Japan Reacts

Category: Games

  • Gaming PCs — ‘Too High a Barrier to Get Into Now’? 5ch Erupts Over Pricing

    On a gaming hardware industry board, a debate broke out over how high the barrier to entry for gaming PCs has become. It started with a post claiming ‘it’s way too much of a hurdle to get into PC gaming now,’ which snowballed into posters trading specific build lists and prices for a roughly 200,000-yen self-built PC, along with the specs needed to run GTA6 comfortably. Opinions split further over cost-performance compared to the Switch 2 and PS5, and whether 16GB of RAM is really enough, keeping the thread buzzing for hours.

    1AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:01
    It's way too much of a hurdle to get into PC gaming now.
    Or are you gonna tell me a PC is still the way to go?
    11AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:10
    PCs are basically a necessity right after smartphones.
    Glad I made that big investment.
    18AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:15
    Re: #11
    That 'necessity' PC you're picturing is a business laptop, though.
    75AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:54
    Apparently we're supposed to judge things by worldwide sales now — or so says some poster people mockingly call 'Shou-chan'

    11 Anonymous (Desperate as usual) 2026/08/29 (Sat) 21:01:16.92 ID:VuonMVFN0NIKU
    Is GTA6 gonna end up with a unit count this lame too?

    Red Dead Redemption 2 PS4 — 227,842 units

    13 Anonymous (Desperate as usual) 2026/08/29 (Sat) 21:15:15.64 ID:955V0GSj0NIKU
    Re: #11
    I only ever bought PlayStation up through the PS4, but man — limiting the count to domestic-only sales is so small-scale. These days you're supposed to look at worldwide sales.
    13AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:11
    Sure, performance-wise it's unbeatable,
    but paying 300k yen for gaming? Most people are gonna balk at that.
    It's just out of step with what's normal.
    27AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:21
    Re: #13
    It's not even 300k though.
    Better to buy a PC than get suckered into 'cheap now, costly later' with a Switch 2 or PS5.
    33AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:24
    Re: #27
    Yeah, yeah, sure.
    Go ahead, try selling your friends on gaming PCs with that logic.
    34AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:25
    Re: #27
    For someone buying a PC today, how much would it actually cost to run GTA6 comfortably at 60fps?
    35AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:25
    Ma-@SnoBure/MonGirl/NIKKE/Azur Lane @Foxy_MN
    Tried pricing out what a generic homebrew 'Steam Machine' would cost 🤔
    ASRock DeskMeet X600 — ¥35,000
    Ryzen 5 7500F — ¥25,000
    RX 9060 XT 16GB — ¥50,000
    RAM 16GB — ¥30,000
    SSD 1TB — ¥25,000
    SteamOS (free)
    Comes out to about ¥165,000
    Better GPU, better SSD — isn't this just fine already? (*´ω｀*)
    39AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:29
    Re: #35
    Why don't you all just subscribe to GeForce NOW instead?
    45AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:34
    Re: #35
    And can that actually run GTA6 comfortably at 60fps?
    55AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:41
    Re: #35
    Isn't the RX 9060 XT 16GB more like ¥70,000?
    I bet what's selling in the ¥50,000 range is the 8GB version.
    84AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:58
    Are PC users gonna have to go buy an Xbox just for GTA6?
    85AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:59
    Re: #84
    Apparently they'll just watch a video to 'beat' it.
    101AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:06
    Re: #85
    Over 90% of that channel's audience is Nintendo fans though.
    338AnonymousAug 30, 2026 23:28
    Re: #85
    A poll from a console-war streamer is never gonna give you anything but a biased result.
    94AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:04
    Not really the place for this, but if you actually splurged something like 500k yen on a gaming PC, would you even play that much?
    Honestly, I don't think I would anymore, so I can't pull the trigger.

    Though if you're a hardcore gamer who's grinding through a ton of high-spec titles, sure, go for it.
    112AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:13
    Re: #94
    Once you buy it, you actually do end up playing it.



    But I will say this:
    buy a good monitor too.
    175AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:35
    You always see the pitch 'you can build one for under 200k!'
    but it bugs me that lately that build always seems to lean on DDR4 or a mix of used parts like it's the default.
    187AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:48
    Re: #175
    Building fresh on AM5 doesn't even hit 200k.
    Reuse some parts and it's even cheaper than that — honestly, you console-war uncles don't even know real PC prices.

    AM5 motherboard — ¥8,980
    CPU (9500F) — ¥27,580
    RAM 8GB x2 — ¥31,800
    SSD 1TB — ¥17,980
    GPU (RTX 5060) — ¥60,800
    CPU cooler — ¥1,873
    PSU 650W — ¥4,400
    Case — ¥2,980
    OS — ¥14,847
    Total: ¥171,240
    194AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:54
    Re: #187
    I feel like storage definitely needs to be more, and 16GB RAM is basically my build from a while back — without an iron will to never open anything but the game, it chokes constantly.
    Running that build for real, it's genuinely rough.
    224AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:08
    Re: #187
    Well, this is the board where some guy insists the PS5 Pro is basically on par with an RTX 5080.
    Someone even started a thread claiming the RTX 5070 Ti is the bare minimum, right when the PC version of GTA6 dropped.
    Guess they'll pull their usual disappearing act though.
    208AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:00
    You can build a PC cheap if you grab used parts off Mercari (Japan's big resale marketplace app).
    Even a 2TB SSD goes for under 30k that way.
    210AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:02
    Re: #208
    Someone who's clearly never actually bought one shouldn't be recommending that so confidently…
    213AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:04
    Re: #210
    Lol, that's a weirdly desperate reply.
    Does it really bother you that much that a PC can be cheap?
    216AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:05
    Re: #210
    If you don't want to play GTA6 at 30fps on WQHD, you don't have much choice but to buy one.
    No real gamer's skipping the new TES or Fallout either.
    260AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:33
    Base OS usage: 4.5GB, Wilds left idling in the background: 6-8GB, browser with like 20 tabs open: 2-4GB, misc background standby stuff: 2GB.
    Being real, that's my actual breakdown — even accounting for Wilds' terrible optimization, 16GB isn't exactly 'plenty,' but it's absolutely not 'not enough' either.
    And technically that background standby stuff isn't even necessary, so drop it and you fit right in the budget.

    Sure, thinking long-term I'd want 24GB, but that's a 'deal with it once things settle down' kind of thing.
    You can always add more RAM later anyway.
    262AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:34
    Re: #260
    'You can always add more' only holds up if you're fine running 4 sticks, though —
    otherwise you're just buying all-new RAM regardless.
    269AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:42
    Re: #260
    People have been saying 16GB is fine for ages.
    Checked it myself too — didn't run into trouble even without bumping up to 32GB.
    276AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:46
    Re: #260
    Yeah, this is basically the answer from anyone who actually owns a PC.
    If 16GB isn't enough for gaming, what exactly are you even playing?
    You can tell in two seconds just by opening Task Manager.
    It's really just 'maybe 16GB won't cut it someday down the road' — that's all this is.
    261AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:34
    They say PC prices aren't coming down anymore, so for anyone outside of smartphones who wants a big-screen, rich gaming experience, the Switch 2 is really the only option, don't you think?
    At least in Japan — this has been the trend for a while now, but it feels like it's completely locked in at this point.
    264AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:35
    Re: #261
    Exactly this.
    The PS5 still had a shot if they hadn't killed the disc drive,
    but they blew it, and now it's just a straight-up gimped PC.
    Absolute worst cost-performance, total garbage.
    279AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:48
    Re: #261
    That's true, for sure.
    But I'd bet more people just quit gaming altogether
    or drift toward free-to-play stuff instead.
    277AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:47
    Lol

    https://n.picvr.net/2608302034033311.jpg
    https://n.picvr.net/2608302034039448.jpg

    https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2094025915886080000/vid/avc1/1280×720/2rcZe2W1FcJahcQV.mp4
    299AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:08
    It's a hassle, it's expensive, it's complicated, and you can't even buy a game without an internet connection and some way to pay online.
    You've got to clear hurdle after hurdle just to game on PC.
    PC gaming's had decades of history, and it still never went mainstream.
    300AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:10
    Re: #299
    Huh?
    Capcom's sales are overwhelmingly PC-first though?
    307AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:16
    GTA6 isn't even playable on 11/19 —
    so what are you even buying an expensive PC for?
    315AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:22
    Re: #307
    VR stuff, probably.
    320AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:27
    Re: #307
    Sorry, I'm not poor enough to settle for 1440p at 30fps……

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Price arguments over gaming PCs crop up on 5ch regularly, and the sticking point almost always comes down to ‘what assumptions the estimate is built on.’ The roughly ¥170,000 self-build listed in the thread assumes 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, prompting pushback that adding more storage or memory would push the real cost higher. There was also disagreement over the actual street price of the RX 9060 XT 16GB — self-build estimates like these tend to swing by tens of thousands of yen depending on the exact model and stock availability. Underlying all this is rising interest in what specs are needed to run the PC version of GTA6 comfortably, given its reported November 19 release date. The phrase ‘leather jacket guy,’ used to vent frustration over NVIDIA’s rising GPU prices, is a standard bit of sarcasm referencing the CEO’s trademark outfit, and it shows up constantly in PC-related threads on 5ch.

    ※This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Console Wars)) thread ‘[Breaking] Nobody’s Left to Recommend PCs Anymore‘.

