China tops Nintendo's Rampant Piracy List

Rampant? Really, Nintendo? Are Chinese piraters looting and pillaging, slaying the men and having their way with the women? Methinks you're being a bit too dramatic, but such a concern might be a good reason for you guys to help persuade the Chinese that a legitimate console market could help conquer the hordes of evil piracy you see going on rampantly here.

Instead of complaining about it so publicly, why not try solving the problem first? Complaining is when all else fails (it's also for pussies).

(thx Kotaku!)

Want to buy a console in China? It's easy

Even though video game consoles are not officially on the market in China yet, it's not hard to find any of them in the major cities like Beijing, where I live, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Any of the three systems in addition to the PS2 are readily available here, and surprisingly the prices, despite being imported, are roughly the same you'd pay in the States. A recent inquiry at my local dealer said the PS3 is going for about 2700RMB (~$400), an Xbox360 Arcade is 1600RMB (~$220) and the Wii runs somewhere around $300 last I checked, but that was awhile ago.

Where to buy:

In Beijing there are two choices--big malls like in Zhongguancun, the electronics/tech gadgets lala land of Beijing, where huge multistory complexes exist that cram in about as many vendor stalls as possible--if there were a fire, I'm sure most people would not get out alive. That said, it's the easiest place to find just about whatever you want, including video games and their systems. Zhongguancun is too far for me, but there's a similar place on a smaller scale near where I live called Pingleyuan. It's a lot of the same stuff but much quieter, and the guy who sells systems there is cool and seems pretty knowledgeable about gaming. The other choice is the little shops around the drum tower area--for some reason that's a popular location for console selling.

I bought a white PS3 last June, 40GB model, and it was by and large a hassle-free experience. Generally you don't need to bargain much, but you can probably knock 100-200rmb off the price if you get games and accessories with it. Most shops will have plenty of accessories, especially important cables like HDMI and even HDMI to DVI cables for computer monitor users. As far as I can tell they do come with a warranty, but I'm not sure it's the manufacturer's--rather you can either return it for a refund, get it exchanged, or get it repaired depending on how many days have passed.

There are some things to remember, however--the most important, I think, is that pretty much any Xbox360, Wii, or PS2 you buy will have been modified to play pirated games. This is done for the obvious reason--cost. You get a modded console and you can buy games just like buying pirated dvds--something like a buck a pop. The downside to this, at least for the Xbox360, is that you cannot play online.

The PS3, however, has not been modded. I guess no one's figured out how, or maybe the infrastructure doesn't exist yet to pirate Blu-ray discs in mass quantities for cheap. This means all the games you buy will cost you their actual price, which is anywhere from 260-400rmb. I find that there aren't any bargain deal prices like you can find in the States on older games, and I've never heard of used games being sold here either. The plus side is, you can play online with the PS3.

Other important considerations: remember that all consoles are imported, and if you like to watch DVD you bring from home, you might want to reconsider buying one here rather than one from the US, as consoles are region locked and in China, all consoles come from either Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, or maybe Taiwan. This means no legit DVDs from the west will play in them. Lamer than a paraplegic chicken, I know. Even worse, the PS3s are all NTSC and won't play PAL anything. Yet oddly when I rip a PAL movie to an avi file, it works fine. Dunno what's up with that.

OH wait, the actual worst part is buying a Wii here, because you can't change the damn language settings. If it came from Japan, you're stuck with Japanese, which I imagine has caused many hurt Chinese feelings.

Finally, the Xboxes, depending where it was imported from, may have 110v only power supplies, in which case you'll need a power invertor or power regulator to convert the voltage--DO NOT use one of those little crappy Radio Shack ones. It will fail and then you'll cry.

Other links on buying video game systems in China:

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2009/02/09/buying-a-wii-in-china

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2005/07/29/buying-a-ps2-in-shanghai

And in Taiwan:

http://toshuo.com/2009/buying-a-wii-in-taiwan/

The latter raises an interesting point--that the Wii doesn't even offer Chinese, simplified or traditional, as an option, suggesting that Nintendo doesn't care much for Chinese-speaking markets. I'm sure that would change the microsecond China starts allowing consoles to be sold on the mainland.

Video Game Pirates are just Underserved Customers

During the Game Business Law summit Jason Holtman from Valve talked about how his company has reduced piracy of its products--and guess what, it's NOT by criminalizing them. Valve has succeeded by redefining the terms of engagement, looking at pirates not as douchewagons who just want to steal shit, but as underserved customers. In other words, they pirate because the game company isn't treating them right.

Valve's solution was to add value to its products and to make them as easily available in countries outside of the typical Western markets. I guess there's some stigma about developing nations because the governments might not be as steady, but the more I read, the more it seems to me that doing business globally requires one to understand the market in which you're trying to do business, more than worrying about which way the government policy winds are blowing. 

China is probably the far-off wet dream for many game developers and publishers right now; a huge market potential, but piracy, oh the piracy! It ruins the market, makes it unprofitable. 

I say bullhonkey. It's just that these companies' expectations don't match the situation on the ground. They want it to be tons of customers = easy money, but they don't want to make the deep investments required to get into the market and understand it. The profit will not be as explosive and ridiculously amazing as they think it should be. No one's going to be sleeping under quilts of stitched-together Ben Franklins. Any game company that really wants to reap the rewards has to think long-term, and has to really figure out what Chinese gamers want.

