Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Sony (Page 5)
All the rumors are true! Sony has just announced a partnership with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to produce and sell PlayStation consoles in China. There have been plenty of knock-offs floating around on the grey market, but this new partnership with Sony marks the first time in 14 years China will allow the sale of consoles.
After receiving rave reviews for last year’s model, the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony has refreshed its flagship with a sleek waterproof design that’s just a hair thinner than the last.
It’s even just slightly thinner and lighter than the iPad Air.
Packed with a high-resolution screen and great battery life, the Z2 Tablet is among the best Android tablets you can buy today, although it doesn’t feel quite as premium as the iPad.
Cherry blossom season may now be over in Tokyo, and yes, each year we find ourselves wishing the magnificent pale pink flowers would last longer than a week, but luckily we’ve found a flower-themed video so spectacular, it just might be enough to make us forget the passing of the cherry blossoms.
The video is actually a commercial from Sony advertising their 4K Ultra HD TV, and it features such a massive amount of flowers in an unbelievable array of dazzling colors that you’ll find it hard to believe that the images aren’t computer generated. See the stunning images and colors for yourself in the video below!
Anime Japan 2013 had plenty of booths at Tokyo Big Sight advertising the latest anime and hawking related swag, but some companies also took the opportunity to showcase new technology that might be of interest to fans of animation.
Sony Computer Entertainment has just lifted the lid on brand new hardware at GDC 2014 in San Francisco: its own virtual reality headset for PlayStation 4, codenamed Project Morpheus.
Stroll into virtually any games store and, alongside a wall of lime and dark green that marks the domain of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Xbox One, you’ll now find the sea of blue that is the PlayStation section. With its latest console, Sony went with dark blue for the majority of its packaging, with all games shipping in cases with dark blue headers stamped with the stylish “PS4” logo. The cases are the exact same colour as those for Sony’s portable console, PlayStation Vita, though since Vita game cards are so ridiculously tiny the cases are roughly half the size of the PS4’s.
But now, PlayStation 3 games wearing the same colours as their PS4 and Vita brethren have begun showing up in stores. Clearly Sony is aiming for a unified look across its PlayStation brand, but some gamers in Japan are not exactly pleased about the change and say that the new packaging is confusing.
For many 22 February was Cat Day in Japan, but for video game fans it meant something much greater. This was finally the day Japanese gamers could get their hands on Sony’s next-gen console, the PlayStation 4.
Prior to this, at the Sony Building in Ginza a celebration was to be held where 100 people who purchased their consoles in advance would get a chance to be the first person to own a Japanese-sold PS4.
The tickets were handed out at 11:00 in the morning of 21 February for the event which took place that evening. Our own first Docomo iPhone5 buyer in Japan, Mr. Sato was hoping to make lightning strike twice and got in line for tickets two days in advance.
The day thousands of Japanese gamers have been waiting for has almost arrived. It’s now February 21 in Japan, and that can mean only one thing: PlayStation 4 is less than 24 hours away!
Earlier tonight, our reporter extraordinaire Mr. Sato headed over to Sony’s flagship store in Tokyo’s Ginza District to join the gamers who just couldn’t wait any longer to get their hands on the console and to document the special launch event Sony would be laying on in honour of PlayStation 4’s decidedly late arrival.
Despite electronics giant Sony being a Japanese company, its PlayStation 4 video game console sure has taken its sweet making it to stores in Japan. The next generation system was released in the U.S., Canada, and Europe last November, since racking up over five million units sold, but Japanese gamers still have a few days to go before the PlayStation4 becomes available here on February 22.
The upcoming big day hasn’t escaped the notice of rival video game maker Nintendo, which has decided to welcome Sony’s competing product by cutting prices on its own titles.
It was perhaps inevitable that games industry giants should start taking an interest in China the moment the country’s laws changed, permitting the production and sale of video games consoles for the first time in almost a decade and a half, but tech sites and analysts in China are now suggesting that talks held late last year between the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group and Japan’s Sony Corporation very likely herald the official arrival of PlayStation 4 in China.
