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[crinale]

I think biggest change(?) is networking division merged (again) to gaming division. Aside from that I don't see much change since many decision have been made to cater Western market for past few years already anyway (and yet they're trying to increase the PS4 presence in Japan rather than abandoning it).

 

[Shin-Ra]

Knees too sharp, would not buy.

Needs to be blue and white. Give it the pS2 vibe

Blueberry and cherry pie.

 

[djtiesto]

VentureBeat, smh (clickbait title)

http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/26/why-japan-no-longer-matters-to-playstation-as-sony-heads-west/

Ugh, I hate stuff like this. Just brings to light all my fears about decisions like this, including obligatory Serkan Toto waxing over how great mobile games are. But seriously, the PS3's early days had a pretty big western focus and that was probably the least interesting days of the console... don't think anybody is really salivating to play Resistance 1, Haze and LAIR again. Later, the situation definitely changed for the better, and PS4 is hitting all the right notes so far... but if Sony's gonna throw out all they've built up in Japan, I dunno man...

I still want that new Arc the Lad.

 

[Mysterious]

So Engineering is going to stay in Tokyo right?

 

[SolidSnakex]

Ugh, I hate stuff like this. Just brings to light all my fears about decisions like this, including obligatory Serkan Toto waxing over how great mobile games are. But seriously, the PS3's early days had a pretty big western focus and that was probably the least interesting days of the console... don't think anybody is really salivating to play Resistance 1, Haze and LAIR again. Later, the situation definitely changed for the better, and PS4 is hitting all the right notes so far... but if Sony's gonna throw out all they've built up in Japan, I dunno man...

I still want that new Arc the Lad.

Seriously, there's no reason to suspect that things are going to change for them as far as Japanese games go. A month ago the president of the company made a video of him smiling like a kid at Christmas while he announced that Kojima was making a game with Sony. And they're currently running a big marketing campaign for Dragon Quest Builders in Japan

 

[1st Course]

I think it's fair to say that the western branch have been the stronger part of the company for the past 10 year or so, make sense they would consider moving HQ to US. That and the Japanese branch made a lot of grave mistakes last gen (over engineered PS3, letting Monster Hunter go etc). Japan inputs probably still very important though considering that the parent company is Japanese.

 

[Heimbeck]

No, it never did.

At best, there's only like 15-20 minutes of western content at the TGS conferences for the past 3 years out of a 2 hour block.

Sure, the western parts are awkward because they're all announcements already made at E3 and not all Japanese content at each conferences are top-tier, but Japanese content ALWAYS HAD a larger presence than non- Japanese.

Well I disagree, but maybe it's just the added focus on western stuff that makes me think that way?
Not that it matters much now I guess.

 

[encephalon]

I hope Japan doesn't get left behind in this change. At least get your act together and stop overlooking this region in terms of PS4 emulation. It's ridiculous.

 

[blastprocessor]

Brutal but LOL

 

[Nightengale]

Well I disagree, but maybe it's just the added focus on western stuff that makes me think that way?
Not that it matters much now I guess.

Probably.

I mean, just look at the links that list down all the content/announcements from the events, and see how much western stuff is there :

http://gematsu.com/2013/09/sceja-press-conference-2013-all-the-news
http://gematsu.com/2014/09/sceja-press-conference-2014-news
http://gematsu.com/2015/09/sceja-press-conference-2015-news

 

[Jumeira]

Seems to be inline with Japanese market becoming less relevant every year. Behind in software, middlewear and services, makes sense to move to the West and tap into the talent here.

 

[jeff_rigby]

"Interactive" sounds weird.

VR, Games and TV programming with XTV are interactive. Sony has patents for XTV going back to 2008 when ATSC 2 and HbbTV features were proposed. They are a big supporter of HbbTV in Europe.

The services that will soon be provided for DVR, IPTV, XTV and more all require interactive UIs. Every TV sill soon have a browser in it or a STB connected to it that has a browser. XTV and HbbTV require a browser and ATSC 3 is delivered to the HTML5 <video> MSE EME portion of a browser which is also used for Vidipath, Ultraviolet and the Blu-ray digital bridge.

ATSC 2.0 &#8211; BRIDGE TO 3.0

During planning for ATSC 3.0, members spent a considerable amount of time identifying &#8220;usage scenarios,&#8221; which include the following:
· Flexible use of the spectrum
· Robustness
· Mobile services
· Ultra HD capabilities
· Hybrid services
· Multi-view/multi-screen
· 3D video content
· Enhanced and immersive audio
· Advanced accessibility
· Advanced emergency alerting
· Personalization and interactivity
· Advanced advertising and monetization
· Common world standard

Sony to Spend $212 Million on Altair Semiconductor Purchase

Altair was founded back in 2005 by ex-Texas Instruments execs and specializes in chips for wireless, such as 4G LTE chipsets. Despite being based in Israel, the firm was instrumental in the creation of the Japanese XGP standards for 4G networks and even WiMax solutions. Sony expects to close the deal before the end of February, and right now it&#8217;s unclear what Sony hopes to do with the firm.

Israel-based Altair makes chips that connect devices to LTE and its technology will help develop Sony&#8217;s Internet of Things business.

In addition to smartphones, LTE is also used to connect objects in the Internet of Things, including fitness trackers, home appliances, and sensors . Right now, most smart things use bluetooth, and sometimes Wi-Fi, to get online because neither standard requires a lot of power. LTE, however, is emerging as an alternative because it is also low-power but can be used to connect many devices at once, making it a good option for enterprise use cases. Devices can also use existing LTE infrastructure, including networks owned by carriers, making it cost-effective to deploy.

One of the biggest commercial features of ATSC 3 is mobile TV where it can provide a stable picture even in a moving vehicle. ATSC 3 uses the same modulation scheme modern cell phones use so likely Sony is purchasing a company that makes the chipset that can be used in UHD ATSC 3 TVs and will be needed for Network tuners for those 4K and 1080P TVs that do not yet have a tuner for ATSC 3. The FCC will likely be mandating ATSC 3 TV support in Cell phones for emergency notification.