中国解除游戏机禁令，微软索尼任天堂迎发展良机

    中国政府终于允许外资企业在国内生产与销售电子游戏机，微软、索尼和任天堂这些业内巨头迎来了大发展的良机。

    据《华尔街日报》援引中国文化部相关通知称，实施15年的禁令就此结束，意味着国内外企业在全国任何地方都可以生产与销售游戏机。

    中国的游戏机禁令始于2000年，其目的是为了防止儿童与青少年受到玩电子游戏产生的所谓负面影响。可是，禁令未能阻止国内出现非法进口及出售游戏机的“灰色市场”。

    去年1月，中国放宽了禁令，允许“外资企业”在上海自贸区内生产游戏机。当时中国政府还强调，将制定管理游戏机进入全国市场的新规则。据彭博新闻社报道，时任中国文化部部长蔡武表示：“那些将中国视为敌对、或者有意歪曲中国政府形象的内容仍会被禁止。”

    解禁为游戏公司打开了通往潜力巨大的市场的大门。游戏市场研究机构Newzoo的一份报告指出，中国已经是全球第三大电子游戏市场，到2016年，电子游戏市场收入有望突破220亿美元，可能超越美国，晋升全球最大市场。由于过去15年中国境内的游戏机禁令，大部分游戏都转由网上出售。据悉2014年中国网上游戏销售额约有180亿美元。

    几大游戏机制造商已经采取行动，将旗下产品投入中国市场。去年9月，微软开始在中国内地发售Xbox One游戏机。美国电玩游戏网站Polygon称，Xbox One在华上市首日销量就突破了10万部，超过了首日登陆日本市场的销售业绩。（财富中文网）

    翻译：Pessy

    校对：詹妮

    In a big boon for Microsoft MSFT -1.28% , Sony SNE -1.33% , and Nintendo, China has finally allowed the production and sale of video game consoles on their shores.

    In a statement released by the Ministry of Culture, the move will mean that after 15 years, foreign and domestic companies will be allowed to manufacture and sell consoles anywhere in the country, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

    Consoles were initially banned in 2000 to protect children and youth from the perceived negative effects of playing video games. This, however, hasn’t stopped traders from illegally importing consoles and selling them to customers at “gray markets”.

    In January last year, China relaxed their ban by allowing “foreign-invested enterprises” to manufacture consoles inside Shanghai’s Free Economic Zone. The government, however, emphasized that new rules would be drafted to govern the entry of consoles into the country. “Things that are hostile to China, or not in conformity with the outlook of China’s government, won’t be allowed,” said Cai Wu, the head of the Ministry of Culture, in a report by Bloomberg.

    This has opened the gateway for companies to start selling their hardware in a potentially huge market. China is the world’s third-largest market for video games, and could overtake the US as the biggest market with potential revenues of more than $22 billion by 2016, according to a report by Newzoo. As a result of China’s console ban, most of the games sold have been online, with sales of online games in China said to reach around $18 billion in 2014.

    Companies have already taken steps to make their consoles available in China. Microsoft started selling their Xbox One in September of last year, and sold more than 100,000 units on the first day alone, marking a better debut in China than in Japan, according to a report by Polygon.