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Pushsquare: Japanese Gamers Aren't Impressed with PS5's Price Hike

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Yes, it's still impossible to find PS5's here, I got lucky in January 2021 and was selected for one of those raffles after failing to be selected in a dozen previous ones, I thank my lucky stars.

A 20% price increase in Japan - especially under these conditions - is insane. I'm a Sony fanboy all day long but I'll always call PlayStation out on their bullshit, this is not a good look and will likely cause irreparable damage to the PlayStation brand in this market.
Didnt know Japan increased 20%. I thought it was about 10% in various regions.

Sony's BS reasons of price increases due to currency exhange, inflation etc.... is horseshit because the US got zero price increase.

Also, Sony reports their earnings in Yen as they are headquartered in Japan. So there's no detrimental currency effect for local Japanese sales.
 

tmlDan

Member
The Japanese government demanded that Sony increase the price of the PS5 worldwide? I think this is breaking news, please give us details.
omg the ignorance, are you American?

The yen has dropped to 24 year lows, its greatly impacts Sony's business more than Nintendo.

Reason being is that the switch is old tech, its much more profitable at this point than a PS5 is, they have the ability to stay status quo and still make record profits.
 

Fbh

Member
I like how the title of the article almost implies people in other markets are impressed.

Europeans seeing the price increase:
Leonardo Dicaprio Oscars GIF



How is switching to PC considered an option for people that care about cost? I love PC gaming, I'm a primary PC gamer, but I 100% recognize the cost of PC gaming is WAYYYYY higher than console gaming when it comes to initial hardware.

Depending on how long you keep your PC and how long you wait in between upgrades it's not really that more expensive.
It's basically a trade off, on console you pay a lower initial price but the recurrent costs are usually higher with more expensive games (specially if you live in place with regional pricing on PC), paid multiplayer, paid upgrades, etc.
 

KingT731

Member
Didnt know Japan increased 20%. I thought it was about 10% in various regions.

Sony's BS reasons of price increases due to currency exhange, inflation etc.... is horseshit because the US got zero price increase.

Also, Sony reports their earnings in Yen as they are headquartered in Japan. So there's no detrimental currency effect for local Japanese sales.
One of the reasons* the US got no price increase because the basis of their currency exchange is USD which is strong atm compared to others. I don't agree with this decision at all but at least get the facts straight. The price increase in Japan was 12.5% for the digital and 10% for the physical version. The Japanese Yen at the moment is the weakest it has been since 1998.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The US got no price increase because the basis of their currency exchange is USD which is strong atm compared to others. I don't agree with this decision at all but at least get the facts straight. The price increase in Japan was 12.5% for the digital and 10% for the physical version. The Japanese Yen at the moment is the weakest it has been since 1998.
Where are you getting 12.5% and 10%? I'm just going by the article. The optical drive model which is about 50,000 Yen to 60,000 Yen. Thats 20%.

Sony is already having a torrid time in its home territory, but it looks like the PS5’s price hike could prove the straw that broke the camel’s back in its domestic Japan. Like the rest of the worldapart from the USA, of course – Japanese gamers have been reacting to the console’s revised price point, and many are simply giving up on their pursuit of the platform.

The Blu-ray model, which cost ¥49,980 (~$366) at launch, will rise to ¥60,478 (~$448) – an unprecedented increase. And responding to Famitsu’s report on the news, many players are pointing out that they simply don’t need the platform anymore. There’s a lot of talk of transitioning to the PC, with some pondering whether exclusive Final Fantasy 16 will eventually be available elsewhere.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
A pricier walled garden with $70 games, and an online paywall.

Japanese gamers are right, it’s not needed. Sony’s putting their games on PC anyways.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Sony just shot themselves in the foot.

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 become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in Japan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the Japanese public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase either PS5 system, nor will they purchase any of Sony's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Sony has alienated an entire market with this move.

Sony, publicly apologize and reverse the price hike or you can kiss your business goodbye.

🥱 sorry but had to be done. 🥱
 
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LordCBH

Member
Don’t get me wrong, I understand their reasoning behind “we are raising the price”. But I think it’s the wrong call. The smart thing to do would have been to keep it the same and eat whatever difference there is.
 
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KingT731

Member
Where are you getting 12.5% and 10%? I'm just going by the article. The optical drive model which is about 50,000 Yen to 60,000 Yen. Thats 20%.
Digital PS5 went from from ¥43,978 yen to ¥49,478 and Physical PS5 went from ¥54,978 to ¥60,478 both include Tax. Without Tax the original prices were ¥49,980 & ¥39,980. You were comparing the old prices without tax to the new prices with tax included.
 
