the game console market after ban lifting

1、<p>　　The Game Console Market after Ban Lifting</p><p>　　When the State Council published the general plan of the Shanghaibased pilot free trade zone， people found that the game console， which has been

2、banned in China for 13 years， saw the dawn as the information transmission， software and ICT are opened to foreign investors in the free trade zone. </p><p>　　That means foreign companies can get engaged in

3、the production and sale of game consoles in the free trade zone as long as their devices and contents get the licenses from the administrative department of culture. </p><p>　　The demolished ban on game cons

4、oles </p><p>　　The said “ban on game consoles”originated in June 2000. With the goal of preventing young kids from the addiction to video games， the Ministry of Culture of China and other six national admini

5、strative departments issued the Advices on Governing the Game Hall and Other Video Game Facilities， in which the government halted the production and sale of any game consoles and relevant parts in China. From then on， t

6、he game consoles were forbidden in China. </p><p>　　This document completely shut the door of the Chinese video game console market in front of foreign companies like Sony， Nintendo， Microsoft and so on. How

7、ever， the Chinese consumers， especially the game fans， are in great need of these game consoles. This leads to the rise of smuggled game consoles in China， which indirectly boosted the development of the pirated software

8、. Because of the ban， there are almost no legal versions of game software from foreign companies sold in China and Chinese pl</p><p>　　The black market with smuggled consoles are full of fake， modified， rene

9、wed devices and pirated games， which provide no guarantee for the quality and after-sale services， posing a great threat against consumers’ interest. </p><p>　　The ban on game consoles was issued with the go

10、al of preventing children’s addiction to the video games. But none of the said function was realized as the Internet games， the primary “evil”that lures children into the trap of virtual world， are growing fast as driven

11、 by the large portal websites in China. By the middle of 2013， the sales revenue of China’s game market had amounted to RMB 33.89 billion while the revenue from Internet games contributed the dominant RMB 31.3 billion. &

12、lt;/p><p>　　Therefore， it is no longer reasonable to ban over the game console as the Chinese game market is deformedly controlled by Internet games. It is necessary to develop the console- and PC-based games，

13、as well as the mobile games， to enhance the stability and competitiveness of China’s video game market. 　　Nowadays， the ban over game consoles was cancelled regionally in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. What influence wil

14、l this bring to the console manufacturers in the world？ Are Sony， Nintendo and Mic</p><p>　　As said before， there are two main forces in China’s video game market： the ubiquitous Internet games and pirated-s

15、oftware-infested PC- or consolebased game market. For consumers， the possible quality problems， as well as the said damages of cracked games to their devices， are their major concerns. In addition， most of the game conso

16、le buyers in China choose the smuggled goods and pirated games， which are either English or Japanese hard for Chinese players to understand and can ruin their gaming</p><p>　　Therefore， the opening of the ga

17、me console market will be the evangel for Chinese game lovers. They can enjoy the exciting ACT games， which are best to be played via game consoles. The foreign game developers， attracted by the Chinese market， might dev

18、elop more Chinese versions of their games， providing Chinese fans more funs from playing games. </p><p>　　The challenges of game consoles </p><p>　　The opening of the market does not mean the ac

19、cess to the success. For game console manufacturers， the lifting of the ban on game consoles gives them an opportunity to compete with Internet games and mobile games. </p><p>　　The dominance of Internet gam

20、es is no longer a shadow over game console’s outlook in China. In addition， the rise of mobile games based on iPhone/ iPad and Android devices also mean a great threat. </p><p>　　The popularity of the smartp

21、hones and tablets and the improving specifications of these mobile devices make the mobile games more exciting for players. The 3D graphics， the shining pictures and the stunning sound effect which are usually exclusive

22、to the PC or console games could be found in mobile games as well. </p><p>　　In addition， the smartphones and tablets have more functions than playing games. Users can watch videos， surf the Internet， read b

23、ooks and take on social activities. In comparison， the game consoles are much poorer in the integration of functions. Even though the Kinetic devices of Xbox and PS make the console a machine for practice， it is still fa

24、r from being comprehensive in functions. </p><p>　　Another great advantage for mobile games is that they are low in price. Take the App Store for example： most of the games available for iPhone/iPad are free

25、 or priced at around US$1-10. In com- parison， a legal copy of FIFA 2014 on Xbox costs almost US$20 while the deluxe version of Mass Effect 3 is priced at US$50. For Chinese consumers who have spent one quarter or even a

26、 half of their monthly salary in buying the devices， are not willing to spend RMB 300-500 to buy a game （no one wants to buy</p><p>　　Transformation of household game consoles </p><p>　　For most

27、 players in China， especially the young ones， the 13-year absence of game consoles made this concept extremely unfamiliar. Their lack of knowledge of the consoles left a hole that is almost filled with iPhone/iPad and An

28、droid devices. Nowadays， most technology enterprises in China are busy developing Android-based smart TVs or TV boxes， which are considered to be their trumps to win the battle in the household entertainment. </p>

29、<p>　　What’s unknown to consumers is that Xbox， Wii and PS have already integrated the function of watching videos and they can provide access to the Internet to join players in different parts of the world into a

30、grand community， which could definitely be considered a social function. </p><p>　　Therefore， it is necessary for Sony， Nintendo and Microsoft to make more people know the advantages of their consoles. The m

31、arketing and operative patterns in the foreign market are possibly futile in the China. They need to think of new ways to adapt their products and services to the Chinese consumers： </p><p>　　1. Change to th

32、e distribution channels： the pattern of App Store could be borrowed. A user-friendly payment system could be built in the game console with easy access to the popular payment tools in China. Therefore， players can buy an

33、d download games directly through the console； </p><p>　　2. Make the Chinese version of the game， which costs a little but holds great significance for Chinese players； </p><p>　　3. Change the p

34、ayment method： the game developers and console developers can provide free or low-cost games to players while setting up internal purchasing items in the game. This is good for attracting players and easier to make them

35、pay when they are in love with the game. </p><p>　　All in all， the game console still has a long way to go in China. For Sony， Nintendo and Microsoft， playing alone in China no longer works and they need to

36、find local partners in China. At the end of September 2013， Microsoft reached an agreement with China-based Best TV to bring Xbox into China. It is said that Xbox will abandon its name in China and take on the name as “B

37、estPad”. It is considered to be a compromise of Microsoft in China. </p><p>　　Nintendo and Sony are reported to have the similar plan to get Wii and PS into China. The curtain for game console market in Chin