Gold Farming
Why the change? Are the newer consoles better for gold farming?
China has officially overturned a 13-year ban on gaming consoles by allowing the production and sale of “gaming entertainment” in the newly created Shanghai Free Trade Zone. The official pronouncement by the State Council on Monday will open the way for foreign companies like Microsoft and Sony to sell their wares nationwide …
Why the change? Are the newer consoles better for gold farming?
Pirated software rules in China - there isn't really any concept of copyright in a country where everyone is used to sharing and getting everyingthing from housing to education to hospitals for free. There's no money in the consoles - it's through games licenses that Sony and Microsoft get all their money.
When I was in China in 2005 I visited a 1,000 seat cyber cafe and it was full. It was full of people playing pretty much the same game and paying by the hour. The software company that wrote the game gave it away for free and home access (over the state run ISP) was paid for with scratch cards bought at convenience stores - rather like you pay for phone calls on pay as you go.
The reason why MMORPG's are popular (1 million concurrent on-line users is not uncommon on platforms such as "Journey to the West") apart from the collective culture is because companies - state and private - simply cannot make any money out of selling the software. Instead the the only business model that works is the subscription service model.