Meet the iQue Player, a Nintendo console that was only available in China

Nintendo fanatics are already well familiar with the NES, the Game Cube, the Nintendo 64, and a whole slew of other much-loved consoles. But no Nintendo collection is truly complete without the iQue Player. Never heard of it? That’s probably because it was only released in mainland China as a way of dodging that country’s attempted ban on video games in the early 2000s. Gaming historian Shane Luis gives retro gaming fans a proper introduction to the elusive iQue Player in a new video on his YouTube channel, Rerez. According to the video, China was effectively trying to legislate video games out of existence at the beginning of the current millennium. Nintendo’s solution was to release a plug-and-play console through its China-only subsidiary company, iQue. Debuting in 2003, he iQue Player was promoted as a video game player rather than a console. The differences between player and console are subtle but, from a legal standpoint, important. The iQue Player had no place for cartridges, nor did it even have multiple ports for controllers. What set the device apart were its limitations. It could only play a handful of Nintendo games, including Super Mario 64 and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.