21ST Console games like Wii are bigger in the West. Now, in spite of the price, young Chinese are showing increasing interest in game consoles. 放大这张图片 Internet Wii游戏机 放大这张图片 Internet 多人同时在线游戏《天龙八部》

VIDEO games have never been that cool in the West. For years they`ve been strongly associated with the teenage boy demographic-not great for the image. But thanks to new technology (Nintendo`s interactive Wii, for instance) and clever marketing, they are now nearly sexy.

视频游戏在西方国家从未如此盛行。在过去的许多年里，他们太过看重青少年男孩的人口统计，而非沉醉于图像。然而，多亏了新技术（例如：任天堂的互动游戏Wii）和精明的市场营销策略，如今的视频游戏几乎可以用性感来形容。

The kinds of video games people play in the West are different to those in China. Here, Internet-based MMOs (massively multiplayer online) games are popular. In the West, people are more into their consoles. Since people tend to stick with what they know, there`s been little market crossover-until now.

西方国家的视频游戏和中国的有所不同。在中国，基于互联网的多人在线游戏MMO很流行。而在西方，人们更喜欢他们的控制台。由于人们总是倾向于坚持自己所知道的，他们很少关注其他市场--现在则不一样了。

China`s leading online game developer, Changyou, is now looking westward. And it`s currently in the final testing stages of Dragon Oath, an MMO designed for the US market. It`s already been tested in Europe where MMOs haven`t been played.

如今，中国的网络游戏开发商畅游公司就在关注西方。最近，多人同时在线游戏《天龙八部》正在最后测试阶段。该游戏专门为美国市场设计，已经在欧洲做了测试。此前，欧洲市场没有这种多人网络游戏。

But analysts have noticed a shift towards online gaming: "The Western markets are changing; it is a console-driven market but I think MMO games are the next wave," Atul Bagga, an analyst at research company ThinkEquity, told The New York Times. "E.A. and Take Two Interactive are strong on the console side, but online gaming is a very different animal."

但是，分析家们已经注意到网络游戏的一大趋势。“西方市场是变化的，虽然现在是一个以游戏控制台为主导的市场，但我认为MMO游戏将引领下一波潮流。” 研究公司ThinkEquit分析师阿图尔-巴加在接受《纽约时报》采访时说，“EA和Two Interactive在控制台方面很强，但网络游戏是另一回事。”

What this means is that MMOs can be played on many platforms-cellphones, Internet terminals and some consoles (for instance, Nintendo`s Wii connected to the Internet).

之所以这样说，是因为MMO游戏可以结合众多平台--手机，互联网终端和一些游戏控制台（例如，任天堂的Wii连接到互联网）。

If the US market catches on it will be a lucrative move. In China, 46 million gamers spent $1.7 billion (12 billion yuan) on online games in 2007, up 71 percent from 2006. "China`s spending on games is up thanks to their booming economy," Lisa Cosmas Hanson, a gaming expert, told Reuters.

如果MMO能畅销美国市场，它将能大赚一笔。2007年，中国4600万玩家在网络游戏上花费17亿美元（约合120亿人民币），比2006年上涨了71％。游戏专家Lisa Cosmas Hanson 在接受路透社采访时表示“经济增长让中国网游玩家的支出随之上升”。

"Fourteen million hard-core Chinese gamers play online games more than 22 hours per week. They play online, LAN, and single-player offline PC games in the country`s 185,000 Internet cafes and increasingly on their PCs at home, thanks to falling prices and greater disposable income."

“中国1400万核心玩家平均每周至少22个小时在线玩游戏。他们在线、通过局域网打游戏，或者玩脱机的单机电脑游戏。中国有185000个网吧，但越来越多的玩家开始在家里玩游戏。这就要感谢日益下调的价格和越来越多的可支配收入了。”

Cultural problems

文化问题

One of the draws of online gaming is the potential to play against thousands of others from all over the world. This is a very different game to simply switching on a PlayStation and playing a buddy. Consequently, the online game sector is growing rapidly: revenues are expected to grow 21 percent to more than $13 billion (89 billion yuan) in 2010, according to Samsung Securities.

网络游戏的一大吸引力在于玩家可以和来自世界各地的高手一决高下。这和简单地接通Playstation、一个人玩是截然不同的。因此，网络游戏增长迅猛：三星证券表示，预计到2010年，网络游戏收入将增长21%，达到130亿美元（890亿人民币）。

This all sounds very promising for Changyou, but there`s a hitch, and it`s cultural. "The issue with most Chinese gaming companies is that the games they have are very Asian-themed. So, the Western audience finds it difficult to associate with," ThinkEquity`s Bagga told The New York Times. Chinese companies will have to spend more time marketing their products in places that are not used to Chinese games and culture.

这样看来，畅游公司的前景似乎一片明朗。但是，这之中还有一个障碍--文化。“绝大多数中国游戏公司的一大争论在于，他们开发出来的游戏是以亚洲文化为主题的。正是因此，西方的玩家会发现认知起来很难。” 投资研究机构ThinkEquity的Bagga在接受《纽约时报》采访时说。在那些不习惯中国游戏和文化的地区，中国公司将花费大量的时间做产品的市场营销。

Meanwhile, back in China, there`s been the opposite shift: people are choosing game consoles. According to the 6th Annual Review & Forecast Report, gamers are increasingly spending their money on consoles, rather than downloading the mostly cost-free MMO games.

与此同时，在中国，趋势却恰恰相反：人们开始选择控制台游戏。一份报告显示，越来越多的玩家们开始花钱买控制台，而不是下载绝大多数免费的MMO游戏。

Console sales jumped 75 percent in 2006-2007, meaning 2.48 million units were sold during that period. "In spite of a regulation that has banned the sale of game consoles in China since 2000, gamers are flocking to stores that sell illegally imported Wii, Xbox and PS3 machines to join the excitement of console gaming," said Hanson. "While these consoles are expensive for the average Chinese consumer, gamers are willing to spend money on them to supplement their online gaming experience."

2006年到2007年，中国游戏机的销量上升了75％，也就是说那个期间共售出248台游戏机。“尽管自2000年来，中国出台规定禁止出售游戏机，玩家们大批涌进商店购买非法进口的Wii、Xbox、PS3等游戏机，享受游戏机带来的乐趣。” Hanson说，“虽然这些游戏机对一般的中国顾客来说价格不菲，玩家们还是原意花钱填充网络游戏的经验。”