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[Azih]

So even Iwata has lately admitted that he's probably out of touch with non Japanese territories with his 'antenna' remark but I think it's safe to say that NCL has always been pretty clueless about non Japanese territories. Back in the day I'd say that it was the heft that NoA had with Lincoln and Arakawa at the helm that really allowed the NES and SNES to be as strong in North America as they were from a business and marketing perspective and with NoA losing any real power when leadership transferred from Yamauchi to Iwata has led Nintendo to be incredibly myopic and focused on a (dying) Japanese console market that really bears no resemblance to any other part of the world. They've always been incredibly weak in Europe of course and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

MS on the other hand managed to build their brand from the Xbox to the 360 but with the One they started acting as arrogant as Sony at the PS3 launch thinking that they could use the One as a Trojan horse for.... whatever the hell random crap MS branches want to push into the living room (they seem like a very confused company). That level of arrogance makes no sense when they pretty much came in third in the previous generation until you figure that MS has tunnel vision and is all puffed up from winning in North America. Add to that MS trumpeting bizarrely North American focused features for the One like deals with the NFL and being able to accept input from cable boxes and it leads to the question of do they not know that the rest of the world does not give a shit about things like that? Hell voice recognition as a killer feature is also an incredibly region specific thing. Getting it to work in English is hard enough and making it a centerpiece feature means that they're making themselves look bad in non English speaking territories which will not be as well supported. Did they not think about that?

So that leaves Sony which seems like the only one of the three that seems to understand that console gaming is a global business and each region needs to be handled according to their own unique merits. All hail Kaz?

 

[Asd202]

There's some truth to what you wrote.

 

[Loudninja]

Its too early to tell but so far its paying off for Sony.

 

[Silky]

Too early to tell but you know? Judging from last gen? I'd honestly buy it lol.

 

[SgtCobra]

I still think Sony should pay more attention to Japan. Just because that would mean that more Japanese games get released on their platforms.

 

[Soulflarz]

Well microsoft/sony i see your point

Nintendo i half do. I think theyre trying for the NA market too, they just suck at it.

 

[Mr-Joker]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

I don't think that Sony wins by default as I feel that they are focused on the western market.

 

[Sub_Level]

I don't really think it's too early to tell. Unless MS makes massive changes, seems like PS4 has got this one in the bag sales-wise.

 

[Loudninja]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

I don't think that Sony wins by default as I feel that they are focused on the western market.

To build a somewhat decent lineup for launch.

This was already explain I thought.

 

[bobbytkc]

I still think Sony should pay more attention to Japan. Just because that would mean that more Japanese games get released on their platforms.

The issue is the opposite. Japanese developers should pay more attention to the ps4. It isn't that Sony isn't paying attention to japan. Japanese developers are just not focused on console development any longer.

The ps4 was launched in the rest of Asia earlier than japan ffs.

 

[ash_ag]

That's yet to be seen, but it's a pretty spot-on observation, and the signs are there.

Kaz Hirai's Sony seems to be turning back into the global wonder it once was. A lot things still need to be done, but it's on a good road. I wouldn't necessarily say Nintendo focuses on Japan as much as Microsoft focuses on North America (rather, Nintendo's missteps are of a different nature). Still, there's no denying Nintendo's business in the West is far more underdeveloped than their business in Japan.

 

[benny_a]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can launch a console successfully without launch games. If you screw the launch line-up up in Japan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

 

[Majmun]

The Playstation brand was a global hit since day 1. It's the only name that still does well in all regions.

That's definitely a huge plus for Sony. Sure, the Ps3 took a dip, but the brand is as strong as ever with the Ps4, globally.

 

[gamergirly]

I think we need to see what Nintendo is about to announce before we come to conclusions like this. Way too early to say "Win by Default"

 

[BigDug13]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

I don't think that Sony wins by default as I feel that they are focused on the western market.

Because they had no Japanese style games ready in 2013. Releasing a console in Japan with nothing but western games would once again be releasing in a territory without understanding what that territory needs. They chose not to do that.

 

[Majmun]

I think we need to see what Nintendo is about to announce before we come to conclusions like this. Way too early to say "Win by Default"

Nintendo is going to announce a new console soon?

 

[Duxxy3]

No one ever focuses too much on Europe....

