The backbreaker was Vita losing Monster Hunter exclusivity to 3DS. MH on PSP was the last huge seller on a PS platform. Playstation hardware for the foreseeable future will never sell 10 million units in Japan again
@@gc3k its because us and eu sony people abandoned it and not giving it enough resources. it was made by japan. and in that time when vita launch japan and america was fighting for rights
Just played through them on PS5. Such a breath of fresh air. Searching for other games by the creator and if we’d ever see a sequel brought me to this video. Now I’m sad.
It's why I left Sony, and you wouldn't think of the reason why they shutdown Japan Studio. Sony started demanding that Japan Studio needs to start adapting western woke ideologies into their games, but Japan basically said no, so Sony pulled out. Sony also got pissed off and wanted every game to be a big blockbuster hit, when Japan is known for making games on the smaller scale, but they are far more artistic, but that wasn't good enough for Sony anymore.
Well Sony also killed Days Gone, which was actually great. They don't want good games for gamers, they want stale blockbusters for shareholders. Gravity Rush was a real gem and showed home games can create innovative experience. Modern industry is stagnating for what feels like 15 years already.
Closing it's Japanese studio was one of the most disgusting things Sony ever did, they bite on the hand that feed them, if it wasn't from Japan Sony wouldn't stand a chance in the gaming market.
@@zainebrown1351 no disaster as in the actual meaning of the word and that unlike you I do not believe multiple Sony executives are committing criminal fraud to pretend the company is doing worst then it actually is.
why ? Sony had to do it to win the market during the PS4 era. If they kept it in Japan, Microsoft would have swallowed most of the global market and the Playstation brand would probably be irrelevant today. They had to do it due to industry and market trends as unfortunate as it may be on a personal level.
@@thecedexBecause they lost their individuality. Now they made the change, yet here we are, and the PlayStation brand is irrelevant today, funny how that works.
@@thecedex That's a fanboy comment. Nintendo is leading the gaming market for consoles and Microsoft is catching up, while Sony is in the decline and probably on its way out if it doesn't make drastic changes, which is probably the reason for the CEO getting out. Sony was at its peak in 2002, but its stock price has never recovered after falling from its all-time highs over two decades. Most of the money that Sony is bringing in isn't from games, it's a few other revenue streams. The problem is Sony's big Blockbuster game budgets. If a game cost 95 million to make, it doesn't break even until it sells 5 million units. Many players who look at games like God of War and Forbid West and think Sony is making all this money, when in reality God of War has a budget of over 150 million, and Forbidden West was right around 200 million, these games practically barely break even if even at all.
@@Particle_Ghost Funny how you called me a fanboy and mentioned Nintendo when the only "current" gen console I have is the Nintendo Switch 😂and I have neither a PS5 nor a Series X and don't really have plans to get one.
Growing censorship was part of what made me finally take the plunge and build my first PC earlier this year. I no longer care for consoles since the last one I owned was the PS3 in 2012. Glad that PC has little to no censorship and is cheaper in the long run.
The fact that you built your own PC just shows how much more patience you have compared to me. I bought mine prebuilt because I didn't want to deal with making critical errors in the building process.
I noticed the Vita was pushed with a lot of western support at first. Sony didn't even bother to work with Capcom to get a Monster Hunter exclusive. Westerners ended up not caring about the Vita and so the Vita ended up being mostly popular in Japan for niche games.
If you look the console sales charts of the period before Switch the top selling consoles as almost always the 3Ds and Vita, sometimes the Vita and PS4 swap spots, but the handheld market always has been a huge hit in Japan.
Great Video! I was curious over what caused the decline of Sony's Japanese game market and thought it only stemmed from their move to the west, but it turns out to be the result of many more things that culminated into what Sony is today. I'm not holding anymore hope for Sony anytime soon though, it seems they're too stubborn with trying to adapt to American standards that they dropped the Sony Magic on all their games.
@@allentoyokawa9068 Sure they did. They make mediocre third person shooters and Ubisoft clones but get a pass because you weirdos prefer cutscenes over interactivity. It's wild how Ubisoft continues to get shit on for having a formula but Sony pretty much steals that formula and nobody bats an eye. Naughty Dog has been making third person shooters for 15 years and still suck at it. But because nobody criticizes their game design philosophy, they have no motivation to get better. Even TLOU2 got shit on by fans because of the story, not how the game made pretty much zero improvements to the gameplay over its predecessor, which was already mediocre. Sony gets undeserved praise in the west, period.
Things really did start to go poorly during the mid to late 10s. Moving the company to California started a lot of issues, Jim Ryan especially seems to have little interest in the PlayStation, mostly just interested in the PC market. As stated in the video, after the slump during the 7th gen of Japanese games in the West, they are once again really popular now, and Sony has little to offer due to burning bridges. The death of Studio Japan though was the real nail in the coffin, and not only for Sony but for gaming as a whole. That was a studio that had creative freedom to make all sorts of risky game, because they didn't have to worry too much about sales, just getting products out there to entice customers to buy a PS.
That is what I've been noticing without really overthinking it: PS4/5 feels like a western console with a Japanese flavor. Even their iconic franchises have had a big western influence, best recent example I can mention was DMC5. It feels very western, the humor, the character design, everything is more western compared to previous games. I'm happy I grew up with PSX, the amount of variety of games was unbelievable, I doubt we'll ever see another console like that ever again.
God damn "Cinematic" games if I wanted to watch a movie I'd watch Netflix just give me a game with solid uninterrupted game-play or a good player driven story where I have actual choices with reactivity.
It's mostly because games are funded by investors and a lot of them do not play games, though they do watch movies. It is not rare that very not-fun elements appear in games because otherwise there would be no game because of missing funding.
The gaming landscape has changed so much during the 2010's I couldn't even begin to process it when it started. PC went from a niche platform for MMOs to the face of high-end gaming, PlayStation's libraries is no longer synonymous with variety, Arcades are dead and smartphones killed handheld gaming. Even today I just can't get used to it.
