Sony Bringing Japanese Imports to PSN
SCEA is adding an imports section to PSN later this month that will let you play a whole host of the weird and wonderful games that never made it out of Japan.
We in the West really only see a fraction of the total number of games made in Japan, with many of the stranger or more niche titles never leaving the country. But thanks to the marvel that is the internet, Sony will soon make some of these games available via PSN.
Sony will launch a new "Imports" section on the PlayStation Network later this month, which will allow gamers to buy PSone classics that never got a release in the West. Sony will not be localizing these titles however, and the games will launch with all the original elements intact. The service will launch with two games published by the newly formed MonkeyPaw games: side scrolling space shooters Cho Aniki and Gaia Seed.
Cho Aniki, or to use its full name, Chō Aniki: Kyūkyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyō Otoko which translates roughly as "Super Big Bro: The Strongest, Most Ultimate Invincible Man in the Milky Way," has some small degree of notoriety for its heavy use of homoerotic imagery. Gaia Seed is more a traditional shooter, but is something of a collector's item, with copies sometimes selling for hundreds of dollars online.
Both games have been available on PSN in Japan since last year, and there are literally dozens of other games available in the country that have never found their way to the West. MonkeyPaw president John Greiner said the cost of localizing Japanese games was a costly business, which presented a barrier to getting some of the more unique Japanese games released in other territories. By leaving the games as they are, he said, that barrier was removed, allowing access to a "world of Japanese wonder."
The imports section is expected to launch on September 21st in the U.S., with both games costing $5.99.
Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30490/PSN_Import_Store_Launching_Next_Week_With_Cho_Aniki_Gaia_Seed.php]
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SCEA is adding an imports section to PSN later this month that will let you play a whole host of the weird and wonderful games that never made it out of Japan.
We in the West really only see a fraction of the total number of games made in Japan, with many of the stranger or more niche titles never leaving the country. But thanks to the marvel that is the internet, Sony will soon make some of these games available via PSN.
Sony will launch a new "Imports" section on the PlayStation Network later this month, which will allow gamers to buy PSone classics that never got a release in the West. Sony will not be localizing these titles however, and the games will launch with all the original elements intact. The service will launch with two games published by the newly formed MonkeyPaw games: side scrolling space shooters Cho Aniki and Gaia Seed.
Cho Aniki, or to use its full name, Chō Aniki: Kyūkyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyō Otoko which translates roughly as "Super Big Bro: The Strongest, Most Ultimate Invincible Man in the Milky Way," has some small degree of notoriety for its heavy use of homoerotic imagery. Gaia Seed is more a traditional shooter, but is something of a collector's item, with copies sometimes selling for hundreds of dollars online.
Both games have been available on PSN in Japan since last year, and there are literally dozens of other games available in the country that have never found their way to the West. MonkeyPaw president John Greiner said the cost of localizing Japanese games was a costly business, which presented a barrier to getting some of the more unique Japanese games released in other territories. By leaving the games as they are, he said, that barrier was removed, allowing access to a "world of Japanese wonder."
The imports section is expected to launch on September 21st in the U.S., with both games costing $5.99.
Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30490/PSN_Import_Store_Launching_Next_Week_With_Cho_Aniki_Gaia_Seed.php]
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