OCT. 28, 2010 • There’s another Wii clone in the works for the Chinese market that is taking advantage of the government’s restrictions on game consoles made outside the country. What’s novel about the new device from 3DiJoy Corp. is that it is designed as a service for IP televisions coming to market – no hardware needed except for the motion controllers. For 133 Yuan ($20) for the controllers, and another 30 Yuan a month ($4.50) for IPTV service like China Telecom’s, the cost to gamers is very low. 3DiJoy has partnered with China Telecom to provide the Tigan Youxi IPTV game service.
Impact: Not only have Chinese companies taken it upon themselves to copy the Kinect, now we have one emulating the OnLive subscription service. At least in this case 3DiJoy is adding Nintendo Wii-style motion controllers to the model. There is too much technological and creative talent in China these days not to expect a swift imitation of anything developed elsewhere, especially when these firms are protected by Beijing. The conclusion for Western game innovators is that if you want a chance at wider Asia, get your product into places like South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore before your product is copied.
