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Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan confirmed last week that more of their first-party exclusives are coming to PC. Over the past two days, Sony has confirmed that it is restructuring Sony Japan Studio, with many developers leaving while others are absorbed by other teams.
So, maybe Sony doesn’t realize that Japan Studio’s games are the ones that should be brought to PC the most urgently?
When I think of iconic Sony games, it’s not Horizon: Zero Dawn (which arrived on PC last year) or Days Gone (which arrives this spring). These are third person action adventures of the kind that I can already play on PC. These aren’t even the best games of this genre that I can think of, Gods Of War, Lasts Of Us, or Bloodbornes.
No, I am thinking of the celebrations sung by Loco Roco and Patapon. I think of the Pomeranian survival simulation Tokyo Jungle and the pioneer DualShock Ape Escape. I am thinking, of course, of prestigious (somewhat overrated) classics like Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus and The Last Obstinate Bird Dog.
Many of these games have been co-developed with other teams, either internally as in the case of Team Ico, or with external companies like Pyramid on Patapon. Many specific developers responsible for these games have also already left Sony Japan Studio, as in the case of the developers of Gravity Rush Team Gravity. Maybe the name of Japan Studio doesn’t mean much anymore – and maybe it never has.
But games mean a lot. These are weird, ambitious, often very optimistic video games. There aren’t too many of them, and the ones that are created tend to be on PCs now. The indie platformer Pikuniku, for example, seems so clearly inspired by some of the games from Japan Studio. In my opinion, this makes the work of Japan Studio worth making more widely available and makes the PC their ideal home.
Porting them to PC doesn’t seem like a pipe dream either. Many of these games – Colossus, Patapon, Parappa The Rapper, Loco Roco – have already received Remasters in recent years, including some that have brought previously PSP-exclusive games to the PlayStation 4. Maybe a plan is already in place to do exactly what I am suggesting.
But if we come to the end of 2021 and Sony has announced that the game coming after Days Gone is Sad Dad Reboot or Dog Murder: A Cautionary Tale, then that will seem like a missed opportunity to me.
TL; DR: Release Knack on PC, you cowards.
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