Am I crazy, or isn't this a huge deal?

[Nick]

Sm4ckd0wn said:

Bodhesatva said:

klydwntelos said:
You are totally wrong for two major reasons.

The first is that China is a poor country compared to the EU, Japan, and especially America. The average American is about 6 times wealthier than the average Chinese citizen, so it's unlikely that China has much disposable income to spend on video games. If you're interested, you can check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita .

Second, piracy is a huge problem in China. The government basically only enforces intellectual property rights when it is convenient. That's why you get hilarious knock-offs like the "Vii:" http://www.techybytes.com/the-vii-chinas-answer-to-the-wii/.

That's why nobody currently bothers to try to sell console games in China.

You pretty much have no idea what you're talking about, other than that piracy is a big problem there.

The notion that no one in China can afford a console is pretty amazingly contradicted by the fact that more people play WoW in China (3.8 million) than do in the US (2.7 million). Meaning the online, PC gaming community is at least as big in China as it is in the US, if not bigger.

Explain to me, please, how a country that supposedly can't support a 250 dollar console can support high level online PC gaming -- and support it better than the United States, no less?

 

 

With all things considered, you're comparing the American population (which is roughly 300 million people) to the Chinese population (roughly 1.8 billion people).

 True, but with all things considered, that's entirely the point.  A smaller percentage of the population might be gamers, but the larger population makes it possible to become an important home console market.