The PlayStation Vita was released in Japan nine months ago and went sale around most of the world by this past spring. However, there is one market that the Vita hasn’t been announced yet: China. Earlier this year there was speculation that Sony was in talks with telecom company China Unicom about releasing the system in China; unfortunately, that was only speculation.
Due to China’s ban on console sales, things can be tricky for handheld consoles as well. Nintendo, however, has successfully released its DS handhelds under the “iQue” brand (the 3DS hasn’t launched in China, yet). And despite the console ban, the grey market is flourishing and interested gamers are able to get their hands on the latest hardware. This makes it all the more interesting that during the recent China Joy expo, Sony decided to officially showcase the Vita.
Sony took out a pretty big booth at China Joy this year and gave plenty of space to the Vita. Sure, there were some PlayStation 3s and Bravia TVs, but the star of Sony’s show was definitely the Vita.
When Kotaku asked the Sony media desk whether or not if there were plans to release the Vita in China, the media spokesperson said that there were no immediate plans, adding, “This is just to show off the device to Chinese gamers”. Further questioning regarding the potential release of the Vita in China went unanswered. As it stands right now, it is unknown whenever or if ever the Vita will be released in China. Even if it is, many of those Chinese gamers who want the Vita probably already picked one up via the grey market.
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