I think Sony has a very strong presence in Europe, particularly because the division is run by former SCEE CEO Andrew House.

 

[xaosslug]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

I don't think that Sony wins by default as I feel that they are focused on the western market.

that's why OP said 'each region needs to be handled according to their own unique merits'

 

[Haunted]

Because they had no Japanese style games ready in 2013. Releasing a console in Japan with nothing but western games would once again be releasing in a territory without understanding what that territory needs. They chose not to do that.

That said, it doesn't really matter what Sony does with the PS4 in Japan, it'll be the defacto console to own anyway.

What else is going to happen? Japanese people buying the WiiU? The XB1? :lol

 

[TacticalFox88]

Sony has already won this gen. The question/debate is "by how much" when all is said and done.

 

[Dictator93]

Too early to tell but you know? Judging from last gen? I'd honestly buy it lol.

.

Yes. Sony seems to not orient everything about its games and platform to NA. It does sound reasonable the Sony will have an inherent global advantage as a result.

 

[semiconscious]

That's yet to be seen, but it's a pretty spot-on observation, and the signs are there.

Kaz Hirai's Sony seems to be turning back into the global wonder it once was. A lot things still need to be done, but it's on a good road. I wouldn't necessarily say Nintendo focuses on Japan as much as Microsoft focuses on North America (rather, Nintendo's missteps are of a different nature). Still, there's no denying Nintendo's business in the West is far more underdeveloped than their business in Japan.

yep. not sure the wii u will ever really be that much more popular in japan than anywhere else...

 

[Loudninja]

I don't really think it's too early to tell. Unless MS makes massive changes, seems like PS4 has got this one in the bag sales-wise.

Sony has already won this gen. The question/debate is "by how much" when all is said and done.

You guys are getting wayyyy to ahead of yourselves.

 

[Somnid]

It's important to note this is not a software competition right now and hardware isn't exactly a regional thing. Gamepads are Japanese while Kinects are Western or anything like that.

Sony is equally focused on the west as MS, to a fault really, they have just been a doing a better job at selling the promise of hardware but the games are 100% western focused and the overlap is huge.

Nintendo has and always will sell games with universal appeal that sell in all territories but Wii U is not capturing people's imagination.

 

[Curufinwe]

If that was true then how come Japan getting the PS4 this year rather than 2013 when rest of the world got it?

Because Sony know the PS4 will be the next generation console of choice in Japan, and a three month delay will not hurt them there.

 

[Tiu Neo]

No one ever focuses too much on Europe....

Or Brazil, for that matter. Only one who kinda gives a fuck about here is Microsoft. Nintendo is kinda trying now, at least, and Sony... I'm sure they're doing a campaign for us to buy PS3s instead of PS4s.

 

[Duxxy3]

You guys are getting wayyyy to ahead of yourselves.

In what scenario would Microsoft sell more consoles, worldwide? It doesn't have a year advantage. It's more expensive. It won't sell in japan. It's only available in 13 countries compared to 50+ for Sony.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

The PS brand has always been global since it came out .

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Microsoft isn't too focused on North America. They're focused purely on the United States. Canada is not included.

 

[bobbytkc]

You guys are getting wayyyy to ahead of yourselves.

I think it is pretty clear cut. The ps4 is flat out cheaper than the xbone and more powerful. Subscription is cheaper and has more value. Unless this changes, ps4 is primed to be the primary console this generation.

 

[Loudninja]

In what scenario would Microsoft sell more consoles, worldwide? It doesn't have a year advantage. It's more expensive. It won't sell it japan. It's only available in 13 countries compared to 50+ for Sony.

Just saying no point in getting cocky this early

Yes MS don't have any of its advantages it had with the 360,but that does not mean we should declare anything right now.

 

[bjork]

Let them tear each other down, then old Sega will pull a Ric Flair and eliminate Sony to win the whole thing at the last minute.

 

[Wickerbasket]

In what scenario would Microsoft sell more consoles, worldwide? It doesn't have a year advantage. It's more expensive. It won't sell in japan. It's only available in 13 countries compared to 50+ for Sony.

I'm not saying that Sony doesn't have the advantage but markets are always unpredictable. Any three of the big companies could release a disruptive product and take the whole market by storm.

The next big thing might be VR, and it might be from a company completely unrelated to gaming that takes the market.

Anything's possible, but not all things are likely.

