Sucks to be Chinese...

[GaijinPunch]

Not only are they ridiculously surpressed, but now deprived of their PS2.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=562&e=2&u=/ap/20031224/ap_on_hi_te/sony_china_playstation

My favorite part is the 'military application' thing. Japanese (and any other government for that matter) will fish around for anything. 1 mad cow in the US, and in 1 hour, US beef is banned from import. (And the Japanese beef farmers rejoice).

[Ascending Wordsmith]

My favorite part is the 'military application' thing.

Well, you never know. Back in the 80's, the Soviets developed submarine technology from computer components developed by the Toshiba Corporation. Since then, the Russians have been making some of the quietest submarines in the world.

But, I agree with you. I doubt the graphics chip could be manipulated to a military use.

[Flack]

Lemme get this straight.

The Chinese Military doesn't have access to eBay?

Ah-so.

[Pantechnicon]

Lemme get this straight.

The Chinese Military doesn't have access to eBay?

Ah-so.

Probably not. Or at least if they do there's probably one PC for every 100,000 red soldiers. And even if they did buy one off Ebay, that doesn't mean the thing is necessarily going to make it through Customs.

All kidding aside, the Chinese are very desperate to get their hands on whatever computer technology they can for whatever purpose. The People's Republic is hopelessly behind the times on this stuff. Case in point: I worked for Philips Electronics semiconductor division for the last six years. The local fab just shut down a couple of months ago and there's this Chinese firm that has sent representatives to sniff around and try and buy all the manufacturing equipment in order to send it back to the PRC and set up their own fab. They're even trying to recruit a group of the engineers to come live in China for up to a year and show them how it all works. For those who know semiconductors, this is all six-inch and probably even some remaining four-inch process equipment, i.e. - five to fifteen-year-old technology, as Philips finally got around to an eight-inch process just two or three years back.

So I imagine getting a hold of a PS2 and being able to not only reverse-engineer, but mass-produce the chips therein would be quite a feat for our old Communist friends. Wasn't there just a big espionage bust along these lines involving some Chinese-citizen IBM employees who tried to sneak some AS/400 stuff out of the country?

They might have a 100 million man army, but it's on a tech-level that's barely that of World War Two. Best to keep them in the dark, methinks.

[Flack]

Yeah, but we're not talking about a Chinese company here, we're talking about the Chinese Government. Anything they order would make it through customs because they ARE customs.

Can you imagine missles based off the PS2? "Prepare to launch ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... high kick,low kick,left,left,punch,block,kick!" And then there's always the fear of the enemy sneaking in and installing a mod chip and "h4cking y3r stUph!"

[pango]

well you know, hong kong is the pirate video gaming capital of the world.

[NE146]

And software piracy capital. Those guys have everything you want...

[Charlesaway]

Flack: I think he meant someone shipping PS2's out of the US would get stopped at US customs, since they have export restrictions.

retrotaku:
China has a standing military force of about 2.3 to 2.5 million personnel.

And if they only had one computer for every 100,000 people, that would only be about 1100 systems country wide. Would kind of make it hard for their 58,000,000 internet users to get online, wouldnt it?

[Epicenter]

Oh, it's not THAT bad. Despite the idiotic concept that the PS2 is the perfect weapons platform, despite the fascist import laws, despite the oppressive government and shitty economy ... it could be worse. They can get Famicoms there and multicarts dirt cheap. And you never need to worry about things being compatible, because if it says GAME on it, you can rest assured it's Famicom. ;) I mean, look on the bright side, they could've all been stuck with the Virtual Boy or something. Damn, that's gonna get me slaughtered.

[ManekiNeko]

Isn't this the same crap they were saying two years ago about Iraq? I think Sony is the one perpetuating the myth that the Playstation 2 is powerful enough to be considered a weapon of mass destruction. They may not be able to sell any units in third world countries (there wouldn't be a huge market for them there anyway), but boy does it impress the slack-jawed yokels here in the U.S. of A.
I swear, when it comes to the Playstation 2, people will believe ANYTHING that Sony tells them. "It'll let you jack into the Matrix! It's so powerful that it's a national security risk! It creates a holographic image of a gorgeous woman who loves to fellate you!" I mean, fuck, you might as well promise that it'll cure world hunger while you're at it. The dumbass Sony fans would lap it up just like they have all of Sony's other lies.

