Tag Archives: japan

Sony recently announced that it had significantly reduced the size of its long-running Japan Studio, instead putting more focus on Asobi Team – the team within Japan Studio responsible for Astro Bot and Astro’s Playroom. Sony has now officially announced Team Asobi, the latest first party PlayStation studio. Making the …

The video games industry may have a shorter history than most entertainment mediums, but it still has a long and storied history. One of the most interesting companies in the industry is Nintendo, and in celebration of this, the console manufacturer has announced that it will be officially opening its …

Earlier this week, a report citing “multiple banker sources” claimed that there were several parties exploring an acquisition of Japanese mega-publisher, Square Enix. Of course, while Square Enix might be in the sights of a number of companies, there was nothing to suggest Square Enix was in active talks to …

Square Enix has been a key pillar in the games industry for decades now with huge historical gaming franchises under its belt. A major change could be coming though, as sources claim that “multiple parties” are exploring an acquisition of the publisher. According to Bloomberg Japan in a report citing …

Ever since the cancellation of Silent Hills back in 2015, fans have been clamouring for a new entry in the Silent Hill franchise. While there have been rumours abound regarding the return of the series, there has yet to be any official confirmation. That being said, the creator of Silent …

Ghost of Tsushima took many by surprise when it launched last Summer, offering a beautiful open world and introducing players to the island of Tsushima. While feudal Japan has been a desired destination for many video game players, taking people to Tsushima offered a unique twist – one that resonated …

Demon Slayer is currently one of the hottest media properties to come out of Japan. As with many popular anime releases, Demon Slayer was announced to be getting a video game adaptation. A first look at the game has now been shown off, revealing interesting comparisons to other titles. As …

Ever since it was first announced, fans have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Nintendo’s first theme park, dubbed ‘Super Nintendo World’. Despite the current global circumstances, it would seem that the theme park is now complete and ready to open, as it has been announced that Super Nintendo World …

Though the video game industry is bigger than it's ever been, on a purely statistical basis, the PlayStation 5 has surprisingly had a rather tepid launch. In Japan, the console managed to shift 118,085 units in its first four days, making it the second lowest PlayStation console launch in the …

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are both launching this week, officially kicking off Microsoft's next-gen campaign. One particular area of focus for Microsoft recently has been attracting Japanese gamers and developers, something that is expected to continue as Microsoft considers new acquisitions. As reported by Bloomberg this …

Ever since the first video game consoles, competing manufacturers have disagreed on the correct button placements, button faces, as well as the functionality of these buttons. While the ecosystem is perhaps more uniform than ever, the next generation PlayStation 5 is set to take this a step further. While Japanese …

While the video games industry is certainly a major player in the global market, bringing in 10s of billions of Dollars each year, the interactive entertainment market has in many ways surpassed traditional industries. Such is the case with Nintendo, which recently became the richest company in all of Japan …

Recently we reported that Ghost of Tsushima was suffering from stock shortages in Japan due to the sheer amount of demand for the title in the country. Now, more specifics on the game’s success has been revealed, with Ghost of Tsushima officially scoring the biggest launch week of any first-party …

It seems as though the world currently can’t go a day without more news related to COVID-19. The effects of the virus have been global and have affected nearly every single industry. Though a number of games have already been delayed by studios due to COVID-19, it looks like many …

Since its launch in 2017, the Nintendo Switch has consistently outperformed many of the company’s previous consoles. The hybrid console has already outsold the Wii U, Gamecube, N64 and SNES, and in Japan at least, the Switch has now outsold the Wii’s lifetime sales. All this and more has been …

The Nintendo Switch has become one of the company’s greatest success stories. With over 41 million consoles sold in less than 3 years, and the recent release of the Switch Lite, it appears as though the console has no intention of slowing down any time soon. This appears to be …

When the PlayStation 4 first launched, it saw a staggered release between the console’s major markets. While the system was released on the 15th of November 2013 in North America, PAL regions had to wait another two weeks (29th of November) to get their hands on the system. In the …

It goes without saying that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been a great success for Nintendo. With over 15 million copies sold, the game is currently the second best selling Switch title worldwide. With the latest Famitsu chart numbers being revealed however, it would appear that in Japan, Super Smash …

After 18 years since its last entry, Shenmue 3 finally released earlier this month. The game’s original reveal in 2015 was met with much anticipation, with the Kickstarter becoming the most funded video game campaign ever at the time, having raised over $6.3 million. It appears that an 18 year …

While Death Stranding may have underperformed in the UK launch sales charts, it seems that the Kojima Productions game hit it big in the studio’s home country. Death Stranding has become the biggest retail launch for a new IP this entire generation in Japan, beating out games such as Sekrio: …

If you ever doubted Sony’s long-term commitment to the gaming industry, you can now rest easy. Sony Interactive Entertainment have trademarked the names “PS6, PS7, PS8, PS9 and PS10” in Japan, all before the PS5 has even released. While this might simply seem like standard practice for most companies, the …

THQ Nordic announced yesterday that it was expanding its operations to the Japanese market. The subsidiary, THQ Nordic Japan KK, will be responsible for distribution, PR and marketing of both THQ Nordic, and HandyGames’ line up of video game experiences in the Japanese market. This makes the newly founded entity …

Grey market key resellers have always proven divisive, coming under fire for their alleged role in depriving developers and publishers of sales. This is no longer a problem in Japan, as the country has opted to outright ban the resale of digital keys in their entirety. Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention …

While Sony's PSP was a huge success, the company was unable to strike gold once again with the PSVita. The handheld was more of a cult success and became a haven for indie titles, rather than big system-selling releases. We learned earlier this year that Sony would be ending production …

Reports have surfaced in the Japanese press that TSMC has quit on its bid to buy Toshiba's rather precious NAND-flash business, leaving Foxconn in the lead position. Foxconn has offered to pony-up 3 trillion Yen (around $30 billion), or $21.2 billion more than what Reuters had reported as the sought-after …

Nescafé is looking to spice up the Christmas season at one of its Japanese coffee shops with the installation of an interactive, mixed-reality, Rube Goldberg machine that plays music while you wait for your coffee to brew. Available in the Harajuka district of Tokyo Nescafé coffee shop, visitors can listen …

Microsoft is continuing the international roll out of its flagship augmented reality headset, the Hololens, by introducing it in Japan. Set to go up for pre-order in the country on 2nd December, devices are set to ship out in early 2017. This move will bring the number of territories where …

It seems that Japan could have a new PC giant on the block as word has it that VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu are currently planning a huge merger in order to form a new PC-focussed company to rival the likes of Lenovo, the biggest PC maker operating in Japan. This …

VAIO, the former Sony laptop maker is set to enter the smartphone market later this year with its own Windows 10 phone. This will be the very first smartphone to carry the VAIO brand name and from what we can see so far, it looks like a very nice phone. …

Yesterday was Metal Gear Solid creator, Hideo Kojima's last day with Konami. The long-time developer has finally moved on from the place that shunned him in his final months at the developer/publisher and now heads up his own company, called Kojima productions. Confirming yesterday's rumours too is Sony, which released …