Tag: Japan - Page 18
News Japanese PlayStation Store Set To Return On Wednesday
Huzzah
Sony's revealed that the PlayStation Store will finally return in Japan on July 6th. That's this Wednesday if you haven't got a calendar nearby. There's very little else to say other than, yes, the PlayStation Store really has been down this long in Japan. The government demanded Sony provide evidence that the service was sufficiently...
News PlayStation Store Still Offline In Japan
While we've been happily been getting back to normal after the PSN hack here in the West, the Japanese PlayStation Store has remained offline
In a short update [translated by AndriaSang], the company apologised for the on-going downtime, stating that it was still making adjustments with multiple organisations. The PlayStation Store is back online in...
News Yakuza Series Hits 5 Million Unit Milestone
One of our favourite PlayStation franchises, the Yakuza series, has shipped over 5 million units worldwide SEGA has announced
The milestone was achieved with new zombie-gangster mash-up, Yakuza: Of The End, which has already shipped 400,000 units in its first two weeks on sale in Japan. We've got our copy. There have been seven games in the Yakuza...
News Sony Confirms Greener PlayStation 3 Model
There were reports over the weekend of a new PlayStation 3 model identified by the code CECH-3000B
Sony has confirmed those rumours this morning, revealing a new 320GB PS3 less power-consumption than its predecessor. Don't get your panties in a twist yet, this is still the standard PS3 Slim design. It's not like a new PS3 or anything. The new model...
News PlayStation Move + Tiny Monkeys + Stripping = Dancing Eyes
You read that right
Dancing Eyes is without a doubt the most bizarre PlayStation Move game we've ever seen, with the most bizarre trailer to accompany it too. A conversion of a 90s arcade game, you play a tiny monkey who has to strip females down to their underwear. We're really not sure why. The game is coming to PSN in Japan, but we'd be...
News Yakuza: Of The End Tops The Japanese Software Charts
SEGA's mobster-zombie mash-up, Yakuza: Of The End, has unsurprisingly topped the Japanese sales charts after a hefty delay
We received our copy earlier this week but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. It's sitting temptingly on the top of our "to play" pile though. Elsewhere it was a poor week for Japanese software, with the...
News British Red Cross Thanks PlayStation Users For Japan Quake Donations
Take a look at this Daily Mail: video games can do positive things
The British Red Cross has this morning thanked PlayStation users for its "amazing contribution" to the Japanese quake relief appeal, which raised a total of £466,465.60. That's an incredible tally, so give yourselves a pat on the back. In a statement published on the
News Team ICO Collection Given September 22nd Release Date In Japan
Sony's finally slapped a September 22nd release date on the highly anticipated high-definition re-releases of PS2 classics ICO and Shadow Of The Colossus
The titles will release separately at ¥3,980 (US$49). Sony's also putting out a limited edition box (pictured) that includes both games, as well as a booklet compiled by Japanese magazine Brutus...
News Rejoice Japan: PlayStation Network To Partially Return Tomorrow In Asia
Could you imagine if the PSN had been down worldwide as long as it's been down in Japan and parts of Asia? It's pretty unthinkable, right? Sony was required to prove to the Japanese government that it had strengthened its system security before bringing the PSN back online in the region
Presumably that's all done and dusted now as the service is set...
News Japanese Sales Charts: PSP Still On Top, But Hardware Slumps
The PlayStation Portable was on top of the Japanese sales charts again last week, but hardware was down overall
The usually dominant PSP only scooped up 34k sales, while both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii slumped to record lows. The PlayStation 3 didn't do much better either, managing just 13k sales. As for software, Dragon Quest continued to top the...
News Japanese Sales Charts: PlayStation Portable Takes The Hardware Crown Yet Again
Sony's PlayStation Portable is still on top of the Japanese hardware charts this week, almost doubling the sales of its nearest competitor, the Nintendo 3DS
It was a positive week for PSP software too, with seven of the top twenty titles available on Sony's handheld. Patapon 3 — which debuted fourth on the chart last week — rose to claim the...
Japanese Charts PlayStation Portable Pretty Much Obliterates Everything Else
"But my friend told me the PSP was dead," said the crowds of readers
Boo to you, the PSP is on friggin' fire. Well, in Japan at least. Last week (ending May 1st), Sony's portable shifted a whopping 76,974 units. That's an impressive number alone, but when you take into consideration that the Nintendo 3DS only managed to shift 28,413 units over the...
