• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Pushsquare: Japanese Gamers Aren't Impressed with PS5's Price Hike

Brigandier

Member
I don't think Sony give a shit about the Japanese market anymore, definitely an afterthought.

Hasn't Sony's hardware and software sales gone down year on year for over a decade now?.

Maybe they should make a PSP2!!!!!
 
To understand the climate here (not saying its unique in the world). There was no sales tax until around 2000. Then 3 percent. 5 percent, 8 percent and 10 percent. The last 2 times sales tax went up, consumption didn't go back to normal after a few years like they predicted. The last one was
right before corona virus.

Unlike north America, Japanese salaries haven't changed in years and prices also hasn't changed although there was shrinkflation. Japanese people hate price hikes and don't "deal with it eventually" like in western countries. They change their spending habits. People bought luxury goods like Luis vitton. Tax went to 8 percent. That market died. The government is trying to get young people to drink alcohol because they also stopped doing that due to the tax increase plus all bars bring essentially stigmatized and closed during the corona virus. Japanese people aren't ignoring the virus either.

As for the logic for choosing a PC over a ps5 it's because PC prices are stable so there is less of a sense of value lost. It's also a "new and fresh" market for them since the general public has been ignoring PC games for a long time, they got a taste of western gaming with the PS3 because Japanese devs transitioned badly. That or they went to PSP and then mobile because devs where making their PS2 technology games there.

Switch and mobile
is still there as the "console/portable" option. For those who want more it's PC, not westernized, twice price hikes ps5.
 
Last edited:

tmlDan

Member
So why would they need to raise the price in Japan and not in the USA?
A simple google search will tell you.

Answer this, what happens when the value of your dollar plummets? Here's your answer: the value of things goes up (on top of global inflation it's even worse)

In the case of the USA, in comparison to the rest of the world, the US economy and dollar are very strong - it has exceeded the Euro which is usually $1.20 on the USD, they are now hovering at 98-99 cents on the dollar. That has more to do with the Euro crashing as a result of the War (on top of COVID and energy constraints)

So yes, inflation is hitting everyone but Sony is making this move while also potentially not doing as much as they potentially should given inflation and rising prices/costs of hardware that builds their console.

Now to answer why Nintendo doesn't have to, I already did - but they have old hardware that is selling well, they have less issues with supply and demand than the other two and don't need to make a difficult choice like this. As for MS, they are American, a stronger US economy and strong dollar results in them not really caring, on top of them being super rich and a software monopoly also helps with them not having to do anything.

Idk why this is so complex for you guys, do some research and learn about the world and get out of your bubble.
 
Last edited:

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Is anyone impressed with the price hike apart from an extremely small minority of weirdo Sony fans who would defend anything?

I don't think I've seen anyone really applauding it apart from the odd strange comment online....who are probably American and have dodged the price increases.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
A simple google search will tell you.

Answer this, what happens when the value of your dollar plummets? Here's your answer: the value of things goes up (on top of global inflation it's even worse)

In the case of the USA, in comparison to the rest of the world, the US economy and dollar are very strong - it has exceeded the Euro which is usually $1.20 on the USD, they are now hovering at 98-99 cents on the dollar. That has more to do with the Euro crashing as a result of the War (on top of COVID and energy constraints)

So yes, inflation is hitting everyone but Sony is making this move while also potentially not doing as much as they potentially should given inflation and rising prices/costs of hardware that builds their console.

Now to answer why Nintendo doesn't have to, I already did - but they have old hardware that is selling well, they have less issues with supply and demand than the other two and don't need to make a difficult choice like this. As for MS, they are American, a stronger US economy and strong dollar results in them not really caring, on top of them being super rich and a software monopoly also helps with them not having to do anything.

Idk why this is so complex for you guys, do some research and learn about the world and get out of your bubble.


Great Post. Very well explained.

Let's also add the grim reality of business. Sony want to make as much profit as possible and keep shareholders happy etc, like all businesses so they are passing the cost on the consumer instead of absorbing it themselves.
 

tmlDan

Member
Great Post. Very well explained.

Let's also add the grim reality of business. Sony want to make as much profit as possible and keep shareholders happy etc, like all businesses so they are passing the cost on the consumer instead of absorbing it themselves.
I also want to add, as a consumer I don't like it.

Can Sony eat the cost? I think they can, but they made a tough choice that can backfire tremendously. It's a good opportunity for MS and Nintendo.
 

TheDarkPhantom

Gold Member
Is anyone impressed with the price hike apart from an extremely small minority of weirdo Sony fans who would defend anything?

