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Discussion Axios: 11 members of US Congress are asking President Biden to deal with Sony's business practices in the Japanese gaming market against US companies

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This won't go anywhere substantial, but it is hilariously ironic to see the intentionally narrow definition of "High End Console Market" that Sony pushed for the CMA and FTC discussion in order to remove Nintendo from the conversation rebounding in this way.
 
plank said:
This is the first time I here of congressmen caring about issues not in there own district.
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They're all congressmen from Washington state, and Maria Cantwell is the Senator from Washington. But why would that matter? Hmmm. I guess we'll never know.
 
plank said:
This is the first time I here of congressmen caring about issues not in there own district.
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Oh, I can assure you, they "care", but it depends on your definition of "caring".

Nothing but terrible things that often harm us and those around the world.

---

This is such a bizarre thing I didn't expect to come out of this case, if nothing else. When I initially saw the report, I thought it was a joke/satire, until I read the statement(s) signs by the congressmen.

EDIT: Okay, as others pointed out and I didn't make the connection at first, but yeah, it's really transparent what's going on here.
 
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plank said:
This is the first time I here of congressmen caring about issues not in there own district.
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You still haven't. If you read the article, all of the reps pushing this angle are from Washington state, where Microsoft is headquartered and is fairly transparently using them as a cat's paw.
 
Is one of them that person who's major campaign donor happened to be Microsoft?
 
Also, in case my joke didn't make it clear:



Embers said:
You still haven't. If you read the article, all of the reps pushing this angle are from Washington state, where Microsoft is headquartered and is fairly transparently using them as a cat's paw.
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Yup
 
menx64 said:
Nintendo:

Let them fight!
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This has been Nintendo this whole ordeal:
tG7EsC.gif


Getting a 10 year Call of Duty agreement? Sony getting some pressure regarding exclusivity deals? Being basically ignored by every regulatory governing body despite having one of the most successful consoles ever? Yeah, not a bad deal at all for them.
 
WestEgg said:
This has been Nintendo this whole ordeal:
tG7EsC.gif


Getting a 10 year Call of Duty agreement? Sony getting some pressure regarding exclusivity deals? Being basically ignored by every regulatory governing body despite having one of the most successful consoles ever? Yeah, not a bad deal at all for them.
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Luigi Nintendo wins by doing absolutely nothing
 
Isn't this the same Microsoft who tried to enter the Japanese market in a big way with a huge JRPG called Blue Dragon? And after that failed attempt, they continued the series on the "market leader" Nintendo DS. You know very well how it works, Microsoft.
 
WestEgg said:
This has been Nintendo this whole ordeal:
tG7EsC.gif


Getting a 10 year Call of Duty agreement? Sony getting some pressure regarding exclusivity deals? Being basically ignored by every regulatory governing body despite having one of the most successful consoles ever? Yeah, not a bad deal at all for them.
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The question that has to be asked is what if they do go through with the investigation into the FTC’s dumb market segregation argument.
 
I mean, it's obvious what the Representatives of Microsoft the fine people of Washington State are aiming at.

Like, maybe they'll get some company like Square Enix to toss them a bone, but no one cares about Xbox in Japan so this'll be over soon. Best outcome we can hope for is some investigation into that time Sony actively fucked with JPN companies.
 
"Mr. Biden, please tell the Japanese that Micros- I mean American companies would like to buy- I-I mean access their market equally like the Japanese!"
 
Ahmed said:
"Mr. Biden, please tell the Japanese that Micros- I mean American companies would like to buy- I-I mean access their market equally like the Japanese!"
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I can see this as the real goal, to weaken the resistance of Microsoft buying a big japanese publisher

Sony, the market leader and with 95%+ of the japanese "high-end" market, who locks big profile japanese games temporarily or permanently from hitting Xbox in Japan/Asia (MH World) and sometimes, WW (FFXVI, FF7R) won't lose its position if Microsoft buys, let's say, Capcom or Sega/Konami's game division.

Bonus points to make the games available on Gamepass and Xcloud day one, extending the availability for consumers.



Sony really opened Pandora's Box when they came with the "Nintendo doesn't count" thing
 
I hope the congress looks into why Harada and Nagoshi blocked games from coming to Switch.
 
So basically the group is largely comprised of the senior local politicians that a multinational has in its pocket in it’s home state in the US, and conveniently this group wants the president of the US to go to bat for that company’s interests overseas, in the next step in the ‘high end console market’ debacle. I mean, it’s all backfired on Sony with their silly claims about what the market is, but politicians lobbying on behalf of multinationals is just corruption too.
 
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I’m annoyed at Sony locking down Final Fantasy basically indefinitely, but this feels very silly. Sony’s market in Japan has diminished, and Square Enix is eagerly targeting western audiences with recent Final Fantasy games.
 
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this whole thing has been so funny to follow, lol
sony is probably going to regret inventing that "high-end console market" thing and feeding it to the regulators more and more in the future
 
mazi said:
this whole thing has been so funny to follow, lol
sony is probably going to regret inventing that "high-end console market" thing and feeding it to the regulators more and more in the future
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Isn't part of the FTC situation that's still going to happen that Sony has to open up about all their exclusivity contract for the last couple of years as requestes by MS?

It's not going to leak as only lawyers will likely lay eyes on it, but i doubt that Sony is happy about this with this funny shit right now.
 
