Is Sony giving up on Japan?

[Dreakon13]

On 1/25/2021 at 2:42 AM, RadiantFlamberge said:

I guess Jim would also call GOG a bunch of morons for re-releasing "Good Old Games" on the PC. GOG has enjoyed success selling those alongside the newer releases. News flash Jim... there's room for more than the latest triple A titles.

 

Is Jim trying to turn Sony into another Sega? I don't want the PS5 to become Sony's Dreamcast. Dreamcast was a wonderful system, but was Sega known for the greatest marketing decisions? Surely not. PS2 may have been more powerful, but it didn't kill Dreamcast. Nintendo has survived in certain generations with weaker hardware (take original Wii vs PS3/360, Switch vs. PS4/X1). Nintendo is definitely doing things right.

 

I wish Sony and Nintendo didn't break up their original partnership. They'd probably have been a great team.

 

PS5 isn't in any position to be Sony's Dreamcast.  Sega's biggest mistake IMO was releasing the Dreamcast prior to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube gen officially starting.  The Dreamcast needed to have unprecedented staying power to stay relevant as everyones attention turned to Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo with their powerhouse consoles.  It didn't stand a chance.  If it released alongside them, it would've at least had the opportunity to have its name in that conversation for a while.

 

The Dreamcast was also full of very niche/very Eastern games outside of Sonic, which hasn't been a problem for the PS5 (or any Playstation console for a while now) with known brands like Spider-Man and Demon's Souls as launch titles, backwards compatibility, and perfectly apt third party support.

 

I get the feeling we have a bunch of visual novel/anime enthusiasts in this thread (and on this site) overstating the impact of a small but pronounced emphasis on censorship from Sony.  I don't think mainstream people really care about that, and they make up the vast majority.  Losing a few niche Japanese developers isn't the end of Playstation, and anything else sounds like unsubstantiated rumor and speculation.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Dreakon13

[Sendai-Horatio]

49 minutes ago, Dreakon13 said:

  Losing a few niche Japanese developers isn't the end of Playstation, and anything else sounds like unsubstantiated rumor and speculation.

Except I don't even think they lost any developers due to the policy.

 

 

[Sigma999]

4 hours ago, Sendai-Horatio said:

Considering that PS4 games work on both systems and it's going to take awhile for the first JRPGs to come out for the PS5 anyways, it's doesn't seem to be in a bad spot.

True however doesn't justify me to get a PS5 then. Cause the PS4 versions are still coming anyway. 

4 hours ago, Sendai-Horatio said:

Considering that PS4 games work on both systems and it's going to take awhile for the first JRPGs to come out for the PS5 anyways, it's doesn't seem to be in a bad spot.

True however doesn't justify me to get a PS5 then. Cause the PS4 versions are still coming anyway. 

4 hours ago, Sendai-Horatio said:

Considering that PS4 games work on both systems and it's going to take awhile for the first JRPGs to come out for the PS5 anyways, it's doesn't seem to be in a bad spot.

True however doesn't justify me to get a PS5 then. Cause the PS4 versions are still coming anyway. 

4 hours ago, Sendai-Horatio said:

Considering that PS4 games work on both systems and it's going to take awhile for the first JRPGs to come out for the PS5 anyways, it's doesn't seem to be in a bad spot.

True however doesn't justify me to get a PS5 then. Cause the PS4 versions are still coming anyway.

[ChiefMichigan]

Giving up? Not really. Focusing more on North America and Europe? Undeniably. 

 

 

[RadiantFlamberge]

On 1/29/2021 at 9:13 AM, Dreakon13 said:

I get the feeling we have a bunch of visual novel/anime enthusiasts in this thread (and on this site) overstating the impact of a small but pronounced emphasis on censorship from Sony.  I don't think mainstream people really care about that, and they make up the vast majority.  Losing a few niche Japanese developers isn't the end of Playstation, and anything else sounds like unsubstantiated rumor and speculation.

I'm not into visual novels or Senran Kagura (a game which was censored, but understandable in this case). But JRPGs I care about. I haven't noticed any impact of censorship in what I play, but I'm generally against it. I would be annoyed if Serious Sam, Shadow Warrior, or Doom watered down the ultra-violence. OTOH, Crysis is fine without gibbing... but I wouldn't want the language censored. O'Neill's "OK, you fucked up" in Crysis Warhead is one of the cooler dialogue lines in the early part of the game.

