SEGA News Bits: Yakuza Kiwami 2 Coming West Reaction

It really does seem that the Yakuza franchise has finally gotten the attention its deserve since the release of Yakuza 0. Now with Yakuza 6 around the corner, SEGA has announced that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be heading to the West this upcoming August! Considering it is one of my favorite entries to the franchise, I decided to record a little video for you guys talking about the release, what to expect and other nonsense. Are you guys picking up Yakuza Kiwami 2 when it releases? If not, you should!

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Yakuza 6 full game ‘demos’ being revoked by Sony

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According to users on ResetEra, if you go back online with the Yakuza 6 full game ‘demo’, which SEGA released the other day, they will revoke the license transforming it back into a demo. Of course if you want to bypass this and play the full game all you need to do is not connect to the internet.

I’m personally glad to see that the PlayStation 4 has the ability to do something like this, considering that I want the franchise to do well in the West. It would really hurt sales if thousands upon thousands of would be costumers unlocked the full game for free. Even if you got the full game and are planning on playing it early by not being connected online, I urge you to support the series by at least getting the game physically when it comes out in April!

Yakuza 6 demo pulled from PSN due to it being the full game

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[Update: Have confirmed that there was no exploit, SEGA just uploaded the full game onto PSN instead of a demo. Way to go!]

Oops, if you read our story about the Yakuza 6 demo coming to PSN today and happen to be wondering why it isn’t showing up on the in-game store, now we know. According to Destructoid, the game unlocked the full version (for free) when downloaded. According to Destructoid (and SEGA) people used an exploit and according to other users on twitter it was never locked down (seems doubtful). If you didn’t know the demo weighed in at more than 36GB, of course this mean’t the demo was the full version of the game locked down as a ‘trial’. Once you purchased the full game come April, it would unlock the full game without re-downloading the data. SEGA posted on their Facebook about pulling the demo but didn’t go into detail.

This also puts into question why SEGA would delay Yakuza 6: The Song of Life from March to April, if the game is translated and playable already. Some people think that maybe SEGA had manufacturing issues with the physical copies of the game that lead them to delay it so everyone gets the game day one. Maybe they thought it would sell better if it was delayed, though this doesn’t make sense considering Sony’s God of War is also launching in April. But it seems that some people have unlocked the full game already, thanks to this exploit and are enjoying it for free. What are your thoughts? Did SEGA screw this up?

SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi teases unannounced projects for 2018

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The Japanese website 4Gamer has put up an article talking to Japanese video game developers from a wide range of companies on what to expect from them in 2018. It is basically a yearly tradition at this point. Sadly we only got one person interviewed from SEGA and that was Toshihiro Nagoshi, who has many hats at SEGA including Chief Creative Officer. This is what Toshihiro Nagoshi had to say about 2018:

“We still have some unannounced things. We have more surprises, so please look forward to it!”- Toshihiro Nagoshi

Sucks that he didn’t tease what these announcements could be or from what studio within SEGA they are coming from. Toshihiro Nagoshi’s own studio, Yakuza Studios, seems to have laid out its future recently at this year’s TGS with titles like Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Just released earlier this month in Japan), Hokuto ga Gotoku (comes out March 2018), Yakuza Online mobile game, and the barely teased Shin Yakuza title. I doubt these announcements are from the Yakuza Studio, but you never know. There was that financial report that stated SEGA wanted to revive major IPs on their road to 2020. Could we be seeing some of the first hints of this next year? What do you want to see SEGA announce for next year? Let us know in the comments below!

[Via: Siliconera]

Hokuto ga Gotoku Limited Edition PlayStation 4 announced

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While I put SEGA in the title, this was actually shown off by Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia. This Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 is set to hit Japan this March 8th, 2018. The limited edition console will be sold on the Japanese Sony Store and come in 500GB for 33,480 plus tax ($296 USD) or 1TB model for 38,480 plus tax ($340 USD).

  • PlayStation 4 console (Jet Black)
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 top cover
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original theme
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original designed package
  • DualShock 4 Jet Black controller
  • Monaural headset
  • Power cable
  • HDMI cable
  • USB cable

Yeah, it does seem that the Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 won’t be coming with a copy of the game. It seems to be a normal think for Japanese limited edition consoles. Seems like a good move for a publisher like SEGA but not so great for consumers. SEGA has yet to announce Hokuto ga Gotoku localization, but they already announced Catherine: Full Body? What gives?

[Source: Siliconera]

SEGA Japan delays Hokuto ga Gotoku, issues apology

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SEGA Japan has just announced that their upcoming Fist of the North Star based game, being titled Hokuto ga Gotoku, has been delayed. The game was suppose to come out on February 22, 2018 and now has been moved to March 8, 2018. Not a huge change. SEGA also issued this apology letter to fans and thank them for their understanding.

