Tag: Japan - Page 3
News PlayStation Japan Serves Up a Buffet of Brilliant PS5 Games
Mouth watering
If you’ve been following PlayStation for a while, then you’ll be familiar with its Japanese division’s high-concept montage videos. The platform holder tends to publish a couple of these every year, focusing on its upcoming first-party and third-party software selection. This latest video has a buffet theme, with Horizon...
News Bloodborne Producer Masaaki Yamagiwa Teams Up with Team Ninja
A stranger of paradise
A top producer from Japan Studio – who left Sony when the team was disbanded earlier in the year – has joined Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin developer Team Ninja. Masaaki Yamagiwa – whose credits include Bloodborne, Déraciné, and Tokyo Jungle to name just a few – was
News Four Different PlayStation Games Top Japanese Charts for the First Time in Ages
No, really
It's been a long, long time since Sony had any real say in the Japanese software charts, which makes this week's list especially interesting. Not one, not two, not three, but four PlayStation games sit at the top of the charts. They're all PS4 titles, granted, but this is still an incredibly rare win for a company other than Nintendo...
News Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut Breaks Up Switch Dominance in Japanese Sales Chart
Sells just under 24,000 copies
Cast your mind back a few weeks and you may remember us reporting there wasn't a single PlayStation 5 or PS4 game in the top 30 of the physical Japanese sales charts. Nintendo Switch titles had effectively taken over the region, but the past week's rankings make for slightly prettier reading as far as Sony is...
News Sony Investing in External Japanese Development Group
A core part of PlayStation's identity
Sony, effectively, shuttered Japan Studio earlier this year, retaining Astro’s Playroom developer Team Asobi and expanding it into a fully-fledged first-party team. Many, however, feel that PlayStation is turning its back on its home nation, with Gran Turismo 7 maker Polyphony Digital being its only other...
News There's Not a Single PS5, PS4 Game in the Japanese Sales Charts
Missing from the entire top 30
For the first time since the late 1980s, the Japanese sales charts are dominated by a single console. The latest Famitsu results, which track physical software sales from 2nd August through 8th August, are completely occupied by Nintendo Switch titles. To clarify: every game, from 1st position to 30th position, belongs...
News PS5 Games Are Still Selling Poorly at Retail in Japan
Rift Apart moves just 14k boxed copies
Now that stock is slowly becoming more available, the PlayStation 5 is selling much better in Japan. It’s still not particularly spectacular, but in terms of hardware units it has overtaken the PS4 and PS Vita when launch aligned, and is now catching up to the Nintendo Wii U. The latter may not particularly...
News Anime Sensation Demon Slayer Will Deploy in October on PS5, PS4 in Japan
Slay, queen
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the game based on Sony’s smash hit anime – will release in October in Japan, according to a flyer included with Blu-ray copies of the film. Sony Music Entertainment subsidiary Aniplex is slated to publish the game, with CyberConnect 2 on development duties – and it’ll release on PlayStation 5,...
News Japan Remains 'Extremely Important' to PlayStation, Stresses Sony Boss
Beast from the East
Over the last couple of years — and particularly the last several months — there's been a lot of discussion surrounding PlayStation's relationship with Japan. It's no secret that the company has become very westernised, consolidating its efforts across North America and Europe especially. This is also true of PlayStation's...
News Sony XDEV Recruiting Producers for AAA PS5, PS4 Games in Japan and Asia
More evidence of global operation
As we reported earlier in the week, Sony XDEV Europe now appears to be a global operation. The Liverpool-based division – seemingly now rebranded Sony XDEV – historically partnered with external developers across Europe to bring exclusive titles to PlayStation platforms like Returnal and Detroit: Become Human...
News PS5 Sales Now Trending Above PS4 Launch Aligned in Japan
But no one's buying any games
After all the hullabaloo surrounding the PlayStation 5’s launch in Japan – stock issues mean that it was trending behind even the Nintendo Wii U at one point – the next-gen console is now selling faster than its predecessor the PS4 did in the region when launch aligned. It’s worth remembering that the PS4...
News Sony Sponsors Asobu, a Community Hub for Japanese Indies
Well, that changes the narrative
Depending on which Twitter accounts you follow, Sony is stepping away from indie developers and has turned its back on the Japanese development scene. The company’s official sponsorship of Asobu is presumably just a ruse, then – this doesn’t fit the narrative at all, does it? For those who don’t know –...
