Tag: Japan - Page 21
News Bizarre: Japanese PS3 DVR Will Include Trophies
According to Famitsu (via PS3C) the newly announced Japanese Playstation 3 device "Tourne", a kind of DVR, will include trophy support
You'll earn trophies for simply watching television. For example, a trophy will be unlocked for watching the last episode in seven different TV series' and so on. You can see more about the "Tourne" through...
News Playstation Portable Leads The Japanese Weekly Hardware Sales Charts
We guess a Kingdom Hearts game just come out
Hence the Playstation Portable saying: hello Japanese hardware charts leadership. The handheld shifted 145k units, with the PS3 two places behind at 61k. Full figures after the jump. PSP 145,682 Wii 76,722 PS3 61,591 DSi 50,178 DSi LL 45,221 DS Lite 10,067 Xbox 360 5,461 PS2 ...
News Spring Blossom PSP Heading To Japan Looks Rather Pretty
Sony of Japan announced today they are bringing a "Spring Blossom Pink" iteration of the PSP to their region in March
The new system (which is a PSP-3000) will cost just 16,800 ($183). It's kinda pretty isn't it? We'd play one anyway.
News Michael Jackson Branded Playstation 3 To Launch In Japan
Surely confirming there'll be a Michael Jackson SingStar game at some point in the coming year, Sony of Japan has confirmed a Michael Jackson branded PS3 bundle, which includes a Slim and a copy of "This Is It," the MJ movie on blu-ray
It's due out for sale on the 27th January in Japan, for ¥33,500.
News DS Is 2009's Biggest Hardware Winner In Japan, PS3 & PSP Fare Well
Nintendo may have taken the overall 2009 hardware sales crown in Japan, but there were strong performances from the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable in Sony's home region too
The PS3 managed to shift 1.7million systems in the region, just short of the Nintendo Wii's 2million; where the PSP managed to shift 2.3million systems for the year...
News Final Fantasy XIII Sales Take A Plunge In Japan, No Big Deal-o
With an opening week pushing over a million copies of Final Fantasy XIII, it's really no big deal that the game dropped to fourth on the Japanese sales charts this week
Still, with figures of around 200,000 copies shifted, we doubt Square Enix will be worrying too much, with Final Fantasy XIII seemingly meeting all its ridiculous expectations in the...
News Famitsu Readers Reckon PS3 Slim Was The Biggest Story In '09
Top Trumps
According to retailer and reader votes in Japan's super-gaming Bible, Famitsu, the relaunch of the Playstation 3 in September was the biggest gaming story of 2009, with Final Fantasy XIII's release date and PSP Go's announcement all filling out spots in the top five. We can't disagree with the PS3 Slim's announcement; Sony's effective...
News Sony Of Japan Trademark The Name "Cloudsurf"
Initiating even more rumours related to a "paid PSN" and different kind of digital distribution, Sony of Japan filed the name "Cloudsurf" on December 28th, for use on practically any Sony related gizmo; including "game machines
" The filing hints at "game services" and "entertainment" via the Internet. Games, audio, and...
News Now That's What I Call Marketing 41: Final Fantasy XIII vs. Sony Bravia
Marketing, marketing, marketing
It's all about synergy. Final Fantasy XIII is a Playstation-related product (in Japan). Playstation is a Sony developed system. Sony also make the Bravia TV range. So what do you do? You get Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning to stand behind the latest Sony Bravia TV. Subconsciously anyone who picks up that Sony TV,...
Rumour Final Fantasy Effect Shifts 245,406 Playstation 3 Systems, 1,516,532 Copies Of The Game Sold
Early rumours coming out of Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain (via the Examiner) suggest its been a bumper week in Japan for Sony and Square Enix
According to reports 1,516,532 copies of Final Fantasy XIII were sold in the game's first week on retail, with 245,406 Playstation 3 hardware systems shifted. And that figure is more than any of us imagined.
News Playstation Hardware Increases For The End Of Year In Japan
Playstation 3 sales were up nicely in Japan for the week ending December 13th, with PSP sitting just behind it
The Playstation 3 managed to shift 75,086 units for the week, with the PSP shifting 71,885. Things are looking grim for the PSPgo in the region though, with just 3,077 units sold in the region. What's going on? It's actually a good piece of...
News Final Fantasy XIII Launch Sales Exceed 1million In Japan, Square-Enix Party
Final Fantasy XIII is out (in Japan)
That means that practically everyone living in the country stopped what they were doing, cancelled work, and went and bought a copy. Well, maybe not everyone in the country - but at least 1million, as early indications suggest sales for the game were strong in its first 24 hours. The 1million figure does not...