Despite the thriving grey market that has existed since the ban was put in place 14 years ago, both gamers in China and console manufacturers outside the country will no doubt be excited to learn that China’s State Council yesterday lifted restrictions on the importation and sale of foreign video games consoles, albeit on a “temporary” basis. That’s right: China may soon became a legitimate market for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft once again.
Gamers in Japan who have yet to place an order but are hoping to pick up Sony’s newest console when it finally launches next February may well be disappointed come launch day. Amazon Japan is already reporting that it has sold out completely, and although it is hoping to guarantee more units soon might not be able to meet demand.
As with most new must-have items, numerous retailers offering the console at considerably inflated prices are already starting to appear online. Whether or not for its own gain, Amazon Japan has urged its customers via Twitter to be aware that those paying more than 40,000 yen (US$385) for a PlayStation 4 are being ripped off.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 has been out in North America for over a week now, and is finally heading to Europe this coming Friday. Thanks to the efforts of our game-loving staff in the US, we managed to pick up a few units, and have been tinkering with them for about a week now, so felt it was time to share our thoughts on the new hardware.
Rather than getting all techy and giving you lists of stats or focusing on frames per second, however, we decided to take a slightly more human approach, and talk about how Sony’s newest console rates in the eyes of both a self-confessed Sony fan and a long-term Xbox lover.
Let the mud-slinging begin!
Smartphones are great and all, but they require your hands, which can be a problem when doing work, sports or raising the occasional barn. Then, along came Google Glass, a brand of smart glasses with promises of a more hands-free future. Unfortunately, it’s hard to interact with people and not have them stare at your right eye the entire time.
There must be a way to combine the discreet practicality of a smartphone with the hands-free functionality of smart glasses. According to an invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office this year, Sony appears to be interested something that just might do that with the “Smart Wig.”
Pay a visit to Sony HQ today and you’ll no doubt see an awful lot of smiling, and perhaps tired-looking, faces. Following Friday’s launch of the PlayStation 4 in North America, President of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, yesterday shared the news via his Twitter feed that over a million units of the next-generation console had been sold within the first 24 hours of going on sale.
After releasing a teaser video last week promising an announcement on November 5, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has revealed that its “PocketStation” brand is officially making a return, though it’s not quite as exciting as we had all hoped.
The original PocketStation was a tiny device released in Japan back in 1999 and very like Sega’s own Dreamcast VMU tech. Essentially a memory card “micro-console” with a simple LCD screen, when used with the original 32-bit PlayStation the device could be used to save data from games and play themed mini games on the go. PocketStation even came with infrared capabilities, meaning that saves could be passed between gamers anywhere and everywhere, which, back in the days before cloud storage, was considered pretty magical.
This new “device”, however, will be entirely for PlayStation Vita and arrive via a download from the PlayStation Store, it has been revealed.
It’s been a few months now since gamers in Japan learned that, unlike the majority of the developed world, they would not be enjoying next-gen consoles at home this Christmas. While both North and South America, the UK, Europe, even our pals down-under in Australia will be stroking their shiny new hardware and yelling at friends for leaving greasy fingerprints on it, video game fans in Japan will be left to either play with their existing consoles or try to import.
Sony and Microsoft’s decisions to focus on Western territories for the launch of their respective new consoles certainly makes good business sense – after all, the Christmas period accounts for between 30 and 40 percent of annual video game sales, and the West is by far the more lucrative market – but reports here in Japan suggest that some gamers’ perception of Sony in particular has been harmed by the move, with some once loyal fans saying that they feel the company is simply “not taking things seriously” anymore.
It’s been two days since Sony delivered the shocking news that its newest console, PlayStation 4, won’t be launching in Japan until February 2014, despite the fact that it will go on sale in America, Europe and Australia this November. Now that the dust has settled and Sony has had chance to make some further clarifying statements via press releases and on its PlayStation Blog, Japan’s gamers have a much better idea of what to expect when the console eventually rolls out in its homeland.
