译文：CNN：在虚拟世界，中国消费者完胜美国
作者： Pamela Boykoff
发表时间：2010/03/17
Companies that offer free online video games, such as China's popular 'Perfect World' series, earn cash by selling virtual goods such as character outfits, weapons and upgrades.
诸如运营“完美世界”之类的免费线上视频游戏的公司通过出售给人物虚拟装备，武器和技能之类的东西来赚取钞票。
Hong Kong, China (CNN) -- Beijing sales manager Wang Min spends at least 15 hours a week playing online video games. His favorite is a multiplayer adventure game called "Perfect World."
"It is similar to (World of) Warcraft, but the game adds more Chinese elements into it so I feel more connected to it," he said.
一位来自北京的销售经理王民（音）每周至少花15个小时来玩网络游戏。他的最爱是一款叫做“完美世界”的大型冒险游戏。“这游戏跟魔兽（世界）挺像的，但是这款游戏里面加入了更多的中国元素让我更有带入感。”他说。
"Perfect World" is free to play, but Wang spends about $44 every month on virtual extras such as additional points, new equipment and even outfits for his avatars.
“完美世界”是免费玩的，但是王民每个月都要在加点、买装备甚至是打扮他的虚拟人物上花费44刀。
U.S. consumers may still be the world's top shoppers, but in the growing economy of the virtual world Chinese buyers like Wang are leading the way. Research firms estimate the purchase of virtual goods in China reached roughly $5 billion in 2009 -- about five times more than the United States.
尽管美国的客户们仍是世界上购买力最强的买家，但是像王一样在虚拟消费渐增的用户在中国正在变多。调查公司估计在2009年大约有5亿美元的虚拟商品在中国售出——这是美国的五倍之多。
The reasons why reveal something about the state of the Internet in China, the limitations local developers face and the innovative ways companies have capitalized on China's booming online market.
而造成如此现象的原因解释了中国互联网的一些状况，那就是中国本土开发者面临的局限与创新的公司在中国蓬勃增长的线上市场中已经资本化了。
"China needed to do this," said Lucas Englehardt, chief executive officer of research exchange site BloggerInsight. "It didn't have the traditional avenues for monetizing content like in the United States, where there is lots of money to be made off of advertising, text and banner ads. In China, click through rates for advertising are much lower."
“中国需要这么做，”研究交换类的站点BloggerInsight的CEO Lucas Englehard说到。“在中国并没有像美国一样传统的赚取货币的方式，在美国大家通过图画，文字和横条等形式的广告来赚钱。而在中国，这些广告的点击率十分低。”
China has many more developers of online games and services than in the United States, a factor industry watchers say has encouraged competition and innovation. The crowded field, however, have fought to turn profits. Selling virtual goods, so far, has yielded the most success.
中国有着比美国更多的网游开发者，行业观察家们说有一个原因刺激了竞争和创新。那就是这个行业有着众多的参与厂商，然而，这个行业已经开始赚取利润。到目前为止，卖出虚拟物品是最赚钱的方式。
One of the best examples of this is industry leader Tencent, which operates the popular QQ Instant Messenger and social networking site Qzone. Virtual goods have become the company's primary source of profits. In the first half of 2009, Tencent took in over $300 million in revenue from Internet value-added services, a category dominated by virtual goods. By comparison, online advertising only drew $35 million in revenue.
最好的例子就是这个行业的领袖腾讯公司，它运营着流行的IM软件QQ和社交网站QQ空间。虚拟物品已经成了该公司主要的收入来源。仅在2009年上半年，腾讯就通过售出有附加值的虚拟物品攫取了三亿美元的收入。相较之下，在线广告仅获得了三千五百万美元的收入。
Justin Smith, founder of the Inside Social Games, says China's far-sighted developers quickly created an infrastructure for users to pay for online goods. Utilizing mobile phones and prepaid cards to buy virtual currency is common in China, "whereas in the U.S. that is pretty rare and just beginning to grow," Smith said.
Inside Social Games的创始人Justin Smith说中国具有远见的开发者们迅速的为用户在线付款创造了基础平台。通过手机和预付费卡片来购买虚拟物品的行为在中国十分普遍，“美国在这方面才刚上路，”他说。
Virtual goods in social games have the potential to be huge
--Justin Smith, Inside Social Games founder
社交游戏中的虚拟物品有着巨大的增长潜力
——Justin Smith
The business model is built around small individual purchases of around $1 to $2. That is a good fit for China's growing base on Internet users, many of whom still have limited disposable income.
"It's an impulse buy," Englehardt said. "You don't have to think much about it, even if you are not wealthy Chinese."
这种商业模式是基于1-2美元的个人购买行为。这十分适于中国广大的初级网民，他们中的很多人收入不高。“这是一种冲动型的购买方式，” Englehardt说，“你不需要想太多就能决定，即使你是一个不富裕的中国人。”
The flexibility of virtual purchases has hit a sweet spot with China's giant online gaming community. There are 70 million Chinese consumers who play at least an hour of online games a month, according to Niko Partners, a research firm that focuses on China's online gaming industry.
这种虚拟购买方式的弹性正好适合于中国巨大的网游社区。根据Niko Partners调查公司对中国网游产业的调查，大约有七千万中国用户每月至少花一个小时来玩网游。
Unlike gamers in the United States or Japan, most Chinese gamers play online in part because of strict government regulations limits access to game consoles and software.
不同于美国或日本的玩家，绝大多数的中国玩家把时间花在网上是因为政府对游戏机和游戏软件的严格管制。（译者注：我们有水货！我们有盗版！）
The free-to-play model, though popular everywhere, has struck a particular chord in China. Instead of full service subscription fees, Chinese online gaming firms offer more a la carte choices such as access to private chat rooms or avatar costume selection. "It gives them a lot more control over what they are buying," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, Niko Partner's founder.
这种在哪里都很流行的免费玩模式在中国十分成功。与收取版权服务费不同，中国网游公司提供了一个更多选的模式取而代之，比如提供私聊或是人物的外观选择。Niko Partners的创始人 Lisa Cosmas Hanson说：“这给了玩家们一个更多的选择机会。”
The virtual marketplace is far from complete. Most analysts agree the future most likely lies in the space where social networking and online gaming collide. The popularity of social network games, like "Happy Farm" or "House Buying," is growing rapidly in China, but virtual sales from these games still generate only modest revenues.
不过虚拟交易市场远没有完善。大多数分析家认为未来是社交网络和在线游戏的。诸如“开心农场”和“买房”这样的社交网络应用在中国成长十分迅速，但是虚拟物品在此类游戏中没有获得好的销量。
In addition to the promise of a broad, loyal consumer base, social games offer the appeal of interaction with one's friends and family in the real world.
除了广阔的前景，用户的忠诚度之外，社交网络应用给了用户们一个和自己真实世界中亲朋们互动的机会。
"This could mean buying a virtual gift for a potential love interest, buying a power-up to defeat your old classmate in a friendly competition, or buying a nice accessory for your virtual home," Smith said. "Because everyone can relate to one of these situations in which virtual goods meet a real emotional need, virtual goods in social games have the potential to be huge."
“这意味着为钦慕对象买一份虚拟礼物，为在游戏中打败自己的老同学而买一个升级物品，或是为你的虚拟住宅买一套好家具。”Smith说到。“因为人人都会碰到虚拟物品与自己的真实的情感需要契合的时候，而这正显示了社交应用中的虚拟商品有着巨大的潜力。”
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