News Playstation 3 Sells Over 4 Million In Japan
News of a minor milestone for Sony's Playstation 3 in Japan today, as figures compiled by Famitsu's publisher, Enterbrain, suggest the system has passed the 4million units mark, hitting a life-to-date total 4,020,563
They are great numbers for Sony, but it's humbling to see theWii reach the 9million mark on the same day. Let's see what difference...
News Take A Look At Some Final Fantasy XIII Footage
Assuming you can't read Japanese, we're guessing you're itching for Final Fantasy XIII right now [if you can read Japanese, why aren't you importing the game? - Ed]
So we got your bases covered. Embedded are some videos of FFXIII from the mainstream Japanese media. It looks amazing by the way.
News Playstation 3 & Wii Battle It Out In Japan Hardware Sales
The Wii had a narrow victory on the Playstation 3 in Japan last week, selling just 115 consoles more
The PS3 was still showing its new found lease of life however, with a decent 46,558 consoles sold. The PSP was in good stead also, with 38,839 units sold. Sadly, the PSPgo dawdled at the bottom of the charts with less than 4,000 units this week,...
News Akihabara Goes Understandably Final Fantasy XIII Mental Ahead Of Release
If you happen upon Tokyo's Akihabara store over the next few weeks, prepare to be hit by a whole mass of Final Fantasy XIII content
The game's due to launch exclusively in the Japanese region on Playstation 3 in a few weeks. Sony domination ahoy.
News Look It's An Advertisement For A Japanese Beverage Promoting Final Fantasy XIII
So, apparently Japan is hitting Final Fantasy XIII saturation point now
The game's out in like, just over two weeks, and Japanese presence is ramping up to "big cultural event" point. As evidenced by this advertisement for Elixir, a Japanese beverage. Dude! Sales predictions, anyone? Remember, the demo pushed PS3 sales through the roof...
News Final Final Fantasy XIII Trailer Is Finally Here, Mad Pretty
Sit back, relax, and get ready to gawp at pretty CGI people talking in Japanese
Yep, it can only be Final Fantasy XIII, and the last trailer Square-Enix intend to release before the game's launch in Japan. We're now taking bets on first-day sales. Where you putting your money?
News Brand Playstation Continues To Dominate In Japan
Sony's grip on the Japanese market continues to stregthen as the company once again account for more than half of Japanese video game sales in their home region
During the week ending November 15th, the Playstation 3 and PSP each tallied over 38,000 units, with the PSPgo dropping to just 6,000. PSP 38,770 PS3 38,498 DSi 33,749 Wii ...
News PSP Comics Service Coming To Japan On December 10th
Sony have dated the Playstation Portable comics service to those people in Japan
A firmware update will be available on November 19th, upgrading the PSP to 6.20 a few weeks ahead of the service's launch on December 10th. For the Japanese store, individual comics will cost between ¥50-150 (USD$0.55-$1.70), while collections will run for the uniform...
News Playstation 3 Continues To Lead The Japanese Sales Charts
When the PS3 Slim launched, many expected the Playstation 3 to lead the charts for a couple of weeks and then drop away
But Sony's HD system has held onto its place at the top of the Japanese charts, even managing to beat out Nintendo's DSi this week. Combined sales of the PSP and PSPgo also managed to beat out Nintendo's handheld system for the...
News Japanese Copies Of Final Fantasy XIII Include A Final Fantasy XIV Beta Code
It's been revealed via scans from Shonen Jump magazine that Japanese copies of Final Fantasy XIII will include beta entry to Final Fantasy XIV- the online MMO from Square Enix
We're assuming the beta will be for PC, even though the game is due on Playstation 3 aswell. Still, it's a nice little extra incentive (as if any was needed) for the Japanese...
News Playstation Hardware Accounts For Over Half Of The Japanese Sales Charts This Week
It may have only been on store shelves for one day, put the PSPgo still managed to shift 29,109 units on its Japanese launch
Couple that with solid figures for the existing PSP (34,911) and continued strength of the Playstation 3 platform (36,061) and you have some real solid numbers for Sony in Japan this week. Nintendo's DSi continued to head the...
News Yummy New PSPs Coming To Japan Before Christmas
If you're Japanese and you don't have a PSP yet (unusual), you might be interested to know that there are ton of awesome new colours heading to the Portable range, the full catalogue of which you can see over at Kotaku
They're out in December and will cost ¥19,800 (US$219.50).