This is the reason why hate about mobile games is because they don’t make innovating games and fun gameplay or free to win or challenge style of genres of games or kind of stuff. No, it because now, that mobile companies decided not make fun by throwing p2w money grabs, they scraped a 1 dollar sent pay in order to see and finish making products of the game, you can’t grind or process from game and you even force to spent money’s like cosplay item loot and stuff otherwise you will be behind different mobile games and FOMO stuff, companies stealing other creators work by making copycats on apps, making a low quality mobile games that is more cheaper then console and pc counter part like hyper casual mobile meaning. So yeah mobile markets might still be around longer until they go back their old root like in late 2000s and make good quality games agains.
10:06 Not relevant, but this guy (Kevin Butler) got sued by Sony for appearing in commercial that featured the Nintendo Wii as part of a sales promotion. I just thought that was kind of funny.
In other words, we're now getting a Role Reversed History Repeats for Sony and Nintendo. 1990s: Sony overtakes Nintendo for Home Console Gaming. 2010s-nowadays: Nintendo overtakes Sony once again.
@@hwanniggles187 I agree. Nintendo lost with SNES against PS1, N64 against PS2 and Gamecube against itself - it is now considered a failure even by Nintendo itself. The huge irony is that immediately afterwards, Sony then got its ass handed to it by an upgraded version of Gamecube i.e. Wii. That explains why Nintendo followed with another upgrade i.e. Wii U, probably as a prototype for a more mobile style video game control scheme. Nintendo is careful and not stupid, so they probably considered the criticism about mandatory motion controls and the interest for more button-oriented controls and what else. Nintendo has become more third-party friendly by allowing indie games.
I hear you! That was actually part of what made me finally take the plunge and build my first PC earlier this year. I no longer care for consoles since the last one I owned was the PS3 in 2012. Glad that PC has little to no censorship and is cheaper in the long run.
felt that. ps2 had some classic games ill always come back to like kingdom hearts 2, dmc 3, mgs 3, and sotc. ps3 i mostly remember demon's souls. i skipped ps4 since i built a pc around that time. just got a ps5 and astro's playroom gave me a lot of hope for what playstation exclusives could be. i beat astro's playroom in 2 sittings and the morning afterward i got the news that japan studio was shutting down.
This is one of Sony's biggest downfall i also hate the fact their porting so many of their exclusive games to PC. During the PS1, PS2 and PS3 days they never done that they kept their exclusives on their platform.
Damn good video, I was actually talking with a bud on how sony was starting to meddle with the devs on being more modest on their design, specifically senran kagura, and this video practically nails on what I was trying to say!
3:25 As an American, I never got why they switched it, X makes more sense for meaning no. Especially since Windows PCs use it to close windows, granted that use was still pretty new when the PS1 came out but still. Still I think an X would have still made more sense for No even back then.
Actually Square is western centric for more years than Sony, they started early to adopt westerner business strategy and gameplay to they games. there is still a Japanese centric square, but they don't receive a lot of money for DEV and marketing.
3:33 Oh boy, I experienced this first hand😌. The PS3 I bought in 2012 was a used one owned by a Japanese person and I always found the O X button differences frustrating until I actually found out about the cultural reasons.
For Japanese players and game devs only Sony and Nintendo consoles is worth the time to develop, bcs only these two consoles sells in Japan. But since 2010's there is a third option, and that's not XBOX, that's Mobile, the MobaGE market is what makes money in Japan now, and almost all Japanese game company is making a mobile game nowadays. Historically the Portable console market in Japan was bigger than Home Console, and naturally when the Cellphone became a gaming capable device the Japanese audience started to ditch even more the Home console. That's why the Switch is a huge success in Japan compared to PS4.
Though persona 5 launching on ps3 makes it nice to run on emulator pcs3 until they launch it on PC like persona 4. Or maybe persona moving to pc is part of your point on the japanese moving back to PC
I found this video by accident and felt it was well researched. At last, Sony has announced a price increase. We have been patiently enduring, but we gamers are at our limit. We could forgive them once, but their behavior over the past two years has exceeded our tolerance level. Xbox didn't sell in JP, but kind PlayStation wants to sacrifice himself out of compassion for him. 最悪な気分だ。
That's one way to paint the picture. But what about the wave of Japanese arcades downsizing or shutting down (other than licensing PS hardware, SCE/SIE hasn't had any presence in the arcade business), what about Nintendo stumbling between the years of NDS and Switch, what about the explosion of the mobile gaming market, where Sony is successful with games like FGO? Japan is moving on from traditional gaming and especially home console gaming. PS becoming Western is a big reason, but it's a symptom rather than the disease. I'd say it started a long time ago, like the turn of the century, or right around the OG Xbox launch Good video, but we'll see how well this video holds up after Nintendo releases the Switch successor in Japan
Lately we're seeing more and more articles showing up and exposing about the harsh reality of Japan and how their government is dealing badly with lots of problems, especially their economy, that may implode someday... So I'd say it's not completely Sony's fault for leaving Japan, and, like you said... Their gaming industry is changing, and I believe Sony's shift from Japan to the West may have been for the best.
@@juutakaster Considering how they've became the california liberal arts pandering gaming company, I fail to see how it's "for the best" unless you swing that way. Straight up replaced neon-hair anime girls for neon-hair whales who complain about lack of black people in Genshin Impact.
@@UBvtuber You forgot this is a company first and foremost. They're aiming for profits and growth regardless of which region they're marketing towards (either Japan or the U.S.). So far they're doing well so I'd say it was a good move on them as well as them adding their titles on PC which is a massive plus. 👍
Great vid!!! ^.^ I didn't realize Playstation was censoring so hard- even switch having more exposure lol I'll be looking for my weebo games there then I guess :3
Well this would explain why I don't particularly like the Playstation brand anymore. At least companies like Nintendo, SEGA, and Microsoft are still embracing their heritage. I like the Japanese influence in Nintendo and SEGA games, and I equally like the American influence in Microsoft's games. Sony trying to be American and abandoning Japan just feels wrong.
