Japan News, Japan Features - Page 14 of 23

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 that the free-roaming crime-thriller netted 577,199..

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...

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 actually sold in Japan. However, PlayStation 3's..

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...

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, while the PS2 fought off the XBOX 360 in last..

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 until then. The good news is that it's coming..

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...

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 communities in the region, I would like to express our..

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 with its predecessor exceeding the lofty..

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 popular franchise though, Irem's also announced that..

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 the first time both Sony platforms have come out..

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. You'll need to manage your squad by tweaking stats..

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. Joystiq notes that the report has caused prices of

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, you’ll get a free theme for your PlayStation 3. In order to make a donation, go to the “Aid Japan” area under..

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 specific consoles were mentioned, but we have to assume..

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 soft look to it. As such, if there's anyone..

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 sales still strong after the release of Monster..

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, SCEJ boss Hiroshi Kawano has detailed the extent..

Zombies

Zombies. Zombie, zombie, zombies.