  • Sony Offers a PS5 Discount If You Trade In Your PS4 at a Used Game Store — 5ch Calls It Unheard Of

    A Sony campaign that gives you a discount coupon toward a PS5 purchase when you sell your PS4 at Furuichi, a used-book store chain under the GEO umbrella, has become a talking point on 5ch. The promotion runs until September 13, 2026, and the number of coupons available is capped. Many posters on the thread expressed surprise, saying they’d “never heard of a manufacturer telling people to sell their own hardware to a used shop,” and debate broke out over how this differs from trade-in programs run by Microsoft or smartphone makers, as well as how it squares with the fact that the current PS5 doesn’t even come with a disc drive included.

    47AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:11
    Checked the official page and it looks like the coupons are limited
    Bet they'll have leftovers lol

    [Campaign Period]
    Until Sunday, September 13, 2026 *Distribution will end as soon as the planned number of coupons is reached, even if we're still within the campaign period.
    55AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:17
    Re: #47
    I wonder if they'll actually hit that limit
    62AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:23
    Don't really recall a manufacturer directly telling people to go sell to a used shop before
    346AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:16
    Re: #62
    Don't you know about the manufacturer rep who said "Screw it, I'm selling my crap-box (糞箱, a derogatory 5ch nickname for Xbox)!"?
    Guy from some fighting game company
    67AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:27
    Re: #62
    Might be an industry first lol
    69AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:28
    Re: #67
    Pretty sure they did something similar with the Vita

    77AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:32
    Re: #69
    Official trade-ins are a thing plenty of companies do, like Google with Pixel
    But telling people to sell to a totally separate, unrelated store — "go sell your PS4!" — that I genuinely have never seen
    245AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:37
    Re: #232
    Exactly! Even Sony's own flop, the Vita, did the same thing! Re: #69
    68AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:28
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/microsoft-trade-in
    In the US, Xbox also offers discounts when you trade in your old console
    70AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:28
    Re: #68
    That's Microsoft taking it back themselves though, right?
    How is that the same as "go sell it to a used shop"?
    75AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:31
    Re: #68
    Then Shitony (a common 5ch insult for Sony) should just take back the PS4 itself and hand out the discount coupon
    92AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:42
    A ¥10,000 discount is pretty solid
    Makes the PS5 basically ¥45,000
    Meanwhile there's that garbage console only fetching ¥35,000 in trade-ins just a year after launch…
    112AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:52
    Re: #92
    Well yeah, it's worth ¥35,000 because it's hardware you can't even get a warranty on secondhand
    Meanwhile there's the garbage console whose own maker is practically begging you to switch away from it 🤣
    117AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:54
    Upgrading from a PS4 to a garbage console only worth ¥35,000 in trade-ins a year after launch?
    When the performance is just as garbage anyway
    118AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:55
    Re: #117
    There are weirdos like me who sold their PS5 to switch to the Switch 2, so that's normal enough
    126AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:58
    Re: #117
    Forget all that, can you just tell me how to actually get this ¥10,000 discount?
    135AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:05
    Re: #117
    People like that care more about convenience than raw power, so performance doesn't even factor in
    If they cared about performance they'd have upgraded ages ago
    At the very least, a console killing off physical discs isn't even on their radar
    168AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:31
    But the PS5 you can buy right now doesn't even include a disc drive, does it?
    169AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:32
    Re: #168
    They're basically saying sell your discs too and rebuy everything as downloads
    170AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:32
    Re: #168
    Full backward compatibility, just buy the digital version all over again!
    224AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:19
    Re: #168
    That's rough lol
    They should at least throw in a free disc drive for anyone upgrading from a PS4 lol
    188AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:50
    I guess it means SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment) still can't afford to ignore how many active PS4 users are out there
    Honestly I'd bet half the people in the console-war threads (PSW) haven't even moved to PS5 yet
    189AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:51
    Re: #188
    I mean there's basically no "fun games you can only play on PS5" to begin with
    193AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:57
    Re: #188
    If they keep dragging their feet it's obvious PS4 holdouts will just get scooped up by the Switch 2 instead
    These days you don't need a PS5 for "Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, or Monster Hunter" anymore
    Even if they take a loss here, if they can lock people back into the ecosystem, they'll make it back through "the right to rebuy everything digitally"
    219AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:10
    Sony's the one driving these kinds of promotions
    The New Year's sale bundling a disc drive with the PS5 Digital Edition had a bunch of different stores running the exact same deal like they'd all coordinated it

    And on top of that, they're pulling out of physical media entirely
    Maybe optimize your own internal structure before dragging retailers into this
    Probably some department's performance metrics that don't actually mean anything to the company as a whole
    That's what you call sloppy, broken governance
    223AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:16
    Re: #219
    Looking back on it now, wasn't bundling the disc drive really more about clearing out inventory early?
    Sony had probably decided internally to drop discs long before this
    227AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:21
    Re: #223
    That's a nasty way to do it
    Once they drop discs entirely, a disc drive is genuinely just trash
    228AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:21
    Selling the disc drive separately has its own built-in contradictions

    Want to lower hardware cost
    Want to push digital
    But disc drives have high margins, so sell them separately for extra profit
    → Plan backfires, drives pile up unsold → dump them in the New Year's sale
    → Still barely sell → force an end to packaged (disc) sales entirely
    → Retailers run a clearance sale on physical stock as they prep to ditch PlayStation

    Basically, retailers gave up on this a long time ago
    Big chain stores only went along with it because they need product variety and there are manufacturer incentives

    Re: #223
    Who knows — doesn't seem like even the marketing department was told about the decision to end packaged sales until it was already final
    232AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:25
    Every company runs trade-in campaigns like this
    It's not exactly a scandal
    236AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:30
    Re: #232
    Which other companies officially do this exact thing then?
    Go ahead and link a few examples
    303AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:52
    GEO or Sofmap I could understand, but there's something about it being the "used bookstore" market that really gets you lol (Furuichi is technically GEO's used-book chain — 古本 literally means "used book")
    311AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:26
    Re: #303
    Wait, is that a pun on "used hardware" (中古本体) and "used book" (古本)!? Cut it out!
    323AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:55
    Re: #303
    GEO has 2,000 stores, while the used-book chain Furuichi only has 170

    If they're not using GEO — which could obviously reach way more people and make selling easier — that probably means either
    GEO has given up on them, or the campaign is embarrassing enough (it's using the very secondhand system the fanboys used to trash) that they don't actually want much attention on it
    326AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:10
    So this is on top of that then

    PlayStation 4 Jet Black 500GB
    Trade-in price: ¥15,000

    PlayStation 4 Pro Jet Black 1TB
    Trade-in price: ¥19,000
    340AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:38
    Re: #326
    Huh, that's higher than I expected
    348AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:20
    Re: #326
    I sold my Monster Hunter edition PSP last month since even as a spare it was just taking up space, and it went for over ¥20,000

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    This campaign lets users sell their PS4 at Furuichi, a used-book store chain under the GEO umbrella, in exchange for a discount coupon (worth around ¥10,000) toward a PS5 purchase; it runs until September 13, 2026, and the number of available coupons is capped. Discussion on the thread centered on the point that “it’s unusual for a manufacturer to officially tell people to sell to a used shop,” with posters noting that trade-in programs from companies like Microsoft or Google are different in nature since those companies collect the old hardware themselves. Some brought up a similar past promotion for the PS Vita, pushing back on claims that this was an “industry first.” Another major point of contention was how this squares with the fact that the current PS5 doesn’t come with a disc drive included, meaning PS4 owners switching over would still need to buy one separately — a contradiction several commenters called out. Real trade-in price examples were also shared (around ¥15,000 for a PS4, about ¥19,000 for a Pro), with some reacting that the amounts were higher than expected. There were also posts referencing a past figure who made dismissive remarks about the secondhand market, mockingly contrasting that stance with this campaign, but since that person is difficult to identify with certainty, this article omits those references.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Sony Sends PS4 Users an Email Urging Them to “Sell Your PS4 and Switch to a PS5!”.”

  • TSUTAYA Fire-Sells New PS5 Games for 100 Yen — 5ch Reads It as a ‘Shelf Clearance’

    A report to 5ch said TSUTAYA is progressively marking down packaged PS5 software — new copies dropping to 500 yen, then 300 yen, then 100 yen — sparking a thread. According to the original poster, popular titles at nearby stores were already sold out by the time they got there. The post triggered a wave of similar reports from other chains like GEO, Don Quijote, and Bic Camera, where PS5 shelf space also appeared to be shrinking. The discussion expanded into whether this is just a temporary sale or whether retailers are pulling out of PS5 entirely, with some pointing to trading cards’ higher profit margins as a rival explanation — a fight over shelf space, in other words.

    1AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:20
    Saw the thread and went to my local TSUTAYA — forget 80% off, they were doing tiered markdowns at 500, 300, and 100 yen for new copies.
    Looked like it had already been picked over though, nothing decent left…
    At 100 yen for a 'new' copy, just think of it as the price of a replacement case for that scratched-up used disc you already own, to make it look new again.
    22AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:26
    This really looks like retailers are trying to kill the PS shelf entirely.