*Do a video about games that makes more success in western than Japan, but the companies prefer to eep the games in Japan only till they can't sell anything*
This was a great documentary. I was big fan of Playstation since PS2 and went back to play original ps1 games as well. Its a shame they've turned their back on their home japanese market and westernized in the worst ways. With rampant censorship and pandering political agendas. PS5 may be the first time i skip a playstation. I even bought the poorly handled PS Vita. But that at least still had good japanese support. Can't even rely on that for ps5. Since i have an Xbox Series S, i'm hoping Microsoft tries harder to provide Japanese developers with a next gen alternative console to bring titles. They should get them on game pass and uncensored. Dragon Quest XI-S and Yakuza titles are a good start. I also have a Switch as a last resort.
i wouldn't really say politics plays much of a hand in this. i think most of the censorship choices simply have to do with the company being run in america, where sexualized content is more censored regardless. honestly though i don't see the point in said censorship, pretty much all those games are niche and are mostly going to be bought by people whom said niche appeals to anyway. censorship is just a loss of money in that regard.
@@aascsvc.. most AAA western developers manage their money differently. they tend to focus on larger profits which requires a larger gamble. it's just how they tend to do things.
The reason the PS3 was a bit of a flop, especially at the beginning was because it was notoriously hard to develop for. Price, marketing and all that other stuff might have played a part too but the main reason was lack of good games and multiplat games were better on the Xbox 360. Also the PS3 had horrible online, i remember the PS network hacking too. Just a lot of reasons why.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 days were horrible, of course their were great games coming out but the focus on realism went too far. I abandoned the FPS genre for a long time, only started playing it again a couple years back. I got burned out on playing de-saturated, grey looking shooters. I still won't touch CoD with a 10 foot pole, but there's been some fun shooters out lately that put the fun back into the genre..
because Playstation has Shareholders, there is a general pattern in every company who has shareholders. they become more "international" another word for being ownd by eighter china or usa. also if Playstation continue this path the censorship will get obnoxiously bad like it is on the Steam Platform, where the search function decide arbitrarily you dont want to see certain adult game and you dont get to see 90% of them even if the check boxes in the options pretend thats not the case. level of bad lol
I hope Sony Japan will rise again and reestablish New Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo and Demote Headquarters in California into Subsidiary and Fire Jim Ryan.
Great video as usual. I appreciate the comprehensive look at Sony and Playstation's history, especially in light of recent trends. It's easy for most people to focus on the censorship (I would have preferred you went into a big more detail, honestly, especially since "the Sony check" is a phrase I've heard Japanese indie developers use) but there are a lot more factors that lead to the decline of the brand. Aside from that, do you have a proper list of sources or citations? I'd have liked to read more about some of the numbers you used around the middle of the video.
Hi. Sorry it took me a while to see this post. What part specifically would you like a source on? I watched around the middle of the video and I think you were refering to the "Japan made up 50%" bit. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9159905.stm is where I got that percentage of. I have been thinking of putting a list of sources into a google doc and having that posted in the description for future videos.
The Psp was my very first console and it started my love for niche japanese games. Nowadays I would rather play games on PC and I feel that franchaises like Persona and other jrpgs are wasted on Playstation hopefully we will see rereleases on PC or on the Switch at some point. Really nice video dude good work!, very sad tho.
CERO (age rating system in japan) also limits Sony's marketing. CERO Z- the 18+ rating can't be widely advertised and sold in stores, and most of sony games get this age rating.
So basically Sony is now an American company and Hank Hill refusing to buy a Sony TV out of loyalty for American TVs is completely unfounded and ignorant. Hank Hill loses this battle for television living room supremacy.
Sony's mind be like: Why would I try so hard to focus on ONE COUNTRY my own country only to get little money while I could get much more money by focusing on the western countries? The West is still the biggest console market. That's what Sony bought a lot of western studios. In the end, Sony still wins. Sony's right hand is on Japan/the East and Sony's left hand is on the West. Nintendo also still wins. And automatically Japan also wins. Xbox loses in the West, loses in Japan, America loses too. Xbox should turn the table. Securing western console market (the US, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the UK and Europe) is the key to winning the console war.
This is a perfect example of playing the long game, that Nintendo has taken hits from Sony basically every generation but always focused on the games. And it seems to have paid off.
The charm with Playstation was just the fact you got both Japanese style and western style of games. I did not want the Playstation brand to turn into another version of Xbox
Due to cost, and the dearth of Japanese games, I passed on the PS3 early on for Wii60 and only got a PS3 later on. The PS4 has most games I want but I see nothing on PS5 that appeals to me, so I wouldn't blame Japan either.
It's so weird. I thought Japanese companies operated with too much pride to abandon their own country. Also a new video in only a week!? This partnership must be doing wonders.
I grew up with Japanese gaming and most of my games for the longest time and recentl years are more Japanese sprinkled with some AAA Western titles. But let's be honest this was the right move by Sony. A bit extreme? Yes but appeasing to Japanese consumer and developer sensibilities did Sony no favors during the PS3/Xbox 360 era. The landscape of the gaming industry was changing and Sony had to adapt and they did what they had to do. Plus I think the idea of "Japanese" or "Western" games are archaic anyways. Gaming has expanded beyond to just dividing the markets as North America/UK and Japan and the industry and consumer base has expanded that it's now a global market not just NA and Japan but also Europe, South East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America etc. To focus on a market and industry that has historically had a very isolated view and Philosophy in gaming doesn't really make sense for Sony.
And all these markets started to share ideas. VA-11 Hall-A is Venezuelan and looks much like a Japanese game, Dark Souls is a Japanese game but looks like a western game.
I see no evidence for any of this. Nintendo's success suggests quite the opposite. Americanization is *not* some kind of force of nature that simply *must happen* because "globalization."
The X in Japan generally indicates a bad score/a loss. The X in the West could mean the sign of the location of hidden treasure on a pirate's map. Different world, different philosophy.
If I was the new CEO I’ll return back what the previous CEO and reopening HQ back to Japan and remove the last off California and put back Japanese culture and the X and O normal again we have to much west culture games time due the same ass Nintendo
Heh, funny you should mention PC gaming getting a resurgence. It's because of Sony that I actually decided to get into PC gaming, the fucking PS5 is really awful in that I can't even afford it. That and the whole reason I wanted one is actually getting ported to PC, so it's no longer worth getting XD
After getting an original 'Gameboy' as a kid, I transitioned into the PS1 and later the PS2 before going to PC and never looking back. The PS1 & 2 were my childhood! It is so sad to have discovered that Sony isn't even a Japanese brand anymore! Then again, it explains in full technicolor why DEI and aggressive censorship are a thing with Sony ... I was, until half an hour ago, under the impression that it was Japanese and it alarmed me that a Japanese company was partaking in the woke western madness. I truly thought that this was an early sign that Japan was beginning to fall victim to DEI as well! Sony however being a husk that has been taken over by Americans perfectly explains the woke madness plaguing it and while very sad ... it was a huge relief that Japan hasn't succumbed and probably now holds an even bigger grudge against those western weirdos. Sony is just another victim to be added to the list.