I don't think I've seen anyone really applauding it apart from the odd strange comment online....who are probably American and have dodged the price increases.

Oh boy... "not impressed" is a turn of phrase, it's not literal. The headline just as easily could have been:

'Japanese Gamers Displeased by PS5 Price Hike'

or

'Gamers in Japan Not Happy With Playstation's Price Increase'.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I also want to add, as a consumer I don't like it.

Can Sony eat the cost? I think they can, but they made a tough choice that can backfire tremendously. It's a good opportunity for MS and Nintendo.

I think they'll be fine. Your post explained perfectly why Sony "needs" to do the price hike over the others...once it blows over ad god of war hits it will mostly be forgotten.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Is this finally the end of Sony
I Hope Please GIF

😂… nope…
 
Last edited:

Barakov

Member
Is this finally the end of Sony?
Nah. Although it's shitty move on their part and it's some bad PR, I'm guessing they think that with GOW : R coming this year and what will be, hopefully, a strong 2023 showing they be able to ride out the bad press. Still, this is a bad precedent to be set for consoles.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Ugh they should probably be playing better games 😅
Was final fantasy 15 worth buying a ps4 for?

I dunno they're right to be upset about the price hike though but I feel like the Japanese market for PlayStation has shrank due to the lack of games made that tailor to Japanese games like the Nintendo systems do.

The final fantasy comment is telling. These are hardcore fans only.
 

Woopah

Member
Ugh they should probably be playing better games 😅
Was final fantasy 15 worth buying a ps4 for?

I dunno they're right to be upset about the price hike though but I feel like the Japanese market for PlayStation has shrank due to the lack of games made that tailor to Japanese games like the Nintendo systems do.

The final fantasy comment is telling. These are hardcore fans only.
Sony has largely been relying on third parties to provide a constant stream of titles with large appeal in Japan. But now third parties have largely lost the ability to do this (with some exceptions), hence why the PlayStation ecosystem is struggling in that market.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
No one affected by the price hike is impressed. Slow news day at Push Square.
I don't know, some in here seems happy about it and justifies it.

But it's pretty bold to send the bill out to their customers, especially when Microsoft and nintendo does it.

And Sony knows they can get away with it.
 
Last edited:

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?

TexMex

Member
I don't know, some in here seems happy about it and justifies it.

I haven’t seen a single person, here or anywhere else, say they’re “happy” about it. If they are it’s clearly in jest, or they’re in the US and/or aren’t in the market for a PS5. No one actually in the position of walking to the checkout thinks ahhhh, so glad this is $50 more now.

“Justify” it - sure. And there’s plenty of economic considerations here to where that is a perfectly fair debate. Gamers are never interested in having that though, they’re the most infantile consumer base on the planet.
 
Last edited:

DavJay

Member
I don’t get the price hike.

1. Doesn’t the series x cost slightly more to make? Yet it is still firm on original price.

2. PlayStation brand bring in more profit than Xbox. Why are they hiking price when they are still very profitable.

3. First time ever in the history of the industry a hardware price go up like this. Why be the one to bring bad omen to the brand.

4. They are leading the console war but only slightly this gen against rival xbox.

5. Jimbo
 

Wohc

Banned
I don’t get the price hike.

1. Doesn’t the series x cost slightly more to make? Yet it is still firm on original price.

2. PlayStation brand bring in more profit than Xbox. Why are they hiking price when they are still very profitable.

3. First time ever in the history of the industry a hardware price go up like this. Why be the one to bring bad omen to the brand.

4. They are leading the console war but only slightly this gen against rival xbox.

5. Jimbo
1. Not necessarily. Maybe Microsoft got better conditions, because of their Series X server farms and maybe that PS SSD and the controller are more expensive than you think
2. It's a big company so it's never enough profit. Never.
3. Why not? People are gladly overpaying since 2 years on Ebay. Sony already got a piece of that with the "forced bundles" everywhere since months, but this is even better
4. It's more than just slighly and that's why they know they can do almost anything
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I don't think Sony give a shit about the Japanese market anymore, definitely an afterthought.

Hasn't Sony's hardware and software sales gone down year on year for over a decade now?.

Maybe they should make a PSP2!!!!!
Sony shifted their resources to western style games during PS3, so Japanese gamers started bailing ship. And it's got more and more American focused since. The only thing left in Japan is Polophony Digital and that reworked Team Asobi who gassed a lot of employees and the new lead I think is a white guy.

