PS4 Will Be Released in Japan in February 2014... WHAT?!?

[JuicieJ]

Well, I can certainly say I didn't see this coming. Not only will the XBOX ONE be held off in Japan until 2014, but SO WILL THE PS4. Another bit of info revealed in the pre-TGS show was this, and I missed it earlier today.

This just boggles the mind. The PS4 is being MADE in Japan, yet they get it later than the rest of the world? What kind of **** is that??? Sony says it's because they want to appeal to their "target audience" first, but that's a load of crap. Their target audience should be EVERYONE, not the West. This all but shows that they have tunnel vision when it comes to their marketing and game plan, and that's the exact same thing people have criticized Microsoft for.

Oh, but of course, when Sony does it, it's fine. Because **** logic, they're Sony. They can get away with it. :facepalm:

 

[Ventus]

Yes, **** logic, Sony is better than Microsoft, anyone's negative opinion is INVALID.

Honestly I see this as a negativeplus. On one hand, Sony knows their marketing. They absolutely know the PS4 *will* sell in Japan. But they want to know if the West will reciprocate. ;p

On the other...this is kinda stupid move for them anyway. Hopefully this means the Wii U won't be in total **** heaps by this holiday.

 

[JuicieJ]

Yes, that's another thing. Sony has now left the market in Japan completely open for the Wii U to dominate this Holiday Season. Obviously they hate money.

 

[Salem]

Wasn't this inevitable? Nowadays I've been hearing about games made by Japanese companies that get released last in Japan, so now it's consoles.

 

[Mercedes]

I would have thought Sony would have more respect for their country of origin, really. Fair play to Microsoft, Xbox never sells in Japan, don't blame them for not exactly focusing on it, but I suppose Sony want to try and beat Microsoft in the West, cut off their market, and then pick up the Japanese sales. Sound, aggressive strategy but I don't think they should be snubbing Japan to do it. I suppose they don't expect the Wii U to do much damage before they come into the Japanese market either, they can come in and mop it up.

Not exactly a terrible thing though, but people do over-react. I suppose we'll see what happens come release date. November's going to be fun!

 

[misskitten]

I don't care what company does it, to ignore your home market in favour of others is to slap your original customers in the face. I've seen this happen in non-gaming context as well and it really, really pisses me off.

 

[Vaati101]

From what I hear the Japanese are very patient, So I don't think they would mind as such if the PS4 comes out later. besides they get a free year of PS Plus and a copy of Knack at launch, so the wait is definitely worth it.

 

[illmatic]

I thought this was ridiculous at first, but the more I think about it I think Sony is smart for delaying the PS4 until 2014 in Japan.

They pretty much have that market already won, no matter when the PS4 comes out. The Xbox 360 is pretty much dead in Japan, and the XBO isn't likely to do much either. Sony has limited stock of how many PS4s they can produce, so they are allocating that stock to markets where there is going to be more competition with the Xbox, like the US and UK. I think that's genius. Plus, if people in Japan really want the PS4 early they can import it, since it is completely region-free.

 

[JuicieJ]

Wasn't this inevitable? Nowadays I've been hearing about games made by Japanese companies that get released last in Japan, so now it's consoles.

This sort of time gap closes within days and is for software, which can only be played on hardware. Something as big as the PS4 should not be taken lightly by Sony. I have a feeling that they think they're still going to have an easy ride against the XBONE, because they sure seem pretty lax at the moment, and not just because of this. They've all but sat down with their thumbs up their @$$es ever since post-E3.

 

[surferguy7]

Odd? Sure, but there's a logic to it.

Besides, Monster Hunter 4, Pokémon X/Y, and Mario are pretty damn hard to compete with back-to-back in Japan.