Ben-DutkaAs clearly evidenced by recent sales trends in the Land of the Rising Sun, gaming tastes are starting to shift. Eastern gamers are beginning to embrace games like Grand Theft Auto , and the FPS genre is finally catching on. Could Killzone 2 be the first title in the genre to really steal their hearts?
Today, Sony has revealed the release date and plenty of additional information for the KZ2 Japanese launch, which is scheduled for April 23. They've even unveiled the official Japanese website , which is a good sign. Promotion will be key everywhere, but it'll be especially crucial in Japan; the rising popularity of Western games is clear, but you still need to win over plenty of people. KZ2 should cause a significant hardware sales spike in both North America and Europe, but Sony would love to nab the trifecta: getting a PlayStation 3 sales boost from the game in Japan would complete the win-win-win situation. Furthermore, now may be the time to strike, as the Times Online is reporting that the world's fascination with the Wii may be over . …yeah, appealing gimmick or not, it's tough to sell hardware with no software. Anyway, as Japan – and just about everyone else – has adored the Wii since the start, now is a perfect time to introduce a real next-gen masterpiece (one that doesn't resemble a Flash game).
We're not saying Japanese consumers will flock to stores to purchase a PS3 if they don't already own one – that happened with White Knight Chronicles , but we're talking about Japan – but the Killzone 2 launch in April should cause quite a stir. And such a stir is always a positive thing.
Related Game(s): Killzone 2