Fast forward 2 years and almost all western game companies are mandating ESG guidelines and hiring firms like Sweet Baby Inc. to censor scripts making sure they are ESG compliant
and that is why I got rid of my PS4, wanted to play those JP title games but due to censorship and games being restricted and not for sale (possibly region locked ?) but still in the online playstore this I found the PS4 is just a paperweight that doesn't allow me to have the games I wanted
The Japanese are not the only ones suffering from American prudery. Europeans do too, and not only in gaming, but on social media as well. China's growing influence isn't gonna help censorship either.
@@asdfjklo234 While we're on the subject on censorship, you're from Germany, a country notorious for censoring video games, so you have absolutely no room to speak.
3:03 Hah. Tell that to the original PS2, the PS3, 4 Pro, and now 5. These things are massive compared to the PS1. They had a great thing going with the PS2 Slim, which was more elegant I suppose, but that was abandoned for bigger and bulkier machines that push graphics, God dammit ! Nintendo had it right with the Switch; a tablet with a tv dock, how mind blowingly obvious.
@@PrinsessePeach PlayStation is becoming the same as the Xbox, getting the same third-party games that are better off on an overpriced personal computer. Microsoft has no focus for a Japanese audience, and the Xbox appeals to Californian kids associated with "gangsters" who yell at the microphone when they die in a videogame.
Their hatred for japanese niche games and censorship made me drop them completely.I will never forgive them for what they did to Senran Kagura. Nowadays i only play on Switch,only games i buy for PS4 now is the Yakuza series because of Sega's stubborness to not release them on the Switch. The PS4 will be my last Sony console,Sony can rot for all i care.
Wow, didn't realize Playstation was kinda dead in the water in Japan.
I didn't know Sony is a Japanese company
Japan has both PlayStation and Nintendo while America has Xbox only
The backbreaker was Vita losing Monster Hunter exclusivity to 3DS. MH on PSP was the last huge seller on a PS platform. Playstation hardware for the foreseeable future will never sell 10 million units in Japan again
@@gc3k its because us and eu sony people abandoned it and not giving it enough resources. it was made by japan. and in that time when vita launch japan and america was fighting for rights
@@gc3k When did vita have monster hunter exclusivity?
I will never forgive Sony for shutting down Japanstudio. I adored Gravity Rush and sony killed it!
Just played through them on PS5. Such a breath of fresh air. Searching for other games by the creator and if we’d ever see a sequel brought me to this video. Now I’m sad.
It's why I left Sony, and you wouldn't think of the reason why they shutdown Japan Studio. Sony started demanding that Japan Studio needs to start adapting western woke ideologies into their games, but Japan basically said no, so Sony pulled out. Sony also got pissed off and wanted every game to be a big blockbuster hit, when Japan is known for making games on the smaller scale, but they are far more artistic, but that wasn't good enough for Sony anymore.
@@Particle_Ghost That is so bullshit! I hate Sony!
Well Sony also killed Days Gone, which was actually great. They don't want good games for gamers, they want stale blockbusters for shareholders.
Gravity Rush was a real gem and showed home games can create innovative experience. Modern industry is stagnating for what feels like 15 years already.
Closing it's Japanese studio was one of the most disgusting things Sony ever did, they bite on the hand that feed them, if it wasn't from Japan Sony wouldn't stand a chance in the gaming market.
The switch from Japan to California has been a disaster for Sony.
Their problems started way before that point (See PS3) thanks to Japan's awful management like Kaz
Disaster meaning winning?
@@zainebrown1351 no disaster as in the actual meaning of the word and that unlike you I do not believe multiple Sony executives are committing criminal fraud to pretend the company is doing worst then it actually is.
Switching to California was a disaster for the United States as well, wish we could get rid of em
Yeah I agree, the Nintendo switch has dealt a really big blow to Sony.
Moving the PS brand to California was a mistake and one of the reasons why I won't buy another PS console.
why ?
Sony had to do it to win the market during the PS4 era. If they kept it in Japan, Microsoft would have swallowed most of the global market and the Playstation brand would probably be irrelevant today. They had to do it due to industry and market trends as unfortunate as it may be on a personal level.
@@thecedexBecause they lost their individuality. Now they made the change, yet here we are, and the PlayStation brand is irrelevant today, funny how that works.
@@Particle_Ghost console wise the Playstation brand is a global brand and has a bigger brand name than any of it's competitors.
@@thecedex That's a fanboy comment. Nintendo is leading the gaming market for consoles and Microsoft is catching up, while Sony is in the decline and probably on its way out if it doesn't make drastic changes, which is probably the reason for the CEO getting out. Sony was at its peak in 2002, but its stock price has never recovered after falling from its all-time highs over two decades. Most of the money that Sony is bringing in isn't from games, it's a few other revenue streams.
The problem is Sony's big Blockbuster game budgets. If a game cost 95 million to make, it doesn't break even until it sells 5 million units. Many players who look at games like God of War and Forbid West and think Sony is making all this money, when in reality God of War has a budget of over 150 million, and Forbidden West was right around 200 million, these games practically barely break even if even at all.
@@Particle_Ghost Funny how you called me a fanboy and mentioned Nintendo when the only "current" gen console I have is the Nintendo Switch 😂and I have neither a PS5 nor a Series X and don't really have plans to get one.
Growing censorship was part of what made me finally take the plunge and build my first PC earlier this year. I no longer care for consoles since the last one I owned was the PS3 in 2012. Glad that PC has little to no censorship and is cheaper in the long run.
The fact that you built your own PC just shows how much more patience you have compared to me. I bought mine prebuilt because I didn't want to deal with making critical errors in the building process.
*But* is severely more region restricted.
@jakescartoons6045 bro it's super easy to build today. You have youtubes etc and process is so streamlined.
