Grand Theft Console: Pirates steal videogame riches in China

HUGE MARKET: The absence of consoles means PC games dominate two-thirds of China's videogame market, which saw revenue growth of almost 40% last year and which trails the United States and Japan in size. — Reuters

BEIJING/TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO: For the past five years, Zhang Yang has sold Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations at his Beijing shop, but the Chinese merchant is a thorn in the side of videogame console makers now allowed into the world's third biggest market. 

The consoles that Zhang sells are smuggled into China because they are illegal, although that may change after the government lifted a 14-year-old ban on the devices this week.