WATCH THE LAUNCH LIVE! -

Times:
10:30PM JST
8:30AM EST
5:30AM PST
1:30PM GMT

ustream

ustream countdown

niconico

niconico countdown

Five and a half months ago today, dedicated Japanese gamers lined up deligently hours before the opening of stores across the nation, some even patiently waiting since the night before, skipping the last train of the night to be sure they would be amongst the first in Japan to preorder their consoles - Yes, these gamers waited in line not to buy the console as many around the world would do over the next few months, here they waited simply to preorder the console, before it had launched anywhere else in the world.

Fast forward to February and major retail stores such as Yodobashi, Bic and Yamada Denki across the nation once more are seeing the formation of neat lines outside their stores, despite the recent snowfall that has battered the nation in what forcasters are claiming is the heaviest snow fall to hit the country in over 78 years.

Lines had formed last saturday approximately a week prior to initial launch, outside the Yodobashi Camera store in Machida, Kanagawa however as the weather worsened they were asked by staff to return home, providing those in line with slips of paper that guarantee their spot on line providing they return no later than Friday 21st.

Some of the gamers I had seen last saturday are amongst those I saw yesterday again in line now the snow has passed, no doubt itching to take home their prized machine and play.

I had asked many why they did not simply order from abroad and get their systems early, and the general answer i received was that they felt safer buying their machine locally, knowing the manual, associated power cord and system is specifically designed for use in Japan, others pointed to the ability to return or replace the machine easilly should it become faulty during its warranty period, a surprising number however pointed to the playstation-unique situation where the purpose of the X and O buttons are switched over for Japanese systems.

While for some the task of waiting outside a store for a consoles launch, with preorder or without is more of a habbitual task, others in line had expressed their concern at being unable to preorder the console online or in smaller chain stores such as Aeon and ItoYokado based electronics stores that are virtually barren of preorder slots, so camping outside of the stores is their only sure fire way of securing the system.

Those in attendance stretched from mature 50-somthing men and women all the way down to college students, one even remarking that he had to study in line to not fall behind in his work.

While this is indeed a small cross section of both the country and the community, the demand for the console is clearly high and the comments regarding the inability to secure a preorder in most stores rang true as of all the stores i frequent i have rarely ever seen preorder slots available unless they had been put out or advertised within an hour or my arrival.

It would seem as though the demand in Japan is definitely high, all that matters now is if Sony will be able to meet that demand over the first few days and weeks.

"There will be a pre-sale, countdown event too, beginning at 10pm local time on the 21st February. To help entertain those queuing up outside retailers and more specifically, the celebratory Ginza Sony Building, Sony will have game developers, celebrities including: Hideo Kojima, maker of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Shinji Hashimoto who was a producer on Final Fantasy XV and Kindom Heart’s III, as well as a comedian, actress and others. The first few PS4 buyers, will also have the honour of being handed their new console by Sony Corporate Entertainment head Andrew House."

Those wanting to tune in and watch the launch live can do so through PlayStation Japans ustream and niconico channels from the 21st onwards.

It should be a decent launch over here, hopefully it can bring console gaming back into the spotlight a little.

All you see these days are people playing and talking about smartphone games. (Apart from the elementary kids, they're still firmly in Nintendo country).

"While this is indeed a small cross section of both the country and the community, the demand for the console is clearly high and the comments regarding the inability to secure a preorder in most stores rang true as of all the stores i frequent i have rarely ever seen preorder slots available unless they had been put out or advertised within an hour or my arrival."

I honestly don't understand, how people can creditable make this argument anymore.
We seen it now 5 times. Lines/pre-orders in Japan means absolutely nothing.

Preorders hard to get for Wiiu? It didn't mean high demand.
Preorders for vita? It didn't mean high demand.
Preorders for 3ds? It didn't mean high demand.
Preorders for vita tv. It didn't mean high demand.
Preorders for ps3 fat. You get the point.
When will this argument based on pre-orders die?

For all we know they shipped as little as vita tv. Obviously it's not that low but you get the idea.
If we don't know numbers. We can't say high or low.

Oh so close I can almost taste it!

Why am I hyped again? I'm in America lol.

For what it's worth, as another piece of anecdotal "evidence," where I live (somewhere in West Japan, not a big city) pre-orders are still available and as far as I asked the stores every pre-order can be filled on launch day. (I asked in 3 regular stores.)

Sometimes it's good to live in smaller cities. The hype and demand is not as high and you can get almost anything without worrying about pre-orders too much.

Cant wait to see how it all goes over there... also Yakuza Ishin =D

You had it for 3 months already. *shakes fist*

I'd love to go and see if there are lines, but I'm moving on that day. :/

The last time Yodobashi, Bic and Yamada Denki were accepting preorders in volumes as high as they have done for the PlayStation 4, it was for the original Wii, which hit 400k in the first day in Japan but was limited in stock quantity, prior to that was the PlayStation 2 which hit 600k in the first day and ran in to supply issues early on, but still pulled a million in the first 10 days.

Your examples are all flawed, because:

WiiU was poorly placed in Japan, with many customers getting their Nintendo fix on the 3DS after its sales had improved.
Vita launched with a high price and against the relative success of the thriving (in japan) PSP that not only had an expansive library but cheaper games
3DS launch in Japan was terrible, just as it was everywhere else in the world because early support was borderline nonexistant, and the media had run with stories of kids getting headaches and/or seizures from the 3D screen for weeks prior to its launch.
Vita TV is considered by many to be an optional Vita accessory that not many really wanted, much of its usefulness in Japan is in streaming the PS4 to other displays, something not possible without the PS4 having launched.
PS3 suffered because of the extrodinarily high price, being slated in the media as too expensive with no Japanese games, despite this is still sold over 81k the first day.

For all of the Nintendo systems, advertising in stores, on TV and on the streets was also virtually non existant, so the demographic most likely to buy it did not understand what the product even was.

The huge difference here is that the entire country has seen the success of the PS4 elsewhere, and the media has nothing but praise for the console, with extensive advertising in every store, on the streets, in subway car displays, on TV and radio.

But hey, don't take my word for it, see for yourself in a week when the sales are in.

Yeah, i was told by staff in Sagaiono that if i needed a preorder slot (i dont, already have a ps4) then their store in Odawara had some left..  screw 2 hours on the train lol.

Also, Hi, nice to meet a fellow resident of Japan who isn't just here on holiday.

Japanese trains are very comfortable. Definitely better than waiting 2 hours in the cold somewhere.

Do you have an American PS4 or got a Japanese one early somewhere?