China Daily reports that as MSoft readies for launches in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore next week, gamers in the mainland are getting the shaft. At the recent South Korean kick-off, Microsoft's Alan Bowman said the company was examining what they needed to do as the company was "taking a very careful approach to China."

"Microsoft seem to be fairly ignorant of Chinese gamers. I don't think they've developed any games especially for China. They still need to translate existing games into Chinese. Also, I think they're worried about piracy," said a Shanghai gamer.

Unsold Japanese 360s are finding their way into Red China. At one shop in Shanghai, imported consoles were fetching 3,000 yuan (US$380) with original games being sold for 200 yuan (US$25). Expect the number of next-gen Xboxes to increase as machines hit the Chinese-speaking world.

Likewise, Sony is taking a cautious approach to the mainland. "There are various regulations which limit the game business there," said a Sony spokeswoman. "We hope these issues can be cleared up to enable the launch of the PS3 computer on the Chinese mainland as soon as possible."

Issues like piracy and copyright infringement? Seriously doubt that those will be cleared up before the PS3 launch. No matter what Sony or Microsoft do, they're consoles will fall into unsavory folks hands, out to make a buck. And keeping the machines out of the hands of mainland gamers does nothing but breed the type of illegal activities these companies are hoping to avoid.

Full Story Here [China Daily]

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