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NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
It's over, period. Sony lost their last ace, and that's the end of their PS5 hopes and dreams.

It's not hyperbole, it's not fanboy drivel. It is LITERALLY it for PS5. Sony has nothing left, nothing they can reveal would fix the hole now created. There is no reason left for any one, hardcore or casual, to substantively invest in a PS5. Except if they want to play God of War Ragnarok. Which will also come to PC at some point.

The age of Sony is done.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The US got no price increase because the basis of their currency exchange is USD which is strong atm compared to others. I don't agree with this decision at all but at least get the facts straight. The price increase in Japan was 12.5% for the digital and 10% for the physical version. The Japanese Yen at the moment is the weakest it has been since 1998.
The Pound Sterling is still worth more at it's lowest while the US Dollar is at its highest and the UK still got a price increase which takes it to more then it would cost a Brit to buy the Horizon Bundle from the US.
So
sexy the walking dead GIF

On that too
 

Pejo

Member
I dunno Japan, ever uhhhhh try being American instead? No price hike here.

man-pulling-on-his-suspenders-with-a-cocky-smile-picture-id517151270


Sony gave up on Japan long before they're now giving up on Sony. Glad to hear that they're moving to PC as a platform, the barrier for localization is much lower on PC, so there's a much better chance to actually play JP games. Even if it's through MTL or unofficial fan translations.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Digital PS5 went from from ¥43,978 yen to ¥49,478 and Physical PS5 went from ¥54,978 to ¥60,478 both include Tax. Without Tax the original prices were ¥49,980 & ¥39,980. You were comparing the old prices without tax to the new prices with tax included.
Dont think so. It's 20% Japan. Digital is closer to 25%. Why would any article compare prices using one basis with tax and another without tax?

Here's another gaming article.


Sony is increasing its PS5 prices in the UK, Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada. Prices are jumping by 10 percent in Europe, 21 percent in Japan, and by around 6 percent in the UK as inflation rates impact Sony and many other companies. While Sony is increasing PS5 prices in many parts of the world, it says there won’t be a price increase in the US.

Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022):

  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (¥49,980 before)
  • PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (¥39,980 before)
 
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KingT731

Member
The Pound Sterling is still worth more at it's lowest while the US Dollar is at its highest and the UK still got a price increase which takes it to more then it would cost a Brit to buy the Horizon Bundle from the US.
So
sexy the walking dead GIF

On that too
I should correct the statement to read as "one of the reasons." It's not the single definitive reason.
Dont think so. It's 20% Japan. Digital is closer to 25%. Why would any article compare prices using one basis with tax and another without tax?

Here's another gaming article.

[/URL][/URL][/URL]

Sony is increasing its PS5 prices in the UK, Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada. Prices are jumping by 10 percent in Europe, 21 percent in Japan, and by around 6 percent in the UK as inflation rates impact Sony and many other companies. While Sony is increasing PS5 prices in many parts of the world, it says there won’t be a price increase in the US.

Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022):

  • PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (¥49,980 before)
  • PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (¥39,980 before)
V5CTX09.png

The current price of the PS5 systems in Japan is ¥43,978 for the digital model and ¥54,978 for the physical model this includes Tax.
 
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I assume all the scalpers were from the U.S. All the Americans that wanted a PS5 got a PS5 now the rest of the world will get stuff shipped and delivered. The real secret reason no price increase in the States.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I should correct the statement to read as "one of the reasons." It's not the single definitive reason.

V5CTX09.png

The current price of the PS5 systems in Japan is ¥43,978 for the digital model and ¥54,978 for the physical model this includes Tax.
Websites are all over the place. If thats the case, some are using wrong numbers or not apples to apples comparisons.
 

reksveks

Member
Yeah, Sony was rather dopey imo.

When they announced the ps5, the jpy price was without tax and I think Japan was a single 10% consumption tax so they could have used that number when doing the initial marketing.

The new number is with that tax.
 