News Ex-Sony Japan Studio Producer Forms a New Team with a Terrible Name
EPIGRAsm not the best
As the fallout from Sony’s disbanded Japan Studio continues to unfold, another team has been established. This time it’s the turn of long-time executive producer Masami Yamamoto, who’s worked on dozens of PlayStation exclusives, including – but not limited to – Bloodborne, Tokyo Jungle, and Soul Sacrifice. As...
News PS5 Sales Steadily Improve in Japan, As Stock Situation Steadies
Console crosses 500k milestone
Update: Just as a quick update to this article, the new Famitsu sales data for the period spanning 22nd March to 28th March has now been published. PlayStation 5 continued its excellent sales streak, shifting another 62,295 units, putting its life-to-date total at 580,211 units. Once again the Nintendo Switch...
News Bloodborne, Tokyo Jungle Executive Producer Masami Yamamoto Leaves Sony
As expected, unfortunately
It’s no surprise anymore, given the effective closure of Japan Studio, but external production director and executive producer Masami Yamamoto has left Sony after 25 years with the company. The veteran has worked on titles like Bloodborne, Soul Sacrifice, Freedom Wars,
News Resident Evil Village, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade to Feature in Sony Japan Livestream
Play! Play! Play!
On PlayStation, there are usually a few big Japanese games to look forward to. On the horizon for PS5, we have Resident Evil Village and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade — to name just two — and they're only a couple of months away. It seems Sony is looking to share more on these titles; PlayStation Japan has just announced...
News Famitsu, Dengeki, and Japanese Fans Give Ghost of Tsushima All Kinds of Awards
The Ghost with the most
Ghost of Tsushima's staggering success in Japan is well documented at this point. Not only did the PlayStation 4 exclusive break sales records for Sony, it also inspired the real island of Tsushima to make Sucker Punch studio heads Nate Fox and Jason Connell permanent ambassadors. A huge honour, and it's just got even better...
News Japanese Media Giant Kadokawa Corporation Forms Alliance with Sony
Conglomerate owns FromSoftware
Sony’s going gung-ho with its anime business, as the company sees it as a potential pillar moving forwards. It recently acquired Crunchyroll, but it already owns Funimation and Aniplex. It’s not surprising, then, to see media conglomerate Kadokawa Corporation partner with the Japanese giant for “mutual...
News Bedlam in Japan as New PS5 Stock Arrives at Tokyo Retailer
The police were called and the sale cancelled
There was absolute bedlam at one Tokyo retailer overnight, as fresh stock of the under-supplied PlayStation 5 arrived. Since releasing last November, Sony’s new console has been borderline impossible to find all around the world, but Japan has been on the particularly short end of the stick, with...
News PS Plus Members in Japan Get a Fourth Free Game in February
But only get Control on PS5
How about that February 2021 PS Plus lineup, then? Pretty good, right? If you missed it, you can find all of the details through here, but just to reiterate you’ll be getting Destruction AllStars, Control: Ultimate Edition, and Concrete Genie. In Japan, though, member
News Once Again, Japanese PlayStation Hardware Sales Have Fans Talking
Here weeb go again
There’s been a lot of talk about PlayStation sales in Japan recently, and that point of discussion looks set to continue as 2021 gets underway. Hardware sales statistics released by Famitsu – and compiled by ResetEra – reveal that in 2020, for the first time since 1994, cumulative Pla
News Cyberpunk 2077 Sells 104,687 Copies At Launch in Japan
PS5, PS4 hardware sales in the gutter
Cyberpunk 2077 was unquestionably one of the biggest games of the year, and it even managed to find an audience in Japan, moving a very respectable 104,687 boxed copies on the PlayStation 4. It wasn’t enough to top the charts – Nintendo Switch title Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban had that...
News PlayStation Boss Reiterates Importance of Japan As Core Fans Get Antsy
"Incredibly important to us"
The departure of Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama from Sony Japan Studio this week served as confirmation for some core fans: PlayStation is side-lining Japan, and it no longer sees the region as important to its efforts. That was the subject of a
News Sony Stresses Japan Is of Utmost Importance After Report Claims Company's Interest Has Drifted
PS5's focus elsewhere
Sony’s said that its “home market remains of utmost importance”, after a Bloomberg report claimed the company’s interest in its native Japan is waning. The platform holder is now largely run by Europeans, while its headquarters have moved to San Mateo in the United States. All of this, combined with dwindling home...
News PS Camera Adaptor for PS5 Included with New Japanese PSVR Bundles
Out of the box
Sony’s yet to officially disclose how we’ll get access to the PS Camera adaptor required to use PlayStation VR on the PlayStation 5, but it looks like the company’s making preparations for new hardware purchases. Over in Japan, a couple of new PSVR bundles will ship with the required equipment to hook up to Sony’s next-gen...
