Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

A 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing a PlayStation 5 from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo, and the news article’s phrasing — calling it a “popular game console” and “a game console known as the PlayStation 5” — set off a stir on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. While many in the thread pointed out that the console’s name recognition among the general public has slipped, attention also focused on just how sloppy the method was, allegedly hiding it among groceries to slip it past a self-checkout.

The PS5 just wasn’t recognized by society anymore…

In July, a 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing two game consoles from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo.

The suspect arrested on suspicion of theft is Norihiro Sakurada (27), a delivery worker from Asahikawa.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Mainstream media 📺 apparently there’s a game console called the “PlayStation 5”“.

A thread on 5ch’s hardware-wars (Geha) board blew up after quoting a remark from former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, made back during GameCube development: “For users to feel a game is ‘clearly different,’ you need 10 times the CPU and 100 times the GPU processing speed.” The thread covered how, despite the GameCube actually outperforming the PS2 at the time, it looked worse on paper because of how polygon counts were reported publicly, and how today’s Switch 2 and PS5 only differ by a few times in raw performance. Opinions were split on whether the spec race still means anything now.

[Interviewer] And the result of that was the GameCube’s specifications, is that right?

[Iwata] That’s right. The GameCube was built to be a console where graphics come out easily, where you get near-peak performance without even tuning for it, and where software is simple to make.

And the very first priority in developing the GameCube was “breaking away from numbers-ism and spec-ism.”

Source: ascii.jp / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Nintendo’s Iwata: ‘To make software where you can perceive it as clearly different, you need 10x the CPU and 100x the GPU processing speed’.”

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced it will end disc production for new PlayStation console games as of January 2028. In response, former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden raised the question on a podcast: “If you truly don’t own it, what are players even buying?” On 5ch’s gaming hardware board, posters clashed between frustration that digital copies are effectively just licenses—carrying the risk that ownership could simply vanish—and voices accepting it as an inevitable sign of the times. Some suggested Nintendo’s game-key-card system as an alternative, while others cited past examples like the Vita’s discontinuation.

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) recently announced that it will end disc production for new PlayStation console games as of January 2028. The announcement has sparked backlash from many players over concerns about game preservation and ownership. Amid this, former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden has openly questioned whether this decision shows disregard for the platform’s most loyal core gamers.

Layden recently appeared on the podcast “The Expansion Pass,” where he acknowledged that digital downloads have genuinely made buying and playing games more convenient.

“Players really do… yeah, we love downloads. Everyone says, ‘Downloading is more convenient than going to the store to buy a game!’ But that’s not quite right. Downloading is only really more convenient because it’s easier than walking across the living room and putting a disc into the console.”

Source: toy-people.com / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Gaming)) thread “Former PS Exec Questions PS5 Disc Discontinuation: “If You Truly Can’t Own It, What Are Players Even Buying?”“.