14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft officially launched the Xbox One in China today, and it appears that after 14 years of drought, the public was quite excited about getting their hands on a new gaming console, in spite of early warnings of a low level of interest.
The console was initially scheduled for release on last Tuesday, and was then delayed for six days, but now it's finally available, and people have been lining up for it.
Microsoft originally planned to hold a launch party, but it canceled it due to poor weather, and provided statements that there weren't any other such events planned for the console's launch.
Even so, without official plans to embellish the launch with extra activities, some retailers took it on themselves to organize festive gatherings to celebrate the first console launch in China in 14 years.
Kotaku reports that one of Microsoft's retail partners organized a midnight launch event at eight of its major retail outlets across China, having stores open at midnight in all major Chinese cities.
The photos taken show many people standing in line and waiting patiently to get their hands on an Xbox One home entertainment system, and the turnout seems to be in stark contrast to the console's Japanese launch.
The Xbox One seemed to do much better in China than in Japan
Japan, granted, has always had access to consoles, in addition to being the birthing place of two of the major players on the console market, Nintendo and Sony. The Chinese, however, seemed grateful to be able to join the world of console gaming, and if the Xbox One got a lukewarm reception in the Land of the Rising Sun, it certainly didn't go unnoticed in China.
One of the incentives of standing in line and getting a console at launch is the fact that you can get your hands on a special Day One bundle, inscribed with the words "China Day One" above the Xbox button, on the controller.
For the time being, the Redmond-based corporation has not revealed any sales data, nor has it commented on its market expectations, or how many consoles it would have to sell at launch in order to consider entering the Chinese market a success.
The pre-launch mood seemed not so friendly to Microsoft's intentions, with a poll conducted on a Chinese gaming website revealing that the interest in the Xbox One was very low compared to the excitement regarding the PlayStation 4 console.
But that was before there actually was a console available in China, and after 14 years of zero choices, availability trumps preference to some degree.
Whatever the case may be, we'll keep our eyes open and come back with more news regarding the Xbox One's evolution on the new markets.