News Nintendo's Satoru Iwata: Wii & Playstation 3 Going Neck & Neck In Japan
Battle on
Chalk this down to a phenomenal turn-around in fortunes for SCE worldwide, or a drop in demand for Nintendo's wildly popular Wii system — Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata reckons that in their current climates the Wii and Playstation 3 are "neck and neck" in Japan. "A notable dip can be seen in sales of Wii this year; which is...
News Sony's Japan Studio "Re-Energising" For Playstation 3 Onslaught
If you think about all the big Playstation 3 games since launch, chances are they came from a Western developer
Aside from the odd title here or there - Siren: Blood Curse, Trash Panic, Eye Of Judgement - a lot of Sony's Studio Japan output has been on PSP over the past few years. Sony Worldwide Studios honcho Shuhei Yoshida is fully aware of this,...
News PSPgo Shifts 28,275 Units On Its First Day Of Retail In Japan
The PSPgo has finally launched in Japan, and has managed to shift a respectable 28,275 units according to Andriasang
com</a>. The unit was supported by a ton of Playstation Network releases including Persona 3, Dissidia Final Fantasy and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. Domestic lifetime sales for the PSP pre-Go stand at 12,797,180. It'll be a...
News Bayonetta Playstation 3 Conquers The XBOX 360 Version Despite Claims Of "Inferiority"
The Playstation 3 version of Bayonetta has conquered the XBOX 360 version despite numerous claims the Sony version is not up to scratch
Japanese publication Famitsu scored the XBOX 360 version of Bayonetta a whole 2 points more (earning it a perfect score) due to performance issues which are somewhat questionable. That hasn't stopped the Playstation...
News Playstation 3 Holds Strong Around The 30K Mark In Japan
After the initial monster sales of the PS3 Slim in Japan, we always assumed weekly sales would settle down around the 30k mark - 20k higher than pre-Slim's average weekly figures
That's something that's happened for Sony, with figures of 29,997 this week. Many expected the Wii to overtake the PS3 after its pricedrop, but that hasn't happened, with...
If you're living under a rock Japan, prepare to flip out
There's a new Monster Hunter game coming to PSP. Announced at a competition (!) in Tokyo, the game is a spin-off featuring the Toro mascots. The game is entitled "Monhan Nikki Poka Poka Airu Mura", or "Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Airu Village". There are no real details...
News Oh Hey Look, It's A Bayonetta Advert
Don't you just love Japanese adverts? "Non-stop climax action - BAYONETTA
" We love that little Playstation 3 ident thing at the end aswell. Brilliant. It's going to be interesting how the spread of sales for Bayonetta actually turn out — with the XBOX 360 version scoring a 40/40, two marks more than the Playstation 3 version due to...
The Playstation 3 is starting to look steady with a reasonable 30,000 units a week figure in Japan
The system has been heavily boosted since its price drop around the world, and Sony will hope that things continue to stay that way until the expected super boost from the launch of Final Fantasy XIII in December. The Wii and PS3 continue to get...
News The Last Guardian's Ueda: "This Generation Is About Expressing Ideas"
Sony really are very lucky to have one of the biggest innovators in video games working exclusively for their platform
The man behind Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico, Fumito Ueda, is currently working on The Last Guardian. And speaking to Famitsu, Ueda has confirmed his ideal that "this generation is about expressing ideas".As a creator,...
News Playstation 3 & Wii Locked In Home Console Sales Supremacy Bout In Japan
Since the PS3 Slim released the PS3 has seen a steady sales boost that's now starting to level out
The Wii also recently saw its price cut in recent weeks. The result is a heated contest for supremacy in which the Playstation 3 managed to win this week by just 155 units. We're sure things are only going to get closer next week. The sales figures for...
News Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Shifts Around 47,000 Units On Its First Day In Japan
Considering we didn't expect Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to sell well at all in Japan - it's a very Western focused game - we're surprised to see Japanese reports of the game selling around 47,000 copies in its first day
We suppose if we were to extrapolate, we'd imagine around 55,000 sales before the week is out, if not more. Hopefully Naughty Dog...
News PSP Sales Triple In Japan After The System's Price Cut
Playstation Portable sales are up in Japan after Sony announced they would slash the PSP-3000's price by 15%
The system, which was also bolstered by the launch of Gran Turismo PSP, saw sales of around 49,000 during the previous week ending Sunday. According to Reuters, Sony's stock rose by 2.9% due to the price cut.
