Wii was banned... all home consoles are, the way iQue got around it for their "console" was basically by making an N64 in a controller that just plugged into your tv, with games sold on rewritable flashcards.

I dunno if they can manage the same thing for Wii... be cool if they could though.

Does this mean it will be unfair to count sales from China because Sony/MS don't ship there?

You're onto something! I agree because this totally puts MS in a positive position due to them only shipping to US and UK.

PS2 had an official release in China afaik, Bandai Namco's even published games for it through their Chinese affiliate.  Sony gave up on the system pretty quick though, and it only had a limited "major city" release on the mainland.  SCE used to report Chinese figures separately in their regional breakdowns so it'd probably be included in their current worldwide ltds still, unlike iQue's GBA or DS sales.  This is probably because SCE China was seen as a pure subsidiary while iQue is a joint venture (and thus technically a different company from Nintendo).  Sony never released PSP in China though, even though they hinted at it awhile back.

Sony's always had a strong "official" presence in Hong Kong though, while Nintendo never has.

The ban on video game consoles was in 2000. The ban is not strictly enforced, which is why one can find the products from time to time in the mainland. The PS2 was even released to China in 2004 and failed miserably thanks to Piracy. The Product manufacturers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) choose not to ship to china because they know they can't make the money.

Credit Nintendo for finding a profitable video game system without requiring special service fees. Also, the Chinese government treats non-Chinese companies different from Chinese companies. iQue is a company that was formed by nintendo, initally to be a subsidary of the company but for tax and legal reasons it is it's own self-operating company. iQue can get government help if they find piracy outbreaks for their system. As far as I understand, Nintendo Sony and Microsoft wouldn't quite get the same kind of help, the cost of finding the criminal and bringing them forth would come out of their own pockets, that they would have to bring the person to the police, and then they wouldn't have the same protections in court. On top of it, the Chinese government would tax the heck out of them because since it would be the product of a foreign company the products would be considered imports even though they are manufactured there. I think iQue can get away with it because it is technically a different product.

With over one billion people, we have to think that Sony and Microsoft (as well as Nintendo with their Wii) want to break into that market, and if they can find a way to do so profitably, they will get the video game ban revoked because it could mean billions of US Dollars per year in tax revenues..

It was huge sarcasm towards the guy who was whining about Sony shipping the PS3 to areas Nintendo/Microsoft don't ship Wii/360 If I remember correctly, he was whining saying it wasn't fair and they shouldn't count.

In soviet China, 3DS bans you.