Last week, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan confirmed that more of his first party exclusives would be coming to the PC. In the past few days, Sony has confirmed that it is restructuring the Sony Japan Studio, with many developers leaving while others are absorbed by other teams.
So, maybe Sony doesn’t realize that Japan Studio games are the ones that should be ported more urgently to the PC?
When I think of Sony’s iconic games, it’s not Horizon: Zero Dawn (which arrived on the PC last year) or Days Gone (which is coming this spring). These are third-person action adventures of the kind I can already play on PC. They are not even the best games of this genre that I think of, Gods Of War, Lasts Of Us or Bloodbornes.
No, I think of the sung revelry of Loco Roco and Patapon. I think of the Pomeranian survival simulator, Tokyo Jungle, and the pioneer Ape Escape from DualShock. I think, of course, of prestigious classics (somewhat overrated) like Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus and The Last Obstinate Bird Dog.
Many of these games were co-developed with other teams, both internal and in the case of Team Ico, or external companies like Pyramid on Patapon. Many of the specific developers responsible for these games have also left Sony Japan Studio, as in the case of the Gravity Rush developer team, Team Gravity. Perhaps the name Japan Studio, therefore, does not mean much more – and it may never have meant it.
But games mean a lot. They are strange, ambitious video games, often wildly optimistic. There aren’t many of these, and the few that are made tend to happen on the PC right now. The indie platform game Pikuniku, for example, seems clearly inspired by some of the Japan Studio games. In my opinion, this makes Japan Studio’s work more widely available and makes the PC the perfect home.
Porting them to the PC doesn’t look like a chimera either. Many of these games – Colossus, Patapon, Parappa The Rapper, Loco Roco – have received Remasters in recent years, including some that brought PSP-exclusive games to PlayStation 4. Perhaps there is already a plan in place to do exactly what I am suggesting.
But if we reach the end of 2021 and Sony announces that the game that will come after Days Gone is Sad Dad Reboot or Dog Murder: A Cautionary Tale, then it will seem to me like a missed opportunity.
TL; DR: Release Knack on the PC, you cowards.