News Atlus Are Hunting Our Playstation 3 Programmers
So Persona fans, you probably think it's about time you rejoiced in a Persona 5 announcement
Well, we bring not news of the games announcement, but details that Atlus are currently hiring Playstation 3 (and XBOX 360) programmers. With so many rumours flying around about Persona 5, you have to imagine the game exists in some form somewhere. Chances...
News ICO Man Likes The Idea Of Making An FPS
It's weird to think that Fumito Ueda - the head of Sony's Team ICO studio, and one of the most original game developers today - wants to make an FPS
Honestly, he told G4 so:"I have an interest in making first-person game." Ueda cited Valve's Half-Life series as FPS games he likes, stating, "Usually, you have to incorporate...
News PS3 Slim Interest Declines Somewhat In Japan, Still Dominates The Home Console Market
Ever since the PS3 Slim's launch day, sales for Sony's home console hardware have declined slightly
This week sees the Slim settle just below the 40,000 mark, still a reasonable number for Sony given a slow software week and previous performances. Sony will want to see the Slim even out at some point, perhaps around the 25,000 to 30,000 weekly sales...
News Square Enix Expect Exceed 6 Million Final Fantasy XIII Sales
In an interview with Reuters, Squeenix honcho Yoichi Wada told the service he expects Final Fantasy XIII to outsell its predecessors, roughly selling upwards of six million copies
Wada also expressed hopes that the recent price cut to the Playstation 3 would drive up sales when it launches this December. We expect Wada won't be far off with this...
News Tokyo Game Show Attendance Is Down In 2009
The figures are in and the news out of Tokyo is that attendance was slightly down for this year's Tokyo Game Show
While the business days remained largely unchanged, it was the weekend public attendance that saw the biggest drop with fewer people visiting the convention than previous years. The numbers will still largely impressive though with...
News Playstation 3 Sales Remain Strong In Japan
Another week at the top for the effectively relaunched Playstation 3 system this week, as Japanese sales dropped just 8% and still cruise at the 50,000+ sweet spot
Sony must be delighted with the bump they've seen from effectively remarketing the PS3 at the start of this month. They'll need to see it continue though; the inclusion of a Gran Turismo...
News Details On Sony's Kaz Hirai Fronted Tokyo Game Show Keynote
Tokyo Game Show 2009 kicks off soon
And it ain't started until Sony have had their press conference. What is building to be the third big Sony press conference in less than five months kicks off tomorrow morning at 10:30AM local time. Thats 2.30am BST, 3.30am CET, 6.30pm PST and 9.30pm EST. Expect to wake up to all the news tomorrow morning as we...
News Playstation 3 Continues To Sell Big In Japan
The Playstation 3 has been selling big in Japan ever since the PS3 Slim dropped
This week's sales were down on their absolute domination, but they were still, on the whole, pretty bloody high with over 55,000 units sold. A pretty big deal. The Final Fantasy XIII week is going to be the most interesting week for Sony. We're not entirely sure what to...
News Tales Of Vesperia PS3 Sales Come Close To Lifetime XBOX 360 Sales
If you're in Japan today looking for a copy of Tales Of Vesperia on the Playstation 3 - good luck
The game has sold a whopping 140,000+ in its first 24 hours on sales — numbers which eclipse the first month of sales on XBOX 360 and come close to the game's lifetime sales on Microsoft's system. The lure of new content and, you know, being on...
News The Last Guardian Named To Appeal To The West, Studio Japan Boss Urges Japan To Think Western
The VP of Sony's Japan Studio, Yasuhide Kobayashi, has urged Japanese developers to think Western
The man leading the ambitious The Last Guardian project told game makers at the DICE Asia summit to go Western or die.There are so many issues we have to solve, and the biggest challenge is that the market in Japan is shrinking they key is gaining...
News Are Microsoft Inadvertently Funding The Development Of Playstation 3 Titles?
A developer for one-time XBOX 360 exclusive Vampire Rain has spoken out about the trend of XBOX 360 exclusives being ported to the Playstation 3 a year later
We've already seen it happen with titles like Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope and Tales Of Vesperia amongst others. But why? The blogger writes that development on the XBOX 360 is easier. The...
News PS3 Slim Sales Predictably Drop A Fair Bit In Japan
After a flying first week in Japan, Famitsu publisher Enterbrain have released data that suggests the PS3 Slim sold 57,056 units in its second week
Obviously, no one expecting Sony to continue selling 150,000 units every week, and it'll now be interesting to see whereabouts Slim sales settle. Before the price drop Sony were shifting around 10,000...