@@kubasniak Yeah... Still not doing it, especially since I already bought mine pre-built.
@@oyoo3323, what are you talking about?
I noticed the Vita was pushed with a lot of western support at first. Sony didn't even bother to work with Capcom to get a Monster Hunter exclusive. Westerners ended up not caring about the Vita and so the Vita ended up being mostly popular in Japan for niche games.
If you look the console sales charts of the period before Switch the top selling consoles as almost always the 3Ds and Vita, sometimes the Vita and PS4 swap spots, but the handheld market always has been a huge hit in Japan.
Great Video!
I was curious over what caused the decline of Sony's Japanese game market and thought it only stemmed from their move to the west, but it turns out to be the result of many more things that culminated into what Sony is today.
I'm not holding anymore hope for Sony anytime soon though, it seems they're too stubborn with trying to adapt to American standards that they dropped the Sony Magic on all their games.
They didn't drop anything, not even close
@@allentoyokawa9068 Sure they did. They make mediocre third person shooters and Ubisoft clones but get a pass because you weirdos prefer cutscenes over interactivity. It's wild how Ubisoft continues to get shit on for having a formula but Sony pretty much steals that formula and nobody bats an eye. Naughty Dog has been making third person shooters for 15 years and still suck at it. But because nobody criticizes their game design philosophy, they have no motivation to get better. Even TLOU2 got shit on by fans because of the story, not how the game made pretty much zero improvements to the gameplay over its predecessor, which was already mediocre. Sony gets undeserved praise in the west, period.
@Black King why did they move to america. i think somebody threatened them
@@carteljameson8395 If you think God of War Ragnarok has anything to do with Ubisoft games, you're mental.
they arent
Things really did start to go poorly during the mid to late 10s. Moving the company to California started a lot of issues, Jim Ryan especially seems to have little interest in the PlayStation, mostly just interested in the PC market. As stated in the video, after the slump during the 7th gen of Japanese games in the West, they are once again really popular now, and Sony has little to offer due to burning bridges.
The death of Studio Japan though was the real nail in the coffin, and not only for Sony but for gaming as a whole. That was a studio that had creative freedom to make all sorts of risky game, because they didn't have to worry too much about sales, just getting products out there to entice customers to buy a PS.
The studio didn't just die, it was murdered by sony
Jim Ryan ruined everything. Im glad he’s leaving office
That is what I've been noticing without really overthinking it: PS4/5 feels like a western console with a Japanese flavor. Even their iconic franchises have had a big western influence, best recent example I can mention was DMC5. It feels very western, the humor, the character design, everything is more western compared to previous games. I'm happy I grew up with PSX, the amount of variety of games was unbelievable, I doubt we'll ever see another console like that ever again.
God damn "Cinematic" games if I wanted to watch a movie I'd watch Netflix just give me a game with solid uninterrupted game-play or a good player driven story where I have actual choices with reactivity.
L take
@@MrAjking808 Cry harder about it then.
@@MrAjking808 Found the journo
@@theadversary3062 the only one crying here is u lol.
It's mostly because games are funded by investors and a lot of them do not play games, though they do watch movies. It is not rare that very not-fun elements appear in games because otherwise there would be no game because of missing funding.
Very Sad for Japan studio 😭
Japan studio sealed its own fate after turning into a money pit due to mismanagement of resources.
The gaming landscape has changed so much during the 2010's I couldn't even begin to process it when it started. PC went from a niche platform for MMOs to the face of high-end gaming, PlayStation's libraries is no longer synonymous with variety, Arcades are dead and smartphones killed handheld gaming. Even today I just can't get used to it.
This is the reason why hate about mobile games is because they don’t make innovating games and fun gameplay or free to win or challenge style of genres of games or kind of stuff. No, it because now, that mobile companies decided not make fun by throwing p2w money grabs, they scraped a 1 dollar sent pay in order to see and finish making products of the game, you can’t grind or process from game and you even force to spent money’s like cosplay item loot and stuff otherwise you will be behind different mobile games and FOMO stuff, companies stealing other creators work by making copycats on apps, making a low quality mobile games that is more cheaper then console and pc counter part like hyper casual mobile meaning. So yeah mobile markets might still be around longer until they go back their old root like in late 2000s and make good quality games agains.
The switch is a handheld and is selling very good 140 Millon good
10:06 Not relevant, but this guy (Kevin Butler) got sued by Sony for appearing in commercial that featured the Nintendo Wii as part of a sales promotion. I just thought that was kind of funny.
In other words, we're now getting a Role Reversed History Repeats for Sony and Nintendo.
1990s: Sony overtakes Nintendo for Home Console Gaming.
2010s-nowadays: Nintendo overtakes Sony once again.
This comment aged as poorly as the video lol
@@CelebornGaming The video aged poorly, well that sounds good. What has improved since this video was published?
Nintendo only got Sony once which is with the Wii
@@hwanniggles187 I agree. Nintendo lost with SNES against PS1, N64 against PS2 and Gamecube against itself - it is now considered a failure even by Nintendo itself. The huge irony is that immediately afterwards, Sony then got its ass handed to it by an upgraded version of Gamecube i.e. Wii. That explains why Nintendo followed with another upgrade i.e. Wii U, probably as a prototype for a more mobile style video game control scheme. Nintendo is careful and not stupid, so they probably considered the criticism about mandatory motion controls and the interest for more button-oriented controls and what else. Nintendo has become more third-party friendly by allowing indie games.
@@ihavenoson3384SNES and PS1 aren't even the same generation.
And that’s why I play games on PC...we don’t have to deal with that censorship bs at the moment
I hear you! That was actually part of what made me finally take the plunge and build my first PC earlier this year. I no longer care for consoles since the last one I owned was the PS3 in 2012. Glad that PC has little to no censorship and is cheaper in the long run.
felt that. ps2 had some classic games ill always come back to like kingdom hearts 2, dmc 3, mgs 3, and sotc. ps3 i mostly remember demon's souls. i skipped ps4 since i built a pc around that time. just got a ps5 and astro's playroom gave me a lot of hope for what playstation exclusives could be. i beat astro's playroom in 2 sittings and the morning afterward i got the news that japan studio was shutting down.