News PS5 Display Stand Appears in Japanese Store
So close you can taste it
Shopping on the high street isn’t what it once was during this pandemic afflicted period, but seeing retail displays for new consoles is always exciting. Ahead of the system’s local launch on 12th November, a Japanese store named COMG has erected its PlayStation 5 shelving, and it gives us our first glimpse of the...
News Sony Abandons Decades-Old Japanese Controller Logic for PS5
X-rated
Did you know that in Japan the Circle button is used to confirm menu items and the X button is used to cancel? While some early PS1 titles used the same logic in the West, Sony eventually normalised the use of X to confirm and Circle to cancel, but there’s always been a disparity between the regions – until now. Alongside a wave of...
News Watch Lots of Brand New PS5 Gameplay with Japanese YouTube Videos
Astro's Playroom! Godfall! DMC5 Special Edition!
A bunch of Japanese YouTubers got the chance to go hands on with PlayStation 5 recently, and as promised, their videos are live right now. While they don't provide a look at the PS5's UI or menus, we now have plenty of raw footage from several games. There's lots of gameplay from the likes of Astro's...
News Japanese YouTubers to Go Hands On with PS5 in Early October
Will other territories follow suit?
Because 2020 has gone the way it's gone, hands-on impressions of next-gen hardware are sorely missing. Unless you're Geoff Keighley, you won't have touched a DualSense controller or played any PS5 games. The console is less than two months away now, so it's about time Sony upped the ante. In Japan, at least, the...
News There Are No Words for Crash Bandicoot 4's Japanese Commercial
WTF
... (Apparently this is inspired by a music video that came included with the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 2, which is also a complete and utter acid trip.)
Random How PS4 Saved a Japanese High School Student's Life
System savior
PlayStation 4 has saved us from boredom countless times, but we’d never counted on the system saving a high school student’s life. In Japan, a young girl was abducted for a month after meeting with her 44-year-old pen pal – but he didn’t count on his crafty quarry using his console to call emergency services. NHK News reports...
Overwhelming force
After having topped the Japanese software charts at launch, Ghost of Tsushima has been forced from its throne by the seemingly unstoppable Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Still, the PlayStation 4 exclusive has maintained a steady momentum, selling an additional 53,000 copies. It's the kind of drop that we expect to see from n
News Ghost of Tsushima Has the Best Launch Ever for a First-Party PS4 Game in Japan
Nothing ghostly about it
Ghost of Tsushima has done incredibly well for itself in Japan. The numbers are in, and the open world title has enjoyed the best launch sales of any first-party PlayStation 4 game. Sucker Punch's latest moved 222,000 copies, which was more than enough to rocket the title to the top of the Japanese software charts. Its...
News The Last of Us 2 Tops Software Charts in Japan
A rare win for PS4
The Last of Us: Part II has gone straight to number one in Japan. The PlayStation 4 exclusive sold a solid 179,000 copies -- around 60,000 more units than The Last of Us managed when it launched in 2013. It's a decent result for Sony, seeing as the Japanese software charts are often dominated by Nintendo Switch titles these days...
News Final Fantasy VII Remake Sales Off to a Great Start in Japan Despite Coronavirus Situation
PS4 sales spike
Final Fantasy VII Remake has proven to be a hit in Japan. The latest estimated sales numbers from Famitsu are in, and the long awaited remake tops the software charts by some distance. What's more, the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake has resulted in a sales spike for the PlayStation 4 itself. The console's been selling quite...
News Yakuza: Like a Dragon Ships Over 400,000 Units
Breathing fire
Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s sales looked disappointing at first blush in Japan, but between physical and digital copies, the role-playing game’s done okay for itself. SEGA reports that shipments have now exceeded 400,000 copies across Asia, and the publisher is marking the occasion with a 30 per cent discount on the Japanese...
News Final Fantasy VII Remake Wearable Speaker Is Japan's Oddest Accessory
PS4 console cover too
Sometimes, you come across an accessory which makes you question: "Why?" From Nintendo's cancelled Vitality Sensor to the Xbox One Kinect, there are some video game add-ons which simply don't make a whole lot of sense. You can now add another one to that growing list because Sony has come out with a Final Fantasy VII Remake...
News Persona 5 Scramble Enjoys Good Start in Japan, PS4 Version Easily Outsells Switch
Phantom strike
Japan is clearly up for yet more Persona 5, as action-based sequel Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers has topped the latest software charts. It's off to a pretty good start, moving 162,000 copies or so across both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, it's the PS4 version that's proving to be much...