JR

[Pantechnicon]

Flack: I think he meant someone shipping PS2's out of the US would get stopped at US customs, since they have export restrictions.

retrotaku:
China has a standing military force of about 2.3 to 2.5 million personnel.

And if they only had one computer for every 100,000 people, that would only be about 1100 systems country wide. Would kind of make it hard for their 58,000,000 internet users to get online, wouldnt it?

Thanks for the corrections. 100 million in a standing army indeed. Sheesh. Still, 2.3 mil is bigger than ours, but they're probably not equipped much better than our granddads were back in the Big One. It's a question of logistics.

The only point I was trying to make was that the Chinese are really desperate to learn whatever they can about semiconductor manufacturing for not only military, but commercial applications as well. So whether it be the CPU of a PS2 or the chips my old Philips plant made for Nokia cel phones it's all good to them. Doesn't mean they'll be launching nukes with the Emotion engine. They're just trying to become indpependent of a reliance on comparatively superior Japanese and western semiconductor technology. Don't let's make this thread a political debate, but let us not also forget that Communist regimes are not exactly conducive to scientific innovation.

[kainemaxwell]

Imagine trying to launch a missile with Windows...and it crashes too.

[Flack]

I know I was making light of it, but the point I was getting at is that I find it hard to believe that the Chinese government couldn't get their hands on a PS2. Can't they just order one from Lik-Sang?

[leonk]

1 mad cow in the US, and in 1 hour, US beef is banned from import. (And the Japanese beef farmers rejoice).

The americans are just as bad..

back in May of 2003, there was a single case of mad cow in Alberta, Canada. Instantly, the US closed the beef import from Canada. I believe the import is still in place, or at least very supressed.

It's funny how that one cow was linked back to an import from the US!

[Sotenga]

Imagine trying to launch a missile with Windows...and it crashes too.

BURN!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Seriously, I pity the Chinese... I heard that their government doesn't want them to know about the internet...

[Sylentwulf]

If everyone in china jumped at the exact same time, it would throw the earth out of it's orbit and destroy the entire planet. So, I guess they have a 1.2 billion person army if they wanted to. Guess it's a good thing they don't have the technology to coordinate a mass jumping effort huh?

[BoOchan]

Hehe

You haven't seen Bali, an Indonesian Island just north of here. That is THE piracy capital of SE Asia. You can get PS2 Games, Burnt for about 20-30c Each, because of there currancy crisis. I gotta go there sometime and see if there are any Famiclones around...

[jjessop]

Sony has never made such statements, find one and show us? This Chinese announcement is another example of media hype. The official press release was short and sweet, the media threw in their own spin and comments.....all absurd.

PS2's are built in 2 factories on the Chinese mainland, Foxconn and Asus. The custom semiconductors are shipped by the millions from Japan so why would they need to sell the whole console to get them? The whole notion is crazy and an example of the media trying to hype something up, during the Christmas retail season I might add, they know nothing about.

BTW: Hong Kong has been WAY cleaned up piracy wise, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are 100 times worse now.

Jerry





Isn't this the same crap they were saying two years ago about Iraq? I think Sony is the one perpetuating the myth that the Playstation 2 is powerful enough to be considered a weapon of mass destruction. They may not be able to sell any units in third world countries (there wouldn't be a huge market for them there anyway), but boy does it impress the slack-jawed yokels here in the U.S. of A.
I swear, when it comes to the Playstation 2, people will believe ANYTHING that Sony tells them. "It'll let you jack into the Matrix! It's so powerful that it's a national security risk! It creates a holographic image of a gorgeous woman who loves to fellate you!" I mean, fuck, you might as well promise that it'll cure world hunger while you're at it. The dumbass Sony fans would lap it up just like they have all of Sony's other lies.

JR

[ManekiNeko]

Sony has never made such statements, find one and show us?

If you insist! This came straight out of Ken Kuratagi's mouth, just before the Playstation 2 was released:

"You can communicate to a new cybercity," Ken Kutaragi, the visionary behind the PlayStation, tells Newsweek. "This will be the ideal home server. Did you see the movie 'The Matrix'? Same interface. Same concept. Starting from next year, you can jack into 'The Matrix'!"

