I essentially asked a relative of mine who is a Chinese Marketer about how successful gaming consoles would be in China. His area of expertise is mainly marketing Western movies, however, not video games. This was a fairly laid back Q&A, and I just wrote it to sound more formal.
Q: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all planning to release a gaming system of some kind in China. Do you think there would be much of a market for them?
A: Yes. Online gaming is huge in China.
Q: Would the general population be willing to pay the Chinese equivalent of 400 or 500 dollars specifically for a device to play video games?
A: Yes; it's within an acceptable price range.
Q: Is there any market for local multiplayer games, where people play in the same room?
A: Not really big. Maybe. I think it is getting bigger though.
Q: Do you know about games usually associated with Nintendo such as Mario and Pokemon?
A: No, those are outdated.
Q: Outdated? They've recently made new iterations of both series; Pokemon X/Y in 2013, Mario Kart 8 in May of this year.
A: Really? Okay, maybe these two will get popular in China again soon.
Q: Would these games also pass the censorship laws fairly easily?
A: Yes, games are easy (compared to movies)
Q: Even with censorship laws?
A: Yes, as long as there is not too much blood or sex.
Q: What about religion or acts of terrorism?
A: Anti-Terrorism is okay, but Religion probably does not have too much market potential.
Q: What about games wit lots of guns?
A: *Laughs* Lots of guns are okay.
Q: Is the general population willing to pay the Chinese equivalent of 60 dollars per game?
A: Yes, that's not too expensive.
Q: How is the Chinese economy doing these days?
A: A 3D IMAX Movie ticket costs $26 each in China. The Economy is slowing down, and not growing as fast, which is a good sign. You don't want it to grow to fast. It is still growing at 7.8%, which is the fastest in the world. Not bad for a country that has 1.4 billion people.
Q: Do you know what the average income is for a Chinese citizen?
A: $5000 a year, $30K a year is the average in big cities.
Q: Is that enough to be self-sufficient?
A: Yes, because there are low living costs. Lots of disposable income for games and movies. Lot of young people living with their parents.
Q: What is the living cost?
A: There is no cost for housing, including electricity and water usage. The average meal is $3, and a shirt usually costs $16.
I hope this was insightful for people curious on how well gaming consoles will fair in China.
Current Consoles: Gaming PC, Wii U, 3DS
