iQue, Ltd. () is a Chinese

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

game localization Video game localization (American English), or video game localisation (British English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of preparing a video game for a ...

and support development company located in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

. It was founded as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Wei Yen and Nintendo in 2002 as a Chinese video game console manufacturing company. The following year, the company released the iQue Player. The company had manufactured and distributed official Nintendo products for the mainland Chinese market under the iQue brand until 2018. iQue only released portable Nintendo games for 3DS XL, DS,

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

, and

Game Boy Advance SP The Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), released in Japan on February 14, 2003, is a sixth-generation handheld game console developed, released, and marketed by Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, ...

. The iQue Player is the only home console available from the company in China. There were plans to release the Wii in all of China but when

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the appe ...

officially announced the release date for it on September 20, 2007, he said it would only be available in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, under the Nintendo brand. The

Nintendo DSi The is a dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony ...

was released in China in December 2009 as iQue DSi. The Nintendo 3DS XL was released in China as iQue 3DS XL in December 2012. By 2013, the company became a fully owned subsidiary of Nintendo. By 2018, Nintendo had ceased any official distribution of older game consoles into mainland China under the iQue brand. Nintendo partnered with

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...

to bring the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

into the Chinese market at the end of 2019. Since 2017, iQue continues operations by offering consumer support for any previously released products, and translating and localizing new games released worldwide by Nintendo into simplified Chinese while Nintendo Hong Kong do traditional Chinese. In 2019, iQue began to hire for developers with programmers and testers, indicating that the company was transitioning to be a development company to support game projects for the division

Nintendo EPD commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. ...

iQue Player

The iQue Player is a micro variant of a home video game console by iQue that plays ports of Nintendo 64 games. It was uniquely designed to bypass China's ban on home console products placed at the time. 14 games came out for the console. '' The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'' and a

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

translation of ''

Ocarina of Time ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in November 1998, and in PAL regions the following month. ''Ocarina of Tim ...

'' were completed, but not released by iQue.

iQue Game Boy Advance

The iQue GBA is the Chinese version of the Game Boy Advance. It was released on 8 June 2004. 8 games have been released for the console. 12 more games were planned, but cancelled after high piracy of the system.

Cancelled Games

iQue Game Boy SP

The iQue Game Boy SP is the Chinese version of the Game Boy Advance SP. It is the same as a regular Game Boy Advance SP but has an "iQue" logo on the top of the casing instead of "Nintendo". It plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games and has a rechargeable battery. It was released in October 2004.

iQue Game Boy Micro

The iQue Micro is the Chinese version of the Game Boy Micro, and the smallest of the iQue family. It plays Game Boy Advance games. It was released in October 2005.

iQue DS

The iQue DS is the Chinese version of the Nintendo DS. It was released on July 23, 2005. 6 games have been released for the console. It is the only version of the Nintendo DS to have a regional lockout, so iQue DS games cannot be played on Nintendo DS systems from other regions. A Chinese version of Big Brain Academy was also planned, but cancelled. It appeared on the official iQue DS Lite trailer. Games:

iQue DS Lite

The iQue DS Lite is the Chinese version of the Nintendo DS Lite. It plays Nintendo DS games and it is smaller than the original DS and it has a brighter screen than the original DS. It was released in June 2006.

iQue DSi

The iQue DSi is the Chinese version of the Nintendo DSi. It has a camera and it plays both DS and DSiWare games. It also comes with Nintendogs pre-installed in the system. It was released in December 2009.

iQue 3DS XL

The iQue 3DS XL is the Chinese Version of the Nintendo 3DS XL. It was the only version of the 3DS offered by iQue. Unlike the Nintendo 3DS XL from other regions, the iQue 3DS XL doesn't have a

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

, save data can't be transferred from an iQue DSi to an iQue 3DS XL or between systems and iQue DSiWare can't be played on an iQue 3DS XL. Only 2 games have been released for the console and they were both preinstalled on every console made. No physical game cards were ever made. Games: Due to the regional lockout, only games that provide simplified Chinese interface language can be used in iQue 3DS XL. Besides the two games listed above which were released by iQue, the following 14 games released by Nintendo Hong Kong and Nintendo Taiwan can also be used on this console and include a simplified Chinese interface language:

Comparison

References

External links

* {{Electronics industry in China Companies based in Suzhou Video game companies established in 2002 Chinese companies established in 2002 Manufacturing companies of China First-party video game developers Nintendo divisions and subsidiaries Privately held companies of China Video game companies of China Video game development companies Chinese brands