As to why Hokuto ga Gotoku was delayed, the apology letter doesn’t say anything specific. I have a few different theories, one being that the game might need extra time for development seeing as the studio just released Yakuza Kiwami 2 on December 5th. The other theory is that they might have moved it to March because A Certain Magical Virtual-On comes out on February 15, 2018, a week before Hokuto ga Gotoku was set to release. As for us in the West, we still don’t know if SEGA America plans on localizing it. I guess we will find out sometime in 2018.

[Source: SEGA Japan]

Hokuto ga Gotoku Japanese box art released and it looks amazing

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Below I have posted both the clean and retail box art for the upcoming Hokuto ga Gotoku on the PlayStation 4. If you guys didn’t know, Hokuto ga Gotoku is a game based on the Fist of the North Star IP, being done by the team behind the Yakuza games. The game’s box art was drawn by the and only Tesuo Hara, who obviously did illustration for the manga.

Hokuto ga Gotoku hits Japan, exclusively on PlayStation 4 this February 22nd! No western release plans have been shared by SEGA, but don’t be shocked if we get an announcement release early next year.

[Via: Gematsu]

Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo available now on Japanese PSN Store

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The demo for SEGA’s upcoming remake of Yakuza 2, being called Yakuza Kiwami 2, is now available for you to download via the Japanese PSN store. The demo will weigh in at 9.89 gigabytes and allow users to play through some of the main game’s story. SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo saves will not transfer over to the full version of the game.

If you never made a Japanese PSN account, I suggest giving some YouTube guides a quick look, it isn’t hard to do. I would say its worth it just to try out some upcoming Japanese game demos. Its free, nothing to lose. Yakuza: Kiwami 2 hits Japan on December 7, no western release date has been announced as of posting. But don’t be surprised if we get an announcement sometime next year.

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza Online and Fist of the North Star game announced

Today we have not one, not two, but three SEGA News Bits to enjoy. The Yakuza Studio had a big stream where they revealed their projects for the rest of 2017 and 2018. They confirmed the release of Yakuza Kiwami 2, revealed Yakuza Online and surprised us all with a Fist of the North Star game running on the Yakuza 6 engine! On these episodes of the SEGA News Bits we discuss all the information we know about these titles, how I feel about each project and complain about the Yakuza studio not announcing a new IP. Have a listen and let us know what you think about these announced titles in the comments below. Hit the jump for the other two videos!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 6 Launch Day & Premium Editions Revealed

SEGA has recently revealed the Yakuza 6 Launch Day and Premium Edition versions, with a release date of March 20, 2018! On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss the two editions, what you get and our thoughts on SEGA doing more of these big physical releases. Its no surprise that we are big SEGA fans and love these sort of premium edition releases, so you can hear us gush over the news for about 6 minutes. Are you getting Yakuza 6? Which version?

Yakuza 6 Launch Day Pre-OrderYakuza 6 Premium Edition Pre-Order

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

SEGA announces Yakuza 6 release date and premium edition

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SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza 6: The Song of Life will launch both digitally and physically in the Americas and Europe on March 20, 2018. SEGA has also priced the game at $59.99. Nothing surprising there. But SEGA did confirm that people that pre-order get a launch copy that includes a hardcover art book that doubles as a disc holder. Pretty neat.

SEGA releases free DLC schedule for Yakuza Kiwami

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SEGA has revealed that Yakuza Kiwami will be getting four content packs post launch, something that they have been doing with the series since Yakuza 3. The add-on content will be received as game updates, after its released, so no need to go into the PSN store, and deal with adding the content to your account.

If you hit the jump you can see all the cool free DLC content for Yakuza Kiwami like playing as shirtless Kiryu, having Majima’s iconic snake skin jacket and more. Remember that Yakuza Kiwami retails for $29.99, Amazon Prime pre-order is only $23.99 for the steelbook version!

Yakuza Studio working on a non-Yakuza project

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In a new interview with Famitsu, Yokoyama Masayoshi (Series producer at Yakuza Studio (aka: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.) has confirmed that the team is recruiting for continued high end video game development.The team already housing 150 development staff, Masayoshi also confirmed that the team is working on a project not related to the Yakuza series albeit based on saying the team is making a non-Yakuza project.

With Tokyo Game Show around the corner and no major new Yakuza game being announced, is this the announcement that newly appointed SEGA Games Co CEO Haruki Satomi was hinting at? We’ll find out shortly as TGS is only a month away!