News No More Heroes Trailer Looks Like a Bloody Good Time
Another adults-only Move title
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (known as No More Heroes: Red Zone in Japan) is bound to make waves when it comes to PlayStation 3 later this year, much like the original No More Heroes on Wii all those years ago. The trailer below, despite being in Japanese, should give you a pretty clear idea of what to expect from...
News Wow, PlayStation Move has Inspired a 32-bit Knock-Off
Motion on the Move
Remember when Wii came out and discount stores were flooded with cheap plastic imitations? History has a knack of repeating itself, and while we thought this horrible PlayStation Move imitator was bad enough, here's another one to impress you. Manufactured by the brilliantly named Ever Sparkle Technologies, the Motion on the Move...
News No More Heroes: Red Zone Includes Levels Cut from Wii Version
Travis scores a touchdown
It's been a long time since we've heard anything about Konami's No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise, but Siliconera has unearthed a few details about extra content in the game's Japanese release, titled No More Heroes: Red Zone Edition. Famitsi (via Siliconera) reports the game will feature 10 missions cut from the Wii version...
News PSPgoingnowhere: Sony Japan Confirms Death Of Digital Only Handheld, To Concentrate On NGP
Yesterday we hypothesised that Sony might want to kill of production of the PSPgo in order to make way for mass NGP production
Turns out sometimes we get things right. Sony Japan has confirmed this morning that it has ceased production of the digital-only handheld, adding to AV Watch that it is to "concentrate on NGP" going forwards. We...
Rumour PSPgo To Become A Bit Of A Collector's Item (Maybe?)
Rumours fizzing around the Internet this morning suggest that Sony has ceased production of the PSPgo
The much maligned handheld rarely set the charts on fire, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise to learn of the device's cancellation. The rumour stems from a blog post written by a Japanese Sony Shop employee. Translated by Andriasang, the post points...
News Place Your Bets: What Do You Think Was The Best Selling PS3 Game In Japan Last Year?
This one caught us by surprise
Despite launching late in the year, we assumed Gran Turismo 5 would probably be the highest selling PlayStation 3 title in 2010. Either that, or some weird mech game we've never heard of. But no, the top-selling Japanese PS3 game of 2010 was actually the fantastic Yakuza 4. The numbers, reported by Siliconera, note...
News Sony Backpedals on Earthquake NGP Delay
Wheeeee
Last week Sony’s Jack Tretton warned that the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan may push back the release of the NGP in some regions, but now Sony says that production of the NGP is continuing ahead as planned. Only a matter of few days after Tretton’s caution, Sony’s Japan division began its damage control, calling the...
News PlayStation Move Performing Stronger Than Kinect In Japan
Chalk this one up as the biggest surprise of the year so far: Japanese gamers have bought more PlayStation Move controllers than Kinects
Sony had sold approximately 170k Moves by the end of 2010, while Microsoft had shifted just 90k Kinects. That's about a 2:1 ratio, which to be honest is closer than we'd expected given the number of XBOX 360s...
News Move Outsells Kinect in Japan but Fails to Ignite Sales Charts
170,000 sold and climbing
It's not easy to get concrete sales figures for peripherals in most territories, but Japanese firm Media Create has released life-to-date figures for PlayStation Move and its motion rival Kinect for Xbox 360, showing Sony's device has taken a clear lead. Andriasang reports that Sony has sold 170,000 Move controllers since...
News PSP Maintains Its Advantage Over 3DS For A Second Week In Japan
After toppling Nintendo's new handheld recently, the PSP has maintained its lead over the 3DS in Japan, shifting about 15,000 more consoles in the region last week
The PSP managed to muster up a whopping 58,075 sales, while the 3DS settled for around 42k. The PS3 maintained its lead over the Nintendo Wii too, mustering up sales of around 27k units,...
News Yakuza: Of The End Rescheduled For June 9th Japanese Launch, Sales Will Support Red Cross
Our import pre-order of Yakuza: Of The End has been sitting in limbo ever since the recent string of disasters struck Japan
Pushed out of its original March launch window, SEGA's given the apocalyptic spin-off to its soap-opera series a June 9th release date in Japan. That's still some time off, so you're probably best to reign in your excitement...
News Sony Warns Earthquake Could Delay NGP Release
Still recovering
Sony may have previously hoped to release its next handheld gaming system, NGP, worldwide by November 2011, but now the Tokyo-based company is warning that production of the device has slowed due to the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, and may push back its release. Sony has closed numerous production facilities...
