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A Japanese release date for PlayStation 4 could be announced at Tokyo Game Show next month, Sony UK managing director Fergal Gara has suggested.
Talking to VideoGamer.com last week about Sony’s launch plans for PS4, Gara explained that he hadn’t been informed of a final Japanese release date, but “maybe that’s one of the points that will get covered at Tokyo Game Show.”
“[A Japanese release date] wasn’t specifically mentioned [during Sony’s Gamescom press conference],” he said, “but this is a European show so I think a lot of the time was spent talking about what are the initial launch territories in Europe and how is it going against what was announced at E3. I’m sure we’ll flesh that out shortly.”
Tokyo Game Show is due to run from September 19 through to September 22.
Sony announced last week that PS4 would launch in North America on November 15 and in the UK on November 29. However, a Japanese date has yet to be revealed.
Previous PlayStation consoles have always launched in Japan first, before rolling out to the rest of the world in the months that follow. The original PlayStation launched in Japan in December 1994, nine months before it launched elsewhere, with PS2 launching in Japan in March 2000, seven months prior to the rest of the world.
Sony closed the gap with PlayStation 3, though, launching the console in Japan on November 11, 2006 and in the US just one week later on November 17, 2006.
However, the console launched four months later in Europe – fifteen months after the arrival of the Xbox 360 – a factor Gara believes may have affected PS3’s chances in the UK.
PlayStation 4 has already sold out in the UK, but Sony could receive additional stock to fulfil some later pre-orders.