Sony realized the big money is everywhere but Japan, so no point making big Japanese stylized games unless it's something small from Team Asobi. All their heavy hitters are western studio focused except GT. Even Ghost of Tsushima (a samurai game) is made by Sucker Punch whose HQ is in Washington State.

They also moved PS HQ to California and made Jim Ryan the lead. So basically, everything Japanese is kicked to the curb. Even Shu got banished. Looking at his Wiki profile, Jim Ryan took over his job and Shu became lead of some kind of external independent creators. Then it says Herman Hulst from Guerrila took over this job. Not sure what Shu is doing now.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Surely Jim Ryan gets sacked soon?

That guy was right…BryanK or something?
Not when the gaming division is at record profits. PS has made more profits the past 3-4 years than all the previous PS years combined.

It makes no difference if anything they do piss off some core gamers on forums. There's much bigger pies (PC ports and casuals who dont follow all the nickel and diming details) that will override any hardcore fans they lose.

Think of it like Apple.

It makes zero difference to Apple any amount of fanatical Apple fans from the 80s and 90s hate them for going mainstream. It was all about rebel attitude against big blue and beige boxes. The second Apple found out you can make shit loads of money off iPods, mainstream U2, making Macs have PC parts, and marketing their iPhone to everyone it's lead to sales and profits probably 100x more than 20 years ago with whatever sales they got from rabid Apple fans since the Lisa days.

It's amazing how decades ago, it was all about being a rebel. But then their marketing the past 15 years has been about mass appeal conformity like those old TV ads..... "I'm a teacher, I'm a doctor, and we all use Apple". This is exactly the kind of assembly line boredom Apple was supposed to be against when they were small and losing money.

But sales and profits trump anything.
 
Last edited:

Himuro

Member
There was a thread the other week when I was told that PlayStation hasn't became anti Japan despite originating from Japan and turning on its roots. Where are they now? Probably defending this somewhere. More and more I'm glad to have abandoned PlayStation and switched to Xbox.
 

Doom85

Member
There was a thread the other week when I was told that PlayStation hasn't became anti Japan despite originating from Japan and turning on its roots. Where are they now? Probably defending this somewhere. More and more I'm glad to have abandoned PlayStation and switched to Xbox.

Because when one thinks of Japanese roots, they think Xbox?

Excuse Me Reaction GIF by Bounce
 

Doom85

Member
What in the hell are you talking about? I just want to go to a more customer friendly platform regardless of Japanese roots.

But you just criticized Sony for “abandoning their Japanese roots”. Now you’re saying that’s not really relevant?

Reaction GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 

Himuro

Member
Have any of Sony's Japanese centric games ever reached the level of acclaim of their Western division?
Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, Gran Turismo. Sony Japan published games like Demons Souls and Bloodborne. Sony Japan also put a massive stake into games like Final Fantasy VII. Ape Escape. Flower. Parappa The Rapper. Loco Roco. Echochrome. Sony Japan is what thrust Sony into the games as art discussion to begin with. When Insomniac was making Sky Cooper and Naughty Dog were making Jak, Japan Studio put out Ico. The shit Sony Japan was doing was just way different than what their other competitors (Nintendo, MS, Sega) were doing by almost a decade. Other console makers weren't putting out games like ICO in 2001.

The sheer amount of publisher credentials Sony Japan has from Jumping Flash to Legend of Dragoon, from Gran Turismo to Rule of Rose is insane in terms of sheer quality and diversity and the fact that a studio or publisher is only considered good or viable these days if they're "acclaimed" says more about today's gaming environment than the quality Sony Japan put out.

Remember that Sony Japan's output is what put PlayStation on the map to begin with. In 1997 alone they either published or developed Intelligent Qube, Alundra, Hot Shots Golf, and Parappa the Rapper. All while publishing games like Final Fantasy VII. If a game started out with the Sony Computer Entertainment logo you knew it was probably baller.

People focus so much on the development but to get the full story you need to see the games Sony Computer Entertainment published and put a stake in. The number of classics is jaw dropping. GOAT.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Interactive_Entertainment_video_games
 
Last edited:

supernova8

Banned
Yes, it's still impossible to find PS5's here, I got lucky in January 2021 and was selected for one of those raffles after failing to be selected in a dozen previous ones, I thank my lucky stars.

A 20% price increase in Japan - especially under these conditions - is insane. I'm a Sony fanboy all day long but I'll always call PlayStation out on their bullshit, this is not a good look and will likely cause irreparable damage to the PlayStation brand in this market.

