By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
I could write a book or two about the differences between social gaming in Japan and elsewhere, but one easy and (hopefully) interesting way to take a high-level look at things is the difference in genres (with the biggest difference being that social gaming in Japan is mainly mobile). Generally...
The social gaming boom in Japan has helped Tokyo-based KLab to go IPO at the the “Mothers” section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday (3656). The company received the listing approval on August 23. On the first day of trading, Klab shares shot up from 1,700 yen up to 4,070 yen. On the second...
If there’s proof that foreign social game makers can make it in Japan, it’s probably Rekoo Japan.The Beijing- and Tokyo-based company is now occupying the top three spots on Mixi for the PC with their social games (among those titles that you can play with friends). Here’s the...
DeNA just announced that Sega, as the first domestic game maker, has started distributing titles on Mobage for the Chinese market. Sega launched one Android game in Chinese on Mobage today and is expected to follow up with three more titles next month. What’s interesting is that three of the...
One of the very, very few foreign companies doing well in Japan’s social gaming market is Rekoo Japan. Rekoo, which has offices in Beijing and Tokyo, has made a name for itself with its “Sunshine” series of social games in the past years. The company’s flagship game...
The arcade game business is way past its prime in Japan, too, but some there are still quite a few arcades and some big name makers keep making machines for them. One of these makers is Konami: the company is planning to launch “BASEBALL HEROES 2011 SHINE STAR”, a so-called...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry