Electronics salesman Min Shushan can talk for hours about the merits of Sony's PlayStation 2 versus Microsoft's Xbox, having taken apart hundreds of consoles over the years to rig them for pirated games.
Customers at his glass-and-chrome specialty store in the heart of old Beijing can buy consoles made at Sony or Microsoft's factories in southern China and prep them to play hundreds of copied games from "Tomb Raider" to "Final Fantasy."
"Any title you want, we can get you," Min said, riffling through a box of pirated game CDs wrapped in plastic. "We have everything they've ever made," he said, offering to sell any title for the equivalent of 85 cents.
"Don't worry, the consoles are the real thing, 'factory direct' so to speak," he added with a smile.
Resourceful pirates have taken a big bite out of business for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, whose official games retail at between 200 yuan and 500 yuan ($24-$50) in China. Players say they wouldn't even consider paying those prices.
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