wraggster
February 23rd, 2013, 21:34
http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/02/PS4stage-1.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/02/PS4stage-1.jpg)
Traditionally, the best-loved game consoles have almost always come from Japan. From the early days of Nintendo vs Sega to Sony entering the market in the ‘90s, Japan has coughed up the consoles the rest of the world wants to play games on. But the past eight or so years have seen the rise of the Xbox 360 and the decline in popularity of consoles made in Japan. Nintendo still dominates the handheld space but Wii U has so far failed to set the world alight. Is Japan’s hardware going the same way as its games?
Sony’s unveiling of the PS4 at Wednesday’s PlayStation Meeting 2013 would suggest it is, for now at least. Although Sony Computer Entertainment has become one of Japan’s most iconic game companies, its next console has an American passport. Apparently designed in the US, with American lead architect Mark Cerny taking the stage at a New York press conference at an awkward time for the Japanese (8am Thursday), PS4 is rich in exciting new features – and clearly many of these were born in the States.
Ken Kutaragi’s mad policy of creating exasperating bespoke processors is out the window, with a more dev-friendly “supercharged PC” chipset in its place. While Japanese media companies avoid streaming their content at all costs, for fear of damaging their highly controlled retail income, California-based Gaikai will power PS4’s exciting content delivery. And of the games shown at this week’s event, only two and a half were from Japan (Capcom’s Deep Down, Square’s vaguely promised Final Fantasy title and Cerny’s Knack, developed in collaboration with Sony’s Japan Studio).
http://www.edge-online.com/features/something-about-japan-keiji-inafune-yosuke-hayashi-and-toshihiro-nagoshi-talk-ps4/
Traditionally, the best-loved game consoles have almost always come from Japan. From the early days of Nintendo vs Sega to Sony entering the market in the ‘90s, Japan has coughed up the consoles the rest of the world wants to play games on. But the past eight or so years have seen the rise of the Xbox 360 and the decline in popularity of consoles made in Japan. Nintendo still dominates the handheld space but Wii U has so far failed to set the world alight. Is Japan’s hardware going the same way as its games?
Sony’s unveiling of the PS4 at Wednesday’s PlayStation Meeting 2013 would suggest it is, for now at least. Although Sony Computer Entertainment has become one of Japan’s most iconic game companies, its next console has an American passport. Apparently designed in the US, with American lead architect Mark Cerny taking the stage at a New York press conference at an awkward time for the Japanese (8am Thursday), PS4 is rich in exciting new features – and clearly many of these were born in the States.
Ken Kutaragi’s mad policy of creating exasperating bespoke processors is out the window, with a more dev-friendly “supercharged PC” chipset in its place. While Japanese media companies avoid streaming their content at all costs, for fear of damaging their highly controlled retail income, California-based Gaikai will power PS4’s exciting content delivery. And of the games shown at this week’s event, only two and a half were from Japan (Capcom’s Deep Down, Square’s vaguely promised Final Fantasy title and Cerny’s Knack, developed in collaboration with Sony’s Japan Studio).
http://www.edge-online.com/features/something-about-japan-keiji-inafune-yosuke-hayashi-and-toshihiro-nagoshi-talk-ps4/