News PlayStation Network Donantions Drum Up $1.3 Million In Japanese Relief Aid
Sony's announced that the Japanese donation area of the PlayStation Store has raised a whopping $1
3 million over the past couple of weeks. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by Great East Japan Earthquake, said SCE boss Kaz Hirai. While we continue to make every effort to help the recovery of the affected...
This week the PSP reclaimed its crown at the top of the domestic hardware sales charts in Japan, despite Nintendo's 3DS releasing just a month ago
Numbers for Nintendo's systm were also disappointing across Europe, with exact figures in North America seemingly hush-hush. It's worth stressing that the 3DS represents Nintendo's best ever launch, but...
News Irem Cancels Even More Of Their Upcoming Video Games Lineup
The recent events in Japan have had some pretty tragic consequences on millions of people, and we must never lose sight of that
But one company that seems to have been hit hard by the disaster is Irem, who recently outright cancelled the release of Disaster Report 4 and the production of the rest of the series. Not content with pulling an entire...
News Sony Conquers Japanese Video Game Market In 2010
It's been a while since Sony was the dominant force in the video game industry, but numbers coming out of Japan show that the platform holder is back on top in its home region as of 2010
The fiscal year — which ended, like, overnight — has concluded with PlayStation 3 on top of the Wii, and the PSP on top of the DS. Enterbrain notes that this is...
News Vanillaware Announces Grand Knights History For PSP
The developer behind cult PlayStation 2 title, Odin Sphere, has confirmed its next project is an RPG for the PSP called Grand Knights History
The game was revealed in Japanese magazine Famitsu, and pitched as a traditional turn-based RPG. Details are scarce, but it sounds like you'll play as one of three factions of knights in a land called Ristia...
Rumour Irem Ceases Production Of Old Disaster Report Titles
Not content with outright cancelling the latest Disaster Report title months before its release, it looks like Irem's putting a stop to the franchise full-stop
Japanese retailer Famicom Plaza reports that Irem has put a stop to the productions of all Disaster Report games after this month's events in Japan. Joyst
News Donate To The Japan Tsunami Effort On PlayStation Network, Get A New XMB Theme
Sony's opened up donations for the Japanese tsunami effort on the PlayStation Network
You can donate via the American or European PlayStation Store. You can make donations from your wallet in the PlayStation Store, wrote SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton. With your donation, youll get a free theme for your PlayStation 3. In order to make...
News So, Erm, There Might Be Another River City Ransom Game
According to AndriaSang, a sequel to the NES classic side-scroller, River City Ransom, is in development at Japanese developer Miracle Kidz
The original game released a whopping 22 years ago. Apparently Miracle Kidz has called on the developers of the original game to help work on the game, which is due on "consoles" this Summer. No...
News GDC 2011: The Last Guardian, Art, Computer Entertainment, And 'Oh My Goodness We Can't Wait!'
There's a beauty to The Last Guardian that's evident each and every time the game is shown
It's not necessarily a technical thing — the game is definitely pretty, but certainly not on par with the likes of Uncharted or Killzone. It's something to do with the art, colour palette, and perhaps, most importantly, the animation. There's an endearing...
News Japanese Sales Charts: Catherine Shifts A Whopping 141k On PlayStation 3
Looks like all the intrigue surrounding Atlus' puzzle-platformer, Catherine, has really paid off -- the game debuted on top of the Media Create Japanese software sales charts this week, shifting a whopping 141,816 units on PlayStation 3
Despite hardware sales being slightly down, a 25k showing for the PS3 helped Sony secure another one-two, with PSP...
News SCEJ Boss: NGP Creators Feel Like An Integral Part Of The Hardware Design Process
The technical challenges of the PlayStation 3 are well documented
While most developers are now up-to-speed with the ambitious hardware, it's taken a good for years to get to this point. A mandate Kaz Hirai set when he took over as president of SCE was to get Sony's Worldwide Studios involved in hardware development. In the latest issue of Famitsu,...
News Japanese Gamers Really, Really Want Sony's NGP
If the PSP is a muted success globally, it's a rip-roaring Goliath in Japan
Sony's first portable gaming system is frequently the most purchased gaming system in Japan, despite waning support worldwide. So it's little surprise Japanese gamers are hyped for the console's successor. In a reader poll published in the latest issue of Famitsu magazine,...
