Xbox 360 Aims for Legal Sales in China

An executive from the Chinese branch of Microsoft has suggested that the company might soon be able to sell its Xbox 360 home console on the domestic market, suggesting a possible change in stance by the Ministry of Culture of the Communist state.

Since 2000 the authorities in China have banned the sale of video game consoles and accessories for them because of fears that the youth of the country might grow up to spend too much time in virtual environments.

The ban was managed to limit sales of consoles like the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 but it has not slowed the development of an internal market for MMOs based on the PC.

Zhang Yaqin, who is a corporate vice president working for Microsoft in China, has talked to the publication Shanghai Daily during the recently held China Digital Entertainment Summit Forum, saying that an eventual sale of the Xbox 360 in China will need the approval of a lot of government bureaus but that's the possibility is definitely there.

The paradox is that the Microsoft home console is actually manufactured in China and has performed admirably over seas, managing to sell more than 40 million units since it was launched.

Recently Nintendo also said that it was interested in selling the Wii home console in China, although the company has not provided details on how it is approaching the government on the issue.

Despite the official ban on console sales by individuals and by companies China does have a black market for gaming devices, with estimates saying that between 2 and 3 million units are sold each year. Most of the video games sold are pirated.

Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all very interested in opening up the Chinese market as the middle class grows and as more disposable revenue is linked with entertainment.