Impotaku

Member
Sony are delusional making it more expensive in it's weakest region probably a small holdout of hardcore fans left that are still waiting to get one but for the masses they have moved on even if they flood with stock i can't see people picking them up in crazy numbers, the game library simply isn't there. Switch filled the gap & pushed sony out of the market. Maybe sony should have spent less time playing dick waving contests with microsoft in who can buy the most dev companies and actually knuckled down with the ones they already have & try to get a decent library of stuff out for the people that did pick one up as i imagine most people in japan are using them as fancy PS4 gaming consoles at the moment as the charts sure as hell aren't showing many PS5 games they are still relying on PS4 releases. Any actual PS5 games that do come out seem to bomb, they sell a few thousand if they are lucky then vanish from the charts a week later never to be seen again only a few exceptions so far but most are duds.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Didnt know Japan increased 20%. I thought it was about 10% in various regions.

Sony's BS reasons of price increases due to currency exhange, inflation etc.... is horseshit because the US got zero price increase.

Also, Sony reports their earnings in Yen as they are headquartered in Japan. So there's no detrimental currency effect for local Japanese sales.
Japan got an additional price increase after the original price announcement. It was 10% like the other regions and then they updated the blog post to increase it even further lmao.
Imagine betraying people of your home country. This is a new low. I really feel like another lesson is in works for sony. I have been supporting this company for years and I haver never seen it this greedy. For all you thinking I am making it too dramatic, the availability of PlayStation 5 in Japan was abysmal. Europe had a lot of PS5 drop compared to Japan. Sony was climbing back to being King with its Camera, TV, Headphones and ofcourse PlayStation success, but it seems they are going to be their own enemy soon. None of it is sustainable. What makes Sony 'Sony' is watertight internal processing and quality assurance. It's a value, not a thing that can be bought. Once it is gone, it's all gone.
honor and shame are for Japanese people. Playstation headquarters are now based out of San Mateo (near Silicon Valley). What you are seeing here is classic American Corporate greed. This is how its done here.

To be fair to sony, Japan has been a lost cause since the PS3 era. They effectively abandoned the playstation consoles once mobile gaming became a thing in Japan and it hasnt recovered since. Playstation Game sales have failed to break records set by PS1 and PS2 era DMC and MGS games. You vote with your wallet and they voted themselves out of console allocations and now price. No sympathy for them tbh. Other emerging Asian markets deserve those console allocations a lot more. They actually want to play the damn thing.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Reason being is that the switch is old tech, its much more profitable at this point than a PS5 is, they have the ability to stay status quo and still make record profits.
Lets see. 24 years ago. Ah 1998. The year of MGS1, FF7 and RE2. Legendary year remembered for the unfortunate price increase of the $99 PS One because of yen's historic low.

Nope that never happened. Sony would go on to release the PS2 a year and a half later for just $299 immediately after the dotcom crash.
 

tmlDan

Member
Lets see. 24 years ago. Ah 1998. The year of MGS1, FF7 and RE2. Legendary year remembered for the unfortunate price increase of the $99 PS One because of yen's historic low.

Nope that never happened. Sony would go on to release the PS2 a year and a half later for just $299 immediately after the dotcom crash.
You really need to stop comparing the past like its comparable to now. The market has drastically changed, this is like a Pachter take, there's a reason nobody takes him seriously.
 

Max_Po

Banned
ammm ... I am sure no one is happy.

I been trying to get a disc-less version as a second PS5 since launch unsuccessfully.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
How is switching to PC considered an option for people that care about cost? I love PC gaming, I'm a primary PC gamer, but I 100% recognize the cost of PC gaming is WAYYYYY higher than console gaming when it comes to initial hardware.
Because they seem to care about games and availability more, PS tried so hard to set themselves far from Japan they're basically niche there already
 

AJUMP23

Member
There is already massive inflation so everything is more expensive and your money doesn’t have as much purchasing power. So who would be impressed by someone saying we now need more of your less valuable money in exchange for our product.
 

FStubbs

Member
They shouldn't have killed the PSVita

When they did, Nintendo just had to release another portable to fill that gap. Anybody that wanted a portable console only had the Switch as an option, no competition.

Now Japan is basically Nintendoland, and in the west Microsoft is playing tough.

Sony is entering the PC market, but that also devalues their own platform.

Sony needs another strategy, asap
Isn't PS5 still outselling Xbox Series S/X by a comfortable margin?
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
omg the ignorance, are you American?

The yen has dropped to 24 year lows, its greatly impacts Sony's business more than Nintendo.

Reason being is that the switch is old tech, its much more profitable at this point than a PS5 is, they have the ability to stay status quo and still make record profits.
So why would they need to raise the price in Japan and not in the USA?
 
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