| Wyrdness said: While true the is a bit more behind it as tastes changed yes but that is a straight forward problem they could navigate with some effort the major issue was the change in gaming habits this is a strong factor in why PSP became a thing to begin with, portable platforms were becoming a better fit for Japan's gaming habits and Sony saw this and did make moves to tackle that with PSP and Vita but this came with a host of new problems they didn't anticipate as it was entering a new market with new factors at play with the most notable being how hard it was to support two platforms at once something even Nintendo themselves in the end couldn't go on doing albeit they solved the problem. The move to be the brand for AAA was understandable as a result the problem is that back then they at least kept Studios like their Japan Studio to put out titles that had potential to be hits in Japan for example why Gravity Rush was never pushed as a major IP is something that is baffling and it's the same case for most of Studio Japan's games which is bizarre considering their output. |
And the Vita's problem in Japan once again relates back to their reliance on third party for system sellers.
Sony actually put in a relatively strong effort first party effort with Uncharted Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Little Big Planet, Tear Away, Killzone Mercenary, Sly Cooper 4, Soul Sacrifice, PlayStation Allstars, Freedom Wars. The bold really made with the Japanese market in mind.
The problem is none of these IPs or games really clicked despite all being solid efforts. There could honestly be a whole thread about Sony making games that are good but not quite good enough or marketable enough. Like even in the west AAA fans of uncharted don't really care for a watered down, portable spinoff like Golden Abyss. For a JRPG that would be a different story though.
If you replaced even half that list with Japanese Mainstays like Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest etc this system would of sold 3x as much and then received even more support.
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On the topic of first party PlayStation games in Japan I was pleasantly surprised to see Astrobot is likely to crack 100k at retail this year in Japan.
https://www.frontlinejp.net/2026/01/29/the-top-100-best-selling-games-in-japan-2025/#google_vignette
84. Astro Bot (PS5) – 37,317 (93,498)
Last edited by Otter - 1 day ago
