Harrison: Sony Japan Missed the Social Gaming Boat
I admit that I do not fully understand the ways of Japanese. I know I’d want them on my team if aliens ever forced us to play a game of human Tetris: I wholly admire the fact they live on a small island studded with cities that have population counts that exceed my entire country. But from what I’ve heard, visiting Japan as a white person is like stepping into a Neverending Opposite Day.
This helps explain why Japanese game companies are slow to adopt online gaming–and even multiplayer gaming. Word from the Game Developer’s Conference is that the king of Sony’s worldwide studios, Phil Harrison, is angry at Sony of Japan for scratching its bum with Sony’s “family game” ideas like the EyeToy while Nintendo swooped in and showed families worldwide the joy of togetherness.
“And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan – people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other’s homes,” Harrison said in a discussion with GameIndustry.biz. “It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii.”
Even I was slow to latch onto online gaming, but I had no idea that sitting together on a couch and playing with friends was somehow non-Japanese. Then again, this is the country that invented the back-to-back arcade console that keeps polite contestants from the horrors of busy elbows.
(The enclosed picture is by my friend Jack, and is a thing of near-forgotten beauty that I just unearthed.)
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4 opinions for Harrison: Sony Japan Missed the Social Gaming Boat
Lakupo
Feb 23, 2008 at 12:07 am
Perhaps it’s an issue of space — not many people have homes large enough to accomodate inviting people over, or having a couch or place for people to sit — so they just go outside and play DS games with the million people right outside. (or play RPGs in a dark room like Yamauchi used to say!)
Nadia
Feb 23, 2008 at 1:07 pm
That famous Yamauchi quote was the first thing that came to mind when I read the story. I vividly remember where I was when Yamauchi made that remark: In my high school computer lab, losing faith in Nintendo.
Paranoia Toaster
Feb 25, 2008 at 6:09 am
My theory is that the Japanese are reluctant to connect to others, since their lives are constantly in jeopardy. Have you seen the wasps there? The size of kittens. Sharing this tiny island with them.
And then there’s the fact that with every corner they turn, they run the risk of facing off against a giant foam boulder. I have videos to prove this. It is a terrifying place.
Channel Surfing: Feb 24-Mar 1
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:19 pm
[…] over at PSMonger comments on Sony bigwig Phil Harrison’s displeasure with the inert state of the Japanese sector of the company. He’s understandably a little […]
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