    Up to now people kept saying it's just the usual sale, but this time it's clearly different.
    PS shelf space is going to vanish from retail stores.
    Worst case they might even stop carrying peripherals too.
    Retailers used to make money off software sales, and now that's drying up.
    30AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:27
    Re: #22
    Retailers only stock consoles to sell software in the first place — if there's no software, there's no point stocking the console either.
    43AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:31
    For publishers who want to sell packaged PS5 software, the number of stores willing to carry it keeps shrinking.
    Soon you'll only be able to buy PS5 games through mail-order sites like Amazon.
    On Amazon, PS5 will get strong multiplatform releases alongside Switch and Switch 2.

    PS5 software reaches its final form… on Amazon.
    49AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:32
    Re: #43
    They were only ever interested in the mega-hits to begin with.
    52AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:33
    Re: #43
    That's fine either way, isn't it? Nobody buys Switch games at TSUTAYA either — that's exactly why they're expanding the trading card section, because nobody's buying games.
    54AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:34
    Re: #43
    Well yeah, but that just means packaged discs are disappearing from PS5 altogether.
    97AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:10
    Re: #1
    Switch 2 exclusive Orbitals looks like it's in trouble.
    131AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:49
    At this rate, where are users even supposed to buy a 250,000-yen PS6?
    136AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:52
    Re: #131
    Digital download, obviously lol
    143AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:54
    Re: #131
    Where do Xbox users even buy theirs?
    159AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:07
    Isn't this just the stuff that never sold in the first place?
    163AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:10
    Re: #159
    PS5 basically only has games that don't sell, though.
    178AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:21
    Re: #159
    Yeah, zero million-sellers.
    181AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:24
    Re: #159
    That's the whole point — it's all PS software. Why are you assuming PlayStation even has games that sell?
    164AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:10
    Just went to my local GEO — the PS shelf in that prime spot right by the register is down to a single section now: top two-thirds is a face-out display of 'Bi-Kane' (a nickname posters use for the title), bottom third is Pro Yakyuu Spirits (a long-running baseball game series). Honestly a pretty pitiful display.
    Those two are basically the 'guaranteed never to sell' dream team at this point.
    165AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:12
    Re: #164
    Went to the PS corner at Don Quijote and they still had the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined promo poster up.
    166AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:13
    Re: #164
    Ha, those are the two biggest duds around.
    168AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:14
    Re: #164
    The one near me has had a copy of Nioh 3 sitting there forever with a 'brand new' sticker slapped on it. Kind of sad.
    182AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:25
    Bic Camera was fire-selling the PS5 version of DQ7 for 1,980 yen — that's when I realized they have zero intention of keeping the PlayStation shelf around.
    213AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:47
    Here are the images the OP of the thread that started all this posted.

    https://tadaup.jp/8CfYB3yH.jpeg
    https://tadaup.jp/8d1whDUg.jpeg

    One thing seems clear: stores that carry games are moving early, across multiple locations, to free up shelf space.
    219AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:53
    Re: #213
    The Marvel game in the left photo is 80% off — that's a brutal markdown.
    223AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:57
    Re: #213
    Lol, a brand-new copy of FIFA from three years ago that's just been sitting there unsold for three years?
    Once a piece of cardboard has an expiration date, it's basically hell.

    Oh…

    So that's why the big retailers are running from that hell, lol.
    295AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:57
    Re: #213
    Honestly the lineup looks exactly like what'd get dumped into a New Year's lucky bag (fukubukuro — a grab-bag of surplus stock sold cheap).
    231AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:05
    Bookoff carries trading cards too, but do they actually turn much profit on them?
    I'd think there's no more stable product than Nintendo games, which still sell new even eight years later.
    237AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:13
    Re: #231
    Unfortunately, cards have way higher margins than games.
    240AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:18
    Re: #231
    Last year Pokémon cards alone sold 10 billion units. This is a world where cards worth maybe 0 to 100 yen each fly off shelves used for 10,000 yen. A hundred years from now this'll be in history textbooks right next to Dutch tulip mania.
    304AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:07
    Re: #231
    Trading cards are basically a machine for turning scraps of paper into stacks of cash.
    337AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:40
    If the stores are losing money on this, why are they so desperate to sell through the stock? Places like Hard Off and Bookoff still sell theirs at full price, don't they?
    338AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:44
    Re: #337
    Because they want to clear out a dead console whose games don't sell, ASAP. The fact that they're not doing this to Switch or Switch 2 says it all.
    339AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:44
    Re: #337
    I think just having PS software sitting on the shelf is generating a loss in itself.

    Shelf space is limited too — wouldn't you rather stock things that actually sell instead of PS games that have sat there unsold for something like 10 years?
    381AnonymousAug 30, 2026 21:38
    Imagine being a company still putting out console exclusives in this climate, lol
    387AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:05
    Re: #381
    Pretty much just Bandai Namco, Sega/Atlus, and Konami at this point. Even the publishers that owed Sony loyalty have mostly fled to Switch 2.
    388AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:10
    Re: #381
    Earth Defense Force looks like it's gonna flop hard.
    392AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:16
    Re: #388
    We'll toss Switch 2 the leftovers in two or three years.
    395AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:19
    Re: #392
    They're just running spite-exclusives and still talking big, lmao.
    398AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:28
    Re: #392
    Don't need it. I'll just enjoy watching it flop spectacularly.

    Background and talking points

    In-store inventory of physical packaged games has become a shrinking source of revenue for domestic retailers as digital downloads have spread, making how limited shelf space gets allocated a decision that goes straight to each chain’s bottom line. In this thread, reports of markdowns at TSUTAYA kicked things off, followed by a wave of similar sightings of discounts and shrinking PS5 displays at other chains like GEO, Don Quijote, and Bic Camera — but these remain individual, store-level observations, not an official announcement confirming a company-wide policy shift. It’s also worth flagging that the separate issue of “more stores refusing used-game buybacks” and the fire-sale of new stock are being lumped together in the thread as evidence of a broader “turning away from PS5,” even though they’re technically distinct phenomena easy to conflate. Likewise, the claim that trading cards carry higher profit margins wasn’t backed by any actual figures — it remains an impression based on what posters observed in stores.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “TSUTAYA’s PS5 sell-off sale crosses the line — down to a 100 yen fire sale!“

  • Reports of Switch Elden Ring Selling Out in Stores Right After Launch

    Reports that the Switch version of “Elden Ring” has been selling out at some stores right after launch became a hot topic in a forum thread. Sparked by a post noting that GEO (a Japanese game retailer) had run out of stock, the discussion snowballed into comparisons with how many PS5 physical copies remained on shelves, data claiming the game is trending more overseas than in Japan, and a debate over loading times based on a Famitsu review. Posters also weighed in on Nintendo fans’ buying habits and speculated on why other publishers can’t pull off similar ports, with the conversation branching off in all directions.

    12AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:14
    Huh, turns out Nintendo fanboys ("Nishikun," 5ch slang for Nintendo diehards) actually play soulslikes too
    209AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:25
    Re: #12
    They'll just resell it right away lol
    343AnonymousAug 30, 2026 20:25
    Re: #12
    Mario: "Well, obviously." (meme reference)
    26AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:22
    Re: #1
    What about Orbitals, the Switch 2 third-party exclusive (200 points on Amazon)? Not buying that one?
    36AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:25
    Re: #26
    The bar's already too high if it's two-player only
    39AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:26
    Re: #26
    Being serious for a sec, the visuals look incredibly interesting, but two-player-only is kind of a dealbreaker for me
    91AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:03
    Re: #26
    I probably won't even get to play it, but I'm thinking of buying it just to support it
    38AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:26

    56AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:38
    Went to GEO and both this and the MGS Collection were sold out
    The PS version of the MGS Collection was still sitting on the shelf though
    57AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:38
    Re: #56
    Don't tell me PS5 is losing even to Metal Gear now
    What does PS5 even sell at this point
    70AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:46
    Re: #56
    They probably barely stocked the PS5 version to begin with
    and it's still not selling out — that's kind of embarrassing
    62AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:41


    It's getting more buzz overseas than in Japan




    Russia
    South Korea
    USA
    Japan
    Canada
    Norway
    Sweden
    UK
    Germany
    New Zealand
    Australia
    69AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:45
    Re: #62
    Come to think of it, Switch does pretty well without China at all
    65AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:42
    Seems like the initial shipment was pretty small
    66AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:43
    Re: #65
    Retailers probably didn't expect it to sell
    72AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:47
    Re: #65
    Personally I'm suddenly really interested in the weekly sales chart now
    It's not just raw units sold or shipped — I think this could tell us a lot at once about Switch users' habits, From Software's brand value, and demand for physical copies
    77AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:49
    Re: #65
    There are plenty of PS5 physical releases that don't even sell out despite limited print runs
    If this sells better than expected, that's a win
    87AnonymousAug 30, 2026 15:58
    Here's the reality — it's a ghost town in-game
    Just buy the damn thing already. "Pigs" (5ch slur for Nintendo fans) are all talk

    104AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:10
    Re: #87
    Looked into it a bit — seems like that guy's pretty much the only one who can't get invasions to work
    Everyone else seems to be invading just fine, so it's probably an issue on his end ("your setup" problem)
    108AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:12
    Re: #87
    This guy's only level 100
    The question is how many other players are even at level 100 to match with right now
    He probably hasn't even narrowed the matchmaking range either
    112AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:15
    Re: #87
    Did he actually buy the game just to fake this? lol
    Actually, we don't even know if he really bought it, or if it's even the Switch version
    92AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:03
    "My First Elden Ring"
    apparently getting rave reviews

