PS4 News: Experimenting with Early Access Program and Why the PS4 Isn’t So Hot in Japan

PlayStation 4 Controller is Displayed at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Known as E3, in Los Angeles — A PlayStation 4 controller is displayed at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California, June 11, 2014. Reuters

Just like the Xbox One, Sony's PS4 is still at its early stages in the hopes of finding a way to constantly improve its offered services.

Besides the PS Now, which is currently on beta with listed prices for future rentals, it seems that Sony is also looking at other ways by which it can up its strategy, starting with indie games.

Speaking with Gamasutra, Sony's Adam Boyes revealed that its indie selections have been growing for the PS4 ever since Sony's embracing of indie games was first revealed. Boyes reiterated the openness of policies, loaning of dev kits, and basically offering more opportunities for developers

However, more notable for Sony is that it's considering Early Access for the PS4. While Sony is aware that it needs to ensure that the products and games it sells, Early Access for games from developers is currently being debated upon in the company.

When asked how far along exactly the considerations have been for developers to be able to sell early on in the game with the PS4, Boyes said:

"We're working through that right now. We're figuring out what's ok. We obviously have our tech requirement checklist that people have to adhere to. So we're internally discussing, what does that list look like? What are the caveats? Stuff like this. So it's still a project that a lot of minds are considering. No details yet, but it's something on the top of my mind every day."

The PS4's Performance in Japan: What Happened?

Ever since the two consoles were released, the PS4 has stayed ahead of the Xbox One in terms of sales that have been moved every month. The fact that the Xbox One has also experienced some resolution gate that left it behind in some games with regard to the PS4 due to the failure to meet a similar resolution, has just added to the PS4's popularity.

But it seems that one country is not sharing the same enthusiasm for the PS4 compared to the rest of the world-and surprisingly, it's from Japan, the PS4's home country.

Eurogamer reports that, even though Sony Computer Entertainment's Andrew House has claimed that the PS4 is doing okay in Japan, there is a difference in performance when compared to the west.

"We're conscious of the fact we have not had yet the sort of groundswell of Japan native content from Japanese publishers and developers. I view that as temporary," said House to Eurogamer.

"There's definite developer and publisher enthusiasm for the platform, especially having seen the overarching success it's had in markets outside of Japan, and again this outpacing of the PlayStation 2. We'll see that come into games people in Japan will get excited about, but unfortunately a little bit later than has happened in other markets."

One possible reason that Sony has identified as a clue towards the events in Japan regarding the PS4 is the fact there are still a few PS4 games that have been churned out by Japanese studios. There appears to be a lack of support for the PS4 when it comes to Japanese publishers, as most are still very much comfortable with the old platform PS3.

However, this will hopefully change, though at a slower pace, which may mean that, while interest from Japanese publishers is growing, it may take time for the PS4 to become a big thing in Japan. Once the Xbox One starts selling in Japan, this may be a better gauge if indeed Japan is not yet interested in giving up their current-gen consoles for a movement to next-gen.