Tag: Japan

Difficult reading

Hardware sales continued to decrease in Japan this week. The Vita’s fortunes improved by a measly seven units, as it mustered a disastrous 6k sales for the second week running. In fairness, it was another timid week for all of Japan’s major consoles, with PS3 and PSP's overall totals also dropping. Even the infallible Nintendo...

Persona leading the charge

It’s no secret that PlayStation Vita has been having a torrid time in Japan of late, but Sony is optimistic about the platform’s fortunes heading into June. Retailers around the country are anticipating strong sales for the upcoming Persona 4: The Golden and the Vita version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. In...

All time low

It really does feel like Japan has given up on Vita for the time being. At this point, the handheld is guaranteed a fresh wave of negative press every week. And it’s really hard to put a positive spin on the system’s latest numbers, with the console selling just 6,340 units. The one redeeming note is that all hardware fell sharply...

If at first you don't succeed...

The first of SCEJ’s PlayStation Vita Game Heaven events may not have gone quite to plan – forcing CEO Hiroshi Kawano to apologise to disappointed fans – but Sony’s keen to give the promotional showcase another shot. The company has teased a second broadcast in the latest issue of Famitsu magazine, and it’s...

Hide and seek

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has raised the curtain on EX Troopers this week, a new PS3 title that’s pitched as a spin-off to the Lost Planet series. The game will take place in a kind of educational academy, and details the fight between the snow pirates and Akrid aliens on EDN-3rd. It’ll feature anime cut-scenes, similar to...

Golden weak

Golden Week did nothing to improve the PlayStation Vita’s fortunes in Japan. Following a minor resurgence last week, the system dropped back down to a familiar position of 10k units sold. To compound the disappointment, the new handheld slipped behind Nintendo's aging Wii for the first time since its release late last year. It was...

Tone it down

Sony's announced the first colour variations for PS Vita, pushing a Crystal White console out to Japan on 28th June. The white machine will launch in WiFi only and 3G/WiFi versions for the standard price of ¥24,980/¥29,980 respectively. There'll be matching white ear phones sold separately for the colour coordinated gamer. Then in...

On the rise

After a torrid couple of weeks in Japan, the Vita has finally emerged from its temporary slump. Sony’s shiny new system sold a respectable 12,299 units for the week ending 29th April – a significant improvement over last week’s worrying 8,206 units tally. The boost was no doubt orchestrated by the release of Surge Concerto: Ciel...

A familiar story

This week’s Japanese sales charts prove the nation is gripped in 3DS fever. After enduring a tepid start, Nintendo’s handheld has become something of an unstoppable force, dominating the software and hardware sales charts alike. Meanwhile, the Vita continues to lurk beneath the decisive 10k units mark, selling 44 consoles less...

For shame

What do you get when you combine PlayStation Move, tiny monkeys and stripping? Dancing Eyes is the answer — or, at least, it was. Famitsu (via Andriasang) reports the game is now cancelled and won't see the light of day. Namco Bandai hasn't given any reason for the cancellation, but we imagine it's something to do with the tiny monkeys...

Once upon a monster

For a game we know next to nothing about, Soul Sacrifice is beginning to seem like a big deal. The PlayStation Vita exclusive – revealed in Famitsu magazine earlier in the week – has now been granted a fairly high-budget teaser website, showing off some concept art from the game. Set to a thumping drum-beat and images of...

How low can you go?

Whatever Soul Sacrifice is, it can’t come soon enough. With no new releases to speak of, the Vita continued its decline in Japan this week, selling a paltry 8,250 units. To its credit, it wasn’t the only system to decline. Only the DSi LL managed to post an improved figure, beating its previous tally by a measly seven units...

Do the splitz

In news that should have fans of encased primates doing the monkey for the remainder of the day, SEGA has confirmed that a demo for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz will release on the Japanese PlayStation Store tomorrow. The full game will be a mixture of the familiar and the new, allowing players to roll their way through a fresh...

Compatible with PS3 and Vita

Sony’s PS3-based DVR technology Torne proved a massive hit in Japan when it launched in 2010. Now the platform holder is aiming to level-up its domestic entertainment support with Nasne, a network recorder and media storage device that features a built-in tuner and 500GB hard-drive disc. The biggest difference between...

The end is nigh

A lot of industry conscious gamers hold a significant amount of faith in Japan’s weekly sales figures. It’s those same commentators that invented the so-called "10k units rule". The fabricated philosophy states that if a system’s sales are above 10k units a week, it’s “alive”. But should the unthinkable happen...

Spinteresting

SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 just got its first official release date: 16th May in Japan. The second episode of the retro reboot will cost ¥1,500 — that's about £11.49 or $18, but expect Western prices to be much lower: the original was $14.99 before dropping to $9.99 after a few months. There's also a special bonus for...

Minor boost for Vita

There was a Mickey Mouse-shaped cloud raining over the Japanese sales charts this week, as Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance cooed its way to the top spot. It was joined by numerous iterations of Konami’s Pro Baseball Spirits series, as the PS3, PSP and PS Vita versions of the latest bat-and-ball entry all...

Sweetening the deal

While positive noises have been made about the Vita's early sales in North America and Europe, there's been little hiding the fact that it's enduring a tough spell in Japan. It seems that gamers in Sony's homeland are happier to buy a PSP or, in even greater numbers, a 3DS. Despite this, it can't be said that Sony isn't trying...

What's hot in the land of the rising sun?

The PS Vita managed to keep its head above water again this week, with its sales numbers boosting well above the dreaded 10k units mark in Japan. Sony’s new handheld was unable to outsell its predecessor, the PSP, though, which was boosted by the release of the anticipated Yakuza spin-off, Black Panther 2...