Last month, when I got my hands on the PS Vita, the first thing I did was open the box. The second? Flipped over the device to see where it was made.
https://lastchance.cc/sony-delivers-with-the-ps-vita-it-does-not-disappoint-5869602%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
It wasnât always that way. Heck, it wasnât even that way until fairly recently.
For years, Sony made its consoles in Japan. Ditto for Nintendo, thanks to the hard work of nice ladies and robots. Now, neither do. Like Sony, Nintendo makes them in China.
https://lastchance.cc/to-build-a-nintendo-you-needed-cigarettes-robots-and-5586558%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Microsoft also makes the Xbox 360 in China.
Thereâs nothing wrong with making things in China. There is something wrong about making products in an environment that apparently results in suicide threats as a collective bargaining tool.
âSlave laborâ is a word tossed around loosely. And factory workers in China are free to work whereverâor are they? If yesterdayâs report that 300 Foxconn works were forced to negotiate by threatening group suicide is true, the term slave labor isnât being used loosely. Itâs fitting.
https://lastchance.cc/report-mass-suicide-threats-at-xbox-360-plant-update-5874706%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
âIn general, the cost of manufacturing is cheaper in China,â Sonyâs Shuhei Yoshida told Kotaku in 2010. Some items, however, might be âtoo complexâ to do outside of Japan, said Yoshida at the time. âBut if itâs not so complex, it can be made in China at a lower cost.â
https://lastchance.cc/turmoil-in-the-land-where-your-consoles-are-made-5661699%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Make no mistake; with the Japanese yen at historic highs, making products in Japan is expensive. But the dollar is relatively cheap, and if, for example, Nissan can make engine parts for Mercedes Benz in Tennessee, then why canât Sony, Nintendo, or more importantly, Microsoft do the same for game consoles?
(Top photo: ăăăźăĄăăăă)
