1. Xbox And Playstation Aren't Rivals
Since that ban was lifted, Xbox and Sony rushed in to make the most of this booming new market (China does, after all, boast a population of 1.35 million making it the most crowded county in the world). In a simple twist of fate, however, they won't be battling for supremacy in the latest phase of the Console Wars as they do across the rest of the globe. In fact, the closes they'll get to that in China is by being friendly rivals. The Playstation 4 might be subtly undercutting the competition by retailing for $113 less when it goes on sale in the country, but any sense of competition is entirely artificial. That's because, in China, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will be operated by the same conglomerate, Shanghai Media Group. The result of a merger between BesTV and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group, both consoles will be released in the country by that one mega-corporation. Internet TV service provider BesTV were already Microsoft's console partner, and "cultural" company Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group (involved with TV, advertising and media investments), were Sony's. The two became one, but it doesn't change a whole lot, since both were already subsidiaries of the State-affiliated Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group. Games are still heavily censored in the country, so both consoles will probably be more like multimedia entertainment devices for people planning on buying them. Multimedia entertainment devices which will stream TV, internet videos and other stuff that has been screened by the government censors. So, no luck getting Call Of Duty to work when you're in China. They're just glorified propaganda devices.
Tom Baker
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Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
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