By now we all know of the damning 8.9 magnitude earthquake that left some parts of Japan in shambles, killing thousands, with thousands more unaccounted for. Now, we’re starting to learn some of the repercussions against the gaming industry there, as servers for some games go down, other titles being canceled, and thousands of consoles from the big three washed away in the tsunamis that followed.
Servers for Metal Gear Solid Online and Final Fantasy XI are now down temporarily confirmed both Konami and Square-Enix, as the country’s doing all it can to conserve energy, following explosions at one of its nuclear plants.
PS3s, Wiis and Xbox 360s, thousands of them, have been washed away by the massive tsunami that struck the country on Friday, per gamingbolt, via themagicbox. Sony’s said it’ll donate 300 million yen to relief efforts, and 30,000 units of radio products to victims in the area.
The hardware company has also delayed the release of Motorstorm Apocalypse in Japan due to the disaster.
A number of gaming events scheduled around the country have been canceled. Events include Yakuza of the End, BlazBlue Continuum Shift II, Dead or Alive Dimensions and the Monster Hunter Festa and much more have all been affected (through Andriasang).
PSN Japan will remain live, but because of the difficult situation in the country, Sony’s said portions of it will be hard to access sometimes. Updates of said network will be delayed.
Also, Disaster Report 4, a game that’s based on survival after a massive earthquake’s struck the country, has been completely canceled by developer Irem.
Here’s a video of the game in action:
There are many ways you could donate to the relief effort in Japan digitally, learn how through here.
Once more, we’re praying for those affected, and are happy to see the amount of support the country’s receiving.
disappointing to see yakuza of the ends been delayed too.
will be interesting to see how this effects upcoming games later on, since sonys stopped the manufacturing of disks for a while once repairs are undertaken.
I think the industry is planning a big drive to aid Japan.