Yeah the mercari prices were starting to get to the point where it wasn't that bad (and scalpers might get bored with the shrinking margins) and now I just checked... back up to like 85k-95k all over again.

season 6 thanks for nothong GIF by Shameless
 

Miles708

Member
Be head of Sony entertainment division:
- Close Japanese teams.
- Increase price of games.
- Increase price of subscriptions.
- Increase price of console.
- Complain about currency fluctuations despite record profits
- Lay back, open bottle of scotch and marvel at your own great work

Relaxed Chill GIF
 
Last edited:
I like how the title of the article almost implies people in other markets are impressed.

Europeans seeing the price increase:
Leonardo Dicaprio Oscars GIF





Depending on how long you keep your PC and how long you wait in between upgrades it's not really that more expensive.
It's basically a trade off, on console you pay a lower initial price but the recurrent costs are usually higher with more expensive games (specially if you live in place with regional pricing on PC), paid multiplayer, paid upgrades, etc.
Considering pc doesn’t give you the option to buy physical media ID question this.
 

Rac3r

Member
Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, Gran Turismo. Sony Japan published games like Demons Souls and Bloodborne. Sony Japan also put a massive stake into games like Final Fantasy VII. Ape Escape. Flower. Parappa The Rapper. Loco Roco. Echochrome. Sony Japan is what thrust Sony into the games as art discussion to begin with. When Insomniac was making Sky Cooper and Naughty Dog were making Jak, Japan Studio put out Ico. The shit Sony Japan was doing was just way different than what their other competitors (Nintendo, MS, Sega) were doing by almost a decade. Other console makers weren't putting out games like ICO in 2001.

The sheer amount of publisher credentials Sony Japan has from Jumping Flash to Legend of Dragoon, from Gran Turismo to Rule of Rose is insane in terms of sheer quality and diversity and the fact that a studio or publisher is only considered good or viable these days if they're "acclaimed" says more about today's gaming environment than the quality Sony Japan put out.

Remember that Sony Japan's output is what put PlayStation on the map to begin with. In 1997 alone they either published or developed Intelligent Qube, Alundra, Hot Shots Golf, and Parappa the Rapper. All while publishing games like Final Fantasy VII. If a game started out with the Sony Computer Entertainment logo you knew it was probably baller.

People focus so much on the development but to get the full story you need to see the games Sony Computer Entertainment published and put a stake in. The number of classics is jaw dropping. GOAT.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Interactive_Entertainment_video_games

Agreed, a lot of talented people were/are apart of Japan Studio/Asobi. Their output was insane and it's sad that they don't get the respect they deserve. People only remember how "Gravity Rush didn't sell enough", but they are so much more than that.
 
Be head of Sony entertainment division:
- Close Japanese teams.
- Increase price of games.
- Increase price of subscriptions.
- Increase price of console.
- Complain about currency fluctuations despite record profits
- Lay back, open bottle of scotch and marvel at your own great work

Relaxed Chill GIF

Don’t forget:
- Censor Japanese games hypocritically while leaving western games untouched.
- Demand that any Japanese developer contact them IN ENGLISH and not providing a translator (which was the opposite of what it used to be, Japan-based Playstation hired translators to help build business relationships between overseas developers).

Modern Western Sony is a piece of shit.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Don’t forget:
- Censor Japanese games hypocritically while leaving western games untouched.
- Demand that any Japanese developer contact them IN ENGLISH and not providing a translator (which was the opposite of what it used to be, Japan-based Playstation hired translators to help build business relationships between overseas developers).

Modern Western Sony is a piece of shit.
Didn’t know about the translation part. That’s new news to me.

Well, PS is a western focuses division now. And has been since they realized big budget Hollywood games sell during PS3 days.

Don’t forget these beauties….

Check Shu’s wiki. He got bumped to be external indie collaborator role or something. Then Herman Hulst bumped him off it. Not sure what Shu is doing now.

Also when Japan studios got reworked as Team Adobi, I think an American is now in charge of the studio.

And PS hq got moved to California. As crazy as it sounds they want to distance themselves away from Japan as much as possible.
 
Last edited:
Didn’t know about the translation part. That’s new news to me.

Well, PS is a western focuses division now. And has been since they realized big budget Hollywood games sell during PS3 days.

Don’t forget these beauties….

Check Shu’s wiki. He got bumped to be external indie collaborator role or something. Then Herman Hulst bumped him off it. Not sure what Shu is doing now.

Also when Japan studios got reworked as Team Adobi, I think an American is now in charge of the studio.

And PS hq got moved to California. As crazy as it sounds they want to distance themselves away from Japan as much as possible.

Which makes sense, but why actively ignore/dismiss/piss off a large portion of games/developers/fan favorites? It makes no sense to me.