    Why couldn't Bandai Namco or Kadokawa pull this off?
    93AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:04
    Re: #92
    It's kind of unsettling that people won't buy it unless Nintendo blows the dog whistle first
    Doesn't seem like they can make up their own minds
    118AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:18
    Re: #92
    They should make a "My First Onimusha" too


    Why does Nintendo keep picking on Capcom?
    382AnonymousAug 30, 2026 22:05
    Re: #92
    Bandai's heyday of selling to the general public on its own was back with the original Gundam; the last time they pulled it off was the original Tamagotchi
    Kadokawa's current mainstream is a clique built entirely around light novels and late-night anime, so they have zero ability to reach general audiences
    Honestly, if either company actually had the ability to sell to mainstream consumers, the PlayStation platform they've both focused on for years would be selling a lot better than it is
    170AnonymousAug 30, 2026 16:56
    Elden Ring never got featured in a Nintendo Direct even once, right?
    Meanwhile Capcom's Resident Evil (which bombed on Switch) got featured twice

    Nintendo's PR team really has zero sense
    198AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:17
    Watched a loading-time comparison video — it's only faster than the PS4 version, and that's still plenty slow
    202AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:21
    Re: #198
    That's a flat-out lie
    This is exactly why people who obstruct the discussion like this get hated

    207AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:24
    Re: #202
    Are you seriously trying to disrespect Famitsu, the long-running dedicated gaming magazine!?
    https://www.famitsu.com/article/202608/84590
    Famitsu: "The loading time for fast travel is admittedly a bit longer than the PS5 version. Personally it felt about on par with the PS4 version."
    Byline "Ichigou": "Loading times are about the same as PS4"

    Switch 2 loading times: ~7 sec for fast travel, ~9 sec to respawn
    PS4 loading times: ~28 sec for fast travel, ~35 sec to respawn
    290AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:17
    Re: #202,203
    Wow, you're really desperate huh
    Doesn't matter how much you two screech — I've been obsessing over loading times for 35 years, you can't fool me
    227AnonymousAug 30, 2026 17:35
    For the Switch version, the only things getting talked about are the bundled bust-up figure
    and the amiibo that doesn't seem to have any actual use
    314AnonymousAug 30, 2026 18:46
    Re: #1

    Just as I predicted, the Nintendo fanboys couldn't understand the story after all lol
    332AnonymousAug 30, 2026 19:57
    Re: #311
    It's getting more buzz in the US than in Japan



    It's getting more buzz overseas than in Japan




    Russia
    South Korea
    USA
    Japan
    Finland
    Canada
    Norway
    Sweden
    UK
    Germany
    New Zealand
    Australia

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    It’s worth noting that the “shortage” claims raised in the thread amount to little more than one person’s sighting at a single GEO store, not data confirming a nationwide supply shortfall. On loading times, one set of figures cited from a Famitsu article (~7 seconds for fast travel versus ~28 seconds on PS4) was presented, while another poster claiming to have tested the game firsthand argued the difference felt smaller in practice — opinion was split over whether to trust the review outlet’s numbers or individual impressions. Several posts also cited overseas search trends to claim the game is “bigger news abroad than in Japan,” but the methodology behind the cited images was never disclosed, so those claims should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, the discussion around how a high-difficulty action game is being received on a Nintendo platform, and speculation on why other publishers haven’t managed similar ports, offers some useful perspective on broader industry trends.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Switch Version of Elden Ring Out of Stock wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” (the string of “w”s is Japanese internet shorthand for laughter, like “lolololol”).

  • “The Console War Is Dead” — 5ch Pushback Floods In After Reply Tells Critics “Then Just Leave Already”

    A thread that kicked off with the post “Is the gehe rivalry dead now?” took off on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (gehe) board. The board has long been known as a battleground where Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft fanboys hurl insults at each other, but this thread started with someone noting that their curation blog’s pageviews were dropping, and spiraled into a clash between posters arguing that the rise of PC gaming has diminished console relevance and those firing back with “you’re all putting way too much faith in PC.” Opinions were split on whether the whole gehe rivalry is becoming a relic of the past.

    1AnonymousAug 29, 2026 23:29
    I run a matome (curation) blog, and my pageviews have completely tanked lately.
    Have people just lost interest in games themselves?
    114AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:15
    Saw someone post asking what those PS die-hards will do once their last crutch finally breaks, and it got a reply saying "they'll just pivot to arguing that consoles/gaming itself is dead" — yeah, exactly that.
    So predictable, seriously.
    120AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:22
    Re: #114
    Still doing the "la-la-la, I can't hear you" thing, lol
    121AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:24
    Re: #114
    So the people agreeing here are all PS users, huh?
    132AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:15
    Way too many people in gehe threads have this fantasy about PC gaming.
    133AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:18
    Re: #132
    At least it's a fact that PC has way more of a future than dying hardware like the Switch 2 or PS5.
    258AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:18
    Re: #132
    A "fantasy" means chasing after something that doesn't even exist.
    It's still fresh in memory that Chameleon sold a whopping 20 million copies on Steam — a game made by just two Japanese guys that went a little viral and ended up selling tens of millions. That kind of thing just doesn't happen on consoles.
    Release something like that on console and it'd sell a few thousand copies, tops 🤔
    Same with Palworld — an indie title topping 40 million units is way beyond what consoles could ever pull off, so of course software makers are aiming for Steam.
    Gehe old-timers grew up on physical packaged games so they're PC-phobic, but seriously, start talking based on reality for once.
    145AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:45
    Yeah yeah, dead, dead, it's all dead. If you really believe that, then just go ahead and leave gehe already~

    Though I'm guessing this is really about the fans of that one console that's basically pulled out of retail and is genuinely on the verge of vanishing.
    146AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:46
    Re: #145
    Gotta fight reality, man.
    148AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:49
    Re: #145
    That's just cringe.
    Doesn't that feel pathetic?
    154AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:54
    Re: #145
    You actually think gehe isn't dead? That's ●●● even by gehe standards.

    Why not go tell your parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and neighbors, "Gehe is NOT dead!"?
    Maybe at least one person out there will understand you.
    150AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:52
    Consoles are desperate to survive these days.
    They don't care about people like you who don't spend money.
    Nintendo seems to be doing fine because, for better or worse, it's stayed exactly the same as always,
    but they're not even looking in your direction anymore.
    151AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:53
    Re: #150
    If anything, the Switch 2's specs blatantly target PlayStation's customer base.
    And that backfired in the worst possible way — the price shot up too high and mainstream buyers just ignored it.
    155AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:54
    Re: #150
    They've already started cutting off mainstream customers with that price hike, though.
    175AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:09
    The fact that you have to sell worldwide just to break even in the first place already exposes how shallow this industry's foundations are.
    199AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:29
    Re: #175
    "A million copies worldwide!" ← Meanwhile: "In my country it only sold like 100,000 and nobody's even talking about it."
    That's basically how it always goes.
    Sure, the sales numbers get scraped together somehow, but the buzz gets diluted down to nothing and the game just loses all presence.
    178AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:11
    A lot of these guys can only ever blame others and pass the buck, too.
    185AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:18
    Re: #178
    I mean, to begin with, they're wrestling sumo in someone else's loincloth — puffing themselves up over the earnings of a company they have zero connection to.
    Since there's nothing of substance behind it, that's naturally where it ends up.
    279AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:35
    Re: #178
    I mean, isn't this literally all gehe-trash ever does? 😅
    Whenever there's bad news for their own console, they escape into denial with "must be fanboys from the other console brigading!" 😡
    Basically, whenever things go badly, their default is to blame everyone else.
    Like, gehe-trash usually go around trash-talking, "PS5's garbage, it's not even competition" 🤪
    Fine, I'll give them that one, it's not selling great.
    But then when someone points out the Switch 2 is selling worse than the original Switch, suddenly it's "well, at least it's better than the PS5!" 🤬
    Like… "better than a garbage console that's not even competition" isn't really the comeback you think it is, right? 🤔
    182AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:13
    The war's already over. Give it up.
    184AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:16
    Re: #182
    Yeah, it's over — PC took the crown.
    Both the Switch 2 and PS5 are turning into has-beens.
    196AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:28
    Re: #184
    PC gaming has only just barely edged out consoles in global sales, and it's getting hit hard by rising semiconductor prices, so there's not much room left to grow.
    Even Famitsu's own data shows the only thing really booming is mobile — PC and console are both flat.
    249AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:09
    Whatever excuses get made, if they release the PS6 and first-party doesn't put out games, it's over.
    There's no rule saying third parties have to be on PlayStation.
    And if it's just about good financials, Microsoft's the strongest anyway.
    255AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:13
    Re: #249
    Nah, Xbox runs on a 3% profit margin — strip out the ¥10 trillion Activision Blizzard King deal and it's a massive money-losing, failed division.
    And Nintendo has lost the profit race to SIE three years running (´・ω・｀)
    259AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:18
    Re: #249
    Microsoft's hardware business isn't doing well.
    Its revenue is lower than Sony's, on top of that.
    Microsoft is only strong because of its software studios —
    Activision alone brings in something like ¥1-point-something trillion in revenue, roughly on par with Nintendo.
    261AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:20
    Re: #249
    Sure, Microsoft overall is the strongest, but their console division has basically been told to fend for itself lately.
    307AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:23
    Honestly, I want to tear down this industry where small game companies can't turn a profit and only the hardware makers get rich.
    310AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:27
    Re: #307
    Can't be helped — platform holders are basically gods in every industry. There's an endless line of businesses
    willing to sign on, and if you defy them you just get banned, so all you can do is live in fear.
    311AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:30
    Re: #307
    That argument doesn't hold up
    once you've seen what Chameleon pulled off.
    312AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:31
    Re: #307
    Small game companies just scored massive hits with stuff like Palworld and Chameleon, though.
    330AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:00
    331AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:01
    Re: #330
    Hmm, maybe it'd be for the best if this whole board just died out? 🤔
    343AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:30
    Honestly, Nintendo should be the first to give up on the Switch 2 and put out a cheap, low-spec console under ¥20,000.
    But there's no way Furukawa's got the guts to make that call.
    Iwata, on the other hand, could cut the Wii U loose in a heartbeat and redirect resources to the 3DS to weather the storm.
    345AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:32
    Re: #343
    Even the Switch 1 would be tough to make at a ¥20,000 cost.
    So you're saying they should put out hardware weaker than the Switch 1 at this point?
    347AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:33
    Re: #343
    Like hell they would, idiot.
    Honestly, the 3DS should've stayed at 25,000 yen — it was worth every bit of that.
    I generally think highly of Iwata, but that Ambassador Program price cut is one of his dark chapters.
    It set a bad precedent for the market, and it's what dragged the company into the red.
    355AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:39
    Re: #343
    There's no way Furukawa could pull that off. Iwata, please come back (´；ω；｀)