 

For now, it wouldn't surprise me if recent JRPGs just get PS5 enhancement packs (to boost graphic settings like draw distance or max resolution, add HR textures, etc) for the existing PS4 versions instead of bespoke ports. I wouldn't mind seeing unlimited draw distance added to Trails of Cold Steel I/II, all-around higher graphic settings for Nier: Automata, etc.

 

As for FPS, I'd like to see mouse/keyboard support programmed in. Call of Duty has started doing this, and other FPS makers should follow suit. Console FPS ports have done a good job with graphic fidelity lately, but a right analog stick doesn't quite cut it against a mouse. With a mouse it's easier to aim more accurately and you can perform a 180 almost instantly. For the PC, I recommend an Elecom EX-G trackball mouse (mine is an M-XT3UR).

[Reinachii-]

I feel we have very limited support here in Japan. 

Bad sales, bad ps now selection (at least we have...i guess) really hurt the market here.

However:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/police-called-as-tokyo-ps5-sale-descends-into-chaos/

[Bloodytears1666]

6 hours ago, Reinachii- said:

I feel we have very limited support here in Japan. 

Bad sales, bad ps now selection (at least we have...i guess) really hurt the market here.

However:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/police-called-as-tokyo-ps5-sale-descends-into-chaos/

 

Hah, at least you guys have PS Now.

[RadiantFlamberge]

On 2/1/2021 at 4:14 AM, Reinachii- said:

I feel we have very limited support here in Japan. 

Bad sales, bad ps now selection (at least we have...i guess) really hurt the market here.

However:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/police-called-as-tokyo-ps5-sale-descends-into-chaos/

What a CF. I think first come first served was a grave mistake there. Yodobashi should've held a lottery.

 

Fuck those resellers who are looking to sell the PS5 for a profit. I can't sympathise with these charlatans when their antics are ruining it for everyone else. In fact, while reading this I saw a link to a story about scalpers not being good for the long term health of PS5, as reported by Bloomberg. Bloomberg has also talked about claims that a major Japanese publisher might delay its PS5 games, at least until the installed base improves. These PS5s sitting in the hands of scalpers aren't playing anything. Britain has some MPs wanting a ban on console scalping. That would be nice, especially if other countries follow the example.

 

Personally I think I'll wait until June before trying to get my PS5.

[Nelson_]

On 1/31/2021 at 10:43 PM, ChiefMichigan said:

Giving up? Not really. Focusing more on North America and Europe? Undeniably. 

 

 

It's only starting, Europe i would say they care less too now.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/27/sony-closing-japan-studio-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-playstation-14155264/

 

"Multiple Japan Studio developers have announced their departure from the company on social media in the last few days, including Bloodborne producer Masaaki Yamagiwa and video manager Ryo Sogabe – who are both leaving at the end of February"

 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sources-playstation-is-winding-down-sony-japan-studio/

Edited February 28, 2021 by Nelson_Otaku

[AlchemistWer]

19 minutes ago, Nelson_Otaku said:

It's only starting, Europe i would say they care less too now.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/27/sony-closing-japan-studio-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-playstation-14155264/

 

The prestige Sony won for years is starting to decay. The problem is that at the same time, Sony is really big and I don't see many companies in Japan move to another console like nintendo without realese their games on playstation. Something that is very possible is that more visual novels move to nintendo at the same time companies realesed the full game (+18) on PC like they always does. 

Maybe playstation is just abusing his power since games that can't be on switch like any final fantasy games does not have any other choice, but at the same time other companies or games series know very well where the money is. Sony can't do anything with switch, but at the same time both companies can't fight with the greatest enemy of portable games, phone games.

 

Is very sad what Sony want do with him new "focus on america only" but again, I don't see a revolution of  japaneses companies moving to nintendo just for that.

[Sendai-Horatio]

I don't know, them closing Japan studio and then reforming them under a new name sounds similar to what they did with Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool. They consolidated their european studios awhile back and it wound up having everything function better over there.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Sendai-Horatio

[Darling Baphomet]

All these people saying Sony is dying because of the closure of one studio - at worst, PSN will have less niche anime titles. Niche is key there. Big ones like FFXV and Ni No Kuni 2, which typically do not have the sort of pedo-baiting that demands censorship, will remain on the platform, because there's no reason for them to leave. At worst, some low budget JRPGs and VNs played by a very vocal, but miniscule minority of gamers may stop releasing on Playstation. Sony is not going to die because of a few angry on the people on the internet. If you couldn't kill TLoU2, you most certainly can't kill an entire corporation.

