trying is always better than not, i agree. but we all know why sony aren't "trying".

it's because they can't afford to.

lol, alright, now you're speaking my language. You are absolutely correct sir. Sony is at a point where they need to show their shareholders that they can be temporarily profitable in their gaming division. The main feature of this strategy is not supporting 3rd parties, and instead focusing on 1st party tentpole titles that have a much higher return on investment.

The "why" is fairly obvious, at least.

If the PS3 has a stranglehold on the Japanese market, what does the Wii have? Did it rape it?

Ahh... Okay.

I don't agree, but that's the beauty of the internet!  We don't have to.

You don't agree with what, the fact that Sony has screwed the pooch in Japan this gen, or the opinion that it's impossible for anyone to do worse?

and i think they are doing a great job, they're trying with what they've got. just because they're not throwing money around like microsoft, doesn't mean they aren't trying. they just can't afford to try the way microsoft are, so they are trying their own way.

they're up against a company that is snatching games from them left, right and center, and the only way they can counter is by making their own games - and it's working. all their first party games are worth getting. sony have basically set themselves up with a bunch of fresh franchises that they can carry to the next generation. so if third parties don't want to follow sony, they have their own games. it's working for nintendo.

There is no doubt about that. The only flaw is it seems a lot of their 1st and 2nd party games are shooters(which are much easier to make successful with cash, and which don't rely on unreliable originality). Shooters do poorly in Japan. Thus, the cruising example.

LBP could change it all, though, and so could WKC.

Lol, you're so harsh on the PS3/Sony, it always makes me laugh. In all honesty though, after the failure that is the PS3, what do you think they should have done? After they burned through all of their money, I don't think they really had many options. (To be fair though, I have NO clue what SCEJ is doing...)

Anyway, to all those saying "Japan wasn't worth it," I wonder if that's really the case - can we tell the effects of these games just from Japan's console sales alone? I think we should wait for all the Japanese RPG's to release & settle in the west. I know I'm eventually buying a 360 thanks to some of the Japanese games they've secured, and I consider myself to be a Microsoft hater.

well it's either that or make/buy a bunch of mediocre jrpg's that proabaly won't even turn a profit on the ps3.

If I was Sony, I woulda invested in Persona 4(and maybe 3) as a PS3 exclusive, and just given it 16:9, and upgraded nothing else, requiring people who want these games to own a PS3(Similar to the Disgaea 3 startegy). I woulda invested in 2 involved 1st party jrpgs, instead of Killzone 2, one of which being Legend of Dragoon 2, and finally, before the PS3 launched, I would have invested in my future, by signing temporary exclusivity deals, via revenue forfiet, for games like Tekken and DMC(in other words, if these games are exclusive to the PS3 for 3 months, Sony gets to bundle them and sell consoles, keep their stigma as Sony franchises, but keep no profit from their sale).

That's more of a redivertment of funds, and general strategy change, than an extra expendature of short term profit.

It would also rally the base and put the PS3 in a better position globally.