News Kaz Hirai: Sony Aiming To Match And Exceed PSP's Install-Base With NGP
The PlayStation Blog's put up an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai regarding the NGP
While the interview is naturally light on new details, a tired looking Kaz does discuss some of the reasoning behind the handheld's January announcement (nothing to do with 3DS, honest), as well as talking about Sony's success barometer...
News Sony Cool With Expanding PlayStation Suite To Other Platforms, Focusing On Android For Now
While Sony's PlayStation Suite will have humble beginnings as a PSone emulation service for Android devices, Sony's clearly aiming bigger with their mobile gaming initiative
We already know Sony plans to extend the service with new bite-sized content, but it sounds like the platform holder's also keen to bring the program to as many platforms as...
News Original PSP UMDs Could Be Re-Released On NGP Gamecards
If you were smart (like us) you would have switched to purchasing your PlayStation Portable content via the PlayStation Store a long time ago
UMDs were clearly a dead format many years ago, regardless of your stance towards digital download content. Paying a little extra for digital games this past few years has paid off though. While the Next...
News DarkStalkers 3, Cyberbots, Mega Man 4 & More Coming To Japanese PlayStation Network
Capcom's confirmed on Twitter that they are bringing four more PlayStation classics to the Japanese PSN
Star Gladiator, Darkstalkers 3, Cyberbots and Mega Man 4 are all set to be added to the Game Archives. No word on pricing or release yet.
News A Lot Of People Are Working On NGP Games, Including Suda 51
Check this list out
We already knew Sony was supporting its Next Generation Portable (NGP) with big franchises like Uncharted, Killzone and Resistance thanks to the recently revealed line-up trailer, but the fate of third-party support for the device still remained unknown. A full list of publishers and developers working on games for the NGP has...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: NGP's "Near" Application Tracks Your Location
Amongst its ridiculously powerful specifications and control interfaces, Sony's NGP also has some pretty neat GPS functionalities
An application built into the device called "Near" is an ongoing map allowing you to track where you are and where you have been. Near connects with the PSN to find out what games are popular in your current...
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: ... And The NGP Looks A Little Bit Like This!
Sony's just sent us press photos of their new PlayStation handheld, the NGP
You can read more about the actual device through here. For now let's gaze at pretty pictures.
News PlayStation Meeting 2011: Call Of Duty Confirmed For Lastest PlayStation Handheld, NGP
With the likes of Killzone and Uncharted heading to the NGP, there's certainly an emphasis on big blockbuster titles for Sony's new flagship handheld
Blockbuster titles don't get much bigger than Call Of Duty, an iteration of which has just been confirmed for NGP by Activision's Phillip Earle. Details were scarce, but Earle billed the game with the...
News Tomorrow (We Think) The PSP2 Will Be Announced At Sony's PlayStation Meeting In Japan
This time tomorrow, we're 99
9% sure we'll know a little more about the direction of Sony Computer Entertainment's handheld strategy. At 3PM JST Sony's scheduled an event in Tokyo, Japan deemed "PlayStation Meeting 2011". Last time Sony held a PlayStation Meeting (in 2005), details of the PS3 were revealed. With the 3DS months away from...
Rumour PSP2 Longer Than Current Device But Not As Wide, Possible Specifications Leaked
French website 01
net</a> report that the PSP2 could be technically comparable to Apple's next generation iPhone and iPad devices. As the rumours grow in the build-up to Thursday, the site claims to have got its hands on a development unit of the PSP2 (and subsequently the specs). We've included all the technical gubbins after the jump...
News Heads Up: PlayStation Meeting Kicks Off 3PM JST This Thursday
Sony's pinned a 3PM JST start time on this Thursday's PlayStation Meeting in Tokyo
Convert times as appropriate, but that makes it 6AM GMT here in the UK. Don't expect news to trickle out immediately though. We imagine it will take an hour or so before the good stuff hits the 'net. The event's like to see the unveiling of the PSP2 at long last. We...
Definitely sounds like Sony's being Sony again
Nikkei is reporting some colossus information on the PSP2 this evening. According to preliminary information on the device, Nikkei reports that Sony's next portable system will support 3G functionality and an OLED touchscreen. OLED screens are widely considered some of the best available on the market...
News PSP2 To Be Announced At Japanese PlayStation Meeting On January 27th
Six years ago Sony held an event in Japan called the "PlayStation Meeting"
The July 25th, 2005 meeting revealed some of Sony's early plans for the PlayStation 3. The January 27th, 2011 event labelled "PlayStation Meeting" is believed to lead to the long awaited unveiling of the PSP2. Andriasang's picked up on the name via a series of...
