Tag: Japan - Page 2
News Japan Simply Isn't Enough Anymore as Square Enix Calls Global Market a 'Critical' Priority
Times have changed
This industry really has changed, hasn't it? It's no secret that the big Japanese publishers — Capcom, SEGA, Square Enix, etc. — are largely looking to the West these days, as their home nation seems to distance itself more and more from traditional console gaming (well, outside of Nintendo, at least). Whether it's enforcing...
News The Callisto Protocol Cancels Japanese Release After Refusing to Censor Violence
Bound by blood
Fast-approaching PS5 and PS4 horror title The Callisto Protocol has called off its release in Japan just over a month from launch. The announcement comes via the title's official Japanese Twitter account, which states that the game has been refused classification by the country's CERO rating system. In order to be released in Japan,...
News PlayStation Japan Returns with Another Musical Montage of PS5, PS4 Games
One Room Playground
The official PlayStation Japan channel is at it again, producing yet another montage trailer stuffed with upcoming PS5 and PS4 games. This time accompanied by a laid back J-pop tune and a mix of live action and animation, there are numerous exciting titles highlighted here. The video goes over games such as Final Fantasy XVI,...
News PS5, PS4 Had 1.5% of Console Market Share in Japan Last Week
A blot on its record
We all know Splatoon is a phenomenon in Japan, and that Sony’s situation in its domestic market is “challenging” to put it politely. But the latest Famitsu sales report will surely be sobering for the top brass at PlayStation, as its consoles slumped to just 1.5 per cent of the overall market share for the week ending 11th...
News Japanese Gamers Aren't Impressed with PS5's Price Hike
Many say they're simply giving up on the system
Sony is already having a torrid time in its home territory, but it looks like the PS5’s price hike could prove the straw that broke the camel’s back in its domestic Japan. Like the rest of the world – apart from the USA, of course – Japanese gamers have been reacting to the c
News PS5 Stock Shortages Force Format to Fall Behind Xbox for a Second Week in Japan
Low five
Sony’s trying time in its home country continues, as the PS5 was outsold by the Xbox Series X|S in Japan for a second week. This already occurred once in mid-May, and was noteworthy because it was the first time a PlayStation console had been beaten by an Xbox platform in the weekly Japanese hardware charts for over a decade. Acco
News PS Plus Extra Adds a Lot More PS5, PS4 Games in Japan's Full Launch List
A cut above the Asian list
As the new PS Plus Extra tier launches in Japan, its games list has been revealed — and it's a bit more impressive than the list that came with the tier's release in the rest of Asia. For starters, there are a number of additional titles on here — many of which were part of PS Now. The only problem, of course, is that...
News PS5 Outsold by Xbox in Japan for First Time, But All Stock Related
High five?
In what will undoubtedly be painted as a humiliating twist for Sony, the PS5 was outsold by the Xbox Series X|S in Japan during the week ending 15th May – and it wasn’t even close. Before we delve any deeper, it’s worth noting that while Microsoft’s console has been doing comparatively well in the Land of the Rising Sun, its...
News Sony Japan Promotes PS5, PS4 Lineup with High Octane Montage
Run! Run! Run!
We always enjoy these montages semi-regularly produced by Sony Japan to promote PlayStation’s software lineup. In terms of actual content, we must admit this is one of the weaker ones in recent memory, largely due to there being very few major titles with a release date on PS5 and PS4 right now. It’s still a fun video, though,...
News Updated PS5 Model Registered in Japan
Radio ga ga
Sony has reportedly registered an updated PS5 model in Japan — but don't get too excited. This isn't some kind of PS5 Pro — we won't be getting that for years yet, despite what the rumours say — this is just a slightly adjusted version of the standard PS5. So what's new? Well, it's apparently got "updated radio equipment", which...
That's a lot of Trails
If you're a fan of Japanese RPGs and you haven't yet discovered the magic of Falcom's The Legend of Heroes franchise, then a bundle like this offers up hundreds of hours of entertainment. Only just announced, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I ~ IV & Trails into Reverie Complete Box is exactly what it says on...
