online multiplayer. They’re only one need to do a lot of work and people would enjoy them

But instead, let’s just remastered the last of us horizon zero down the God of war 2018 this PlayStation Sony executive bosses are some of the most idiotic in the past 10 years

PlayStation has such a long history. They can simply do a lot of fun service and get so much positive PR but they keep making the same mistake again and again and again.

Rimeskeem13h ago

I would honestly prefer remasters/remakes/reboots of games than GaaS they have tried to push.

TheEroica12h ago

Release the remastered games on the sheep!

JackBNimble9h ago

Hahaha... I was going to make the same joke.
That's all they have

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 3h ago
RaidenBlack37m ago(Edited 37m ago)

Lol, but like most I was expecting a 'Playstation showcase' but looking at how brief the Pro reveal was ... I am guessing these short State of Plays á la N.Direct style is how Sony is going to continue.
The next big PS showcase is gonna be the PS6 event. Till then all will be SoPs.

19h agoReplies(2)
Relientk7719h ago

Hopefully there's good games, but we'll see. Going in with low hype, and I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Show all comments (107)
80°

Anniversary: Nintendo Is 135 Years Old Today

Where does the time go?

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