PS4 aims for toehold in emerging market

Sony Corp's PlayStation 4 debuted in China on March 20 with few games and bare-bone online services as the company navigates tight censorship rules to get a toehold in the world's biggest gaming market.

While the Chinese consoles are physically identical to those Sony sells worldwide, they have no access to music, TV shows and movies, and a library of just six games approved by authorities. That's compared with almost 200 titles on Japan's PlayStation Store. Chinese players won't have Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, the top-selling games last year, according to VGChartz.com.

Sony and Microsoft Corp -drawn to a market that International Data Corp forecasts will reach $22 billion in 2017 - are entering China after the government lifted a 14-year ban. The companies must convince a generation of gamers who grew up with free-to-play titles on smartphones and computers to buy consoles that cost more than the average worker's monthly disposable income.