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The Hardware/Industry (gehe) board is one of 5ch’s most notorious boards for rivalry between console fanboys, with a long-running culture of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and PC supporters trading barbs. The backdrop raised in this thread includes the fact that indie titles on Steam can rack up tens of millions of sales while console-exclusive titles rarely see success on that scale, along with pointed remarks that the Switch 2 launched pricier than expected and hasn’t reached the mainstream, plus talk of Microsoft’s hardware division struggling with thin margins. Opinions in the thread split between those who see the rise of PC gaming as having made the whole gehe rivalry obsolete, and those who argue the rivalry is simply continuing in a new form — and both sides tend to cite sales figures and statistics without sourcing them, so the numbers here should be read strictly as claims made within the posts themselves.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (gehe)) thread “Is the gehe rivalry dead now?“.

  • GTA6 “The Smoothest 30fps of My Life” — Overseas Post Sparks Buzz

    A post about GTA6 gameplay footage by an overseas X (formerly Twitter) user — “If this is 30fps, it’s the smoothest 30fps of my life, it’s basically 50fps” — sparked a huge reaction. The post was picked up on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“geha”) board, and the discussion spread in all directions: from suggestions that the poster “can’t tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps,” to amazement at how smoothly the characters’ hair moves, concerns over frame rate drops on the PS5 version, and console-war bickering over Switch 2 multiplatform titles being locked to 30fps. The thread also touched on reports that a high frame rate mode is being considered for the PS5 Pro.

    True to its name, if this is 30fps, aren’t you guys overdoing it? This is the smoothest 30fps of my life. It’s basically at the level of 50fps.

    Source: x.com / Original post here

    11AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:43
    This is getting as pseudoscientific as the audiophile crowd.

    30fps is nothing but 30fps — what exactly are you seeing?
    126AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:55
    Re: #11
    Audio stuff isn't pseudoscience unless you're geeking out over speaker cables lol
    14AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:45
    The definition of "going viral" (man-bazu, lit. "10k-buzz") has gotten confusing lately.
    It used to mean over 10,000 retweets, I thought.
    34AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:19
    Re: #14
    It originally comes from Mobile Suit Gundam Online anyway
    a "bazooka" that deals 10,000-plus damage (the term is a pun combining "10,000" with "bazooka"/"buzz")
    38AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:20
    Re: #14
    Ever since "mega hit" became a thing, digit counts stopped meaning anything.
    15AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:47
    > It's basically at the level of 50fps.

    This line in particular makes no sense to me
    It's amazing though — just coming up with that is wild
    17AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:56
    Re: #15
    Doesn't this just mean he can't tell 30 from 60?
    174AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:38
    Re: #15
    He's writing in French, so it might be because old CRT standards there ran at 50Hz (apparently a different standard from PAL)
    19AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:59
    Still, the smooth hair movement is genuinely impressive

    Meanwhile Japanese games still have jagged, stiff hair even now
    39AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:21
    Re: #19

    Does it get interesting just because it sways in the wind?
    43AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:24
    Re: #19
    It's impressive, but wavy hair doesn't really move like that, does it
    this motion looks more like someone with straightened or naturally silky straight hair
    20AnonymousAug 29, 2026 06:59
    There's barely any footage of actual extended gameplay to begin with
    it's all walking cutscenes — I thought I was watching Hitman
    23AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:05
    Re: #20
    Exactly this
    makes me genuinely worried whether it's really coming out this year
    62AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:56
    Variable frame rate suddenly turning choppy kills the vibe, so a locked 30fps should be fine.
    64AnonymousAug 29, 2026 07:58
    Re: #62
    No good, it'll wreck your eyes
    65AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:00
    Re: #62
    At least on the base PS5 it sounds like it's 1440p with a variable 30fps lol
    66AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:03
    I genuinely can't follow the logic here
    what happens if a PC version comes out running at 60fps?
    68AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:05
    Re: #66
    He's saying he'll switch over once the PC version comes out, so he's satisfied for now
    67AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:05
    We're probably heading into an era where mid-range PCs weaker than the PS6 cost hundreds of thousands of yen (several thousand dollars), so that scenario probably won't happen.
    69AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:08
    Re: #67
    Well, nobody even knows how powerful the PS6 will be yet
    130AnonymousAug 29, 2026 08:58
    Graphics this mediocre and it's only just hitting 30fps…
    133AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:01
    Re: #130
    Well, at 1440p it's probably going to look blurry anyway
    152AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:22
    This has been fueled by big third-party titles coming out on Switch 2 one after another at 30fps
    people desperately pushed the "anything under 60fps is unacceptable" line to deny the point of Switch 2 multiplatform releases
    but now it's boomeranged right back on them
    155AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:26
    Re: #152
    It's Switch 2, yet it still comes out a generation late running at 30fps — that's the crappy part
    also, did Switch users even actually want to play things like Cyberpunk or Elden Ring in the first place? That's where I doubted the point of those ports
    though I have no idea how well they actually sold
    158AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:28
    Re: #155
    If you just say "did they even want to play it?" and do nothing, the market never grows
    165AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:32
    Re: #155
    Looking on X, there are plenty of reports of people who already played it elsewhere buying the Switch 2 version and enjoying it
    153AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:25
    176AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:39
    This reminded me of it
    https://gzo.ai/i/I6UlqwF.jpg
    179AnonymousAug 29, 2026 09:44
    Re: #176
    Magic-tier hype level lol
    207AnonymousAug 29, 2026 10:39
    The PS5 Pro's frame rate hasn't been fully locked to 30fps yet — that will be announced later

    The base PS5 runs a smooth 30fps, but details on a performance mode haven't been revealed yet
    regarding enhanced support for the PS5 Pro, Rockstar has confirmed it will talk about FPS modes and PS5 Pro enhancements at a later date
    https://gzo.ai/i/2Iqy3nx.jpg

    GTA6 High Frame Rate Mode

    Digital Foundry: GTA 6: "Maybe the most impressive showcase we've ever seen"
    – The technology is off the charts
    – No severe frame rate drops — only extremely rare single-frame dips
    – Captured on base PS5 — looks even better on PS5 Pro
    – A high frame rate mode is under consideration for a post-launch update

    https://x.com/thereddragon/status/2093343768254587090?s=46&t=WszkdCmy-kHHsDa1CTBLcw

    Since it's not being sold on disc, there's said to be about three months left to carefully consider and implement it
    212AnonymousAug 29, 2026 10:54
    This is a game
    go watch a movie if that's what you want
    219AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:00
    Re: #212
    Movies run at 23.976fps though
    223AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:04
    Re: #212
    Reminds me of PlayStation fanboys who used to say 24fps is enough for games too, since movies run at 24

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Even before launch, information had circulated through near-official channels (a Digital Foundry preview article) that GTA6 would run at a base 30fps on PS5, with an enhanced mode under consideration for PS5 Pro — and the “high frame rate mode being considered for a post-launch update” mentioned later in the thread fits that same context. Frame rate debates tend to get heated because the raw fps number and the perceived smoothness (how even the frame times are) are two different things, so the impression that “it’s 30fps but looks smooth” isn’t technically a contradiction. At the same time, the thread also drifts into the etymology of the term “10k-buzz” (man-bazu, said to originate from Mobile Suit Gundam Online) and into how Switch 2 multiplatform titles running at 30fps gets recycled as ammunition in the PlayStation-vs-Switch console war. It’s worth keeping in mind that this has more to do with 5ch’s characteristic console-war (“geha”) undercurrent than with the GTA6 topic itself, and runs on a separate track from what the original poster’s tweet was actually about.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “geha”) thread “Foreigner: “GTA6’s 30fps is the smoothest 30fps of my life. Basically 50fps level” → Goes viral“.

