By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Major Japanese video game maker Sega is planning to jump on the lucrative social gaming bandwagon. Sega has already launched a game called “Sega Play Baseball” on Facebook this month and plans to offer another title called “Sega Play! Football” on social gaming site hi5 in...
Yahoo Japan, the country’s biggest website, is partnering up with US-based startup Ooyala to launch a video sharing platform. This won’t be, however, Yahoo Japan’s answer to YouTube (there is no such thing): the site will be rather aimed at businesses. The new platform will make...
If the amount of printed books on Facebook (business guides, how-to books etc.) is any indication for the popularity of the social network in Japan, then it’s starting to look better for Facebook over here. I visited my local book store today and counted a total of 10 Japanese books that were...
Mixi just announced that from today, it will be possible to register on the social network for owners of Android users. Until now, Mixi required a Japanese cell phone number and cell phone email address on a feature phone for registration (iPhone users have been able to register with their...
Facebook Japan still has one or two things to learn about the local social media scene, it seems. Tokyo-based tech blog Asiajin (I am a writer) is reporting that a few decisions made by Facebook leave the Japanese confused about the company’s terms of use. Facebook is trying to enforce the...
Mixi caused a splash last month, when it announced its decision to change its role from a “pure” social network provider to social network and social game provider (at least to some extent). It chose CyberAgent as a partner in a joint venture that will exclusively produce social apps...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry