Sony first released the PlayStation 4 on November 15th in the U.S and Canada and today, over three months later, the company finally launched its next-gen game console in its home country of Japan.
The official PlayStation Japan Twitter account marked the occasion by showing a picture of the first person who bought a PS4 at Sony"s launch event earlier today, where it is already Saturday, February 22nd in that country"s time zone. He is flanked by Andrew House, the president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, and Hiroshi Kawano, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia.
PlayStation®4 日本でいよいよ本日発売！ #PS4 pic.twitter.com/7NOjyG62nn
— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) February 21, 2014
The PS4"s price in Japan is 39,980 yen or 43,980 yen if buyers get a special bundle with the PlayStation Camera. Unlike the North American or European launches, the first shipments of the PS4 in Japan will come with a free game, the platformer Knack. Twenty-seven games, including many made just for the Japanese market, are included in today"s launch.
The PS4 is now available for sale in over 50 countries and territories and recently Sony said that sales of the console have exceeded 5.3 million units worldwide. By contrast, Microsoft"s rival Xbox One console is only available in 13 markets and has not announced any concrete dates to expand to other parts of the world, including Japan.
Source: PlayStation Japan on Twitter