Link: http://gamesunderpressure.com/xbox-in-china-more-grey-than-green/
Xbox In China: More Grey Than Green
An American In Beijing Attends The Xbox One Launch.
The following article was written by Michael “Lasher” Hamilton. Michael is currently teaching at Beijing Technology and Business University in Beijing, China.
For more of Lasher’s work visit his page HERE
The Xbox One launched this past week in China. The Xbox One is the first videogame console allowed to legally be sold in mainland China for the past 14 years. Microsoft has partnered with Chinese company BesTV to make the launch possible.
The launch coincides with the one-year anniversary with the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, and also comes just after Microsoft had been put under investigation for monopoly practices by the Chinese government. Not awkward.
The launch titles include Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Powerstars Golf, Zoo Tycoon, and Max: Curse of the Brotherhood. The price range for the Xbox One starts a 3,699 RMB ($602.20) for a base model and goes up to 4,299 RMB ($699.99) for a special Day One model with Kinect.
It must be mentioned that while there has been a ban on game systems in China, that does not mean game systems cannot be found for sale. There has been an active grey-market in the mainland for years, often selling imported consoles from Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. While the Xbox One certainly can’t be found at your local Wu-Mart (a real supermarket chain), it is not impossible to find. The lift of the ban just makes it easier to get one.
In order to gauge the interest of Chinese mainlanders, I posted a on my QQ and WeChat accounts, which are essentially China’s two biggest social media services. The response I received back could be considered lukewarm at best. Some respondents asked me what the Xbox One was, having never heard of it previously. Another said he wanted to buy the system, but unfortunately did not have the money to do so. Others simply said they had no interest at all in the new system.
That is not to say that China does not have a gaming demographic. All one needs to do is ask an average boy in his teens or twenties, and he’ll most likely tell you that he loves to play World of Warcraft or League of Legends (often lovingly referred to as LoL, pronounced ell oh ell). A simple walk down a street near any college campus at night will usually yield an internet cafe. Inside, hundreds of screens will be alight with demon hunters and special attacks. They will play well into the night with their friends.
The fact is, the gaming culture is different here. In my opinion, Microsoft has an uphill battle to fight. This is primarily because they must be able to convince Chinese consumers that a home video game system is worth their purchase. Since video game systems have not been widely available for over a decade, Chinese gamers typically either play on their computers or on their cellphones. I would say that cellphone gaming is probably the biggest trend going on in the mainland. Many in China will spend their idle time, be it on the subway or in a waiting room, playing rhythm games, arcade shooters, and other simple games on their mobile devices. Unlike America, the living room gaming system is not a very common facet here. Even in the 1990s, it was boasted that upwards of 30% of American households had an NES. Not so in the middle kingdom.
Being that this is the official launch week of the Xbox One, I decided to head out to a few busy shopping areas in Beijing and attempt to find the esteemed device. The first stop on my list was Wangfujing, one of Beijing’s most well-renowned shopping areas. It lies just east of Tiananmen Square.
I hopped off the train at the Wangfujing subway stop and wandered into the shopping mall nearby. Almost immediately, I spotted a large green sign advertising the Xbox One. It was inside a Lenovo store. I wandered up to take a look. At the time, a pair of two Chinese kids, around 5 or 6 years old, were both playing Forza on a large 42 inch flat panel TV. One kid handled the analog stick, while the other handled the buttons. Suffice to say, their driving skills were in need of refinement. Behind them, a gathering of adults watched on in curiosity.
No one, however, seemed to be making any purchases.
It turns out that only one shopping mall at Wangfujing had the Xbox One, and even then only one store was selling it. Definitely a low-key presence for one of Beijing’s key shopping districts.
Afterwards, I decided to check out Chaoyangmen district, which is famed for its electronics markets. I checked into several shopping centers in the area, but nary an Xbox was to be found. I did eventually stumble upon one on display, at an electronics chain store by the name of Sun Ning. However, the only action going on nearby was a man talking to a sales representative about his Amazon Kindle. The TV simply displayed the Xbox One HUD screen. A controller wasn’t even hooked up.
Finally, after Chaoyangmen, I decided to go to Chongwenmen. Chongwenmen is also home to several shopping centers. It is also one of the best areas in Beijing to find import and grey-market goods. Even before the lift of the ban on game systems, one could easily find a PS4 or an Xbox One (as well as numerous retro consoles, such as the Famicom) for sale. These systems are, by and large, illegally imported from Taiwan.
I entered one of the best shopping centers for video games in Beijing, partly wondering if the official launch of the Xbox One had changed things up at all in the neighborhood. Apparently not. Many people were still tinkering with the Taiwanese Xbox One and PS4.
Mainland China has a growing middle class with an equally growing income to spend. Moreover, they are more than eager to spend their money on new devices; there is a heated anticipation for the launch of the iPhone 6. But from what I can tell, their desire for the Xbox One is lukewarm at best.
Perhaps this is partly due to a lack of familiarity with home game systems. One thing is for sure, Microsoft currently has the advantage over Nintendo and Sony, neither of whom have a console on the market. If the Redmond company can convince the Chinese gaming population the Xbox is worth their hard-earned Yuan, they could win big.
