In China, Communism is the rule and law of the land. That means, the Chinese government dictate what websites are accessible and pass the Great Firewall of China, how many kids you can have, and what gaming consoles are allowed to be sold. Sony unfortunately is not on that list and so for the past 6 years, sales of the PlayStation 3 have not been possible to the biggest market. It should be noted that The Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii share a similar fate as all gaming consoles were banned in 2000.

Not wanting to miss on such a large potential user base, Sony has done everything it can to get permission to sell its consoles. In fact, as of July 2012, Sony was able to obtain the China Compulsory Certification (3C) which would allow for sales of the unit. Seeing this headline, many sites ran with the story that PS3 sales were not permitted in China but a more comprehensive reports shows anything but that.

According to Forbes, things are much more complicated then that and just having a 3C certification has not allowed Sony to sell the PS3.

 A 3C is required if a product is to be manufactured, sold, imported and used in China. Suffice it to say that the Certification and Accreditation Administration does not fall under the MOC, but the MOC has regulatory authority over the ban on consoles. Niko Partners and Pilar Legal interviewed a key official at the MOC, GAPP, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) for our report and we are certain that the ban is still in place. 

So despite the PS3 passing one level of red tape, Sony still has many more obstacles to overcome before it can hope to sell the PS3. Even more dizzying is that they will have to do this all over again with the PS4. Assuming even the PS3 was able to be sold in the country, getting games approved is even more mind boggling.

 all games in China must be officially approved by the Ministry of Culture (MOC) and General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP). The MOC only gets involved with the approvals if it is a foreign game, but even domestic games must register with the MOC within 30 days of launch. There are other ministries and agencies involved too, each with its own opinion about foreign and domestic games and game hardware, but in fact foreign games are treated differently from domestic games. 

Now we can see why Microsoft and Nintendo might not even be bothering with the whole ordeal.

Discuss:

Is China really worth pursuing or should Sony stop spending money towards on a system that is designed to keep its people in check?