A Chinese Safety Standards body has given a certification of quality to Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3. Now the recent certification has sparked speculation that this will end a decade old ban on home game consoles.
Video game consoles have been banned by China since the year 2000, citing that it needed to protect the well-being of its young people. Many analysts have cautioned not to read too much into Sony’s new certification, noting that the organization which has provided the certification does not have any regulatory authority.
Lisa Cosmas Hanson, who is the managing partner of US-based video games consultancy Niko Partners said, “The Ministry of Culture has the regulatory authority over the console segment and is the sole organisation that can revoke the ban”.
The website of the China Quality Certification Centre said that two models of the PlayStation 3 labelled under ‘computer entertainment system’ received approval earlier this year in July. Before any products are sold to Chinese customers, they must pass the safety standard. The certification was confirmed by Sony, but it did not talk about whether it heralded an imminent entry for the PlayStation into the world’s second largest economy, or whether the company needed further certificates.
