Why? Chinese readers will know this, but for everyone else, there are laws in place in the country that forbid the legal, official sale of just about every video game console currently on the market (a few Nintendo machines, including the DS, excepted).
So you can’t buy an Xbox 360, and with the release of Kinect, you still can’t buy an Xbox 360. Or a PS3, for that matter, so presumably Move won’t be seeing an official launch in China either (they’ll still be quite easily available through third-party importers, however).
Helps put the country’s PC gaming dominance in perspective, doesn’t it? Of course people will play PC games if they can’t play anything else.
Kinect Not to Debut China [TradingMarkets, via Gamasutra]
Final Atomic Buster
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 4:55 PMYou sure about this? I was just in Shanghai for 2 weeks and saw plenty of stores, like in shops in department stores, selling Wii and 360 consoles… I thought they were allowed there. And it really looked like the real thing, they were priced pretty much the same.
Braaains
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 5:45 PMProbably one of those laws that’s there but everybody just ignores. Movie piracy is against the law over there too, you know. They just don’t care enough to enforce it.
Charles
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 8:08 PMThey are real. Those consoles are imported (illegally) into China from various part of the world (HK, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and US). I know this because I brought a few consoles in Shanghai myself.
Harlequiine
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 5:06 PMI’d like to see what these laws are, and why they’re in place.
Mr Waffle
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:14 PMBecause buying these inferior Imperialist Pig products only brings down social order and spits in the face of family values and morality.
Fortunately, your benevolent communist overlords happen to have their fingers in companies who will make superior versions of these devices to enrich your lives! Long live the iPed!
http://technabob.com/blog/tag/knock-off/
But seriously though, maybe this will help-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_gaming_in_China
Needs A New Username
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:35 PMthey’re in place because video gaming is destroying the fabric of society.
Soon in every country except china there will be millions of criminals and homicidal maniacs
James Mac
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 10:11 AMThere are already.
bill
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 5:11 PMwhats the point of the kinect part of the story just right about no PS3 or Xbox 360 for china
Will Higgins
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:34 PMI like articles based solely on presumptions, instead of research or concrete fact. It’s why I choose NineMSN.
Yi
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 2:19 AMIts a load of bullshit, I just came back from Shanghai and there are shops selling consoles everywhere.
The consoles just havent been officially launched, and are imported versions from Korea, HK, Taiwan etc.
Mitchell
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 8:31 PMI don’t really see any point to those laws. Everyone who wants to play video games is just going to play PC’s.
Unless…thats what they want.
Clancy
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 9:15 PMWhile I have never seen consoles in department stores many markets have them. Buying legit games is hard, I have to order them all in. I bought my PS3 while in China no worries. I assume like Braaains said, it is just ignored.
Dogs
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 9:26 PMYeah I bought a ps3 in china (hong kong) and it is all legit and works fine it came in the proper packaging and it was cheaper cause they are made there it also had chinese writing on the box and it came with games and the store was a electronic store like many others i think maybe only in certain parts of china maybe?
Louie Song
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 10:33 AMHong Kong isn’t part of China technically. Different laws and rules and currencies and what not.