  • 5ch Split Over Rumors That Only Japan’s PS5 Version Will Be Censored

    Rumors that the Japanese PS5 version of GTA6 will be a censored release have sparked discussion on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. It started with a jab: “Only Japanese PS5 owners are stuck getting the censored version, yet PS5 users themselves don’t seem to care.” Some countered that GTA5 already had content differences between PS5, Xbox, and PC, and that regions beyond Japan — like the Middle East and India — have their own restrictions too. In practice, though, the thread quickly drifted away from the censorship issue itself and into the usual PS5-vs-Xbox sales-numbers slap fight.

    1AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:01
    Isn't this way more serious than the frame rate debate?
    GTA's whole appeal is that anything goes — a censored version kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?
    And everyone's just ignoring this and screaming about FPS instead.
    4AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:07
    It's not just Japan.
    The Middle East often gets restrictions similar to Japan's, so the Japanese and Middle Eastern versions frequently end up bundled together.
    GTA doesn't really lean on gore, so Germany probably won't cut much.
    But if there's LGBTQ content, India and Pakistan might censor it.
    35AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:24
    Re: #4
    Huh, guess quite a few countries have restrictions then.
    251AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:39
    Re: #4
    I'm on Series X, but honestly I wish they'd censor just the gay stuff lol
    There's already an arachnophobia mode, right? lol
    6AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:09
    Your logic's backwards.
    It's PC and Xbox that are the weird ones for letting you play a version that's banned in Japan.
    Sony's the one actually following the rules.
    14AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:15
    Re: #6
    PS5 can boot overseas-region discs and play them too, though.
    15AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:17
    Re: #14
    Isn't that against the terms of service?
    19AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:17
    Re: #14
    I have no clue how the PS Store actually works — if you enter a download code, does it pull the overseas version regardless of the country set on your account?
    8AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:10
    No idea, but just buy it from Play-Asia like in the old days.
    11AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:12
    Re: #8
    Even if you buy the physical version, it's just a code-in-a-box these days, so what actually downloads is still the Japanese version anyway, right?
    41AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:29
    Who cares about the censorship or the actual content?
    Nobody in here is even planning to buy it.
    Have you ever once seen a "Goki" (a derogatory nickname for PlayStation fanboys) actually talk about the content of a PS5 game? Never happens.
    49AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:37
    Re: #41
    Pokémon, Splatoon, Xenoblade threads — people dive straight into discussing the actual content.

    Marathon, Saros, Toukon threads — literally nobody talks about the content.

    That's what happens when nobody's actually bought the game.
    53AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:39
    Re: #41
    Most people don't care either way — isn't that exactly why the PS version outsold the Xbox version?
    78AnonymousAug 29, 2026 11:58
    Only a tiny handful of weirdos actually care about censorship.
    The ones going on about "censorship this, censorship that" are just Xbox fanboys who don't want PS to sell well.
    You can trash-talk PlayStation all you want, nobody's buying that garbage Xbox.
    85AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:06
    In the leak, a guy got run over by a car and his leg just popped clean off.
    Wonder what'll happen in the retail version.

    Oh wait, sorry — guess that won't apply to the "walled-off edition" 🤣
    122AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:39
    Re: #85
    Dismemberment's fine in something like Monster Hunter or against monsters, but I don't really want to see it happen to humans or everyday animals.
    Though it sounds like there won't even be an option to turn it on or off, which is probably why this whole thread exists.
    138AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:03
    Re: #85
    Adding more animations like that is just going to tank the frame rate even more.
    146AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:24
    Well, no Japanese person owns a super-niche console like Xbox anyway, so everyone's buying the censored version.
    167AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:46
    Re: #146
    I'm Japanese, sorry for owning your "super-niche" console I guess.
    180AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:57
    Re: #146
    Sorry, the Xbox version's actually selling like crazy in Japan too lol
    151AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:30
    Xbox can't even manage to sell 2,800 copies of anything.
    It's a console where even a huge title like Forza Horizon 6 only moves 1,400 units.
    155AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:32
    Re: #151
    If a globally huge Marvel game only does 2,800, then 1,400 is actually a pretty solid showing.
    157AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:33
    Re: #151
    Xbox users are buying the digital version instead.
    192AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:16
    Honestly, I just don't see GTA6 taking off in Japan as things stand.
    201AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:28
    Re: #192
    The media hyping it up this hard is honestly kind of unsettling.
    208AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:36
    Re: #192
    The last one blew up because VTubers and streamers played it, so this one probably will too.
    Sakura Miko's already reacted to this one, in fact.
    203AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:29
    Please, somebody actually care about the censorship lol
    PS gets its own quarantined server lol (Xbox's dead server population is the real problem though)
    207AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:34
    Re: #203
    Sounds like you've never even played GTA5.
    222AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:45
    Re: #203
    This is the trash console that got Marathon and Toukon depopulated worldwide in record time — and you think a "quarantined" server won't end up just as dead?
    You really think Japanese players are all going to rush out and buy the censored, gutted version?
    Think this'll finally be Sony trash's first domestic million-seller?
    205AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:32
    Isn't it split into:
    Xbox server
    PS5 censored server
    PS5 uncensored server

    ?
    212AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:39
    Re: #205
    There's no way they'd split servers by censored/uncensored.
    Why would they pour that much resource into such a minor region?
    For PS, Japan doesn't even get its own server — you get routed to the Asia server.
    Even if you managed to boot the North American version, you'd get sent to the US server, and you probably can't even log into the account in the first place.
    225AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:49
    Re: #205
    Xbox basically quarantines players too, you know.
    214AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:40
    If you want the best experience and to play it as fast as possible right now, Xbox Series X is your only real option.
    216AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:41
    Re: #214
    You can't play PS-exclusive content on it, so it's not really the "best" experience.
    218AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:43
    Re: #216
    "Exclusive content"? Like what exactly? The faith born out of persecution?
    241AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:17
    Re: #216
    PS's "exclusive" is RTX 2060-tier 1440p at a variable 30fps, right? lol
    Spec-wise, Xbox actually looks capable of a locked 30fps.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Content restrictions on Japanese game releases are usually decided by each publisher’s own judgment, based on CERO’s ratings guidelines as well as an eye toward alignment with overseas rating bodies — GTA5 itself had certain scenes adjusted only in the Japanese version. This thread, too, started from unconfirmed information that “only the PS5 version will be censored”; it’s worth noting that neither Sony Interactive Entertainment nor developer Rockstar has made any official announcement about specific content restrictions. Posters also raised technical questions — like whether region-locked accounts can boot overseas-region discs, and which region’s data a PS Store download code actually pulls — but these remain speculation, and the real behavior will have to wait for an official statement. Where opinions diverged was over how many people actually care whether censorship happens at all; in practice, the thread drifted away from the censorship question itself and into the usual PS5-vs-Xbox sales comparisons and console-war sniping.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “[GTA6] Only Japanese PS5 users get the censored version — but PS5 owners are ignoring it.”

  • Palworld’s Peak Concurrent Players Crash From 2.1 Million to 140,000 — 5ch Hardware Board Reacts

    Palworld’s peak number of simultaneous Steam players has plunged from a high of roughly 2.1 million down to just 140,000, becoming a hot topic on 5ch’s “Hardware/Industry (Geha)” board. That works out to a loss of over 90% of peak players in the roughly two months since the 1.0 full release. The thread noted that only three titles in history have ever topped 2 million concurrent Steam players — PUBG, Black Myth: Wukong, and Palworld — and that even a 30% storewide sale hasn’t stopped the slide. Posters were split on whether this is just the natural cooldown of initial hype or a stall caused by the game running out of buzz.

    1AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:03
    How's this supposed to compete with Pokémon's 30 million (in sales)?
    9AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:14
    Being #4 in real-time concurrent players is honestly impressive
    It's been almost two months now, right?

    33AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:40
    Give it two more weeks and it'll be back to business as usual
    45AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:55
    Re: #33
    What a brutal drop lol
    If this were a stock price, people would be jumping out of windows lololol
    38AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:48
    Meanwhile, here's how Pokémon developer Game Freak's new title is doing right now
    40AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:50
    Re: #38
    A 300x gap against a game that's two years old… that's honestly kind of sad
    42AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:52
    Re: #38
    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah (´・ω・｀) (a common 5ch emoticon face used to express dismay)
    44AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:55
    Re: #38
    I wish Game Freak would take game development a little more seriously
    46AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:56
    Materials don't accumulate unless the game's actually running, so there're probably a fair number of people just leaving it on idle
    51AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:58
    Re: #46
    If it were that much of a hassle they'd just adjust the gathering rate
    The balance isn't even so brutal that you'd need to leave it running idle just to farm materials
    68AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:18
    Re: #46
    There are probably also people leveling up accounts to sell them
    Check the marketplace sites — there's quite a few sellers
    47AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:57
    They keep desperately defending it by excluding Western games and excluding free-to-play games,
    but even restricted to paid, Japanese-made games, there are still plenty of 'chameleons' (games that spike hard then quickly fade)
    THAT'S what a genuine boom and trend actually looks like
    50AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:57
    Re: #47
    That's already dead and buried
    I mean, free-to-play dominates even on Steam lol
    53AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:59
    Re: #47
    That trend is already over, full stop
    58AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:07
    Steadily dropping
    Probably back to business as usual by September

    Past 5 years

    Past 3 months
    65AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:15
    That initial 2.1 million concurrent players was pretty fishy to begin with
    Looking at other games, basically nothing hits over 2 million right at launch
    And at that point it hadn't even been sued yet — it was, for better or worse, 'just another clone game.' The fact that something like that suddenly put up numbers like this is weird
    67AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:16
    Re: #65
    There are other games that hit over 2 million concurrent right out of the gate too, like Black Myth: Wukong
    66AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:16
    It's kind of amazing how closely the Steam concurrent count tracks Google Trends lol


    73AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:29
    Even after the 30% sale kicked in, the downward trend in concurrent players hasn't budged
    Does that mean existing players are leaving faster than new ones are joining?
    168AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:59
    Re: #73
    Yep, exactly
    It sold on being a clone, but it's boring, so people are leaving

    About 2 months

    207AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:18
    "It's still popular! Still popular! Nobody's bored of it!" — cry all you want, but here's reality Re: #168

    And here's another gut punch!