[Sendai-Horatio]

 

 

According to this graph, sony has a less than 1% market share in japan, if this is true it's looking like there may be no recovery for them. I guess we'll eventually lose publishers like Falcom. Fromsoft, and Atlus in the coming months. The anti-japanese sentiment articles seem to be killing them.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Sendai-Horatio

[Gommes_]

I think it was a huge mistake to close the JAPAN studio.

[AJ_Radio]

On 2/27/2021 at 11:27 AM, AlchemistWer said:

 

The prestige Sony won for years is starting to decay. The problem is that at the same time, Sony is really big and I don't see many companies in Japan move to another console like nintendo without realese their games on playstation. Something that is very possible is that more visual novels move to nintendo at the same time companies realesed the full game (+18) on PC like they always does. 

Maybe playstation is just abusing his power since games that can't be on switch like any final fantasy games does not have any other choice, but at the same time other companies or games series know very well where the money is. Sony can't do anything with switch, but at the same time both companies can't fight with the greatest enemy of portable games, phone games.

 

Is very sad what Sony want do with him new "focus on america only" but again, I don't see a revolution of  japaneses companies moving to nintendo just for that.

Sony practically had the entire PS4/Xbox One generation to itself. Microsoft shit the bed with their Xbox One fiasco. Both Phil Spencer and his predecessor did little to help Xbox. Them being mostly appealing to Americans while they have lagged badly in other parts of the world. 
 

This is just incompetence at the top. Jim Ryan is an asshole, the guy before him was hardly any better. I would like to see more Sony exclusives to come out of Japan. These past few years it’s all been open world western titles from developers who are obviously based in America and Europe. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Days Gone. Ghost of Tsushima has the theme and story going for it, but it’s otherwise a western style open world game with the same style of storytelling and same generic side quests and collectibles. 
 

The Last Guardian didn’t do all too well. Knack 2 was practically shoved under a rug and forgotten. Sony is more like Microsoft’s Xbox nowadays than it was just a few years ago. When Sony’s headquarters was still in Japan. 
 

10 hours ago, Gommes_ said:

I think it was a huge mistake to close the JAPAN studio.

 

I second this. Big business however goes against what the general public thinks. It’s all about the money anymore. 

[Sendai-Horatio]

28 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

Sony practically had the entire PS4/Xbox One generation to itself. Microsoft shit the bed with their Xbox One fiasco. Both Phil Spencer and his predecessor did little to help Xbox. Them being mostly appealing to Americans while they have lagged badly in other parts of the world. 
 

This is just incompetence at the top. Jim Ryan is an asshole, the guy before him was hardly any better. I would like to see more Sony exclusives to come out of Japan. These past few years it’s all been open world western titles from developers who are obviously based in America and Europe. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Days Gone. Ghost of Tsushima has the theme and story going for it, but it’s otherwise a western style open world game with the same style of storytelling and same generic side quests and collectibles. 
 

The Last Guardian didn’t do all too well. Knack 2 was practically shoved under a rug and forgotten. Sony is more like Microsoft’s Xbox nowadays than it was just a few years ago. When Sony’s headquarters was still in Japan. 
 

 

I second this. Big business however goes against what the general public thinks. It’s all about the money anymore. 

Actually it looks like the western games were bought by the japanese in larger numbers than anything that came out of Japan Studio in the same region.

 

Even games like Horizon zero dawn sold in the 6 digits and were well over 100k, where as the Monster Hunter clones made by Studio japan couldn't even do that, and with Sony still having Capcom's support there's no need to compete with Monster Hunter.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Sendai-Horatio

[RadiantFlamberge]

On 3/2/2021 at 11:43 AM, Sendai-Horatio said:

if this is true it's looking like there may be no recovery for them. I guess we'll eventually lose publishers like Falcom. Fromsoft, and Atlus in the coming months. The anti-japanese sentiment articles seem to be killing them.

Falcom could return to using PC as the lead platform, and get a 3rd party to bring their games to consoles. Or they could even switch to Xbox.

 

Phil Spencer recently said "Japanese developers are vitally important" in MS's strategy for Xbox Series X&S. I was all set to count Xbox out this generation, but betting all-in on Sony doesn't sound good this time. I trust them less with the PS5, especially with their applying Western ideals to Japanese games. No PS5 game released yet really persuades me to buy the system NOW. Not one.

 

Sony should have given the Japan Studio a chance. This move could backfire on them later.

