Sony and Nintendo (separately, of course) are the latest to look outside Japan toward the primarily PC-based online game market in Asia, each with several new business initiatives, reports the Nikkei.

Many companies in the game industry are prioritising mainland Asian expansions as a way to grow their business and tap into the devoted game market there. According to the Nikkei, Nintendo has reportedly been supporting a South Korean developer who's doing a number of titles including a touch screen-based DS game.

The DS reportedly sold 1.4 million units in South Korea, and 2.6 million game titles. Nintendo is looking at Taiwan as well for DS sales, and will sell localised DS systems in cell phone stores there.

Thompson Financial also reported on what Sony's doing to catch some of that audience:

Meanwhile, the game unit of Sony Corp. (nyse: SNE - news - people ) plans to work with Taiwanese authorities to train game creators starting in September, the Nikkei said.

It will dispatch personnel to a local educational institution to offer instruction, with newly developed games to be distributed online for the PlayStation 3.

Sony Computer Entertainment also intends to expand operations in South Korea, where it distributes video online for the PlayStation 3.

The article didn't specify what sort of expansion of operations Sony is planning, but console penetration has faced challenges in regions like South Korea and China where the audience seems vastly to prefer PC MMOs.

Japan's Nintendo, Sony to explore Asian game market - report [Thompson Financial via Forbes]

Tags: asia | ds | nintendo | sony | south korea | taiwan