Editing IQue Player (section)

===Development===
Due to the widespread [[black market]] for video games in China—where consumers often purchased [[pirated]] cartridges or downloaded game files for use with [[console emulator]]s—Nintendo sought to offer a secure and affordable official alternative.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-30 |title=IQue Hardware - Nintendo iQue Player Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/nintendo-ique-player/IQue_Hardware |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=IGN}}</ref> The iQue Player adopted a handheld plug-and-play format to circumvent a 2000 ban by the [[Ministry of Culture (China)|Ministry of Culture]] on the sale of traditional home video game consoles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nintendo iQue Player: A Beginner's Guide – RetroGaming with Racketboy |url=https://racketboy.com/retro/nintendo-ique-player-a-beginners-guide |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=racketboy.com}}</ref>

Nintendo established the iQue company in December 2002 as a joint venture with Taiwanese-American engineer Wei Yen, a veteran of prior Nintendo collaborations. Yen had served as Senior Vice President at [[Silicon Graphics]] during the early 1990s, where he played a key role in the creation of Project Reality, which later became the [[Nintendo 64]]. His company, BroadOn, developed the cryptographic security system used in the iQue Player to deter piracy.

Although early development plans considered support for [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]], and Nintendo 64 titles, the final product was limited to Nintendo 64 games.

The iQue Player was officially announced at the [[Tokyo Game Show]] in September 2003, with a planned launch in mid-October in major cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, and a broader nationwide rollout scheduled for 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calvert |first=Justin |date=September 25, 2003 |title=New Nintendo console for China |url=https://www.gamespot.com/gba/news/news_6075768.html/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031008164643/https://www.gamespot.com/gba/news/news_6075768.html/ |archive-date=October 8, 2003 |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 25, 2003 |title=iQue |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/11/25/ique |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=[[IGN]]}}</ref>

To gain approval from the [[Ministry of Culture (China)|Ministry of Culture]] and potentially reverse the national ban on home video game consoles, Nintendo emphasized the educational and developmental benefits of gaming in its marketing strategy. The console featured a real-time clock, enabling parents to restrict playtime to specific hours. Upon launching a game, the system displayed a message discouraging prolonged play and encouraging regular breaks.

The launch of the iQue Player was slightly delayed to November 18, 2003, with a limited selection of five [[launch game]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calvert |first=Justin |date=November 13, 2003 |title=Nintendo iQue Player spotted |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-ique-player-spotted/1100-6083370/ |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref><ref name="iquereleasedate2">{{Cite web |title=iQue PLAYER优惠套装上海试卖，五款精品游戏同步发售！ |trans-title=iQue Player Discount Set Trial Sale in Shanghai, Five High-quality Games Released Simultaneously! |url=http://www.ique.com/news/game_news_031118.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225021132if_/http://www.ique.com/news/game_news_031118.htm |archive-date=December 25, 2005 |access-date=March 15, 2023 |publisher=[[iQue]] |language=Chinese}}</ref><ref name="iquereleasedate2" /> Sales of the iQue Player were modest, with estimates ranging between 8,000 and 12,000 units.<ref>{{Cite web |title=《记录》第17期：神游中国（上） - 触乐 |url=http://www.chuapp.com/article/251110.html |access-date=2017-03-01 |website=www.chuapp.com |language=en}}</ref>

The final localized game released for the platform was ''[[Animal Crossing (video game)|Animal Crossing]]'' in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=iQue |url=http://www.ique.com/news_games.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028053427/http://www.ique.com/news_games.htm |archive-date=2007-10-28 |access-date=2007-10-28}}</ref> On October 31, 2016, iQue announced that the iQue@Home service would be discontinued by the end of December that year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-31 |script-title=zh:神游机服务终止通知 |trans-title=Notice of Discontinuation |url=http://ique.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224034443/http://ique.com/ |archive-date=2018-02-24 |access-date=2016-11-01 |website=iQue |language=zh}}</ref> Servers were gradually deactivated, and all digital distribution services ceased by 2018.