Sep 23
Sep 20
PlayStation 4’s SVP explains delayed Japan launch, cites domestic Vita success
Posted in: Today's Chili
The PlayStation 4 launches on November 15th. Well, it does in the US. For Japanese gamers, they’re going to have to wait over three months before they’re able to buy Sony’s next-gen console. But why? A lot of Japanese gamers are not happy, and SCEJA’s CEO excused the later launch, saying that the company needed more time to ensure the game selection was up to standard for Japanese audiences. However, it wasn’t quite enough to quash complaints from its native fans. In a roundtable interview at TGS 2013 with Sony’s SVP of PlayStation hardware, Masayasu Ito explained that in Japan, its portable devices continue to sell well — in comparison to Europe and the US. Thus, the company decided to launch the PS4 in the west first, where there was already “much more excitement” about next-generation consoles. (It also explains why Sony Computer Entertainment Japan focused on refreshed Vita hardware and the Vita TV before this year’s Tokyo Game Show even began).
“Until now, we’ve placed emphasis on the launch titles that are ready for Europe and the US… As I said, in Japan, portable devices are selling very well. So, first and foremost, gaming titles released in Japan would be first for Vita and portables. That’s why the PS4 will come later.”
However, that’s not to say that Sony Japan’s game studios aren’t already at work on PS4 titles: Knack, for example, is being developed in the Land of the Rising Sun. “Our worldwide studios look at worldwide titles rather than directing attention to the Japan-centric titles. So what’s being worked on in Japan is not Japanese-specific, but could (also) be applied on a worldwide basis.” He added that Japan will see around 19 games at launch, with “continuous titles” appearing after that. As a note, both the US and European PS4s can expect roughly 33 games within a “launch window” that will last until the end of 2013.
Sep 19
Maybe walking around a life-sized maze made of file folders is a hellish work stress dream you’ve had before. But artist Emmanuelle Moreaux has brought a similar idea to life in a rainbow of an installation for Japan’s Shinjuku Creators Festa 2013.
     |
Sep 19
Tokyo e, yookoso. Well, actually, Japan’s biggest gaming show is in Chiba, but we’re not going to complain. Sony’s already revealed its Vita handheld refresh, the new Vita TV mini-console and more global launch dates for the PlayStation 4, while Microsoft returns after a one-year hiatus, to show off its next-generation console. We’ve already seen Sony’s keynote, but there’s still a whole lot of halls to explore. Heck, maybe we’ll find out exactly what the next-generation iteration of brain-reading cat ears is. Follow our tgs2013 tag and for even more gaming news, our sister site Joystiq has got you covered.
Sep 19
Hiroshi Yamauchi was Nintendo’s third and arguably most important president. When he took the reins from his grandfather in 1949, the Japanese company specialized in the manufacture of playing cards for its home market — first Japanese-style cards and then, under Yamauchi’s guidance, Western-style ones too. By the time he handed over control to Satoru Iwata 53 years later, he’d overseen the creation of all Nintendo’s game consoles up to the GameCube and become one of Japan’s richest men — in other words, not a bad innings for a man who passed away today at the ripe old age of 85.
Sep 18
Earlier this month, SCEJA president Hiroshi Kawano announced that the PlayStation 4 would hit Japan on February 22nd, a full three months after the console’s mid-November launch in the US. To help ease that pain, however, Sony introduced a new product at the same event: the $100 PS Vita TV. The compact device, which offers Vita-like functionality but with a DualShock 3 controller and TV output, is scheduled to launch in Japan on November 14th. Now, at a pre-Tokyo Game Show event in Japan, we’ve received word that the same box will hit stores in other Asian countries, such as China and Korea, come January 2014, with pricing for those countries yet to be announced. Sadly, it’s still unlikely that the Vita TV will debut in Europe or North America.
Source: Engadget Chinese
Sep 18
NTT DoCoMo’s LTE-Advanced network may still be in its infancy, but the company’s already preparing for when 150 Mbps is considered slow. Many are looking towards the next-generation of mobile broadband, and DoCoMo has said its ready to reveal its very own 5G “concept” at the CEATEC conference in Japan next month. We don’t know if the company is referring to the monstrous 10 Gbps link that has competitor KDDI scratching its head, but “incredible speed, high capacity and low latency” are promised features. In addition, DoCoMo will preview its “winter 2013 / spring 2014” handset line-up and show off work it’s been doing in the augment-reality and wearable spaces. We’ll be around to browse the booth, of course, and dream of a time when streaming native 4K content over 5G to 21-inch smartphones will be standard.
[Thanks, Erwan]
Source: NTT DoCoMo
Sep 17
You might not know it, but the iPhone 5s has already gone on sale in China and subsequently sold out – every single size and color. This doesn’t mean that places like Japan or the United States should worry, as there is separate stock for each different region, but it just goes to show: the […]
Sep 17
Japan is probably known for people who are extremely passionate about certain things, including gadgets, and this scenario probably reinforces the point. A 44-year old man has set up camp in front of the Apple store in Tokyo’s Ginza district to earn the distinction of being the first to own one of the newly unveiled […]
Sep 16
When Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City was razed in the late 1980s, it was an infamously untouchable haven for drugs, crime, and prostitution—a place few locals would dare to visit. Now, a theme park outside of Tokyo is selling tickets to explore a painstakingly modeled replica of the Walled City—right down to its trash, which was imported from Hong Kong.
| |
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.