PS2 - Broadband only in the UK

[Johnny Awesome]

Those companies have been reporting poor financials for the past two years, along with Sony lately as well...

 

[zurich]

And how do you know Konami Sega Capcom and Namco are barely putting food on the table? Or is this something you made up, I'm curious as to this point you bring up.

Their financial reports have been pretty poor the past few quarters, and there's been a lot of downsizing/consolidation (Konami's the best example for this). Namco IIRC has been doing quite well, with much stronger sales than expected for that Japanese Drum Game who's name escapes me. Also, JP publishers are hot on merger fevor as well, to (pretty much quote) "fend off foreign developers".

It's also no secret that Japan is in a serious gaming recession right now anyways. Sales have fallen off dramatically since the mid-late 90s boom.

 

[marconelly!]

Rest assured that if the PS2 had a hard drive and network card out of the box, then Sony would be charging subscriptions already. It's going to be funny in here when Sony does subscriptions with PS3.

Well, as of today PS2s are being distributed with network adapter installed, and everything is still free. For how long, I have no idea but it still is. When they launch PS3 I think they will be charging subscription, yes, but I also think they will offer features such as movies/music on demand on top of online gaming. I think things like that will make it easier for people to shell out money for such a service.

Konami's the best example for this

Really? I had no idea. What happened to Konami in that regard, and when?

As for Sony, I read they simply made less profit than they expected, bust still made lots of it.

 

[zurich]

Really? I had no idea. What happened to Konami in that regard, and when?

You must have heard of all their fat trimming.. like the closing of their Health Clubs in Japan, consolidating KCET/KCEJ, shutting down their studio in America, etc..

edit: A guy at Games Domain has paraphrased an editorial column by the Famitsu/EnterBrain President on the state of gaming in Japan, good read:

http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/articles/1430.html

 

[nondescript]

I wouldn't quite call it "natural disinclination" so much as forced, since until a few years ago it was illegal to purchase "Japanese wares." quote]

Yeah...the South Korean government didn't really liberalize until the last decade, and with the changing of the guard has come a change in attitude and trade policy.

It did lead to quite sizeable grey-market that has grown into quite a sizeable import market which is one of the reasons why for example SCEK isn't doing all that hot (the import market probably is much larger than the proper localization market).

Bingo. A lot of PS2 detractors laugh at SCEK sales without realizing this truth. It also explains the absurdly high Japanese console sales.

The East vs West argument is old and tired.

Yeah, but that doesn't stop people from dragging it out again and again. In the end they're simply different. Game entertainment as a whole is viewed differently in the US/Europe and Asia.

In East Asia, it tends to be part of a compete package - manga, anime, movies, game, and toy spinoffs. Games tend to be linear and story-driven, because they are based on stories. Before anyone starts pointing out the odd example, remember that this is a general rule of thumb. This is why vast majority of Japanese games don't make it to the US - without the the rest of the package, the game would feel incomplete. Games are much, much more mainstream - there is no social stigma to being a "gamer" - which leads to a wider market, and more than the usual RTS/FPS/RPG.

One good example - Detective Conan, which first came out when I was still in elementary school. Its carried in Shonen Magazine, the manga series has 40 volumes, the TV series is in its 9th season (I think), two spinoff manga series, seven full-length movies, several computer/console games, and toys/accessories. And, of course, its still going. All this stuff is sold at subway stops and 7-11's, and you can see anyone from 5-year-old kids to businessmen reading it while waiting for the train.

Western developers, well, everyone here already knows about that, so no need to waste breath.

In the end, the point is moot - Japanese games will continue to do well in East Asia, and Western games will continue to do well in the US/Europe. Each market only sees a small segment of the other.

 

[marconelly!]

like the closing of their Health Clubs in Japan, consolidating KCET/KCEJ, shutting down their studio in America, etc.

Now that you've mentioned it, I did hear about closing some kind of chain of gyms that were making them losses and KCET/KCEJ consolidation but I didn't hear about closing US studio. I've heard namco was about to trim the US studio because of abysimal sales od Dead to Rights.

 

[zurich]

like the closing of their Health Clubs in Japan, consolidating KCET/KCEJ, shutting down their studio in America, etc.

Now that you've mentioned it, I did hear about closing some kind of chain of gyms that were making them losses and KCET/KCEJ consolidation but I didn't hear about closing US studio. I've heard namco was about to trim the US studio because of abysimal sales od Dead to Rights.

IIRC, the US studio is hanging in there working on another project which totally escapes me ATM.. either DTR2, or Breakdown, or something else. Pretty sure they're still around though (I'd shut them down )

 

[PiNkY]

Well i had already been invited two months ago, to participate in the german beta, so i don't think its UK only.

 

[wazoo]

Well i had already been invited two months ago, to participate in the german beta, so i don't think its UK only.

Network will be open next month in France too.