WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Jazzy G]

I thought Sega had signed some kind of business partnership with Microsoft? If anybody's going in for Sega I could see it being them, based on the previous dealings they've had. Heck maybe even Nintendo. 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sega-clarifies-its-alliance-with-microsoft-wont-result-in-xbox-exclusives/amp/

Edited February 1, 2022 by jazzygeofferz

[The King Of Swing]

Isn't it very difficult for non Japanese companies to buy out Japanese ones? Hell MS's struggle to even break into the Japanese market with Xbox was a running gag for years. 

I don't see Nintendo selling up to anyone at this stage.

[Merzbow]

Aren't a big portion of Sega's biggest games Western franchises these days? Games like Football Manager and the Total War series are the types I'd see Microsoft wanting for themselves and Gamepass.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

59 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

Isn't a good chunk of the world (particularly in the US) still on subpar Internet? If so until that changes I don't see streaming video games taking off.

I reckon SEGA might be next on Sony's list, strong IP catalogue to get their hands on. 

Australia is another market miles away from the average gamer having affordable internet fast enough for streaming games like say Forza Horizon 5. Its probably the future for quite a few markets but alot of places it's way off.

You don't need a mega fast connection for music or film streaming so the likes of Spotify and Netflix took off everywhere. Modern games need some speed or you have a slideshow.

[The King Of Swing]

13 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Aren't a big portion of Sega's biggest games Western franchises these days? Games like Football Manager and the Total War series are the types I'd see Microsoft wanting for themselves and Gamepass.

Their biggest Japanese hits these days are probably Atlus (SEGA bought them out years ago) titles like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei which I could see Sony wanting to lock down. 

Edit. 

Also Yakuza but they've been going multi plat for a while now. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by The King Of Swing

[Cousin Jim Bob]

They have the Yakuza games too!

The thing about companies like Sega, Capcom and Konami. Is they have alot of IP but not really alot of studios. They are far from what they once were as well. Sega shut down their whole arcade division the other day. 

[BomberPat]

25 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

Isn't it very difficult for non Japanese companies to buy out Japanese ones? Hell MS's struggle to even break into the Japanese market with Xbox was a running gag for years. 

Yeah, there are laws in Japan about what % of a business can be sold to foreign investors in certain sectors, including tech. I think anything more than 10% of stocks sold to a non-Japanese corporation has to be reported to the government and go through a mountain of red tape. That's on top of multiple cultural taboos relating to Japanese business, foreign investment, and selling up to anyone outside of your family or organisation, nevermind to a non-Japanese corporation.

The X-Box failing to take off in Japan has mostly been an issue of failures on the part of Microsoft, historically, to cater to the Japanese market. The famous one was that the XBox controller was too big for the average Japanese player to comfortably use, but there were stories about how the "X" was too close to the Japanese letter for "punishment", how the design was against Japanese design principles and sensibilities, how Japan had no real history of PC gaming when the first XBox was launched so Microsoft had no history to leverage, and so on. But there was also lots of stories, early on, about how Microsoft just didn't do business the Japanese way - there was one account of Bill Gates giving a speech at a conference, that was basically a sales pitch, and it being a huge issue that it wasn't the speech that he'd had signed off and agreed upon, which was seen as disrespectful. The guy who did American localisation for Studio Ghibli released a book recently, and the accounts of the difference in how Japanese and American businesses approach meetings and conferences and so on were really interesting - but Microsoft were always doomed if they weren't going to adapt to the Japanese way of working, because it meant they won very few allies in the Japanese games industry, or in the press. They were always seen as clumsy Americans trying to force their way into the Japanese market. On top of all of that, Sony is a huge, trusted brand there.

I think Microsoft are doing better than they have been in the past, but they're unlikely to ever be a major player in Japan - and that might be the thing that keeps Sony afloat, if Japanese developers are less inclined to either sell out or getting into bed exclusively with Microsoft. 

[Tommy!]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

The famous one was that the XBox controller was too big for the average Japanese player to comfortably use

 

[Version1.0]

Did anyone ever have or play the VTech V.Smile console released in 2004? I had never even heard of it before until last year. An education console with 'smartridges' aimed at 3-7 year olds, complete with a load of licenced games and the power of a Game Boy Advance.
 

 

[BigJag]

Sony did a showcase of the next Gran Turismo yesterday. I haven't played this series much since about GT 3. There's obviously been massive progression in the graphical presentation. What else have I missed out on?

[DavidB6937]

An enjoyable half hour deep diving into the new GT. I haven't played one for a while either. Looks incredible and I can see it taking a while to master but pretty satisfying.

[BigJag]

They made a bit of a thing about having 2 player spilt screen. Is that something that they've left out in the past? That music rally feature was interesting. 

[TildeGuy~!]

There’s a Showcase for Ghostwire: Tokyo tonight at 10pm too. 

Was gonna pick up Dying Light 2 tomorrow but from reviews they’re saying it has more bugs then Cyberpunk so I think I’ll pass.

[Merzbow]

Even watching positive reviews of Dying Light 2 make it look a bit shit really, combat is completely broken and the game just isn't fun until you've played ten hours to upgrade your character.

[The King Of Swing]

The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep standalone is currently free on PS+. 

Nice little distraction.