The only thing that comes close to this blatant, outrageous fabrication is a brochure printed by Sega claiming that they invented the first programmable game system and the first color handheld. That was pretty disgusting, but it's nothing in comparison to making the claim that the PS2 is capable of reproducing a completely immersive virtual reality experience. What Ken's serving may taste like juicy steak, but it's really just a load of steaming crap.

JR

P.S. The above quote was taken from this site, in case anyone doubts its authenticity:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m4PRN/2000_April_7/61382795/p1/article.jhtml

[calthaer]

The Chinese people do have access to the internet, but everything they can or can't see on it is determined by a country-wide filter. "Subversive" political and religious information (i.e. - for pro-western governments and religions) are banned, and probably more stuff.

Who knows what they'd do with a PS2? They could, of course, create a pirated clone and try to subvert the economies of other nations. Oh wait - they're doing that already by creating huge trade deficits...never mind. We will all be speaking Chinese 20 years from now, once they bankrupt us and have all our jobs.

[jjessop]

The vast majority of your original message had to do with the national security implications and I stand by my response.

The Matrix comment makes no sense at all, I'm not saying Ken didn't say it, it just makes no sense. Ken's English is poor at best and when it comes to banter in interviews he does not always choose the best English phrases (I'm being kind) in many cases.

I'm sure Ken was just hyping up online console gaming, especially massive multiplayer games like FFXI. Was it more of a lie than Atari advertising the Jaguar as a 64 bit system........??

Jerry




Sony has never made such statements, find one and show us?

If you insist! This came straight out of Ken Kuratagi's mouth, just before the Playstation 2 was released:

"You can communicate to a new cybercity," Ken Kutaragi, the visionary behind the PlayStation, tells Newsweek. "This will be the ideal home server. Did you see the movie 'The Matrix'? Same interface. Same concept. Starting from next year, you can jack into 'The Matrix'!"

The only thing that comes close to this blatant, outrageous fabrication is a brochure printed by Sega claiming that they invented the first programmable game system and the first color handheld. That was pretty disgusting, but it's nothing in comparison to making the claim that the PS2 is capable of reproducing a completely immersive virtual reality experience. What Ken's serving may taste like juicy steak, but it's really just a load of steaming crap.

JR

P.S. The above quote was taken from this site, in case anyone doubts its authenticity:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m4PRN/2000_April_7/61382795/p1/article.jhtml

[GaijinPunch]

I stick by my claim, which happens to be the original title of this thread.

To quote Mayor Quimby:
"I stand by my racial slur!"

[ManekiNeko]

The vast majority of your original message had to do with the national security implications and I stand by my response.

You said this:

"Sony has never made such statements, find one and show us?"

You questioned the validity of my claim that Sony lies. I proved this claim, giving you a quote that came right out of Ken Kuratagi's mouth. You can argue that Ken's English is poor, but I think his comments were very clear, and very clearly deceptive.

The bottom line is that Sony LIES to its customers. I can't prove that they were the ones who started the rumor that the PS2 is powerful enough to be a weapon of mass destruction, but you can be sure that they love the publicity and won't try to set the record straight.

JR

[GaijinPunch]

I agree with you. I remember this WMD bullshit. Then again, English speaking and knowing WTF a WMD seem to not go hand in hand, so who knows, eh?

I'm probably the worst consumer out there. If I call technical support, I'm usually nice, but I still try to instill not fear, but a feeling of "I am (IE, the company, not me) an idiot" when I call. I just moved yesterday, and am on a new cable internet provider. My wife knows dick about electronics, so I talked to the guy on the phone. I asked, "so you'll leave all the mail/IP settings there?". "Yeah, we will." I now own the worlds first invisible users manual. Do a bitch? No, but I'm the first to make them feel stupid about it.

If I actually owned a PS2 when these weapons-grade circuitry rumors were flying around, I think it would've warranted a prank call to customer support.

That whole Matrix comment was just wrong. With current technology where it is, the only people that should rightfully claim that there product will make your "see the Matrix" are manufacturers and retailers of LSD.