Shantao played a game machine for more than 10 years, and had 5 games

Shantao played a game machine for more than 10 years, there were 5 games consoles, played hundreds of games, the total cost more than 10,000 pieces. Shantao said that these hosts and games are bought from the underground black market, he has a lot of friends around him like him.

In 2014, the 13-year game-machine ban on banned in Shanghai FTA, Shantao such a veteran player will be engaged in the genuine game market?

In the face of parallel imports rampant in the Chinese market, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, the three big foreign giants reacted differently. Huawei, Ali, Lenovo and other Chinese companies are also trying to layout the game machine market, but the host game development is very difficult, free habits of the game users difficult to change, to seize the market heavy responsibilities.

The world's biggest parallel market faces a shift

After a lapse of 13 years, the game is lifted. Watching the news, game player Shantao sent a microblog saying: "Today can finally play fair and square, hope that the future children can also feel in the home computer" Final Fantasy "," Live Football "(PES) series," Grand Theft Rook "(GTA) series and so on conscience game, rather than all kinds of money online games.

2000, to avoid negative effects on the mental health of young people the Ministry of Culture and other 7 departments issued a red "on the development of electronic game management site special Management advice", the document stipulates: From the date of the publication of this opinion, for the domestic video game equipment and its 0, accessories production, sales stop. Any enterprise or individual may no longer engage in the production and sales activities of video game equipment and its 0, accessories for domestic.

After the game ban was issued, China's gaming machine market went underground, in 13 years to cultivate a world's largest underground gaming machine market, parallel game sales in many channels.

January 6, 2014, the State Council issued a notice to adjust the Shanghai FTA in the relevant administrative regulations. It clearly stipulates that foreign enterprises are allowed to engage in the production and sale of game entertainment equipment, through the content of cultural authorities to review the game of entertainment equipment for domestic market sales. The notice was considered to have revoked the game ban issued in 2000.

The news of the "game ban" came to many people for the first time, "the original game was banned!" ”

Wang selling parallel games has been six or seven years, he said, the first few years in Zhongguancun Electronic city opened shop, has been normal selling goods, the above to check just check is not fake, quality is not qualified, almost do not check parallel imports this thing. Later, as business grew bigger, he turned to the online shop for the national market. Taobao on a total of forty or fifty game consoles sellers, are relatively strong strength. Add up statistics, palm machine plus desktop, an estimated one months to tens of thousands of units. Wang said.

How big is the demand for game consoles in China? Wang cited an example: "The previous year, the TV series" After the Chef "hit, the play Haiqing has a video game is often held in hand play." After the show, for two or three consecutive months, my store's game-machine sales doubled. A lot of people called and asked, ' Are you selling the machine that haiqing playing in the back chef? ’”

Data show that China's entire gaming market is ranked second only to the United States and Japan in the world's third, 2013 sales than the previous year increased by 40%, of which the PC game market occupies 2/3 of them, hand tour and the popularity of the page is also very high, but only under the ban game machine market share is neglected.

In fact, the market for underground palm machines and video game consoles is huge. "2013-2017 China Gaming Industry Investment risk forecast and future Prospect Analysis Report", published by the China Research Institute of Pu Hua, shows that in 2012, the sales revenue of Chinese handheld and video game hardware market has actually reached about 500 million U.S. dollars, shipments of about 4 million units.

IDC analysts believe China will become the most attractive potential market in the next few years, and once the ban is fully lifted, China is poised to become the world's biggest market for gaming consoles.

International giant genuine "three mountain"

For the lifting of the game, the most sensitive sense of smell is Microsoft.

It is understood that the joint venture company's main business is the production, sale of game consoles and other terminal equipment, as well as related games, entertainment software, the new company launched the first product named "Bestpad." Many people speculate that "Bestpad" is a replica of Microsoft's Xbox.

After the lifting of the game, the president of Tau said that the cooperation between the company and Microsoft will seize the time window and take out the good solution as soon as possible. Tau also said that after working with Microsoft, it would consider investing in some domestic companies to develop more games for Chinese users.

Compared with Microsoft, another two game giants reacted with relative caution.

The Beijing News reporter contacted Sony related responsible person, the Sony Aspect said, has not had any information to disclose at present. According to Reuters, the head of the Nintendo headquarters in Japan said there are no plans to enter the Chinese market.