Focusing AAA development on Western games is one thing. As long as s they still kept the door open for collaboration and other titles from the east. But instead they seem to do everything they can to piss off/anger them.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Which makes sense, but why actively ignore/dismiss/piss off a large portion of games/developers/fan favorites? It makes no sense to me.
Money talks. They feel spending resources on anything Japanese based is a waste of time as the real money is in western style games and studios.

You’d think the division is so profitable why not keep stuff around for sake of good PR?

But they think their western studios and US/Euro giant markets are if enough to cover Japan.

If they want to do classic game refreshes, they got Bluepoint.
 
The 49,980 yen price above doesn’t include the 10% tax. With tax it was just under 55,000 yen originally.
The converted price is using the current exchange rate, which is about 137 yen/1 USD, which puts it at just over $400 now. The exchange rate at launch (Nov. 2020) was about 96yen/1 USD which was about $570 USD including tax.

Like other currencies around the world, the strong dollar has hurt the exchange rate.
Wow, sounds like a good time for a vacation to Japan
 

Rac3r

Member
- Demand that any Japanese developer contact them IN ENGLISH and not providing a translator (which was the opposite of what it used to be, Japan-based Playstation hired translators to help build business relationships between overseas developers).

This is fucked up if true and makes no sense. I'm sure there are numerous Japanese people within Playstation/Sony (e.g. Shuhei Yoshida) that could help manage relations with Japanese studios. Why the hell would a Japanese developer talk to some white guy in California via google translate?
 
Money talks. They feel spending resources on anything Japanese based is a waste of time as the real money is in western style games and studios.

You’d think the division is so profitable why not keep stuff around for sake of good PR?

But they think their western studios and US/Euro giant markets are if enough to cover Japan.

If they want to do classic game refreshes, they got Bluepoint.

Ah yes, because eastern games make zero money. Capcom, Square Enix, etc - none of them make any money nor do they have talented designers!

This is the dumbest thing I have read in a long while.
 

Himuro

Member
Money talks. They feel spending resources on anything Japanese based is a waste of time as the real money is in western style games and studios.

You’d think the division is so profitable why not keep stuff around for sake of good PR?

But they think their western studios and US/Euro giant markets are if enough to cover Japan.

If they want to do classic game refreshes, they got Bluepoint.
Here's the thing. Money talks but traditionally Sony is about more than money. They invested millions of dollars into an ad campaign for a turn based RPG in 1997. On consoles. Outside of Japan. Money talks, but risk also can curate more money. Sony Computer Entertainment always straddled the line between guaranteed hits and experimental stuff and willing to stick their neck out for games they believed in. Final Fantasy VII being a fairly notable example. Using this "money talks" example, Sony of the 90's would have never invested that much capital into a turn based RPG because Final Fantasy VI didn't even come out in Europe and in America sold only 200k. or so units. This "money talks" mindset goes completely against the ethos of PlayStation.

Also, the idea that Japanese games don't make much money, despite its recent resurgance is dumb dumb. The Americans at Sony are simply inept, do not believe in Japanese games despite it being the brands history, and as seen in some of the details here use racist tactics.

This "money talks" mindset is actually more traditionally Microsoft's strategy historically. Oh how the tables have turned.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
This is fucked up if true and makes no sense. I'm sure there are numerous Japanese people within Playstation/Sony (e.g. Shuhei Yoshida) that could help manage relations with Japanese studios. Why the hell would a Japanese developer talk to some white guy in California via google translate?
I don’t think Shu even does that (at least not any more). His wiki says he took a job as external dev leader or whatever after Jim Ryan took over. Then Herman Hulst took that role from him.

It looks like the two biggest execs at PS is Jim Ryan and herman Hulst.
 

Miles708

Member
Don’t forget:
- Censor Japanese games hypocritically while leaving western games untouched.
- Demand that any Japanese developer contact them IN ENGLISH and not providing a translator (which was the opposite of what it used to be, Japan-based Playstation hired translators to help build business relationships between overseas developers).

Modern Western Sony is a piece of shit.
As others have already said, modern Sony is basically Microsoft.

I got it good with PS4, that's enough I guess. I know I'm out.
 
Last edited:
Sony has largely been relying on third parties to provide a constant stream of titles with large appeal in Japan. But now third parties have largely lost the ability to do this (with some exceptions), hence why the PlayStation ecosystem is struggling in that market.
This is why I kept saying I would really like to see Sony actually try to create some more first party Japanese titles instead of always relying on timed third party exclusives.
 
Top Bottom