Sony’s main reason for delaying the highly anticipated console, it maintains, is in order to provide a stronger software lineup when it eventually launches. Comments from Japanese gamers, however, suggest that they are neither convinced that this is the real reason for the delay, nor especially happy about being sent to the back of the queue.
Takahiro Ikeda is a 23-year-old pro BMX rider who defeated many opponents and overcame numerous challenges to win a world championship in 2010. If that weren’t enough his good looks have also earned him several TV appearances.
However, last July he had to face off not with other skilled opponents, nor with the lights and cameras of the media, but with himself as he attempted to set a Guinness World Record in the “megaspin” – a move in which the rider spins around on their back wheel without touching the ground with their body or other wheel.
Long-running gaming site CVG revealed earlier today that Japan’s Sony Computer Entertainment is poised to unveil a new “virtual reality headset” at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, stating that the unit will be the final piece in the company’s PlayStation 4 hardware strategy.
Studio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
Tokyo’s life-size Gundam is getting a new look before its end-of-summer removal
When is miso ramen not miso ramen? When it’s the new ramen at one of Japan’s top beef bowl chains
Reinvented traditional Japanese hearths may be coming to a restaurant near you
Forget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
Abandoned pirate pleasure ship sinking south of Tokyo Bay, city orders destruction
Japan’s Pokémon Slowpoke Train goes on hiatus, but a mini version could be yours to own
Universal Studios Japan is giving Frieren anime fans the chance to make unforgettable memories.
New Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Japanese bento shop touches hearts by selling super cheap boxed lunches for around a dollarNew Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
East Japan Railway announces plans to abolish magnetic-strip tickets
New Square Enix Cafe reveals Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Nier, and Fullmetal Alchemist menu itemsUniversal Studios Japan is giving Frieren anime fans the chance to make unforgettable memories.
Japan’s cheap beef bowl chain goes upscale with Matsuya Premium, but is it worth the higher price?
Family Mart commits “reverse fraud” in new Giant All-Star Festival, and we couldn’t be happier
7-Eleven Japan joins the craze for Korean Gamja Cheese Balls
Shakey’s Japan creates matcha mochi, Kyoto fish, and Kansai Chili Con Carne pizzas
Anne Hathaway creates PR frenzy in Japan after mentioning Tottori in Devil Wears Prada interview
7-Eleven Japan has a new Creamy Iced Cafe Latte that’s a hit on social mediaNew Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Kanji ice cream becomes a sell-out hit in Japan
Uniqlo reveals third round of massive 100-year-anniversary manga T-shirts for Jump’s Shueisha
Even at twice regular Daiso price, this handy item is still great for summer travel in Japan
New official Ghibli anime food cookbook will teach you how to make Ponyo’s ramen and more
Japanese convenience store Lawson launches new “mini supermarket” chain, L Minimart
Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
Kyoto public junior high school becomes first in Japan with a hoodie school uniform
Japanese convenience store shows us how to dress for the rainy season
Starbucks Japan unveils new Frappuccino showcasing “mottainai” culture
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Abandoned pirate pleasure ship sinking south of Tokyo Bay, city orders destruction
Japan’s Pokémon Slowpoke Train goes on hiatus, but a mini version could be yours to own
Universal Studios Japan is giving Frieren anime fans the chance to make unforgettable memories.
New Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Japanese bento shop touches hearts by selling super cheap boxed lunches for around a dollar
Japan now has “edible cat fur” for people who really love felines
Studio Ghibli adds My Neighbour Totoro futon bedding to its anime store in Japan
7-Eleven’s new green tea rice ball and sweets are only available in Japan’s top tea-growing area
Japanese soccer fans show excellent manners as World Cup opens[Pics, video]
Japanese Sakuranbo Mochi goes viral online with millions of views, but is it worth the hype?
7-Eleven Japan has a new Creamy Iced Cafe Latte that’s a hit on social media
Shakey’s Japan creates matcha mochi, Kyoto fish, and Kansai Chili Con Carne pizzas
New Square Enix Cafe reveals Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Nier, and Fullmetal Alchemist menu items
Totoro and Calcifer become little light-up lanterns for Ghibli-style excursions or at-home decor