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Engadget reports that the Dongfang Daily paper followed up with the Chinese Ministry of Culture following the supposed effort to lift the country's ban on game consoles, finding no conclusive evidence that such an effort was underway.
Furthermore, the whole situation regarding the "ban" is more complicated than it first seemed. Engadget notes that the original 2000 bill was aimed primarily at restricting arcades for the sake of keeping kids out of trouble, with game equipment imports "strictly limited" as part of the deal. Limited, but not outright forbidden.
That's how Sony pulled off a two-city launch of the PS2 in 2004, and that's how Nintendo got the iQue Player out, both categorizing their consoles outside of the normal "game console" term. Neither took off, but as Engadget notes, it's not impossible to launch a console under current Chinese law, as long as the government is convinced nothing "unhealthy" will come for it.