    Palworld
    Metascore: 78
    User score: 7.3
    214AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:20
    Re: #168
    Dead game, dead game, lmaooo!!!!!! lol lol lol lmaooo!!!!!!

    Claiming this isn't a ghost town is just way too big a stretch 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
    74AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:29
    Re: #67
    That said, only three titles in history have ever topped 2 million concurrent — PUBG, Black Myth: Wukong, and Palworld
    193AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:11
    Re: #74
    Well, it's holding up better than Black Myth: Wukong, at least.
    Makes sense — it's a Pokémon clone, after all.


    Though honestly, what really stands out here is how amazing Pokémon's numbers are and how rock-solid PUBG's are
    198AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:13
    Re: #193
    Pokémon's genre listing
    is filed as "computer game,"
    so that figure lumps in mobile, Switch, everything combined
    Come back once you've narrowed it down to just Scarlet/Violet or the spin-off titles
    89AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:41
    It's hilarious — they made a huge announcement about a "rocket start with over 2 million concurrent players, and it's still Early Access!!" and two months later, nearly 1.8 million of those players are just gone
    95AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:48
    Re: #89
    Losing 90% of players in about two months and then fading into total irrelevance… so the 1.0 full release basically just reran the same old episode
    255AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:49
    140,000 concurrent players should honestly be an impressive number though (´･ω･`)
    259AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:53
    Re: #255
    Same downward slope as before, right, Re: #89
    Even back in Early Access, it stopped being talked about from around this same point too
    100AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:02
    If 140,000 concurrent players counts as "dead and irrelevant,"
    what does that make everything below that number…
    Are you trying to pick a fight with 99% of the games on Japanese Steam?
    102AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:07
    Re: #100
    If you factor in that it's a paid, buy-once game, then every title except Palworld and Black Myth: Wukong ends up looking like garbage by comparison
    107AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:10
    It's not counted in Steam's concurrent numbers, but Fortnite is apparently in a league of its own
    Even now it normally runs 1–1.5 million concurrent
    and easily clears 2 million during updates
    116AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:19
    Re: #107
    That's an AI-generated summary, isn't it
    The kind that mixes PS5 numbers in with everything else
    It comes up repeatedly in Epic's financial and court filings — the main battlefield is overwhelmingly PlayStation
    It's died down on PC
    166AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:57
    A lot of people on the hardware board have basically fused their own identity with Palworld, so they won't be satisfied unless it's a flawless, invincible masterpiece lol
    That's why they can't accept the Metascore and keep bumping the thread over it, and why they swarm into threads like this whining "it's still popular, nobody's bored of it" lol
    169AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:59
    Re: #166
    I wouldn't say flawless and invincible, but it is getting overwhelmingly positive reviews and praise from people who actually bought it
    170AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:59
    Re: #166 — swap out "Palworld" for "Nintendo" or "Pokémon" in that post, and it becomes exactly the kind of comment that user ID:tnicZzZod once got frustrated about being told
    176AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:01
    Re: #166
    That's just employees doing their jobs diligently
    202AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:15
    Animo and Loco Kingdom seem more likely to actually move the needle
    208AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:18
    Re: #202
    Exactly
    Feels like while everyone was busy brawling over this in Japan, the real threat showed up from outside
    Can't rule it out — there's precedent, like with Genshin Impact
    218AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:22
    Re: #202
    Both of those are Pokémon clones too lol
    221AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:25
    Re: #202
    The reason those two don't get as much noise is probably that their real rival is Palworld, not Pokémon
    Over there, people were making a huge fuss calling it a ripoff, to the point Palworld had to put out an official statement

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    It’s worth remembering that Steam’s concurrent player count is just a rough platform-level gauge, separate from official metrics like total sales. Palworld has been a subject of debate over its similarity to Pokémon ever since launch, but the Metacritic user score of 7.3 cited in the thread isn’t actually a low number — so a decline in concurrent players doesn’t necessarily mean the game itself is being rated poorly. It’s also worth noting that major titles not distributed via Steam, such as Fortnite, aren’t part of this concurrent-player comparison, which limits how meaningful a simple cross-platform comparison can be. What split opinion in the thread was purely the interpretation behind the decline — no objective supporting data, like sales figures, was actually presented.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Palworld’s Concurrent Players Down to Just 140,000… It’s a Total Ghost Town Now”.

  • Switch’s Tetris Drops 86% in Price — Pricing Error Suspected, Nintendo Declines to Comment

    The Switch puzzle game Tetris, normally priced around ¥594, was reported on a forum thread to be listed at an even steeper discount on the Nintendo eShop. Some posters claimed the original price was actually ¥4,500, and since the current price is far lower than expected, speculation spread that this was a pricing error. Some analysis pointed to the possibility that the regular and sale prices had been accidentally swapped with those of Lumines Remastered, another title released around the same time, sparking debate over the cause. With no official correction announced by Nintendo, rumors also circulated that the sale had been pulled entirely, leaving the thread in a swirl of unconfirmed speculation.

    1AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:16
    Is this worth buying?
    3AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:17
    Wait, it was originally ¥4,500?
    70AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:05
    Re: #3
    PS users can play the version optimized for Tempest 3D Audio through the PS Plus Catalog for free, yet here are people paying ¥4,500 for the massively inferior "Trashwitch" version lol (a mocking nickname combining "garbage" and "Switch")
    81AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:22
    Re: #70
    That's not even an impression from actually playing it lol
    9AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:19
    With Amazon, pricing errors like this usually end with them making you return it later — is it actually safe to buy this?
    13AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:20
    Re: #9
    This looks basically like a company-side pricing mistake, so I don't think it's related
    There was a similar case before where a DRPG went on sale for 100 yen
    12AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:20
    Buying it knowing it's a mistake is basically the same as piracy
    22AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:25
    Re: #12
    It's only being speculated that it's a pricing mistake based on the situation — nobody's confirmed it as a mistake, so it's a gray area, which makes it safe 🤗
    154AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:58
    Re: #12
    It's being sold officially, so there's no problem.
    27AnonymousAug 29, 2026 12:26
    The DS version is the best Tetris
    62AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:00
    Judging by the sale history, this was probably supposed to be another 50%-off deal — so what kind of mistake turned it into 86% off?
    82AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:24
    Re: #62
    It seems likely the prices got swapped with Lumines Remastered
    Lumines is usually ¥594, but this time it's 50% off at ¥980
    Tetris is usually 50% off, but this time it's ¥594
    86AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:25
    Re: #82
    Wow… nice catch.
    90AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:36
    Re: #82
    I see
    It's basically in the same vein as Lumines, right?
    Did they add a co-op/versus mode or something?
    91AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:36
    Wouldn't you be better off just buying Dragon's Dogma?
    92AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:37
    Re: #91
    Just buy both lol
    112AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:10
    Re: #91
    Did Dragon's Dogma 2 actually become fundamentally more fun after the updates?
    106AnonymousAug 29, 2026 13:58
    It's climbing the rankings at an insane speed
    127AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:41
    Booted up my Switch for the first time in a year and the eShop wasn't exactly snappy, but it had gotten better
    Had ¥496 left in my balance
    Not enough
    132AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:50
    Re: #127
    Let's buy Front Mission 3
    133AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:51
    Re: #132
    Peak wasteful spending, as always
    134AnonymousAug 29, 2026 14:53
    Re: #132
    Wouldn't want it even for ¥100
    153AnonymousAug 29, 2026 15:53
    If it's a mistake, why don't they just fix it right away?
    156AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:00
    Re: #153
    If the system let them change prices frequently
    users could end up getting overcharged by mistake
    159AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:04
    Re: #153
    If the price changed right at the moment of checkout, that'd cause a disaster
    164AnonymousAug 29, 2026 16:14
    An example of a publisher actually commenting on a pricing mistake


    CD Projekt: "Oops, we got the price wrong"
    ↓
    Fixed two days later
    203AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:43
    People saying it's a pricing mistake — do you not even own a Switch and have never looked at the shop?
    205AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:45
    Re: #203
    The Nintendo eShop
    has guidelines stating that fixing a mistake takes two days
    207AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:46
    Re: #203
    If anything, if you'd actually looked, you'd know it's a mistake
    Noob lol
    208AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:47
    Re: #205
    Front Mission was also said to be a pricing mistake, but they never fixed it
    Sales where a few-thousand-yen game drops to a few hundred yen happen pretty often
    212AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:49
    Re: #208
    That game had its price fixed ahead of schedule though…?
    222AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:55
    Re: #208
    Isn't it just that the overseas publisher hasn't noticed yet?
    211AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:48
    Re: #207
    If it's a mistake, there'll be an official announcement and it'll get fixed
    Sales where a few-thousand-yen game drops to a few hundred yen are common — maybe you should actually buy a game console?
    214AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:50
    If this isn't a mistake, then what is it?
    226AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:59
    Front Mission's pricing is definitely intentional, aiming for a synergy effect — it's not a mistake
    There's no way they'd throw away expected profit and not correct it

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Nintendo has issued no official announcement explaining the discount, so the thread’s theories rest purely on circumstantial evidence. The leading theory is that the regular and sale prices of Tetris and Lumines Remastered — another title released around the same time — got swapped, though this remains unconfirmed. There have been past cases of major publishers acknowledging pricing errors and correcting them within a few days, and the Nintendo eShop is also said to require a certain number of days to issue corrections, but that too is just hearsay within the thread. Opinions were split on whether it’s fair to buy the game knowing it might be a mistake, with some arguing that a price officially displayed by Nintendo can’t be a problem, while others likened it to piracy. There are also reports that the sale was pulled and sales suspended, but without an official statement, this should still be treated as unconfirmed.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Freebie Flash Report] Switch’s Tetris is 86% off due to a pricing error! Ends tomorrow!“.

