You might notice no Battlefield 6 there. Truth is, my PC can barely run it smoothly, so I didn't buy it. That's the reality for a lot of us.

And yeah, you see all those games? We have a tradition in China: buy first on sale, think about playing later. (laughs) It's a whole thing.

EA has a special pattern in China — either no discount at all, or suddenly 90% off. So we wait. We always wait. That's the "Pin Hao Bing" (Scrounged-Together Soldier) way.

"Pin Hao Bing" is a joke in the Chinese Battlefield community. It means someone whose rig is barely holding on, but they're still out there grinding, dying a lot, and telling their squad "I gave it my all."

That's me. That's the French Fry Noob way.

Thanks for reading the fine print.

– Fry

One more fact: before Steam's regional pricing in China, major pirate forums were seeing millions of downloads for a single AAA title. After China was moved into the same low-price tier as Russia, and after CNY settlement plus Alipay/WeChat integration went live, legitimate user numbers exploded within just a few years.

This doesn't mean Gabe was wrong — rather, it shows that "service issues" come with a precondition. In markets where per capita income is a fraction of Western levels, price itself is the most fundamental service. First make it affordable, then make it enjoyable. That's how Steam won in China.

That said, this is a much longer story — one that really needs the full historical tapestry of Chinese player culture to do it justice. Maybe I'll write a separate piece on it someday.

Little Overlord Learning Machine Discussion Forum

Just a quick heads-up — I'm a Chinese player sharing some honest thoughts here. I'm using AI to help with translation, so please bear with me if anything sounds a bit off. My goal is to connect, not to sound perfect.

I'm using AI to help polish and translate my writing, but the real challenge is cultural. It's not that Chinese players are bad at English — it's that we really care about whether our voices are actually seen and heard.

I originally wanted to post this on an English-language forum, but I'm not familiar with the rules yet, and I haven't figured out account registration. That said, the Chinese version of this piece has gotten some pretty good feedback, so I do believe what I've written here can be helpful to you as well.

One more thing, kinda unique to Chinese players I think.

When a new Battlefield game drops at full price, and a new player buys it right away — unless they're a huge fan — we'll jokingly make fun of them a bit.

But honestly? We also feel bad for them. It's not that we're cheap or looking down on anyone. It's just that we really care about spending money wisely. Getting burned by a full-price game that flops? That hurts.

So the joke is also a way of looking out for each other.

And yeah, we complain about EA all the time. A lot. But that's because we genuinely want them to do better. To make something world-changing again. Like they used to.

That's the real talk.

Arcade Discussion Forum

PSP Discussion Forum

A Final Note

Frequently Asked Questions

PS2 Discussion Forum

Video Game Bans and Online Addiction War Discussion Forum

Steam Discussion Forum

"Official canon says he's forever 15, but Chinese players tend to do the math differently—we go by his actual birth year. And uh… that puts him at almost 70 now .I'll take both versions though—canonically he's my childhood hero, chronologically he's my old buddy at this point."

Thanks for the info. I will check out Death Stranding. My friend says it is a great game to take your time with amid busy, fast-paced life.

“In old Chinese internet cafes, some veteran players are so scary that we call them ‘Principals’ – because playing against them feels like having a teacher grade your homework.”

The VCD300 carried the childhood memories of countless children from impoverished families, allowing them to access the outside world and experience simple joys through discs in an era of material scarcity

The hardest part is not technical. It is whether new players will explore these stories. My opinion is pessimistic. More and more people are interested in retro games, but few people are willing to watch those old videos from over ten years ago.

If you are patient, let me explain. I will only talk about retro gaming videos. 2016 was a turning point for video websites in China. Before 2016, many Chinese players knew little about console games. The videos made by veteran retro gamers were relatively rough, and only old players paid attention to them. The turning point came in 2016. Some new players got to know console games through PS4. Content creation became popular, and retro games started to gain more attention. Online shopping also became common. Many players who played pirated FC, MD and arcade games could get official game consoles.

Many players from that era are busy with work, taking care of elders and raising children. They long to talk with people who share the same hobby. I am 27 years old. I have a 40-year-old friend who has played fighting games for 20 years. Once we talked about classic fighting games for an entire afternoon. I can feel his genuine passion.

Younger players like me may be interested in retro games. But sadly, all my old gaming friends are busy with their own lives now. Maybe I don't need to cling to this regret. As long as I can remember those good times, that is enough.

Tomorrow I'm planning to write a short piece about how a simple translation difference created an unexpected connection between two games that couldn't be more different in style. The way Chinese gamers turned that into a running joke really says something about our sense of humor — self-aware, playful, and deeply rooted in the quirks of language.

“Just to clarify — I know buying a used PS2 copy doesn’t support the devs financially. It’s more like a personal ritual, a way to say ‘thank you’ to the version of me who played this on a cracked disc. Totally understand if that doesn’t make sense to others.”

Thank you for sharing sincerely