Wed, Nov 05, 2008 | 08:32 GMT
Social gaming has “not had much of an impact in Japan,” says Sony
SCEE Worldwide Studios VP Jamie Macdonald has told GI that social gaming on PlayStation platforms has been most popular in Europe, while Japan has yet to take to the concept with any gusto.
“I think… that the success we had in Europe with social gaming in the PS2 era was a surprise,” he said. “Nobody foresaw it, and what we’re trying to do now is to make sure that this whole new genre is catered for within future PlayStation developments.
“It’s not that social gaming was ignored, it’s that it was a surprise to everyone – and also, to be frank, from our point of view it’s been more of a success in Europe than it has in Japan or the United States. It’s still been relatively successful in the US, but I think it’s fair to say it’s not had much of an impact in Japan.”
Despite social gaming’s popularity on PS formats in Europe, PS3 wasn’t designed with the niche in mind, MacDonald added.
“I don’t think PlayStation 3 was designed with any particular genre in mind to be honest,” he said.
“I think it was designed as a very high-specification digital media entertainment system.”
12 comments
#1
G1GAHURTZ
05/11/08, 8:42 am
Maybe it’s because Sony are so useless at coming up with a decent social network.
#2
Blerk
05/11/08, 8:48 am
Obvious damage control before the official Japanese LBP first-week sales appear later today. Early indications were showing it sold ‘okay’, but was easily being beaten by GTA4.
#3
morriss
05/11/08, 8:52 am
G1GA: You get what you pay for.
#4
Tonka
05/11/08, 8:54 am
MH2 2ndG is a social phenomenon is it not?
#5
Blerk
05/11/08, 8:58 am
He’s right, you know.
#6
patlike
05/11/08, 9:20 am
This is true.
#7
Tonka
05/11/08, 9:24 am
Truth is a fallacity
#8
G1GAHURTZ
05/11/08, 9:32 am
A fallacity?
Is that a city built out of fallas?
#9
Tonka
05/11/08, 9:47 am
Sorry, I meant to say phallocity
#10
Esha
05/11/08, 12:27 pm
Having played 2ndG, even online with some Japanese blokes (not as hard as you may think), I’d have to say that it’s not really a “social phenomenon”, it’s as much a social phenomenon as Final Fantasy XI is. If anyone could claim that FF XI is a social game then I’m just going to snicker at them, probably behind their backs, whilst pointing. ;p Really, it’s just a bunch of people tolerating each other so that they can grind.
And having played too many online games for my own good, I know this to be true of pretty much all Asian gaming experiences.
There’s a point where things lay an expectancy on being too social that alienates the Asian market, and I don’t think that LBP tiptoes past that line, I think it goes flying way past it with aplomb.
So for me, this is a bit of a durrr statement from Sony. I’d probably have had a heart attack out of pure shock had the game been successful in Japan.
2ndG… social, I’m going to be chuckling over that all week.
Also, Gigs: Sony > You. Now I sit back with popcorn and wait for you to asplode.
#11
G1GAHURTZ
05/11/08, 12:31 pm
Greater than me at what?
#12
Tonka
05/11/08, 12:39 pm
I thought people met up and played together with ad-hoc wifi lan proximity whatever it’s called.
I saw lots of people playing in groups of 2 – a lot (iI guess different games in those cases, cap is 4 isn’t it?) this summer in Beijing. Reading the preview of MH3 on EG made me think the situation was similar in Japan.
Maybe my mistake was that I didn’t equate social to “make a fool out of yourself in front of others”. In which case we’ve just had a social experience in this thread.