This is one of Sony's biggest downfall i also hate the fact their porting so many of their exclusive games to PC. During the PS1, PS2 and PS3 days they never done that they kept their exclusives on their platform.
Damn good video, I was actually talking with a bud on how sony was starting to meddle with the devs on being more modest on their design, specifically senran kagura, and this video practically nails on what I was trying to say!
3:25 As an American, I never got why they switched it, X makes more sense for meaning no. Especially since Windows PCs use it to close windows, granted that use was still pretty new when the PS1 came out but still. Still I think an X would have still made more sense for No even back then.
The one thing I can think about is it just happens to be the most comfortable face button to press due to its arangement.
I want them to do both. They have a lot of studios. Nintendo has borderline monopoly on JRPGs or anything japanese style games.
Only because Sony outright refused to help these small japanese developers. Back in the PS1 and PS2 era, lots of small studio gets a lift from Sony.
This is one of the reason why I'm very against Sony buying Square or Capcom.
whay
Actually Square is western centric for more years than Sony, they started early to adopt westerner business strategy and gameplay to they games. there is still a Japanese centric square, but they don't receive a lot of money for DEV and marketing.
@@JeanSamyr but why doesnt american sony trys everything like japan sony did with the vita? and make the sales better
I hate the new Sony
please pay 70 dollars for our new movie!!!!!!!!!!!!
I miss the old sony, chop up the soul sony, set up its goals sony
3:33 Oh boy, I experienced this first hand😌. The PS3 I bought in 2012 was a used one owned by a Japanese person and I always found the O X button differences frustrating until I actually found out about the cultural reasons.
For Japanese players and game devs only Sony and Nintendo consoles is worth the time to develop, bcs only these two consoles sells in Japan. But since 2010's there is a third option, and that's not XBOX, that's Mobile, the MobaGE market is what makes money in Japan now, and almost all Japanese game company is making a mobile game nowadays. Historically the Portable console market in Japan was bigger than Home Console, and naturally when the Cellphone became a gaming capable device the Japanese audience started to ditch even more the Home console.
That's why the Switch is a huge success in Japan compared to PS4.
you forgot to mention Sony included Abby s*x scene in tlou 2 while censoring anime games
tlou?
Well last of us doesn’t include child porn like anime does
@@MrAjking808 japanese games doesnt have those sort of stuff. or if you download a game that only has that kind of stuff than probably.
@@aascsvc.. lol they do definitely have a pedo problem especially in anime
@@MrAjking808 do u know where to buy psvita brand new? cant really find it
Though persona 5 launching on ps3 makes it nice to run on emulator pcs3 until they launch it on PC like persona 4. Or maybe persona moving to pc is part of your point on the japanese moving back to PC
It's gone multiplatform!
I found this video by accident and felt it was well researched.
At last, Sony has announced a price increase. We have been patiently enduring, but we gamers are at our limit. We could forgive them once, but their behavior over the past two years has exceeded our tolerance level.
Xbox didn't sell in JP, but kind PlayStation wants to sacrifice himself out of compassion for him.
最悪な気分だ。
10 Companies/Brands you first think of with Japan:
1. SONY.
2. Toyota.
3. Nintendo.
4. NEC.
5. Yamaha
6. Suzuki
7. Honda
8. Casio
9. Nikon
10. Seiko
That's one way to paint the picture. But what about the wave of Japanese arcades downsizing or shutting down (other than licensing PS hardware, SCE/SIE hasn't had any presence in the arcade business), what about Nintendo stumbling between the years of NDS and Switch, what about the explosion of the mobile gaming market, where Sony is successful with games like FGO?
Japan is moving on from traditional gaming and especially home console gaming. PS becoming Western is a big reason, but it's a symptom rather than the disease. I'd say it started a long time ago, like the turn of the century, or right around the OG Xbox launch
Good video, but we'll see how well this video holds up after Nintendo releases the Switch successor in Japan
Lately we're seeing more and more articles showing up and exposing about the harsh reality of Japan and how their government is dealing badly with lots of problems, especially their economy, that may implode someday... So I'd say it's not completely Sony's fault for leaving Japan, and, like you said... Their gaming industry is changing, and I believe Sony's shift from Japan to the West may have been for the best.
@@juutakaster all the games are the same and we will get bored. they will die eventually
You said it all. OP completely forgot about the fact that japanese people overall are more interested in mobile games rather than home console gaming.
@@juutakaster Considering how they've became the california liberal arts pandering gaming company, I fail to see how it's "for the best" unless you swing that way. Straight up replaced neon-hair anime girls for neon-hair whales who complain about lack of black people in Genshin Impact.
@@UBvtuber You forgot this is a company first and foremost. They're aiming for profits and growth regardless of which region they're marketing towards (either Japan or the U.S.). So far they're doing well so I'd say it was a good move on them as well as them adding their titles on PC which is a massive plus. 👍
Great vid!!! ^.^
I didn't realize Playstation was censoring so hard- even switch having more exposure lol
I'll be looking for my weebo games there then I guess :3
Well this would explain why I don't particularly like the Playstation brand anymore. At least companies like Nintendo, SEGA, and Microsoft are still embracing their heritage. I like the Japanese influence in Nintendo and SEGA games, and I equally like the American influence in Microsoft's games. Sony trying to be American and abandoning Japan just feels wrong.
I'm surprised Kingdom Hearts was never mentioned when talking about the PlayStation 2.
*Do a video about games that makes more success in western than Japan, but the companies prefer to eep the games in Japan only till they can't sell anything*
This was a great documentary. I was big fan of Playstation since PS2 and went back to play original ps1 games as well.
Its a shame they've turned their back on their home japanese market and westernized in the worst ways. With rampant censorship and pandering political agendas.
PS5 may be the first time i skip a playstation. I even bought the poorly handled PS Vita. But that at least still had good japanese support. Can't even rely on that for ps5.
Since i have an Xbox Series S, i'm hoping Microsoft tries harder to provide Japanese developers with a next gen alternative console to bring titles. They should get them on game pass and uncensored. Dragon Quest XI-S and Yakuza titles are a good start. I also have a Switch as a last resort.
that had good japanese support? lol. american sony killed it
@@aascsvc.. Thats bcs the Japanese games companies released a lot of games for the vita.