So what do they want? One place to look are the current successes: WOW, for example. I don't play it so I can't speak to why China loves it so much, but I'm sure market research companies can do the case studies other game developers/publishers would love to have. I think they will find that gamers here actually have a variety of interests, as FPS like CS are popular as well as RTS like StarCraft. 

I think they also want video games, as my earlier post about console sales indicates. The government has yet to approve the sales of consoles, but that it will happen is inevitable, and everyone should be preparing for this.

Most importantly, companies need to rethink how they're going to promote and sell their products. Rampant piracy makes traditional methods difficult, but Valve's experience is a valuable insight on alternative methods. Would that work in China? I have some doubts, but I think it stands a chance. 

Additional suggestions I have:

 Work with the gov't to promote "healthy" gaming (but only so far as that includes addiction rather than content)

Microtransaction gaming--sell the game for cheap or nothing at all and sell in-game accessories.

Episodic content--just a hunch, but I think Chinese gamers would enjoy this.

Understand that Chinese still don't have the spending power of the Western countries. Games need to be sold cheaper here (and if they're in Chinese, you don't have to worry much about overseas piracy anyway).

Sell online, partner up with Chinese online stores, e.g. Joyo-Amazon, Dangdang, buy360.

Support the gaming community: sponsor events, competitions, tournaments, charitable causes, etc. It's very important here to show you care about your customers. You need to show your loyalty in order to get theirs.

Any activity you want to engage in to limit piracy or warn piraters, get the government to support you first. If you have their backing, you'll be much better off if the Chinese public doesn't go for it.

In the same vein, remember that Chinese BBS forums can turn on you pretty quickly if you make a wrong step. Monitor the big ones and always be ready to respond. Engaging with consumers is one of the best ways to show you care about them.

And for me personally, would you console makers get busy persuading the gov't to allow console sales here? As that data I posted a few days ago shows, Chinese will buy them, and I guarantee you they want to play online.

 

(article from Gamedaily.com)

World Cyber Games, yeah China does it

The World Cyber Games, apparently the Olympics of computer and video gaming (I just learned that it exists), does have a team from China. Some quick facts:

2008 WCG competitors: 15

Tournament participant since: 2000 (the tournament's first year, when it was called the World Cyber Game Challenge)

The team competed in: FIFA, Counter Strike, Star Craft and War Craft

Won 2nd place in 2001 (But I can't figure out where they won their medals from the winner charts)

Sadly does not compete in any console games--hope that changes soon though.

Also WCG really needs to update their info and their website--it lists China as having a mere 123,000,000 Internet users, although now that figure is over 300,000,000, and the site has way too much going on on the front page.

(WCG)

China's annual video game review is out!

FTA:

China's 46 million gamers spent $1.7 billion on online games in 2007, up 71% from 2006. Advanced casual and casual online games made up 21% of the total, and new flash-based casual versions of popular MMO and RTS games demonstrated the hardcore gamers' appetite to play casual games along with subscription MMOs. Online revenue is expected to reach $2.5 billion in 2008 and $6 billion in 2012, for a 29% compound annual growth rate in the five-year period.

"China's spending on games is up thanks to their booming economy," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson. "14 million hardcore Chinese gamers play online games more than 22 hours per week. They play online, LAN, and single-player offline PC games in China's 185,000 Internet cafés and increasingly on their PCs at home, thanks to falling prices and higher disposable income."

According to the 6th Annual Review & Forecast Report, part of an annual subscription of reports for publishers, hardware makers, service providers, and investors who need to understand China's fast-moving video game industry, gamers are buying consoles with their disposable income as well. "In spite of the regulation that has banned the sale of game consoles in China since the year 2000, gamers are flocking to stores that sell illegally imported Wii, Xbox 60, PS3 and PS2 machines to take part in the excitement of console gaming," said Hanson. "While these consoles are expensive for the average Chinese consumer, gamers are willing to spend money on them to supplement their online gaming experience, and unit sales hit 2.48 million units in 2007, up 75% over 2006."

Piracy remains an issue for packaged software via digital downloads and counterfeit copies of games, but legitimate sales of packaged offline PC games surged 56% in 2007, over 2006. Chinese gamers are showing that they like to buy the legitimate copies to ensure quality and to get customer support. (Business Wire)

(My bold)

We have a winner...

China is quickly becoming known for its knock-off video game systems, none more (in)famous than the "Vii", a Nintendo Wii wannabe with far worse graphics and sketchier motion detection. Here's another shot at the prize though, presciently titled the "Winner". It attempts to replicate the PS3's multimedia functions while adding a touch of Wii with a motion detecting controller, and it is priced to move at $120-150. Watch out PS3, you have some serious competition for dead last in the console war!

Wii already released in China?

I really hate sites that don't date their posts. Like this one. I assume it's not a new post because it says the Wii is expected to hit Chinese store shelves in late 2008, but guess what it's 2009 now, so why is my google news alerts just picking this up now. Stupid. 

Also stupid because I'm pretty sure that it's still not in China, officially. I mean, how could it possibly compete with the Vii anyway?