Nintendo is finally back on top in the game industry. According to Famitsu Magazines (Japanese Gaming Magazine), the Switch has officially sold 8,125,637 in 114 weeks while the PlayStation 4 has sold 8,077,756 in 272 weeks. Its impressive numbers considering the Switch has been out for only 2 years. The PlayStation 4 is clearly ending its life cycle so it will be interesting to see if the PlayStation 5 will be able to reach the Switch’s numbers.
Why is the Switch so popular in Japan?
Mobile gaming is incredibly popular. It is the most popular form of gaming in the country for men and women. Japan is the 3rd biggest gaming market with 67 million players. Public transit is the most popular form of transportation throughout the country for all ages. With the Switch acting as a handheld console, it is more appealing to the mobile gaming market in Japan.
Back in 2015, Square Enix had stated that the remake of Final Fantasy VII would be released episodically. However, Square had been relatively silent despite multiple teasers being released until last night. Square is reconfirming that Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released episodically. This may lead to each episode being each disc for the PlayStation One release. That would mean three episodes.
Stated at the very end of that game will indeed still be split into parts (分作) for those who were still doubting (not that I think many were).
— Netto the 吐露非狩フルーツPønch侍G (@hansuramu) May 10, 2019
It’s pretty disappointing to hear the game is being released as episodes because the game has been under development for so long. This may be the case if Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix have been consistently changing the game’s direction similar to Final Fantasy XV. The trailer shown at the PlayStation State of Play only showed the beginning of Final Fantasy VII which may be an indication that they only finished the 1/3 of the story.
Final Fantasy VII finally has a new trailer showing gameplay, the voice acting for Cloud, Barret, and Aerith. It isn’t much as this is the first 25 minutes of the game in general. More announcements will be held in June.