@@JeanSamyr yeah. but i still dont get why doesnt western developers make so many good games? sure sony can make a contact with one or two
i wouldn't really say politics plays much of a hand in this. i think most of the censorship choices simply have to do with the company being run in america, where sexualized content is more censored regardless.
honestly though i don't see the point in said censorship, pretty much all those games are niche and are mostly going to be bought by people whom said niche appeals to anyway. censorship is just a loss of money in that regard.
@@aascsvc.. most AAA western developers manage their money differently. they tend to focus on larger profits which requires a larger gamble. it's just how they tend to do things.
The reason the PS3 was a bit of a flop, especially at the beginning was because it was notoriously hard to develop for. Price, marketing and all that other stuff might have played a part too but the main reason was lack of good games and multiplat games were better on the Xbox 360.
Also the PS3 had horrible online, i remember the PS network hacking too.
Just a lot of reasons why.
Sony lose japan xbox want to expand in japan and nintendo never left japan what a twist
looks like japan got guns on their heads. Japan never wanted Xbox to expand there.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 days were horrible, of course their were great games coming out but the focus on realism went too far. I abandoned the FPS genre for a long time, only started playing it again a couple years back. I got burned out on playing de-saturated, grey looking shooters. I still won't touch CoD with a 10 foot pole, but there's been some fun shooters out lately that put the fun back into the genre..
because Playstation has Shareholders, there is a general pattern in every company who has shareholders. they become more "international" another word for being ownd by eighter china or usa.
also if Playstation continue this path the censorship will get obnoxiously bad like it is on the Steam Platform, where the search function decide arbitrarily you dont want to see certain adult game and you dont get to see 90% of them even if the check boxes in the options pretend thats not the case. level of bad lol
I hope Sony Japan will rise again and reestablish New Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo and Demote Headquarters in California into Subsidiary and Fire Jim Ryan.
Great video as usual. I appreciate the comprehensive look at Sony and Playstation's history, especially in light of recent trends. It's easy for most people to focus on the censorship (I would have preferred you went into a big more detail, honestly, especially since "the Sony check" is a phrase I've heard Japanese indie developers use) but there are a lot more factors that lead to the decline of the brand.
Aside from that, do you have a proper list of sources or citations? I'd have liked to read more about some of the numbers you used around the middle of the video.
Hi. Sorry it took me a while to see this post. What part specifically would you like a source on? I watched around the middle of the video and I think you were refering to the "Japan made up 50%" bit.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9159905.stm is where I got that percentage of. I have been thinking of putting a list of sources into a google doc and having that posted in the description for future videos.
We're living in the dark timeline
dark timeline? how is this. is there another timeline?
@@aascsvc.. The light timeline would have been the one where Sega succeeded and Japanese games continued to be wildly successful. It's a metaphor
@@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77 oh i thought u like transported from another timeline👋👋
The Psp was my very first console and it started my love for niche japanese games. Nowadays I would rather play games on PC and I feel that franchaises like Persona and other jrpgs are wasted on Playstation hopefully we will see rereleases on PC or on the Switch at some point.
Really nice video dude good work!, very sad tho.
Persona released on PC and Switch finally
CERO (age rating system in japan) also limits Sony's marketing. CERO Z- the 18+ rating can't be widely advertised and sold in stores, and most of sony games get this age rating.
You can made mistakes, lose or win a Battle... But never forget your identity roots!
Tekken was huge on PS3 aswell, most bought PS3 for its Blueray player, same as people bought PS2 for its dvd.
So basically Sony is now an American company and Hank Hill refusing to buy a Sony TV out of loyalty for American TVs is completely unfounded and ignorant. Hank Hill loses this battle for television living room supremacy.
Sony's mind be like: Why would I try so hard to focus on ONE COUNTRY my own country only to get little money while I could get much more money by focusing on the western countries?
The West is still the biggest console market. That's what Sony bought a lot of western studios.
In the end, Sony still wins. Sony's right hand is on Japan/the East and Sony's left hand is on the West. Nintendo also still wins. And automatically Japan also wins. Xbox loses in the West, loses in Japan, America loses too.
Xbox should turn the table. Securing western console market (the US, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the UK and Europe) is the key to winning the console war.
This is a perfect example of playing the long game, that Nintendo has taken hits from Sony basically every generation but always focused on the games. And it seems to have paid off.
I knew Uncharted was the start of this cancer
The charm with Playstation was just the fact you got both Japanese style and western style of games. I did not want the Playstation brand to turn into another version of Xbox
There's something profoundly sad but hilarious that the Xbox One and even the Ouya are serious competitors to the PS5 in terms of Japanese exclusives.
I thought Sony was an American company like Microsoft for the longest time.
Due to cost, and the dearth of Japanese games, I passed on the PS3 early on for Wii60 and only got a PS3 later on.
The PS4 has most games I want but I see nothing on PS5 that appeals to me, so I wouldn't blame Japan either.
I swear to this day that my mother had that Sony rice cooker
I had no idea the switch was that grossly dominant in japan, and two years ago at that
It's so weird. I thought Japanese companies operated with too much pride to abandon their own country.
Also a new video in only a week!? This partnership must be doing wonders.
It's mostly that it keeps me accountable. It really helps when I tell someone I will have something done by a certain date.
I grew up with Japanese gaming and most of my games for the longest time and recentl years are more Japanese sprinkled with some AAA Western titles.
But let's be honest this was the right move by Sony. A bit extreme? Yes but appeasing to Japanese consumer and developer sensibilities did Sony no favors during the PS3/Xbox 360 era.
The landscape of the gaming industry was changing and Sony had to adapt and they did what they had to do. Plus I think the idea of "Japanese" or "Western" games are archaic anyways. Gaming has expanded beyond to just dividing the markets as North America/UK and Japan and the industry and consumer base has expanded that it's now a global market not just NA and Japan but also Europe, South East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America etc.
To focus on a market and industry that has historically had a very isolated view and Philosophy in gaming doesn't really make sense for Sony.
And all these markets started to share ideas. VA-11 Hall-A is Venezuelan and looks much like a Japanese game, Dark Souls is a Japanese game but looks like a western game.
I see no evidence for any of this.
Nintendo's success suggests quite the opposite.
Americanization is *not* some kind of force of nature that simply *must happen* because "globalization."
nice choice of game display in descrip. one of my favorites.