End of an era
It's always a sad day when a good old fashioned gaming magazine decides to call it quits. Dengeki PlayStation, a PlayStation-specific publication that's been following the brand's every move for an impressive 26 years, has revealed that its final issue (volume 686) will arrive in March. We remember a simpler time when the monthly...
News Just So You Know, Sony Trademarked the PS5 Logo in Japan
Every little helps
Relax! Here’s the PlayStation 5 news you’ve been waiting for – or not. Sony has trademarked its next-gen console’s logo in its native Japan, clearing the way for release. Maybe. The Japanese giant’s come in for some criticism from core fans for keeping its forthcoming format underwraps, with some even wondering whether...
News Yakuza: Like a Dragon Sales Aren't So Disappointing in Japan After All
Huge increase in digital sales
When last week's Japanese sales charts arrived, it was looking like Yakuza: Like a Dragon had been a bit of a flop. It didn't do terribly, but it also didn't appear to spark a resurgence for the series in its homeland. However, according to SEGA's Toshihiro Nagoshi -- who oversees the Yakuza franchise -- the latest...
News Yakuza: Like a Dragon Fails to Spark Series Resurgence in Japan as Lacklustre Sales Continue
Launch numbers are in
SEGA knew it was taking a bit of a risk with Yakuza: Like a Dragon -- or Yakuza 7, as it's known in Japan. The latest entry in the long running series does away with its trademark action-based combat, replacing it with a turn based battle system that has been, at least in part, designed to appeal to Japan's love of traditional...
News Sony Fails to Infiltrate a Single Spot in Japanese Sales Charts
Nintendo Switch domination
Sony’s suggested that it will not delay the PlayStation 5 in Japan like it did the PlayStation 4, but it’s clear that the company’s going to have its work cut out as it plans to introduce a new stationary home console in a region that’s clearly moving away from them. Case in point: the latest Japanese software...
News Yakuza: Like a Dragon Goes Dark Souls in Japanese Commercial
Lost the plot
Who doesn’t love a good Japanese commercial to round out their slow Friday afternoon? This one for Yakuza: Like a Dragon will certainly wake you up, as it proudly squeals about the series’ transition to fully-fledged role-playing game. There’s even a brief glimpse of what appears to be a Dark Souls-inspired summon, just to...
News PS5 Unlikely to Launch Late in Japan
"It wasn't a good idea"
You may recall that the PlayStation 4 launched in most major territories in November 2013, but Sony’s home region Japan was forced to wait until February 2014 to get its hands on the console. This was a bold move from the organisation, considering the company’s past systems have historically launched first in the Land of...
News Groove to Yet Another Incredible Japanese PS4 Montage Video
Dance the night away
Sony may not be selling many PlayStation 4 consoles in Japan anymore, but it’s still willing to put in the legwork and produce some amazing montage videos. This new clip – the latest in a long line of promotional music videos – adopts an animated style, and includes titles such as Final Fantasy VII Remake, Yakuza 7, and...
News PlayStation and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Will Cross Paths in Upcoming Tournament
Wait, what?
It seems even PlayStation can't resist the allure of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has arranged a corporate tournament for a bunch of the country's top businesses, and among the competitors will be a team from Sony's gaming platform. As you can see in the above video, PlayStation joins seven other companies...
News The Disaster That Is Mighty No. 9 Is Being Removed from the Japanese PlayStation Store
Feeling blue
Hey, remember Mighty No. 9? Following a farcical crowd funding campaign and an incredibly troubled development cycle, the Mega Man-style sidescroller finally released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 back in 2016. Unfortunately, the wait was not worth it. Mighty No. 9 was panned by critics and consumers alike, and these days, it only...
News Death Stranding Climbs to the Top of the Japanese Sales Charts
Nice work, Sam
Another week, another first place finish for PlayStation software in Japan. Following on from Persona 5 Royal's impressive performance last week, Death Stranding has ascended to the summit of the latest sales charts according to Famitsu. The PS4 exclusive moved around 186,000 physical copies, which was more than enough to secure the...
News Persona 5 Royal Leaps Straight to the Top of the Sales Charts in Japan
Royalty
Persona 5 Royal is off to a healthy start in Japan, where it's immediately jumped to the top of the software sales charts (as tracked by Famitsu). A PlayStation 4 exclusive, Royal apparently sold over 200,000 physical copies in its debut week, outpacing its closest competitor, Luigi's Mansion 3, by around 50,000 units. Both titles released...