[AJ_Radio]

8 hours ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

Falcom could return to using PC as the lead platform, and get a 3rd party to bring their games to consoles. Or they could even switch to Xbox.

 

Phil Spencer recently said "Japanese developers are vitally important" in MS's strategy for Xbox Series X&S. I was all set to count Xbox out this generation, but betting all-in on Sony doesn't sound good this time. I trust them less with the PS5, especially with their applying Western ideals to Japanese games. No PS5 game released yet really persuades me to buy the system NOW. Not one.

 

Sony should have given the Japan Studio a chance. This move could backfire on them later.

 

It's a see saw at this point.

 

Sony did poorly during the launch of the PS3 after reaching what was historically the best selling console of all time which was the PS2. Xbox 360 came out with an achievement system (the first console to do this successfully), Xbox Live and a few strong exclusive franchises (Halo, Forza, Gears of War). The PS3 had an incredibly slow start due to the console itself being difficult to program for. God of War III, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, all done by developers who had actual access to the console and knew the hardware, proved the PS3 was vastly superior in graphic output and performance.

 

Microsoft does poorly during the PS4 era. Sony took that opportunity to shine and brought out a series of excellent exclusives (Bloodborne). Sony so far this gen has lost much of their prestige. I don't like Xbox anymore, but I hope for them to do better this time around.

 

Nintendo has been on their own for so long I don't consider them to be a factor at all in the console race. They rely on their flagship exclusive franchises and more recently indie titles. They have lagged far behind in having an actual powerful console, and people who buy the Switch aren't buying it because the Switch has excellent graphics in games.

[RadiantFlamberge]

Admittedly, Nintendo fills a niche. IMO Nintendo and the Switch are like SNK with their Neo-Geo CD against the 32-bit consoles at this point... gameplay is everything, and they're not so worried about graphics. Difference being that Nintendo Switch is having more success than NGCD did. Anyway, Nintendo games with PS4/5 graphics would be nice. Nintendo becoming a software developer like Sega wouldn't be so bad IMO. Whenever there's a Switch 2, I imagine it might be a tad more powerful than the vanilla PS4.

 

Surely, PS3's potential hasn't really been tapped like it should. Ridge Racer 7 turned out pretty good for an early title. Namco had some of their best developers on that, no doubt. Not too many studios gave all like this. Another good game of theirs is Razing Storm, done on Namco System 357 (arcade PS3 hardware). Actually made by Nex Entertainment, but they're another example of someone that knew the system pretty well. Developers really should've taken time to get familiar with the PS3's hardware. More than a few times you'd see the 360 version of a multiplat turn out better (F.E.A.R. 2 and Bulletstorm come to mind).

 

Let's hope that Sony wakes up before what they've got is gone. Otherwise they could end up throwing in the towel when the time comes for a PS6. A good move would be saying farewell to Jim Ryan. He simply shouldn't be there... in his place, I'd rather have Mark Cerny. Someone who knows gaming, has actually helped make games himself, and still does (Marble Madness, Major Havoc, some Sega console games, and many PS series ones).

[Alantor32]

2 hours ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

Admittedly, Nintendo fills a niche. IMO Nintendo and the Switch are like SNK with their Neo-Geo CD against the 32-bit consoles at this point... gameplay is everything, and they're not so worried about graphics. Difference being that Nintendo Switch is having more success than NGCD did. Anyway, Nintendo games with PS4/5 graphics would be nice. Nintendo becoming a software developer like Sega wouldn't be so bad IMO. Whenever there's a Switch 2, I imagine it might be a tad more powerful than the vanilla PS4.

 

Surely, PS3's potential hasn't really been tapped like it should. Ridge Racer 7 turned out pretty good for an early title. Namco had some of their best developers on that, no doubt. Not too many studios gave all like this. Another good game of theirs is Razing Storm, done on Namco System 357 (arcade PS3 hardware). Actually made by Nex Entertainment, but they're another example of someone that knew the system pretty well. Developers really should've taken time to get familiar with the PS3's hardware. More than a few times you'd see the 360 version of a multiplat turn out better (F.E.A.R. 2 and Bulletstorm come to mind).

 

Let's hope that Sony wakes up before what they've got is gone. Otherwise they could end up throwing in the towel when the time comes for a PS6. A good move would be saying farewell to Jim Ryan. He simply shouldn't be there... in his place, I'd rather have Mark Cerny. Someone who knows gaming, has actually helped make games himself, and still does (Marble Madness, Major Havoc, some Sega console games, and many PS series ones).

