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Have you ever heard that PlayStation was not allowed in some countries? Maybe you recently heard that it was soon going to be banned here in the United States. Well, no matter what you have heard we are going to set the record straight for you.
So is PlayStation Allowed in China?
Although at one point PlayStation was not allowed to be played in China, today China has lifted its ban from PlayStation and allows the consoles in the country. Although they do allow the consoles, they still to this day do not allow all of the games that PlayStation has to be played in their country.
If you want to know more about what games are not allowed to be played on the PlayStation in China, then you will want to keep reading. You can also watch this video to learn about the games that have been restricted in China as well as other places around the globe including the United States.
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What games did China ban?
Since China does not have the freedom we do here in the United States, there are alot more restrictions on what people can do and even play in their own homes. These restrictions include playing video games.
Although recently China did lift the ban on playing video games, today the gaming consoles can be hard to find and not readily available. Even with the consoles no longer banned, China still has a ban on all the games that show mature content, drug abuse, and inappropriate things and goes against its laws.
Does China have its own gaming console?
Since China is a vast market itself, they have tried to develop their setups and gaming consoles inside their own country. Sadly this did not work as they could not compete with games such as the PlayStation and other gaming consoles that are so popular all around the world.
This is why in mainland China, gaming consoles are allowed to be owned and played once again. However China is putting a big import tax on the item to keep the consoles from being readily available all over the country. This also makes the consoles that are available to be quite a bit more expensive than here in the United States.
Even though China is very popular for production of many of the gaming consoles we have here in the United States, they did not remove their ban on gaming consoles until recently.
The main reason that they have given for the ban is that they want their youth to invest their mind in something productive. They further explained that they don’t want their children to waste their time on something that won’t benefit themself and the economy of China.
Bans in the past
In the past, China placed a ban on gaming consoles. This ban was set from 2000 to 2013. It was lifted after that, and the gaming consoles of that time, such as PlayStation 3 and other consoles were made available.
China banned the PlayStation and Microsoft Consoles in 2000. The reason that their government officials gave for the ban was because these consoles played inappropriate content that is affecting their individuals. Although China technically banned these consoles, many people still obtained them, through friends, and the black market.
Because of the ban, gamers in China were forced to go underground and buy and play games on the black market as well as hide what they were doing from the government. These gamers also risked being thrown in jail just to have a little fun.
Even after the Chinese government said they would lift the ban in 2013, it did not actually get lifted until 2014 as the government tried to fix the gaming issues and put restrictions on the games and gaming consoles that could be imported and played. The government even created an entire department to monitor the gaming devices and content that the gamers played in china to make sure they were not too graphic or taught the people what the government didn’t want them to learn.
Today, China does allow gaming consoles and games to be imported and played in China, but they still have heavy restrictions on them as well as are monitored by the government.
Problems the ban caused
Because of the vast game ban gap, Sony has failed to reach the market revenue in China. Although China has the most prominent gaming market in the world, it is still hard to get a foot in the door due to high regulations.
After the game ban was lifted though, Sony began to regain its popularity in the region. Because of the regulations though, Sony has to pay the government to be allowed to sell in China, which in turn makes the consoles more expensive.
Piracy also plays a role in targeting the sales issue. Since the pirated version of the games is available quickly at a cheaper cost, fewer people are ordering and buying the original games from the stores and online marketplaces.
Will China ban its gaming consoles again?
Although some games and consoles are now available in the market, there is still a possibility of a gaming ban. It all depends upon the economic policy of China. China has the biggest problem with game piracy. This is because piracy is not illegal in China as they are not held to the same restrictions as producers here in the United States are. This is why when a new console comes out, a pirated off brand will soon be released at about half the price of the real console.
If China would ever manage to develop something that has the same power as that of the popular consoles in the market, there is a possibility of high competition in the gaming world. China however has mixed this video gaming culture with its policies, and they have failed to eradicate the new issues coming out of the gaming industry on a day to day basis.
Region lock problem:
A little while ago, Sony placed a region lock on its digital version of the games. These games were not available all over the world. Although the physical copies of the game were playable all over, it was the online ones that had this problem. During this time, the majority of the games got banned in China. This is because of the public and governmental laws. According to Sony, the region lock acts according to the laws of the country.
A game may be allowed in some countries whereas it may be banned in some other ones. It all acts according to the content and depiction of the game. Some things in the games may be suitable for the United States, while on the other hand, it may be banned in some other country.
Because of this issue, some people in China were not able to get the same games we had here in the United States. A Lot of times this would lead to people coming to the United States and purchasing a bunch of the games and then going back to China to copy them and sell them for a profit.
Conclusion
Since China has opened its doors back to Playstation, the people of China are grateful for the opportunity to simply play games again without risking being thrown in jail. Although some people here in the United States cannot imagine that China would do such a thing, it is unfortunately true. If you are here in the United States though, you do not have to worry about the government controlling if we play games or not, and we can even buy as many games and gaming consoles that we want. If you are looking for the best gaming consoles, you don’t need to look any further than right here! This place has the best gaming consoles for the best price!