By Herman Lai, posted Nov 1, 2012 at 1:51 PM, 1,396 views,

Sony PS3 Surprisingly Gets Approval in China, Is China Lifting The Ban On Game Console?

In a move of unanticipated benevolence, China’s 3C (China compulsory certification) appeared to have approved Sony’s video game console PS3. However, it does not imply Sony can officially announce PS3 in China too soon, it still might needs several other approvals from other departments in order to sell its consoles legally in the country. Many netizens are feeling happy and excited after the news was spread.

It’s unclear what makes the Chinese authorities lift the ban. But, earlier this year, Beijing eedoo (a video gaming unit which invested by Lenovo) tried to skirt around the console ban by labelled its products as a “home entertainment device” instead of merely a “gaming console”. Lenovo’s case might have opened a path for game console markers accessed to the Chinese market.

Currently, the PS3 are only available through the grey market, which often being priced higher than the official. The removal of the ban might mean Chinese consumers can buy the consoles through official retail channels for a cheaper price. Other than that, it will start to have PS3 games from China, since most of the popular PS3 games on the market are either Japanese version or Korean version. Sony will have a massive load of works of localizing its consoles for the Chinese market, such as how PlayStation Network account works with the local banks in China, if it can successfully grant all the approvals in China.

Source: Sina (Chinese Translated), TechinAsia, Kotaku