The playstation literally got whitewashed lol
how did they moved to us? did someone threaten them
Carmageddon exsisted before Twisted Metal
The X in Japan generally indicates a bad score/a loss.
The X in the West could mean the sign of the location of hidden treasure on a pirate's map.
Different world, different philosophy.
I saw that Gokaiger Footage! PRAISE LORD MARVOLUS!
its funny how 'Made In America' is the new 'Made In Japan (or China)'
Awesome video, Walrus.^^
I do wonder if xbox will become a bit more popular in japan. It seems unlikely but anything could happen. x3
There were rumors of Microsoft in talks to buy Sega. That is the only way I could see xbox doing decently in Japan.
Which means, Sonic and the Chief passing the torch to the Video Game Market might come in full circle.
Oh wait...
damn I just discover this channel, and I went to check what their latest upload was...
it was one year ago
sadge
Crazy that Japan bought as roughly many switches as the N America and Europe combined🤯
If I was the new CEO I’ll return back what the previous CEO and reopening HQ back to Japan and remove the last off California and put back Japanese culture and the X and O normal again we have to much west culture games time due the same ass Nintendo
well thank fuck you aren't the ceo 🤡
yeah. and who replied u
Maybe it’s the other way around. Japan loves handhelds and Sony strike out in that department.
Sony has some really bad business decisions. Looks like the board and shareholders are thinking too short term like typical US bosses
SONY
FROM GOAT
TO WOKE
A HAIKU.
thank you.
Great video, looking forward to whatever comes next
Moved from sony to PC feels so much better 😂
F u sony for closing japan studios
Now most game they release are either woke or censored 😂
Heh, funny you should mention PC gaming getting a resurgence.
It's because of Sony that I actually decided to get into PC gaming, the fucking PS5 is really awful in that I can't even afford it.
That and the whole reason I wanted one is actually getting ported to PC, so it's no longer worth getting XD
Awesome video! Definitely subbed
So should i buy a backwards compatible ps3 or a ps4?
PS5 and back-combat PS3 is the go.
After getting an original 'Gameboy' as a kid, I transitioned into the PS1 and later the PS2 before going to PC and never looking back.
The PS1 & 2 were my childhood! It is so sad to have discovered that Sony isn't even a Japanese brand anymore!
Then again, it explains in full technicolor why DEI and aggressive censorship are a thing with Sony ... I was, until half an hour ago, under the impression that it was Japanese and it alarmed me that a Japanese company was partaking in the woke western madness.
I truly thought that this was an early sign that Japan was beginning to fall victim to DEI as well!
Sony however being a husk that has been taken over by Americans perfectly explains the woke madness plaguing it and while very sad ... it was a huge relief that Japan hasn't succumbed and probably now holds an even bigger grudge against those western weirdos.
Sony is just another victim to be added to the list.
Great video. I'm certainly one of the people who refuse to buy the censorstation 5.
Fast forward 2 years and almost all western game companies are mandating ESG guidelines and hiring firms like Sweet Baby Inc. to censor scripts making sure they are ESG compliant
The Uncharted series, and indeed ALL "Cinematic" games SUCK.
When the cool kids go woke. What damn shame.
Japanese games just suck ass. Lmao
and that is why I got rid of my PS4, wanted to play those JP title games but due to censorship and games being restricted and not for sale (possibly region locked ?) but still in the online playstore this I found the PS4 is just a paperweight that doesn't allow me to have the games I wanted
This video: Disc-based gaming wasn't really a thing in the US in the mid-90s
IBM PC compatibles: Says who?
The Japanese are not the only ones suffering from American prudery. Europeans do too, and not only in gaming, but on social media as well. China's growing influence isn't gonna help censorship either.
There's no such thing as American prudery. Americans don't agree with corporate censorship anymore than the Japanese and Europeans.
@@sayckeone ever heard of "nipplegate"? In Europe, that notion sounds absurd.
@@asdfjklo234
Again, nobody cared. The media were the ones to make a big deal about it.
@@asdfjklo234
While we're on the subject on censorship, you're from Germany, a country notorious for censoring video games, so you have absolutely no room to speak.
@@sayckeone whatever
the ps3 out sold the Xbox 360! I would have never guessed
Amazing video. Loved this so fucking much. Your videos are utterly fucking top tier dude omg...
3:03
Hah. Tell that to the original PS2, the PS3, 4 Pro, and now 5. These things are massive compared to the PS1. They had a great thing going with the PS2 Slim, which was more elegant I suppose, but that was abandoned for bigger and bulkier machines that push graphics, God dammit !
Nintendo had it right with the Switch; a tablet with a tv dock, how mind blowingly obvious.
My hope for the future is that Xbox will get more Japanese games, there is an audience big enough on the platform to make it viable.
Xbox is less popular than Sony in Japan.
@@TrekDelta And your point is?
@@PrinsessePeach PlayStation is becoming the same as the Xbox, getting the same third-party games that are better off on an overpriced personal computer. Microsoft has no focus for a Japanese audience, and the Xbox appeals to Californian kids associated with "gangsters" who yell at the microphone when they die in a videogame.
Wasn't the PS2, not even really a hit in Japan comparatively? Doesn't seem like a recent thing.
Great video it is
SAUCE
WHERE THE SAUCE
Don't look up the ages of the senran kagura characters 😶🌫️🤐😬😴🤠🤯😵💫😵
Laughs in PRC
Their hatred for japanese niche games and censorship made me drop them completely.I will never forgive them for what they did to Senran Kagura.
Nowadays i only play on Switch,only games i buy for PS4 now is the Yakuza series because of Sega's stubborness to not release them on the Switch.
The PS4 will be my last Sony console,Sony can rot for all i care.
keep up the great work!
Xbox: "Did, did we win in Japan?"
Nintendo: "Yes, yes we have."
Augh, another video with slow presentation and speaking to milk video for ads.... Change to 2x playspeed.
60fps plz
The irony.
What's the game at 10:33
I don’t know kingdom hearts or something
Sony will confirm dead soon
someone said the indian mafia invaded them?
how? confirm dead? pls say more
Showing the imperial japan flag in the thumbnail is like making a video about sony leaving germany and showing the nazi flag in the background