China lifting ban on sale of gaming consoles

Gamers in China can now rejoice. The country has officially announced that it is lifting the ban on the sale of gaming consoles in the country. This is not only good news for many Chinese gamers, but also console-makers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The move comes as part of the recently-approved free-trade zone in Shanghai.

If you’re wondering why consoles were banned in China in the first place, it’s because moral guardians took the idea that “violent games = bad” to its logical extreme back in the year 2000. The country felt that the violent content of games could have negative effects on young children.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are undoubtedly very happy to get access to a whole new market

There is a catch to being able to sell consoles in China, however. Companies are required to set up operations in the aforementioned free-trade zone before they can start selling their consoles in Mainland China. The free-trade zone is set to open up on September 29.

The free-trade zone is supposedly an experiment by the Chinese government where it wants to test the waters for major financial and economic reforms. It is expected to be a lot like modern-day Hong Kong which, despite being in Chinese territory, has its own laws.

Microsoft has already taken the first step forward with the recently-announced entertainment-based joint venture between the company and Shanghai-based BesTV New Media. BesTV earlier revealed that it will hold a 51 percent share and Microsoft will have a 49 percent share in the joint venture, which is currently named E-Home Entertainment Development. The company formed through the joint venture will develop games and related services.