Bonejack said:
Isn't part of the FTC situation that's still going to happen that Sony has to open up about all their exclusivity contract for the last couple of years as requestes by MS?

It's not going to leak as only lawyers will likely lay eyes on it, but i doubt that Sony is happy about this with this funny shit right now.
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yeah, they have to share all their exclusivity contracts post 2019 with MS lawyers
 
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Bonejack said:
Isn't part of the FTC situation that's still going to happen that Sony has to open up about all their exclusivity contract for the last couple of years as requestes by MS?

It's not going to leak as only lawyers will likely lay eyes on it, but i doubt that Sony is happy about this with this funny shit right now.
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Yup, and it's Sony's own fault that they landed themselves in that situation, because they were the ones arguing that Microsoft were foreclosing them within the "high end console market" (their own made-up definition that explicitely excluded Nintendo).

Sony's own dirty tactics have now come back round to bite them in the arse. You love to see it!
 
WestEgg said:
This has been Nintendo this whole ordeal:
tG7EsC.gif


Getting a 10 year Call of Duty agreement? Sony getting some pressure regarding exclusivity deals? Being basically ignored by every regulatory governing body despite having one of the most successful consoles ever? Yeah, not a bad deal at all for them.
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The problem will come the day Microsoft tries to release a portable console.

Hey, they have the Monopoly here, remember the ActivisionBlizzard days? Well, Nintendo is evil and have a monopoly here.

It’s good now but horrible for them in the future.
 
Notsowise said:
The problem will come the day Microsoft tries to release a portable console.

Hey, they have the Monopoly here, remember the ActivisionBlizzard days? Well, Nintendo is evil and have a monopoly here.

It’s good now but horrible for them in the future.
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Microsoft is never going to release a dedicated handheld device when they have XCloud. It can already be used on the Steam Deck or phones.
 
Notsowise said:
The problem will come the day Microsoft tries to release a portable console.

Hey, they have the Monopoly here, remember the ActivisionBlizzard days? Well, Nintendo is evil and have a monopoly here.

It’s good now but horrible for them in the future.
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If they can succeed where Atari, Sega, SNK, Bandai, Nokia, Tiger, Sony failed, more power to them.
 
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Semi Lazy Gamer said:
www.axios.com

11 members of Congress argue Sony is unfairly hurting Xbox in Japan

In letters obtained by Axios, reps blast an “imbalanced Japanese video game market.”
www.axios.com www.axios.com
Axios said:
What’s next: In their letters, House members ask that the Sony issue be raised with the Japanese government and identify “additional barriers” to American companies in accessing the Japanese gaming market.
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I found an "additional barrier" already. Per the article:
Axios said:
Nintendo, excluded from the definition of “high-end consoles” cited by the policymakers, crushes Sony and Microsoft.
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Has Microsoft tried making games people in Japan (or globally, really) actually want to play?

Seems like it'd be easier than crying to their paid off congressmen and expecting it to actually do anything about Japan not wanting to buy their consoles
 
Notsowise said:
The problem will come the day Microsoft tries to release a portable console.

Hey, they have the Monopoly here, remember the ActivisionBlizzard days? Well, Nintendo is evil and have a monopoly here.

It’s good now but horrible for them in the future.
Click to expand...
Nintendo having the handheld monopoly IS a bad thing. That's why people root for Valve to make a dent with Steam Deck. Competition is good.

Having said that, Microsoft would be the last company to release a dedicated handheld.
 
Sony played themselves so hard with this entire case. They may as well have hired some console warriors off the playground for the level of arguments they've been putting forth

This case specifically though, I see going nowhere. Sony doesn't even lift a finger in Japan, Microsoft is dead there regardless. In fact didn't we literally have leaks confirming that Sony moneyhatted third party software in Japan off of the Switch only, but basically ignored Xbox because it's such a nonfactor there?
 
Lord Azrael said:
Sony played themselves so hard with this entire case. They may as well have hired some console warriors off the playground for the level of arguments they've been putting forth

This case specifically though, I see going nowhere. Sony doesn't even lift a finger in Japan, Microsoft is dead there regardless. In fact didn't we literally have leaks confirming that Sony moneyhatted third party software in Japan off of the Switch only, but basically ignored Xbox because it's such a nonfactor there?
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I don't know about full games being blocked from Xbox as a whole but Sony has moneyhatted RE8 to not appear on gamepass in any form. That contract came out during the Epic v. Apple case.
 
PixelKnight said:
So basically the group is largely comprised of the senior local politicians that a multinational has in its pocket in it’s home state in the US, and conveniently this group wants the president of the US to go to bat for that company’s interests overseas, in the next step in the ‘high end console market’ debacle. I mean, it’s all backfired on Sony with their silly claims about what the market is, but politicians lobbying on behalf of multinationals is just corruption too.
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You can see this same thing currently going on with these illegitimate Tiktok hearings and all the calls to ban Tiktok. Politicians lobbying on behalf of American tech companies to the detriment of everyone else is a feature of the system
 
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Dizzle said:
Also, in case my joke didn't make it clear:





Yup
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Microsoft is definitely pulling things here. My guess is Microsoft wants to break through Japan's stronghold on consoles and gaming. Sony isn't the gatekeepers there, it's the Japanese culture and games your peddling are the core issue. This seems like Microsoft trying to start multinational issues because they don't understand why they aren't successful in Japan's game market. Utterly pathetic.
 
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