Sony to launch the PS3 outside Japan first?

[DCJoeDog]

This would be awesome if the PS3 were to do a worldwide simultaneous release.

Apparently Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. president Kaz Hirai was quoted in the press as saying the company hadn’t yet firmly decided to go the traditional route by launching the PS3 first in Japan.

Read the whole thing on ENGADGET (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000007043908/)

[Redline]

Oh gee, wowzers, a different country gets to be a test region for once. Good for you Japan! :D

[Borys]

You win the US - you win the world.

Always has, always be.

[Chandler]

hmm, that means X-Box360 will have a head start in Japan? lol, not that it would matter :|

[petedog]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Eon]

I vote that it's still released first in Japan, on the grounds that it's good for the collective American soul to have to wait for something.

[sTubbs]

I think this makes a lot of sense. Sony knows that MS is going to make very little, if any, gains in Japan. Where the 360 will most likely make an larger impact is in North America or Europe. So, it seems appropriate to combat the 360 where it stands to obtain the largest market increase.

[netcraazzy]

If this happens then I won't get to laugh at all the freaks paying $800 for an import PS3 on ebay :)

[*Legion*]

Sony knows that MS is going to make very little, if any, gains in Japan.

I don't think that's necessarily a wise assumption. Although Sony will no doubt maintain the edge in Japan, I think it would be foolish to underestimate the gains Microsoft can make in Japan. They were a non-starter last time, but with games like Ninja Gaiden, Mizuguchi's games, Okamoto's games, Sakaguchi's games and some others, they will start to be much more attractive in Japan than before (they will probably remain in 3rd, but they can go from a "barely on the radar" 3rd to a much stronger than before 3rd). Don't underestimate the appeal that those designer's games will have. Microsoft is moving very aggressively on Japan by going after Japanese game designers that make games pleasing to the Japanese market.

Yes, they're just throwing money at the problem, but intelligently, they're throwing the money at the right people.