Wow, didn't realize Playstation was kinda dead in the water in Japan.

I will never forgive Sony for shutting down Japanstudio. I adored Gravity Rush and sony killed it!

The switch from Japan to California has been a disaster for Sony.

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 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

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.

Moving the PS brand to California was a mistake and one of the reasons why I won't buy another PS console.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

Very Sad for Japan studio 😭

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.

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.

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.

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!

And that’s why I play games on PC...we don’t have to deal with that censorship bs at the moment

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.

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

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。

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

I want them to do both. They have a lot of studios. Nintendo has borderline monopoly on JRPGs or anything japanese style games.

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

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.

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.

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

This is one of the reason why I'm very against Sony buying Square or Capcom.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

*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*

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.

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..

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.

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.

I hate the new Sony

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.

We're living in the dark timeline

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.

Sony is an embarrassment of a company. Abandoning Japan just to make cinematic movies is such a huge L. They even ruined Gow by following the last of us format in a ugly movie style.

Sony lose japan xbox want to expand in japan and nintendo never left japan what a twist

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.

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.

You can made mistakes, lose or win a Battle... But never forget your identity roots!

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.

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.

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.

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

Tekken was huge on PS3 aswell, most bought PS3 for its Blueray player, same as people bought PS2 for its dvd.

Sony has some really bad business decisions. Looks like the board and shareholders are thinking too short term like typical US bosses

Maybe it’s the other way around. Japan loves handhelds and Sony strike out in that department.

The playstation literally got whitewashed lol

I swear to this day that my mother had that Sony rice cooker

Great video, looking forward to whatever comes next

This video: Disc-based gaming wasn't really a thing in the US in the mid-90s IBM PC compatibles: Says who?

nice choice of game display in descrip. one of my favorites.

I had no idea the switch was that grossly dominant in japan, and two years ago at that

I saw that Gokaiger Footage! PRAISE LORD MARVOLUS!

I thought Sony was an American company like Microsoft for the longest time.

damn I just discover this channel, and I went to check what their latest upload was... it was one year ago sadge

Awesome video! Definitely subbed

Crazy that Japan bought as roughly many switches as the N America and Europe combined🤯

So should i buy a backwards compatible ps3 or a ps4?

The Uncharted series, and indeed ALL "Cinematic" games SUCK.

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.

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

Great video. I'm certainly one of the people who refuse to buy the censorstation 5.

SONY FROM GOAT TO WOKE A HAIKU. thank you.

SAUCE WHERE THE SAUCE

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

Amazing video. Loved this so fucking much. Your videos are utterly fucking top tier dude omg...

Great video it is

Carmageddon exsisted before Twisted Metal

Don't look up the ages of the senran kagura characters 😶‍🌫️🤐😬😴🤠🤯😵‍💫😵

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.

Wasn't the PS2, not even really a hit in Japan comparatively? Doesn't seem like a recent thing.

Awesome video, Walrus.^^ I do wonder if xbox will become a bit more popular in japan. It seems unlikely but anything could happen. x3

the ps3 out sold the Xbox 360! I would have never guessed

Laughs in PRC

keep up the great work!

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.

I have a PS4 slim it's got a set library and I'm more than happy for the m2 shottriggers to be Sonys dying breath of the ps4

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.

When the cool kids go woke. What damn shame.

I disagree that ps3 failed because the focus on Japanese games the ps3 see a fall in Japanese exclusives that made the ps2 king FF 13 wasn’t exclusive to Sony no more like the previous FF games and Sony also abandoned their Jrpg titles like Arc the lad and wild arms was nowhere to be seen during the ps3 life time.

i wanna see what will they do when the western market lost interest in them haha. And U Even Swapping Buttons In Japan? The Fuck

The irony.

60fps plz

PS3 failed because Microsoft stole CPU chip info from Sony and Toshiba. IBM illegally sold (MIcrosoft illegally bought )CPU chip info that SONY and TOSHIBA developed with huge developing fee, and with the info microsoft created cpu for xbox 360 and manufactured xbox360 rapidly and released 360 a year earlier than PS3.

Xbox: "Did, did we win in Japan?" Nintendo: "Yes, yes we have."

Sony will confirm dead soon

Augh, another video with slow presentation and speaking to milk video for ads.... Change to 2x playspeed.

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