Sony’s PS5 promotions appear to focus primarily on the US market and has noticeably pivoted away from Japan. Anonymous Sony employees who spoke to Bloomberg cite PS4’s relatively poor performance in Japan as the reason behind the shift.
Bloomberg’s article lays the math out: While Japan produces 10% of the PS4’s earnings, the US generates 35%, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. analyst Damian Thong. The PS4 also sold less than 10 million units in Japan, as stated by Famitsu, and performed more poorly than the PS3.
Sony disavows that it’s shifting marketing focus. Spokeswoman Natsumi Atarashi stated “our home market remains of utmost importance” and pointed out that PS5 is actually launching in Japan first.
There’s a narrative reason for why this game is called The Pathless, but the name is also a reference to how it’s supposed to be played. It’s an open-world puzzle game with emphases on exploration and skilled traversal, and you are meant to wander and experience its world as you find it, rather than as a series of checklist objectives. The Pathless’ vast, puzzle-filled nature creates a nice, quiet space for running through the woods, lining up some tricky shots with your bow, and losing yourself in the moment.
In The Pathless, you are a woman simply known as the Hunter. You’ve come to liberate a ruined land, empty of all human life save for a masked villain called the Godslayer. The land’s protector deities, known as The Tall Ones, have transformed into villainous beasts that roam the wilderness. With the help of your eagle, an avatar of the eldest god, you must free the spirits and save the land. The plot is limited–aside from a few sparring exchanges between the Hunter and The Godslayer, the general tenor is simply, “keep going.”
The Pathless on PS5
To free the Tall Ones, you must collect their seals and reactivate monuments scattered around their domains. Each of the four regions is a beautiful, sprawling wilderness, with sweeping plains, peaceful rivers, and high rocky peaks. Hills and valleys are sparsely dotted with signs of life, past and present–friendly animals, ruins, and giant skeletons. There are just enough setpieces in each area so that there’s always a new objective on the horizon, without making the world feel crowded or even populated. When you’re running from place to place, you feel like you’re in nature–not a wasteland or a ruin, but somewhere untouched. It feels quite serene to run through.
Nintendo will soon be rolling out another update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The company announced via Twitter that it’s releasing a 9.0.2 update for the game “in the near future,” and it appears the patch will make another swathe of adjustments to various characters.
Nintendo hasn’t yet specified when the 9.0.2 update will go live, but according to the tweet, the patch “will include fighter adjustments.” Nintendo also warns to convert your replay data ahead of the update, as it will be incompatible once the 9.0.2 version is live.
One of Netflix‘s most interesting superhero shows is none other than Umbrella Academy. The streaming service announced today that the series is getting a third season.
Umbrella Academy Season 3 will consist of 10 one-hour episodes and will see the return of Steve Blackman as showrunner and executive producer. He’ll be joined by Jeff F. King, Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, and Jesse McKeown as executive producers.
Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Ritu Arya, and Colm Feore will all be reprising their roles from previous seasons.