Nintendo becoming a software developer like Sega? Not gonna happen. Nintendo is fine as it is.

[Z1MZUM]

2 hours ago, Alantor32 said:

Nintendo becoming a software developer like Sega? Not gonna happen. Nintendo is fine as it is.

 

I think my fridge can emulate the switch. 

[Z1MZUM]

21 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

It's a see saw at this point.

 

Sony did poorly during the launch of the PS3 after reaching what was historically the best selling console of all time which was the PS2. Xbox 360 came out with an achievement system (the first console to do this successfully), Xbox Live and a few strong exclusive franchises (Halo, Forza, Gears of War). The PS3 had an incredibly slow start due to the console itself being difficult to program for. God of War III, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, all done by developers who had actual access to the console and knew the hardware, proved the PS3 was vastly superior in graphic output and performance.

 

Microsoft does poorly during the PS4 era. Sony took that opportunity to shine and brought out a series of excellent exclusives (Bloodborne). Sony so far this gen has lost much of their prestige. I don't like Xbox anymore, but I hope for them to do better this time around.

 

Nintendo has been on their own for so long I don't consider them to be a factor at all in the console race. They rely on their flagship exclusive franchises and more recently indie titles. They have lagged far behind in having an actual powerful console, and people who buy the Switch aren't buying it because the Switch has excellent graphics in games.

 

I still play the 360 to this day, Next game is Tenchu Z. Honestly the 360 has the best Japanese shooters if you can find them, the only real life problem is the region protection. 

 

Nintendo likes their consumer products that's for sure. Most trends dies eventually.

[fyiByas]

2 hours ago, Alantor32 said:

Nintendo becoming a software developer like Sega? Not gonna happen. Nintendo is fine as it is.

I strongly disagree with Nintendo being fine as it is. Overpriced 1st party, no support on community projects like a  cease & desist, paid online and go with bare minimum on new games. GameCube IMO was Nintendo's best era with new franchises that even carry on from wii>wiiU>switch.  

 

On 3/9/2021 at 5:21 PM, RadiantFlamberge said:

Sony should have given the Japan Studio a chance. This move could backfire on them later.

  I believe Japan Studio had took their stakes off from Sony it may be a good thing that they are doing their own thing. But I did like Japan Studio it was one of my favorite. I believe Media Molecule could be next sad to say.

[AJ_Radio]

21 minutes ago, Z1MZUM said:

Nintendo likes their consumer products that's for sure. Most trends dies eventually.

 

Their franchises have lasted for generations. Mario is just as appealing to me now as he was 20 years ago.

 

15 minutes ago, fyiByas said:

I strongly disagree with Nintendo being fine as it is. Overpriced 1st party, no support on community projects like a  cease & desist, paid online and go with bare minimum on new games. GameCube IMO was Nintendo's best era with new franchises that even carry on from wii>wiiU>switch. 

 

The Gamecube was the beginning of the decline in my opinion. Nintendo held on to cartridges which made Konami, Capcom and Square Enix jump ship to PS1/PS2, making a number of historically great and timeless games (Metal Gear Solid 2, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X). The Wii console, as much as I enjoyed some of the games (Wario Wares, Super Mario Galaxy) felt more gimmicky than practical. The Wii U I was even less happy for, although I feel the Switch is now benefiting from some anime titles that couldn't get a Sony release.

 

I love Nintendo, but I can't consider them to be part of the console race at all. Even their handhelds I have considered to be separate for a very long time.

Edited March 11, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[Z1MZUM]

2 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

Their franchises have lasted for generations. Mario is just as appealing to me now as he was 20 years ago.

 

 

The Gamecube was the beginning of the decline in my opinion. Nintendo held on to cartridges which made Konami, Capcom and Square Enix jump ship to PS1/PS2, making a number of historically great and timeless games (Metal Gear Solid 2, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X). The Wii console, as much as I enjoyed some of the games (Wario Wares, Super Mario Galaxy) felt more gimmicky than practical. The Wii U I was even less happy for, although I feel the Switch is now benefiting from some anime titles that couldn't get a Sony release.

 

I love Nintendo, but I can't consider them to be part of the console race at all. Even their handhelds I have considered to be separate from a very long time.

 

I'm referring to their hardware, weak and or gimmicky. I actually Enjoyed Mario Sunshine allot back on the NGC, that console had some pretty good games. I think the N64 was the beginning of the end for Nintendo. I think they are selfish because they can afford to be.