Reports that China may be lifting its 13-year ban on foreign video game consoles may be good news for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, but there’s plenty of reasons to question whether Western and Japanese systems can make a splash in the Chinese market.

　　有报道称，中国将取消13年来对外国游戏机的销售禁令。这对任天堂(Nintendo)、索尼(Sony)和微软(Microsoft)来说是个好消息，但我们有很多理由怀疑西方和日本的游戏机能否在中国市场上大放光彩。

　　Tech In Asia notes that consoles are already widespread in China despite the ban. Hacked versions of these consoles are popular, allowing Chinese gamers to purchase pirated copies of console games for as little as fifty cents. While the hacked consoles themselves may cost a premium, the cheap price of games more than makes up for it, and Chinese “players aren’t going to want to pay $60 for games they can buy for $0.50 if they have a hacked console.”

　　Tech In Asia网站指出，尽管存在这样的禁令，但游戏机早已经在中国遍地开花。这些被破解的游戏机很受欢迎，使中国玩家能够以50美分的超低价购买盗版的游戏。虽然被破解的游戏机本身或许有点昂贵，但廉价的游戏值回了票价，“如果拥有被破解的游戏机，那么中国玩家不想花60美元购买那些他们能够以0.5美元买到的游戏”。

　　Furthermore, Chinese gamers are largely PC and mobile gamers who prefer computer-centric MMORPGs and the free-to-play model popular on PCs and smartphones.

　　而且，中国玩家主要是PC和移动游戏玩家，他们更喜欢以电脑为中心的大型多人在线角色扮演游戏(MMORPGs)以及在PC和智能手机上大为盛行的免费模式。

　　Games like World of Warcraft are popular in China, but increasingly we’ve seen F2P titles like Tencent/Riot Games’League of Legends eat away at the market.

　　《魔兽世界》(World of Warcraft)这类网络游戏在中国很受欢迎，但我们已经看到，像腾讯/ Riot Games的《英雄联盟》(League of Legends)这类免费游戏正在日益蚕食其市场份额。

　　Activision’s Call of Duty Online is the only version of Call of Duty that’s made specifically for PC and is built on a freemium model.

　　动视暴雪(Activision)的《使命召唤OL》(Call of Duty Online)是唯一一个专为PC平台打造、采取免费增值模式的《使命召唤》系列游戏。

　　While the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will both embrace games with F2P in revenue models, PC and mobile have a good headstart on consoles in China and a ban may be too little, too late to change that. The high price-point on these newer systems may also be prohibitive in China.

　　虽然Xbox One和PlayStation 4将双双拥抱免费游戏模式，但在中国游戏市场上，PC和移动设备大大领先于游戏机，取消禁令力度不够而且为时已晚，无法改变这种局面。那些新款游戏机的昂贵价格也会减弱中国玩家的热情。

　　Tech In Asia writer C. Custer is dubious that the ban will be the “billion dollar windfall”some are hoping for, but sounds a note of optimism that a combination of good localization, marketing, and better internet connections may create more fertile soil for legitimate console sales and adoption of the more expensive pay-to-play model.

　　有些人认为，这项禁令的取消意味着“数十亿美元的天降横财”。Tech In Asia网站撰稿人卡斯特(C. Custer)对此持怀疑态度，但他乐观地指出，把恰当的定位、营销和更好的网络连接结合起来，这或许可以为正规游戏机的销售和付费模式的采用创造更加肥沃的土壤。

　　Either way, it won’t be easy for the big three to get legitimate products into the hands of Chinese gamers even with the ban lifted, though certainly the potential for hundreds of millions of new consumers is reason enough to make an attempt.

　　否则的话，即使禁令被取消，游戏机三巨头也很难让正规产品进入中国玩家的手中。不过，数亿新消费者的市场潜力无疑是游戏机厂商们放手一搏的充分理由。

　　Consoles like the Ouya may be a better fit for the Chinese market.

　　像Ouya这样的游戏机或许更适合中国市场。

　　The $99 system is not only cheap, it’s designed to be hacked and easily runs free emulators, giving gamers access to huge numbers of older games without paying a dime.

　　这款售价99美元的游戏机不仅便宜，而且易于破解，可以轻松地运行免费的模拟器游戏，使玩家能够玩到大量的老游戏而不用付一毛钱。

　　Given China’s propensity toward pirated and free-to-play games, the Android-based micro-console strikes me as a natural fit.

　　考虑到中国对盗版和免费游戏的热爱，我觉得这与基于安卓系统的微游戏机是天作之合。

　　The Chinese government wants to lure foreign investors to China with its recently approved Shanghai free trade zone.

　　中国政府希望利用其最近批准的上海自贸区，吸引外国投资者来到中国。

　　In particular as it applies to the console ban, the Chinese government would like to see companies like Microsoft and Sony begin manufacturing their video game systems on Chinese soil.

　　尤其是在游戏机禁令取消的时候，中国政府将欣喜地看到微软和索尼等公司开始在中国大地上生产游戏机。

　　“The Shanghai free trade zone plan is strongly supported by Premier Li, who wants to improve China’s image as opening further to business under the new leadership (of Premier Li and President Xi Jinping), ” a source told the South China Morning PostHYPERLINK "http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1279456/china-plans-allow-production-and-sale-game-consoles-mainland". “You may think the game console is a small deal in the whole policy package for Shanghai, but it’s an interesting instance showing how China wants to open up to foreign investors.”

　　“上海自贸区计划得到了李克强总理的大力支持，他希望提升中国的形象，在新领导层(习近平主席和李克强总理)的领导下进一步开放经济。”某知情人士对《南华早报》说，“在针对上海自贸区的整个政策中，游戏机或许只是其中很小的一部分，但这是个引人注目的例子，说明中国愿意向外国投资者敞开大门。”

　　The question is whether the popularity of mobile and PC gaming will make Chinese gamers hungry for new ways to play video games, or whether the competition will make consoles an impossible sell.

　　问题在于，对移动和PC游戏的喜爱能否唤起中国玩家对游戏新平台的渴望，而激烈的竞争是否会束缚销售的脚步。

　　If, that is, the ban is even lifted.

　　这一切的前提是，禁令真的会取消。