  • Not Just Bic Camera—TSUTAYA Also Launches PS4/PS5 Clearance Sale With New Copies Up to 80% Off

    Following Bic Camera, reports on 5ch say TSUTAYA has also kicked off steep discounts on PS4/PS5 software. According to a poster who visited a store in person, new copies aren’t just 80% off — some are down to 100, 300, or 500 yen, with a sign on the shelf reading “Clearance sale due to trading card corner expansion/renewal.” The thread split between those who see this as a de facto sign of Sony pulling back from physical PlayStation sales, and those who dismiss it as simple shelf reorganization to make room for trading cards — the debate spilled over into discussion of Sony’s push toward download-code-only sales.

    9AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:20
    FC24 means it's a 2024 game — this season's is FC26
    This is just clearing out old stock
    https://tadaup.jp/8MMfJbyO.jpeg
    13AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:21
    They're just prepping the sales floor for the switch to download-code sales a couple years out, phasing out physical packaging
    Do you Nintendo fanboys (ブーちゃん, a mocking nickname for Switch loyalists) really think this counts as anti-PS ammunition?
    Whatever doesn't sell will just keep sliding down over time — 20% off → 50% off, 50% off → 80% off, 80% off → 500 yen
    and with about a year and a half left until then, it'll all be cleared out
    30AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:28
    Re: #13
    If it's just a corner for selling paper download codes, one section is plenty
    The leftover space will just become more Nintendo shelf space
    41AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:34
    Re: #13
    Sony doesn't actually wholesale download codes to retailers though, so there's nothing to sell
    It's PS Store exclusive
    Third parties would have to put out their own boxed releases with paper codes inside themselves
    In practice, PS's shelf space disappears from retail stores entirely
    47AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:39
    Re: #24
    When Sony first announced the move to consolidate everything into downloads, they said outright that you'd still be able to buy download codes at retail stores, so customers could keep shopping there
    Chains like TSUTAYA don't get to design their shelves based on individual staff preference — they move on orders from head office
    If head office says "Sony's asked us to push code sales," the stores on the ground will have to build a proper code section, no question
    54AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:44
    Re: #47
    Did you know? Sony already tried that once, it flopped, and they dropped it

    I wonder if retailers will bother stocking it again~
    57AnonymousAug 29, 2026 17:47
    Re: #47
    Retailers aren't slaves, you know
    TSUTAYA's PS sales were strong because of the synergy with DVD rentals — paper codes kill that synergy
    And obviously you can't resell them used either
    Paper is a particularly bad fit for TSUTAYA specifically; it's obvious things get worse compared to the disc era
    99AnonymousAug 29, 2026 18:24
    Software makers who owe Sony a debt of loyalty (恩義, "ongi") and aren't bringing games to Switch 2 must be turning pale right now
    Going all-in on a sinking ship
    119AnonymousAug 29, 2026 18:40
    Re: #99
    Even an indie dev putting games on Switch 2 said this
    He said he'd been considering a Switch 2 exclusive, but the install base isn't big enough yet, so he's going multiplatform with PS5 instead
    124AnonymousAug 29, 2026 18:45
    Re: #119
    Do what you want, but this issue isn't limited to the PS5 — it'll carry over to PS6 too, whenever that comes out
    This isn't about one console, the PS5; it's about whether the PlayStation platform itself is coming to an end
    That's the scale we're talking about
    The gravity of this is on a completely different level from any past crisis
    127AnonymousAug 29, 2026 18:46
    Re: #119
    Just release it multiplatform like normal, simple as that
    147AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:03




    236AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:18
    The most hopeless part is that because of the liquid metal (thermal paste) problem, there's no way the PS5 becomes a beloved retro console decades from now
    Future: retro game shops refuse to buy the physical copies, and since the consoles themselves are almost all broken, they get refused there too
    244AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:29
    Re: #236
    There's a PC version anyway, so nobody will need it
    246AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:33
    Re: #236
    Decades from now pretty much every other console will be dead too
    259AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:52
    Re: #236
    The Switch will die first, honestly
    It's built on an LCD tablet base to begin with, so it's not built to last
    Even that famous YouTuber repair guy said the Switch has all kinds of parts prone to breaking — plenty of variety in its failure patterns
    268AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:55
    Re: #265
    There you go erasing the Vita from memory again
    282AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:10
    Re: #268
    The Vita didn't get pulled from the market
    They just didn't make a successor because its main target audience started overlapping with mobile gamers
    It even got more games released for it than the GBA did
    286AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:10
    Re: #282
    What mobile games even existed back when the Vita launched?
    293AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:20
    Re: #282
    Isn't that exactly what you'd call getting pulled from the market?
    Are you being serious right now?
    276AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:04
    Honestly, forget Bic Camera — unlike GEO, TSUTAYA has just been failing across the board
    Rentals, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, books, games
    They're shrinking in every single one of those, and unlike GEO they haven't navigated it well — that's really all this is
    277AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:06
    Re: #276
    Are you saying getting into PlayStation was the failure?
    279AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:07
    Re: #276
    So what? They're cutting whatever doesn't sell, and that happens to be PS
    281AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:08
    Re: #276
    But when GEO — the one you say is navigating things well — said they wanted a Switch version of Wilds (Monster Hunter Wilds), you guys review-bombed it so hard the article got taken down
    297AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:21
    https://gzo.ai/i/WQ0WFeH.jpg
    Wow, they're really desperate…
    301AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:24
    Re: #297
    Why the hell does a promo campaign from a used-game chain (古市, "Furuichi") show up as a notification on the console itself lol
    That's way too much
    This alone is thread-worthy material
    307AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:34
    Re: #297
    You can't expect users who are used to the ○ button meaning "confirm" to go buy a console where ✕ is confirm instead
    311AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:40
    Re: #297
    PS4 users were never going to buy a PS5 anyway, yet here they are so desperate
    328AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:55
    There's been stuff like this in the past too
    They were desperate back then too…
    PlayStation's domestic market has a well-earned reputation: every generational transition shrinks the market, and migration never goes smoothly
    Because that's been seen as a problem, there's a whole history of throwing money at it to fix it


    330AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:57
    Re: #328
    There's a game I've never seen before sitting right next to Freedom Wars
    349AnonymousAug 29, 2026 23:40
    375AnonymousAug 30, 2026 00:25
    I saw this thread and went to my local TSUTAYA — it wasn't just 80% off, they had new copies marked down in tiers at 500, 300, and 100 yen
    Looked like it had already been picked over, not much decent left…
    But for 100 yen a new copy, I figured it's basically just the cost of a case to swap onto my scratched-up used copy and make it look new, so I grabbed a few of what was left

    https://tadaup.jp/8Aimo7M3.jpeg

    As far as I remember, what else was left included: Sword Art Online for PS4/PS5 at 500 yen, Exoprimal and Custom Mech Wars for PS5 at 300 yen, a Demon Slayer limited edition at 500 yen, and a soccer game at 300 yen
    The sign on the shelf read "Clearance sale due to trading card corner expansion/renewal"
    My guess is the space freed up from clearing that stock won't go toward expanding the Switch section — it'll just become more trading card space
    379AnonymousAug 30, 2026 00:37
    Re: #375
    So it's really confirmed, they're pulling out
    Thanks for 30 years, PlayStation
    381AnonymousAug 30, 2026 00:37
    Re: #375
    Thanks for the report
    That's a full-on withdrawal sale if I've ever seen one
    384AnonymousAug 30, 2026 00:44
    Re: #375
    100 yen lol
    That's a straight-up stock dump lol

    Background and Points of Contention

    Sony has been gradually scaling back physical packaging in favor of download-code sales, and retail shelf layouts are easily affected by that shift. What split the thread was the reason behind the sale: one side saw it as a sign of PlayStation pulling back and losing market share, while the other dismissed it as nothing more than routine shelf reorganization to make room for trading cards. It’s worth noting that TSUTAYA has reportedly been struggling across multiple lines of business — rentals, CDs, DVDs, and books — so this sale may be less a PlayStation-specific issue than part of a broader contraction of the store’s overall business. It’s also worth mentioning, as background that doesn’t come through in the thread replies alone, that Sony once tried and then abandoned the idea of selling download codes through retail before, so it isn’t as simple a decision as it might seem.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “Not Just Bic Camera—TSUTAYA Also Launches PS4/PS5 Clearance Sale With New Copies Up to 80% Off.”