 

[geordiemp]

I don't think its just a problem with MS but also many posters on GAF....

and I dont mean that negatively its just the USA is just a huge premier market it must be tough to consider much smaller countries market and needs.

Usually when I read many posts on GAF on the merits of the Xbox ONE, and people list features such as TV / snap / Voice commands etc, I cant help myself by inserting

"only in USA"

As a strong 360 supporter, I was angry (if that's the right word) at MS over all the money / console budget and work they put into features that would be useless to me as a UK consumer with (lets say a strange UK accent that nobody understands anyway)...

Even reading gaming press and shows such as gametrailers, they just don't get it that it won't work with a many UK local accepts and a PAL 50 Hz broadcast.

I don't know if it was oversight, or they just care for the American market. Either way, they lost me to Ps4, and judging by UK sales, many others.

 

[Azih]

Hell Sony isn't free and clear as the problems with the rest of the company might overwhelm the initial success of the PS4 but their leadership has been really strong in thriving in different parts of the world. It might be because Sony has been truly global for a very long time while Nintendo and MS are very much creatures of the city where they started and still reside (Kyoto, and Redmond respectively).

The other two would need to give up some of their control to strong leaders in the territories they aren't natives of but each company seems to have challenges in doing that. MS because they seem leaderless right now (they've got Phil Harrison in Europe but what is the guy even doing/reporting to?) and Nintendo because Iwata seems so controlling that it doesn't look like he gives even NoA any sort of influence over anything.

Of course it might be a good idea for MS to give up on Japan, but what in the blue hell are they doing in Europe? Any competent leader at MS would have looked at how the 360 did and should have decided to really attack the European market in order to really supplant Sony instead of what they ended up doing.

Edit: And yeah MS should have tried to cement the UK as MS country with the One based on the kind of success the area gave to the 360.

 

[Sons Of Anarchy]

Thread sums it up nicely OP

10/10

 

[cosmicblizzard]

The issue is the opposite. Japanese developers should pay more attention to the ps4. It isn't that Sony isn't paying attention to japan. Japanese developers are just not focused on console development any longer.

The ps4 was launched in the rest of Asia earlier than japan ffs.

Sony has Japanese studios though. They just aren't as prominent as their western ones, which is the issue.

 

[DemonNite]

Sony haven't won anything and they won't think they won either. It's going to be another generation of hard work and great games.

 

[VariantX]

Sony haven't won anything and they won't think they won either. It's going to be another generation of hard work and great games.

I hope so. We might end up with ridculous DRM policies, 6-700 dollar machines or an overpriced and under-powered box if that happens looking back on what the big 3 did after they were on top.

 

[pixlexic]

Why are we so into "WINNER AND LOSER"?
its video games .. not team sports.

 

[mephixto]

Sony is a global electronic company so no wonder if they do good gloabally than their competition.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

This is a 5+ year race. Assuming they 'win' the numbers game now is nonsense.

What kind of games they make and how they market then is everything. Historically, Sony exclusives have sold less than Microsoft's big hitters and have clearly pushed more hardware in other parts of the world so I don't think its as cut and dry as, no Japan = no chance.

 

[Krisprolls]

Nintendo doesn't manage to adapt their strategy to times. You can't survive releasing mario and zelda games on an outdated machine forever. It used to work, it doesn't anymore. They need to compete in hardware power too to bring back 3rd parties. That, or they need to stop with gaming consoles and go 3rd party themselves. Portable business will continue to work for some time though.

MS strategy lacked focus. They first made great strides globally with a gaming centric machine, but they didn't really want to invest in 1st party studios like Sony did. This decision came back to haunt them later because it let Sony come back on top with their 1st party exclusives. I don't think Sony would have been able to come on top with the PS3 if Xbox had more AAA exclusives at the end of the cycle.

Then they made a second blunder by trying to chase Wii money too much with Kinect, while it was already vanishing. Then they made a third huge blunder with their PR fiasco and their "non gaming centric" messages.

Had they followed a 1st party strategy from the start of Xbox brand, I highly doubt Sony would have been able to come back with the PS3. Xbox had the momentum during several years. They were on top in online gaming. They had basically the best multiplat versions and the cheaper machine. All they had to do is keeping on releasing AAA exclusives and give up on motion control fad.

