EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: japan
December was a massive month for the 3DS in Japan. Nintendo sold a whopping 1 492 931 systems during December according to retail tracker Enterbrain, accounting for 36% of all 3DS sales during 2011.
This is the highest monthly sales total for any console since Enterbrain started tracking Japanese retail data back in 1997.
The PS Vita launched across Japan on Saturday, and shoppers queued through the early hours of the morning to be the first across the world to buy Sony’s new handheld.
Thanks to the PlayStation Blog we can see how the day unfolded as Japanese consumers queued and bought the PS Vita in Japan on the weekend.
Earlier this year, Nintendo confirmed the existence of a 3DS peripheral that is to add another analog circle pad to the handheld to allow for dual-analog control of upcoming games, including Capcom’s 3DS-exclusive Monster Hunter 3G.
Available in Japan on December 10th alongside the next Monster Hunter game the add-on will be known as the ‘Nintendo 3DS Expansion Slide Pad’ in the country, but if you’re living outside of Japan, the peripheral might be known as something different.
Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will see a release in Japan this year and early next year in Western territories, with details of a limited edition Lightning-themed PlayStation 3 console also revealed.
Japan is the place to be this December when the PlayStation Vita makes its worldwide debut there on the 17th. Those lucky ladies and gentlemen with a bit of cash to spare after buying the feature-laden handheld and a game or two from the 26 titles on offer will probably be making a beeline for the accessories shelf, which will offer all sorts of official Sony extras for their precious new acquisition.
During Sony’s Tokyo Game Show 2011 press conference today, the company has announced a raft of new details regarding its upcoming handheld, the PS Vita, including expected battery life, the Japanese launch line-up of game, official pricing and availability options… and a release date in Japan.
Following a recent conference held by Nintendo, fresh new details and media have been released for two upcoming 3DS games, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, with release dates and information on upcoming 3DS features included in the mix.
Let’s jump in, shall we?
It’s bad news I’m afraid. Sony has confirmed that The Last Guardian will not be on show at the Tokyo Game Show which takes place from the 15 – 18 September (next week!).
Sob.
The Tokyo Game Show takes place from 15 - 18 September, and this year’s event looks set to provide plenty of thrills and unforeseen announcements. The Japanese love their videogames, and TGS is the industry’s way of stirring up all that fan fervour to fever pitch levels.
Japan is home to some of weirdest and most wonderful gaming paraphernalia in the world, and it thus comes as no surprise that a marvellously adorned DualShock 3 controller will be released there alongside one of the biggest games of the year.
These past few weeks have been kind of busy, with all sorts of videogame information falling straight through the sieve as we juggled our prior engagements.
Not to mention other general activity.
As a result, there are a few pieces of news that we might have missed. Things like… release dates for upcoming games. Let’s try and catch up with some of the bigger release date announcements right now, shall we?
This week’s Media Create software chart offers further proof that names sell games. Whether it be Zelda, Kirby, Mickey, Monster Hunter or Pokemon - an established intellectual property always has a good chance of being picked over an unknown quantity.
At the top of this week’s chart is Monster Hunter Diary: Pokapoka Felyne G on PSP. The game was developed by From Software (the company behind Demon’s Souls) and from the looks of things it’s a cartoonish take on the Monster Hunter series, featuring some of the same RPG elements which made those games so popular.
This week’s Media Create hardware chart is all about the 3DS’ massive sales spike following a substantial price cut on August 11th. A 40% (10 000 yen) saving is nothing to sneeze at and Japanese consumers voiced their approval by snapping up over 190 000 3DS systems in four days - the most successful sales period for the handheld since its February launch.
A Japanese demo for Final Fantasy Type-0 was released last week on August 11th, and negative feedback on various aspects of it has prompted director Hajime Tabata to put up a video response on the Square Enix Members Twitter page reassuring fans that their complaints will be taken to heart.
The top two gripes were directed at the camera and Phantoma system used in the game. Like many PSP titles, the camera is controlled with the D-pad which means you have to take your left thumb off the analog stick every time you want to change your view. This is an awkward and annoying practice and can be remedied by assigning horizontal camera controls to the L and R buttons on the top of the PSP (something which the demo doesn’t let you do). Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep employs this method and it feels far more comfortable and natural than D-pad camera control does.
In a report on Associated Press, it’s been revealed that Sony’s next handheld, the PS Vita, won’t see a release in Western territories in 2011 but will rather launch in 2012.
Japanese consumers, however, will be able to purchase the handheld this year as Sony plans to launch the PS Vita in December in the country.
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