Sony has been speaking at a pre-event to the Tokyo Game Show this week where they’ve been discussing all things gaming including releasing the brand new slim-line PlayStation Vita Console, talking about upcoming games and finally announcing the release date for the PlayStation 4 in its home country of Japan.
Yes, the PS4 will be landing in Japan on February 22, 2014, which is a massive three months after the US, UK and many other countries can get hold of the next generation console. This is especially shocking when you consider that Sony is one of Japan’s hallmark brands and the Japanese have in the past been fiercely protective of its brands such as Sony, thus making it hard for companies such as Microsoft and Apple gain a foothold there.
The PlayStation 4 will be landing in the UK on November 29th and a full 2 weeks earlier in the US where it lands on the November 15th. A wait until after Christmas to get gaming on Sony’s new console is surely going to be hard to swallow for Japanese fans.
Sony says that the delay is due to the “The availability of content” for the Japanese model of the console, as Sony is wanting to ensure enough games are ready for the PS4 in the Japanese market before releasing it there.
Looking at the PS4’s release day line-up of games you can see that the games are more geared to a western audience than a Japanese one, and to back up this claim Sony also announced a host of new games coming to the PS4 all with a more eastern feel to them.
Games such as Mobile Suit Gundam, Dynasty Warriors 8 (also on PS3 and Vita,) Dream Club, Idolmaster and EDF: Earth Defense Force have all been announced so far, all with a distinctly Japanese feel to them.
The PlayStation 4 will cost 39,980 Yen for the basic package or 43,980 Yen with the PlayStation 4 camera accessory.