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PlayStation 2 Release Delayed In China

Posted by simoniker on from the confusion-reigns dept.

Thanks to the San Jose Mercury News/AP for their article regarding Sony's postponement of the PlayStation 2's release in China. According to the piece, "Two days after the planned release date, a statement on Sony's Chinese-language Web site blamed an 'unfavorable environment' for the delay. It didn't elaborate or set a new launch date." The article goes on to speculate that "Makers of popular console games such as Sony and Nintendo have been wary of launching products in mainland China... largely because of fears of piracy", referencing Nintendo's recently-launched iQue console, and also noting: "Earlier reports said that the advanced computer chips used in PlayStation 2 and some of its advanced graphics functions might have military applications that would preclude export of the devices to China under U.S. and Japanese law, but Sony did not mention that in its announcement."

3 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. If the G5 is available.... by suyashs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If apple can sell the G5 in China, why shouldn't Sony be allowed to sell the PS2? Since its already available nearly everywhere else in the world, why not make it avaliable to china? I am sure that if there was a military application to this it would have already been found + I doubt that the Chinese military is stupid enough to rely on a console to power their military equipment...

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    http://chrono.posterous.com/
  2. Unfavorable? by Saint+Mitchell · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't know about unfavorable. Even if they are worried about piracy, so what. Change the business model a bit. Jack up the price of the console to where you make a profit. You won't sell as many, but who cares. It beats loosing money on the console thinking you'll make up for it on games. You know you're going to get your ass handed to you on game sales, so you make up for it elsewhere. Good luck getting a developer to translate games though, since they know they aren't going to make much if any.

  3. PS2 in Hong Kong by cloudless.net · · Score: 3, Informative

    PS2 has been launched in Hong Kong for a very long time already, and mod chips are widely available too. If SONY insists not to launch PS2 in mainland China, people will simply buy them from Hong Kong. There is privacy problem in Hong Kong too, just not as terrible as in the mainland.