News Ghost of Tsushima Merch Now Being Sold in Actual Tsushima Island's Tourism Shop
Island life
As we've reported on numerous times, Ghost of Tsushima has proven to be very popular with the Japanese — to the point where key employees at developer Sucker Punch were made official ambassadors of the actual Tsushima island. This was after the open world title received all kinds of awards fro
News Sony Recruits Japanese Retailers for PS5 Scalping Prevention Scheme
Your fate is sealed
As you probably already know, the PlayStation 5 is not an easy console to find — and this is just about as true in Japan as it is here in the West. Naturally, Sony's doing all that it can to sell as many current-gen consoles as possible — but because of ongoing chip shortages and other persistent manufacturing issues (largely...
News Sony Pulling the Plug on PS3 After-Sales Support in Japan
Game over
It’s hardly earth-shattering news, but the PlayStation 3 is old – like, really old. The console launched all the way back in 2006, so it’s perhaps no surprise Sony is pulling the plug on support for the system and its peripherals – in Japan, at least. Writing on its official Twitter account, the organisation “sincerely...
News Japan's PS Now Update for March 2022 Is JRPG Heaven
Smile like you Rean it
It's always interesting to see what Japanese PlayStation fans are getting through subscription services like PS Plus and PS Now, comparing their game lineups to what's on the menu here in the West. Usually there's not a huge difference, but the Japanese selection for PS Now in March 2022 is worth pointing out. In Europe and...
News Sony More Likely Than Microsoft to Acquire a Japanese Game Company, Analyst Explains
Believes Sony may be planning a move in Japan
If Microsoft's planned $68 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard has you wondering who's next, and whether the tech giant could scoop up your favourite Japanese publisher at any moment, then we've got good news: it probably, maybe, might not happen. Video game consultant and writer Nathan Brown has...
News Game Over, Yeahhh! SEGA Dumps Japanese Arcades After 50 Years
Quarterly review
SEGA is pulling out of the Japanese arcade business after an iconic 50 year run. The company’s logo is synonymous with Tokyo’s once-bustling arcade scene, but it will sell all of its existing amusements to Genda Inc, a rival organisation that operates locations under the GiGO branding. It’s the end of an era, but hardly...
News SEGA Adds Sapporo Studio to Japanese Internal Operations
New year, new team
SEGA is beefing up its in-house Japanese operations with the establishment of a new Sapporo studio, to complement its existing slate of Tokyo teams. As the name obviously indicates, this group will work out of the northern Hokkaido prefecture, and will be responsible for “development, design, debugging, sales, and import and...
News Supply Constrained PS5 Sold Almost 1 Million Units in Japan in 2021
But heavily outsold by Nintendo Switch
The PlayStation 5 sold 942,798 units in Japan throughout 2021, according to retail data compiled by gaming bible Famitsu. The system has been supply constrained globally all year, so this figure effectively reflects shipment totals for the new-gen system in Sony’s home territory. It’s not a bad number in...
News 'High-End RPG Remake' for PS5 in Production at Japanese Studio
And that's all she wrote
A Japanese studio which has operated as an outsourcing outfit for franchises such as Atelier, Final Fantasy, and Persona is hiring for a “high-end RPG remake for PlayStation 5”. The name of the project is being kept private for now, and it’s almost certain it’s collaborating with a major publisher, although it...
News This Is Why We Don't Write About the Japanese Sales Charts Very Often
How times have changed
There was a time when we used to cover the Japanese sales charts every single week here on Push Square, without fail. But as we moved into the latter stages of the PlayStation 4's life — especially once the Nintendo Switch had been released — our coverage fell off a cliff. Why? Well, just take a look at the latest charts...
News PS Plus Subscribers in Japan Get Judgment as a Free Game This Month
Along with The Sexy Brutale
December's PlayStation Plus lineup in North America and Europe has not been well received. If you happened to miss yesterday's news, the PS Plus version of Godfall isn't the full game. And, as you can probably imagine, it's sparked a bit of an outrage among subscribers, who feel as though they're getting a glorified demo...
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...