Since I have been to France and China (Taiwan), looked in both places with the same frame of mind, here's my "read" (FWIW)
Taiwan: I tried to introduce 15mm (Ancient Chinese) figures to the hobby market in Taiwan. "Good Life" was the name of the distributor. While exposed somewhat to wargaming, the clie and tell were more inclined to the crafty portion of the hobby (BIG plastic model market), but seems little or no interest in gaming. Since tthe demographics of the society are ALMOST identical in China, some parallells can be made:
Pros: A large population. In the 1970's, an Ohio State Masters student came up with a formula that 10% of the population will have interest in the gaming concept. 10% of those (ie: 1% of the total population in an area) potentially would become steady customers. Does not work for China!
Cons: Tthe general population is poor. Luxury spending is mainly on foodstuffs and tiny, cheap "trinket" small items. While Mahjong and Chinese Chess abound, once a group of people have purchased one set, repeat sales are far and few between. Repeat sales are a must to stay in business! This is a concept not much practiced by this society, for more of the same. IF you should begin to succeed, you will soon get buried with competition! The "me-too" conditions are ripe in that society! You can be sure that every tactical move you make is being watched and an ever more efficient way of doing buisness will not only be found, but will suck your regulars away rather quickly. If, for no other reason, they will tend to support their own over foreigners, once the novilty wears off.
France: Gaming already exists there and is growing! IMHO, the BEST shop is "FG Games", close to Gard d'Nord railway station in Paris. Franck (yes, spelled that way) you might want to correspond with. His English is very much better than my French! Some of the best painting I have ever seen, anywhere, can be seen in his store!
Pros: A very active and affluent gaming society exists and is growing. Due to the red tape and hoops to navigate in doing such a busines in France (where most of the products must be imported) keeps the number of shops down. I only am aware of about 3 shops in Paris that carry miniatures and games. Book and magazine support is awesome there as well! Much of the historical wargaming history can be found in Europe and france is at the center. The population is very historicaly minded and indeed, vast amount of fortune goes in to maintaining buildings older than the USA by the folks who still live in them! Since gaming is a social activity, the French are quite accommodating and keep a balance between their passions and life in general!
Cons: As mentioned, france is not known for their huge amounts of game manufacturers! Almost everything needs to be imported. Franck has told me that the government limits how much he can bring in to his shop (from overseas) monthly. If he exceeds that limit, he is taxed to where he loses money IF he could sell the aditional mdse! (It's already taxed quite a bit on top of the expensive shipping!)
How's that for a start? Please let me know how well I scored with your Professor! 8>)
Good luck, Rick!
Tom Dye
GFI
wonders why create different 3D models, if you can create one that can be customized?
