Sony Interactive Japan Opens Official Youtube Channel, Posts Videos That Show Games from Nintendo, Xbox
Today, December 26th 2016, Sony Interactive Entertainment has put up an official YouTube channel for its SCE Japan Studio. This is kind of a big deal for a couple of reasons. Firstly, fans will no longer have to deal with the old broadcast service, Nico Nico, and secondly, it seems that the channel will focus more on the gaming world in general than on promoting Sony products exclusively.
Though we may have to deal with the occasional unsolicited commercial to view content on YouTube, you can bet there will be significantly more eyes on Sony’s asian live streams now, especially here in the west. Right now, there are only two videos currently uploaded to the channel and they are past live streams that were also posted on Nico Nico. Exactly what Sony Japan plans to do with the site remains to be seen, but from the selection of videos they have chosen to upload already, you can get a sense of what they intend to bring to the table with future live streams.
One 3 hour and 15 minute video, linked below, focuses on E3 and gives some attention to non PlayStation products. Even if you can’t follow what the reporters are saying, you can clearly see, at 1:31 the stream shows a little love to the new Zelda Game, Breath of the Wild. Just a few minutes later at 1:33, we get a look at the Microsoft booth and the game Sea of Thieves. It seems that Sony, or at least their Japanese branch, is more concerned with covering interesting games in general than trying to exclusively promote their own brand. Though we can’t be sure that this is the approach the channel intends to take going forward, it is telling that this video is one of only two that they deemed appropriate to put up on their YouTube debut.
Perhaps Sony Japan’s move here, is to create a place where people can come to get information about gaming in general, driving more traffic to their new YouTube channel. Or perhaps they are simply delving into what they find interesting during live streams. At the end of the day, gamers can go to a multitude of sources to find out what is happening in the gaming world. There is really no way to force brand loyalty, except by simply producing the best systems and games. And if Sony is confident in their work, why not check out the competition even in an official live stream? We can’t wait to see what Sony is going to be reporting on with their new official page, but one thing is certain: there will be plenty more people watching now that they have an official YouTube channel.