hiroshi-kawano
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Keiji Inafune's favorite game is Zelda: A Link to the Past
During the Tokyo Game Show this year, we asked some of Japan's biggest game industry figures what they felt is the most important game to them (outside of games they've actually created). For Keiji Inafune, creator of the Mega Man series and the brainnnnnz behind the upcoming zombie action game, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, that fundamental game is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo. As important games go, we'd agree that Link to the Past is definitely on the list (and handily available on Virtual Console).Meanwhile, Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, picked Crash Bandicoot, which was conveniently (perhaps too conveniently) just released as a PSOne Classic for the PlayStation Vita. While it may not be the game many would have picked, it certainly has a memorable spot in PlayStation history, especially considering its developer, Naughty Dog, went on to create the phenomenal Uncharted series.
SCEJ president Hiroshi Kawano on the Vita, social games and the power of Hatsune Miku
At the Tokyo Game Show this year, we stopped to chat with Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, about his company's future. In part one (above), we ask about how Sony plans to push the PlayStation Vita, which was a big focus of the company's press conference this year (both at TGS and E3). We also take a second to ask about the latest Hatsune Miku game, which boosted Vita sales by over 300 percent when it launched earlier this month.In the second part of the interview, Kawano discusses social games. Social games are huge in Japan right now, so where does Sony – a company busy trying to sell dedicated gaming hardware – fit into a market steadily shifting toward mobile phones and tables? Find out after the break.
SCEJ prez delivers PlayStation numbers: 38m PS3s, 62m PSPs
During a live presentation at Sony's TGS booth happening now – it's only in Japanese, so no liveblog folks – Sony Computer Entertainment Japan president Hiroshi Kawano delivered a quick update on the PlayStation business, by means of some hardware sales numbers. First, the PlayStation 3. Kawano revealed that Sony has sold 38 million PS3 units so far, with five million of those being in Japan. He specified that two million PS3 units were sold in Japan in the last year. Second was the PSP. Sony has sold 62 million PlayStation Portables globally, with 15 million of those being in Japan. Naturally, Kawano is bullish on the sales numbers and says there's "very positive momentum in Japan and around the world."