In fact, although the free trade zone as a breakthrough, the Chinese game Machine market is open, but in the face of the 13 has been in the underground deformity of the development of the Chinese market, the genuine foreign capital into China will not be "acclimatized" is still hard to say.

Some analysts believe that Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo to come in, at least face "three mountain."

The first is the spread of the parallel market. "Game ban" the actual effect is that the mainstream disappeared, the parallel market flooding difficult to govern. It has been reported that in the heyday of the gaming machine market, Sony game machines in the Chinese market accounted for more than One-fourth of the world's sales, all of them are parallel imports.

The second consequence of the spread of parallel imports is that, after the lifting of the ban, the game machine manufacturers in China can not replicate foreign profit model.

A number of people in the industry told the Beijing News reporter that Microsoft, Sony and other game consoles hardware is almost not to make money or even losing money, mainly by selling genuine game software to earn money.

But the Chinese market has become accustomed to the "parallel imports + cracked version of the game", so that consumers spend hundreds of yuan to buy genuine game software is difficult.

Another problem is that there is no game grading system in China. "No grading, a lot of good foreign games, not for children to play but adults play a normal game will not be in." Shantao said.

Lack of grading system, the review process is difficult to grasp. Hangzhou, a hand-travel company insiders told the Beijing News reporter, "Any game or new game imported from abroad needs the Ministry of Culture to review, some companies often have to wait six months or even longer review cycle, it is easy to delay the best time to market, players can not wait to find pirated software to play.

Domestic manufacturers are facing development difficulties

After the 2000 game machine Ban issued, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft's licensed video games also withdrew from the Chinese market, some domestic enterprises will be the original game consoles, playing "learning" in the name of continuing sales, but did not insist on how long. Domestic companies have largely lost the chance to play in the lucrative sector of the gaming machine industry.

After the lifting of the game ban, domestic enterprises have entered this vast market.

Recently, Huawei at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the first show its micro-game host Tron, currently Tron on a total of 12 pieces of the game, by the game company for Huawei Special customization. Not long ago, Alibaba revealed that the traditional game maker small overlord will work with Ali's tvOS to launch a home gaming machine, its game equipment is expected to be listed in early 2014. Perfect World CEO H. Also revealed that, in addition to the recent acquisition of stand-alone game site video games, perfect also in the development of host game products.

In addition, the Beijing News reporter exclusively learned that Lenovo Holdings of the United Green Company has been "home entertainment sports Machine" in the name of the test water game industry, but sales are poor. Today, it has been customizing the development of the family game, and hopes to work with the state news and publication of SARFT, the product repackaging the listing.

"A lot of companies are grabbing the living room entertainment market, China in this piece is blank", to the joint green move to do custom game development Rangwan to Beijing News reporter said, "Now the family members lack of interactive communication, so the home game machine positioning will be parent-child interaction, to the body feeling mainly, this is the future development trend."

However, China Interactive Media Industry Alliance Digital Culture Working group leader Bao told Beijing News reporter, Chinese companies try to do host class games, will face several big problems. First, the development cost is expensive, one game will be 4 million or 5 million, the development cycle is very long, at least one or two years, after the listing effect how still difficult to say, so very few companies are willing to do this kind of investment big, the output slow project. Second, the host game's technical requirements are particularly high, including art, rendering, inside the various ecological system settings, engine development, technical difficulty is very large.

Many gamers ' first impressions of the Chinese classic "The Kingdoms of the novel" come from Japanese games. Shantao already do not remember which year the summer vacation, his little uncle to get a Zhang Shijia (game company) of the Kingdoms genuine game, two people play for a long time. "I still have this game now and occasionally take it out to see," Shantao said.

Shantao said that our generation, as a child of the red and white machine (the Japanese Nintendo developed the third generation of home game host) grew up, the game is not only killing, it also has a lot of good stories. In Japan, many primary school students will play "Final Fantasy", "Dragon Fight Dragons" series. When they grow up, become a thirty or forty-year-old uncle, are still taking these games inside the "stem" chat, it is very warm things.

For Chinese players, they grow up playing foreign games.

This is really a problem for developers. Rangwan said the industry is in great need of powerful gaming companies or hardware companies to invest and drive the industry's development. And in the process, how to develop enough attractive fun games to test the wisdom of domestic manufacturers.