The wait is over for gamers in Sony's home nation of Japan: the PS4 has finally launched in their country. The console enjoyed success in the US and Europe already, having launched back in November, selling over 5 million units by February.
Japanese gamers were treated to a live launch event which was streamed online, with special guests like Hideo Kojima present to turn the launch into a big affair. You can watch or skip around through a replay of the launch stream here.
It seems strange that Sony waited so long to launch in their home market while American and European audiences got the console first, but I think there are some understandable reasons that could explain this.
Sony knows that the Japanese are huge fans of their consoles, and could be relied on for sales without rushing to the market. In addition, given the supply constraints the console has faced, it's a smart move not to use their limited supply in a region they know the console will sell well in.
Combined with the fact that Microsoft has traditionally struggled to gain market share in Japan with its consoles, I imagine Sony knows that it could win Japan by a large margin even if it waited to launch the PS4 there.
The PS4 is already outselling the Xbox One pretty handily so far, and Japan could have acted like a shot in the arm for console sales if Sony lagged behind--it will instead now be a boost that should give them an even bigger advantage. These reasons to delay the PS4 launch in Japan make a lot of sense to me from a business standpoint, but I suppose you could try telling that to a Japanese gamer anxious to get his or her hands on the next-gen console and see if they agree!
Regardless, the PS4 is there now and (most) gamers can rejoice about a new console being available in their region. Sony released a new Japanese commercial alongside the launch, which you can watch below. Hopefully a plethora of good software follows suit in all regions.
