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China's Online Gaming Market Up 71%, Hits $1.7 Billion

Just about everything in the Chinese gaming market is on the rise, according to a new report by Niko Partners: with the exception of internet cafés (numbers are down thanks to a ban on issuing new licenses), everything is growing by leaps and bounds. The online market jumped 71% in the past year, which is no great surprise, but the grey market success of consoles may be:

Console game sales were up 75 percent on a per-unit basis to 2.48 million, but Hanson noted that due to a Chinese console ban in place since 2000, the entire segment persists through the gray market ....
"The big boom this year came from the easier availability of the new next-gen consoles ...."

She pointed to PlayStation 2 as being more popular than its successor, on the strength of its affordability, game library, and backwards compatibility, with Wii seeing popularity for similar reasons. Between PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Hanson claimed Xbox 360 is more popular in China for its price point and library.

Other details and explanations can be found in a nice wrap up over at Gamasutra.

Niko's Hanson On Chinese Game Biz Growth [Gamasutra]

10:30 AM on Sat May 3 2008
By Maggie Greene
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8 comments

Comments

Malvolio the Magician at 10:43 AM on 05/03/08
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"Between PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Hanson claimed Xbox 360 is more popular in China for its price point and library."

Selling two 360s a week more than the PS3 still makes both consoles look like failures.
sander_dutch at 11:00 AM on 05/03/08
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I can tell you this, the 360 is not more popular than the ps3 because of its price point, its because here (Shanghai) you can buy all the 360 games pirated for 5RMB (US$0.7), whilst ps3 games are not available in pirated form and cost 400-500rmb (US$57-72).
However, a PS3 does cost 3200rmb (US$463) and a modded 360 costs about 2500rmb (US$362). You just never have any warranty since everything is imported from Japan/Hong Kong, and that just sucks for the 360 with the looming RROD.
Also, because 360's are modded, you won't find many Mainland Chinese on live yet, while I've already met plenty of Chinese on PSN.
jsf49 at 11:01 AM on 05/03/08
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360 = hacked.

PS3 = not hacked.

We're talking China, right? Let's guess which they'd prefer...
TT at 11:01 AM on 05/03/08
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ps2 is popular mainly because you can buy pirated games for like a dollar at the copy market.

ps3 I dont think has been cracked yet so it isnt popular at all but I hear they have pirated psp and 360 games now
vx2 at 11:01 AM on 05/03/08
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I'm currently studying Chinese in Shanghai and i've got to say, PSP outsells em all! You won't believe the amount of people carrying a PSP, from teenage boys to middle aged women. That's not all though, next you'll see a 4GB card installed and a ton of pirated Jap/Chi games. Wii comes to a close second I presume and 360 third. Wii games sell for like .75$ and Xbox360 games sell for like 1.25$. The PS3 isn't even close to them, they're selling them LOWER than the price of an xbox360 premium.
vx2 at 11:03 AM on 05/03/08
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@sander_dutch:

actually i've found a couple of stores that sell the PS3 40GB for 2,700 and the xbox360 (the new Falcon units) for 2,900.
badmoogle at 02:59 PM on 05/03/08
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"Niko puts the number of hardcore Chinese gamers at 14 million, with that group playing over 22 hours per week."

Wow,this could have been a small nation full of hardcore gamers.
22 hours per week is not very hardcore though.
Sabre_Justice: Okay,... at 09:45 PM on 05/03/08
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@badmoogle: OVER 22 hours.

Heh, maybe one day they'll have enough money to regularly afford non-pirated games. It's been real interesting watching the rise of China from all angles. Can only wonder what's gonna happen next...