After fifteen years, China has finally lifted its ban on the manufacture and sale of video game consoles, according to a statement from the Chinese MInistry of Culture.

The ban was instigated in 2000, thanks to the government feeling that consoles and their in-game worlds would be harmful to the development of the nation's children.

Early signs of change emerged last year, with China allowing console manufacturers to do business in Shanghai's 11-square-mile "free trade zone" - with a great many restrictions, including mandatory inspection of every single console.

With the restrictions scrapped, a market of a billion-plus people has opened up for the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo - if they can get past an entrenched PC-dominated gaming culture.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers can now experience the pleasures of comparing barely-distinguishable tech specs between different console releases that Westerners have enjoyed for years.