Now we're back on track for a complete Sony global domination. MS won't be able to pull a PS3 comeback : even is they were releasing multiple great AAA exclusives now, Sony has a lot of AAA exclusives planned too unlike MS when PS3 came back, plus they also have the less expensive machine, plus they also have the best multiplat. There's hardly anything MS can do from there...

 

[BigDug13]

I hope so. We might end up with ridculous DRM policies, 6-700 dollar machines or an overpriced and under-powered box if that happens looking back on what the big 3 did after they were on top.

Sony gave you the option of two really expensive console SKU's when they were at the top. But when you go over Sony's Bill of Materials for those units having new blu-ray tech as well as PS2 hardware components inside while providing the HDMI and wifi (on 60gb model) that MS was unwilling to, you ended up with $800 cost to Sony to sell you a $500 console and $850 cost to Sony to sell you a $600 console.

The product was expensive but it was absolutely packed with valuable components and features.

If the worst thing I can say about what a company does when they're at the top is throwing $250-$300 more hardware into my console for the price, that's not so bad. They were arrogant about it, but if you wanted a high def media player and wanted to be a blu-ray early adopter, this machine was definitely over delivering on value at the time.

 

[Huff]

If we're just talking about consoles, Nintendo is already out. There wasn't much of a focus on anything.

Too early to call MS/Sony

 

[SwiftDeath]

I've noticed this as well but never made the apt comparison. XB1 will do well in the US, the UK, probably Australia and probably Brazil. Outside those I have serious doubts it will pick up comparable sales to the PS4.

Nintendo has always been so close-minded that I wondered who they were making the product for. If it is a Japanese focus that would explain a lot. All I know is that NoA has its work cut out for it.

Another thing I think is important to notice is the PS4 from a design aspect was made to be relatively easy to cut prices on. GDDR5 will continue to go down in price. A die shrink and you got a very well-priced product. I still hold the PS4 was designed to be the PS2's true successor and feel it will be able to reach sub-$200 price before it's irrelevant. This will help Sony continue to sell units to poorer regions much like they did [or I think they did?] with the PS2. I'm not expecting similar lifetime sales though lol

 

[fertygo]

Well its not like Sony giving focus to Japan either.

 

[BigDug13]

I've noticed this as well but never made the apt comparison. XB1 will do well in the US, the UK, probably Australia and probably Brazil. Outside those I have serious doubts it will pick up comparable sales to the PS4.

Nintendo has always been so close-minded that I wondered who they were making the product for. If it is a Japanese focus that would explain a lot. All I know is that NoA has its work cut out for it.

Another thing I think is important to notice is the PS4 from a design aspect was made to be relatively easy to cut prices on. GDDR5 will continue to go down in price. A die shrink and you got a very well-priced product. I still hold the PS4 was designed to be the PS2's true successor and feel it will be able to reach sub-$200 price before it's irrelevance. This will help Sony continue to sell units to poorer regions much like they did [or I think they did?] with the PS2. I'm not expecting similar lifetime sales though lol

This is a good point. Sony's machine is engineered with parts that will see greater price drops than XBO. It's possible that the XBO will never reach price parity with PS4. The first 10-20 million consoles sold this won't be an issue. But the remaining 60-80 million potential buyers who wait two years for crossgen games to come to an end and for consoles to get redesigned and less expensive will still be able to walk in to a store and see a cheaper PS4.

 

[Koppai]

I still think Sony should pay more attention to Japan. Just because that would mean that more Japanese games get released on their platforms.

I bet there are more Japanese games in development for PS4 than say Wii U at this point, I think PS4 will be fine. Nintendo just thinks that Japan is the world when it comes to gaming when it really isn't anymore. Sony was smart taking a western approach with a Japanese console.

Microsoft didn't bother with Japan because Japan doesn't really care about their systems, so why even bother? :/

I just hope that either SEGA or Sony announce that Yakuza Restoration or whatever they decide to call it is being brought over in English. It doesn't need dubbing just what they have always done will be enough.

At least we have Yakuza, FF15, and KH3 coming to PS4 (even if those last two are far off)

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Well its not like Sony giving focus to Japan either.

Err prolonging the launch to make sure that there are Japanese exclusive luanc titles shows exactly that they do care about Japan. Its not about focusing on one country. Thats exactly what you don't want to do.