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PlayStation (Games) Entertainment Games

PlayStation 2 Release Delayed In China 35

Posted by simoniker 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."
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PlayStation 2 Release Delayed In China More

PlayStation 2 Release Delayed In China

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  • If the G5 is available.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by suyashs ( 645036 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @12:14PM (#7786547)
    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...
    • The military issues may not be realistic, but the piracy ones are. It may well not the financially viable to sell it in China. You can't expect a company to do something that would lose them money, can you?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • Ok, rephrased: You can't expect a company to do something that would only lose them money, without even the hope of recouping losses elsewhere.

          You can accuse Microsoft of making a bad decision with the XBox, but the fact of the matter is that their initial intention was to somehow, someway, recoup invested losses, whether it be through licensing fees, improved sales of the XBox 2, advertising effect of Microsoft spilling over into other Microsoft properties, or the like. Microsoft must have seen some fin
    • Seems pretty daft to me too. I can't really see top military officials getting excited about a new console so that they can put its chip in a missile. Especially when the actual chip is so obsolete now... what is it 3-4+ years old?
      • There were stories about Saddam buying playstations to guide his missiles years ago. I don't believe any of them, I mean, in WWII Germany launched missiles from Germany to England and all they needed for guidance was gyroscopes. How difficult can it be to guide missiles then?

        Course I could be wrong, maybe they'll be using the chips for different applications...

        • Actually, Germany to England is easy, as long as all you want is a basic path. The problem comes in when you are shooting missles at people that have an air defense worth mentioning, in modern warfare. Then, you usually want to have some sort of terrain following missle (ala Tomahawk), which gives little warning to your enemy, can mask the launching platform's position, and is less likely to be destroyed en route to target.
          Now, would a country, such as China (who bought up tons of Soviet military hardwar
          • Yep, Apple could start using the same or similar excuse for not launching their products in the Congo...I think the main issue is that the Chinese market will just be another drain on Sony...I doubt that they can make profits in such a piracy ridden market (does Universal, Fox, or WB make a profit in China?)....
    • Everyone knows an Apple computer can upload a virus to an Alien Mothership. So, exporting a G5 Apple to China only increases our Global chance of preventing extinction by way of hostile Alien take over.

      But, apparently a PlayStation 2 can be used to guide missiles to and fro. So, that's no good for the public health...

      Geeze, I thought all this was completly obvious.
  • Since the prevailing attitude of most of the technologically elite is one that condones INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT, than it is hard not to agree with Sony on this one. If the artists who put their time and effort into game design are going to be undermined by counterfeit games, than why should the system be released in that country at all? Are MOD CHIPS not entirely made in China? If a flourishing video game industry is to develop in that country it should be without the dark cloud of piracy. The bottom
    • No Mod chips are not entirely made in China. Any Gonzo with an ounce of Electronical engineering skill can download the code into a chip. 2 Flatmates in University helped keep their beer funds for 2 years selling these chips, and they were hardly rocket scientists. The only real skillful part required is the installation (as I can't solder for crap)
    • Let me get this straight. They are afraid that if they begin selling their product in China some people will purchase legitimate copies of games and some people will buy or aquire an infringing copy. To remedy this situation they will not sell their product in China and will make no money from legitimate sales. I guess that might make sense if they plan on selling the hardware at a loss but that could be remedied by simply raising the price of the hardware. This makes no sense to me.
    • If you think Sega lost the console wars because of some chinese mod chips then your an even bigger idiot than your ALL CAPS sentences make you out to be.

    • Modding however is completely seperate from intellectual property theft. as the VHS before it, modding consumer electronics you own has substantial non-infringing uses. Thus, it should be protected fair-use. but thanks to the over-reaching DMCA, the consumer is now prohibited from altering a product they purchased and own, as well as having their right to free speech co-opted to protect an illegal corporate practice.

      While many people would agree that for-profit ip theft in China is a serious issue - tryi
    • "Since the prevailing attitude of most of the technologically elite is one that condones INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT"

      That isn't true. Piracy is not something that the 'technologically elite' is trying to accomplish. We've paid for software/content, if we have the means, we should be able to explore the capabilities of what we have spent money for. If you have a specific situation in mind about what sparked this rant, I'd be happy to explain to you what the real intent is.

      "The Dreamcast and Sega were
  • The real question is what should we do with the pirates? The ones who profit from the sales of such counterfeit goods? Obviously the direct persecution and punishment route against the end user hasn't worked (see failed RIAA persuit of Joe and Jane Downloader)....If Google and Yahoo can ban hate literature, why not remove SHOPPING LINKS to MODCHIP sites?

    • Modchips don't mean piracy. A modchip has a legimate use...allowing the player to typically make a backup and play from the backup instead of potentially damaging the original from handling it.

      What to do with pirates? Make them walk the plank, of course!

      FIV

  • Unfavorable? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Saint Mitchell ( 144618 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @12:53PM (#7786853)
    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.

  • Military (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Loosewire ( 628916 ) * on Monday December 22, 2003 @01:07PM (#7787016) Homepage Journal
    Could it be anything to do with using gpu's for very high power maths ala that slashdot article a few days ago? the emotion engine is one powerfull gpu....
    • The only reason GPUs are useful for that sort of thing is because everyone already has one. Installing a GPU as the CPU for a military system is pointless, because it's not optimised for it. Using a GPUs extra cycles is one thing, but using it as the primary processor will never work.
      • the ps2 already has a primary processor CPU?
        • Of course the ps2 has a CPU, what do you mean?
          • you said there is no point using the emotion engine to process things as theyre no good as a primary processor, well the ps2 has another primary processor which can be used....
            • Indeed, but the parent of my post was specifically talking about the GPU, in reference to the article on /. a few days ago about using GPUs for "general purpose" tasks. It would make much more sense to use the CPU, than the GPU, but it still doesn't seem very likely.
              • it was talking about using cpu's to run the system and the gpu to do complex maths at high speed - beacuse the gpu doesent have to worry about system ovverhead...
                • That's what the article was about, but it isn't what your post said. It may have been what you meant, but I have no way of knowing that. I can only read what you actually type, and you didn't mention CPUs at all, what you said implied using just the GPU.
    • It's not that powerful. Any modern Radeon or GeForce easily outpowers the Emotion Engine. If the Apple G5 is available in Chine, there's no reason to ban the PS2.

  • PS2 in Hong Kong (Score:4, Informative)

    by cloudless.net ( 629916 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @01:08PM (#7787029) Homepage
    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.
  • I've heard of other piracy issues in China and Korea. Rampant piracy of VHS tapes... anyone know about this? Why is it a bigger problem there than it is in other places? Is it a cultural thing, like less respect for intellectual property? More of a tradition in buying things from the guy on the corner instead of going to a more regulated retail outlet? Is it economic reasons? All of the above? I'm curious why the piracy problem is bigger there than in, say, the U.S.

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