Tag Archives: japan

Despite being one of the lowest rated entries in the series, Pokémon Scarlet / Violet have become the best-selling Pokémon games of all time in Japan.

When Palworld dropped onto PS5 last month, the one region to not get the game was Japan. Fortunately, after a slight delay, Palworld is now live in the region.

Visions of Mana, the latest JRPG in the classic series, officially launched this week but the studio behind it is now swiftly facing closure, as major Chinese gaming companies, NetEase and Tencent, look to reduce their investments in Japan. Ouka Studios, the studio behind Visions of Mana, is reportedly closing …

Despite looking fantastic, Bandai Namco's anime-themed MMO, Blue Protocol, will no longer be making it to full release. The developers had teamed up with Amazon Games to bring the game to the west at some point this year, but after garnering feedback from the Japanese audience, where the game was …

Last month, Ubisoft officially lifted the curtains on Assassin’s Creed Shadows with a flashy cinematic teaser, giving us our first look at the world – but no gameplay. While a full deep-dive is expected at Ubisoft’s upcoming showcase, a hint of the game’s new mechanics were shared during Xbox’s Game …

When all is said and done, the Nintendo Switch will have been one of the most successful video game consoles of all time. With less than a year to go until the company most likely releases their next-gen successor, the 2017 handheld-hybrid has proven itself across the world – especially …

The Switch generation has seen Nintendo top many markets, with the aging console still continuing to sell like hotcakes despite nearing its end-of-life. One of Nintendo's biggest markets is unsurprisingly Japan. Though they may have a home advantage, Nintendo and the Switch still managed to completely dominate the market – …

With Xbox being the only console manufacturer of the Big 3 to not originate from Japan, Microsoft has struggled in the past to gain any ground within the region. That said, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has made a point of targeting the Japanese market – now revealing that PC …

The ASUS Noctua RTX 4080 is no longer the only RTX 40 series card with Noctua fans. While the Noctua RTX 4080 was created in close cooperation with Noctua, Sycom took a different approach with its Noctua-cooled RTX 4070 and 4060 Ti graphics cards. Sycom, a Japanese OEM system builder, …

With Microsoft being the only current console manufacturer to not hail from Japan, it makes some degree of sense that the Xbox has in the past struggled to secure a number of Japanese games. That said, this has been improving significantly in recent years – with Xbox forming partnerships with …

Despite originating in Japan, Sonic the Hedgehog has always had much wider appeal in the West – with Sonic games typically performing worse in the blue blur’s home country. That being said, Sonic Frontiers seems to have broken this trend, with Sonic Frontiers becoming the fastest selling Sonic game in …

For many years, Pokémon Red, Green and Blue combined have topped Japan's best-selling games chart. Now, their time at the top has ended, as Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes the lead with 10,450,000 sales in Japan, 200,000 more than the first Pokémon games. The team at Game Data Library has …

With each passing year, it seems as though the PC gaming market continues to see a rather significant amount of growth. This is no more true than in the case of Japan, where the PC gaming market has reportedly doubled in just the past three years alone. According to Japanese …

The PS5 has been a fast seller ever since its launch. Even now, almost two years later, the console is still difficult to pick up at retail and requires some planning on the customer's part. With the console selling out as fast as they can be made, we've seen Sony …

While fans eagerly anticipate the release of the upcoming survival horror action game The Callisto Protocol, those living in Japan will unfortunately be unable to play the game, as Callisto has failed its certification in the country – with there being no plans to alter the game. Making the announcement …

While the legalities surrounding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to be figured out, the console manufacturer has not been keeping its eggs in one singular basket, with Microsoft reportedly looking to the East for potential studio acquisitions. As part of the latest episode of the Giant Bombcast podcast, industry …

The Watch Dogs franchise is one of Ubisoft’s most frustraiting, not due to its quality, but simply due to the fact that it’s a series with a great deal of potential being hampered by typical Ubisoft gimmicks. It is therefore interesting to see that a manga based in the world …

With the PlayStation 5 firmly in its second year on the market, many fans have been wondering what is next for the console and its manufacturer. It seems these questions may be revealed very soon, as Sony has announced a State of Play stream set for tomorrow, the 9th of …

With Sony and Nintendo both hailing from Japan, there has been little space in the market for Microsoft’s Xbox system. Historically, Xbox has performed very poorly in the nation, however, a new report has revealed that both the Xbox Series X and S have individually outsold the Xbox One in …

Following on from reports earlier this year, today TSMC and Sony are making their new partnership official. The two companies will jointly launch a new chip factory in Japan in an effort to address the growing demand for processors. The new factory will launch under a new subsidiary, Japan Advanced …

Microsoft has consistently struggled with Xbox consoles in Japan, with last generation's Xbox One only selling 115,000 units in the country over its lifetime. With the Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft is making a much bigger push, not only to get more Xbox consoles in the hands of Japanese gamers, but …

While Sony and Microsoft have gone back and forth over the generations when it comes to succeeding as the top platform, one country where the winner has always been predetermined is Japan – with Xbox’s presence nearly non-existent in the country. According to Xbox’s Phil Spencer however, Sony’s home turf …

Xbox held its Tokyo Game Show livestream earlier this morning and while the event was light on new reveals, it did bring some exciting announcements for Xbox Game Pass. To cap off September, Game Pass subscribers will be getting two excellent Japanese games – Scarlet Nexus and AI: The Somnium …

While Microsoft has been snapping up video game development studios left and right, Sony has taken a much more methodical approach, acquiring studios which have been closely aligned with the console manufacturer for years. It seems the latest shake-up by the company may involve the creation of a new studio …

Recently we reported that NetEase was in final talks with SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi to poach the Yakuza creator, bringing him under the Chinese company's wing and giving him the freedom to create a new studio and IPs. It looks like NetEase isn’t the only Chinese-based company with an eye on …

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 …