Post date: Jan 10, 2014 5:4:13 PM
Reuters Business Report - Enter the Console: China has suspended its 14-year old ban on video game systems.
The restriction was one reason PCs dominate China's video gaming scene.
Nintendo shares jumped on the news.
To qualify, consoles must be built within a new Shanghai free trade zone by "foreign-invested enterprises".They must also be approved by cultural authorities.
Many consoles are already built in Southern China by contract maker Foxconn.
China is the world's 3rd largest video game market, behind the U.S. and Japan.
The video game industry earned nearly $14 billion in China last year. Local developers accounted for more than half of that.
CLSA says 70 percent of Chinese gamers earn less than $634 per month.
A single Microsoft or Sony console game typically costs upwards of $50.
Many of China's top PC & mobile titles are free to play.