Yakuza

Stories of the Dragon: The Legend of Kazuma Kiryu live action series releases to promote Yakuza 6

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This is a surprise! SEGA of America has released a trio of live action short films to promote the upcoming Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Initially I thought these were created for the Japanese release and were localized, but they appear to be brand new (the english speaking actors tipped me off, which to be honest is kind of jarring given the games are subtitled). The short films were created in collaboration with Liquid Advertising and director Christopher Ewing and were shot in Tokyo, Japan. The shorts focus on three people whose lives were changed by Kazuma Kiryu.

Each short is based on in-game substories, including “The Bouncer” and “Prodigal Son” from Yakuza Kiwami, and “Another Haruka” from Yakuza 5. Check all three out after the break! Don’t forget, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life releases April 17!

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SEGA ask fans to vote on if they want Sonic, Yakuza or Virtua Fighter cameo outfits for Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night & Persona 5: Dancing Star Night

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Seeing that Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night release next month over in the land of the rising son, its weird that SEGA will finally make a poll asking fans what franchise should get cross over outfits for these Persona Dance games. I will assume that SEGA already approved the outfits a long time ago and this is just a way to get fans excited.

Here is the official SEGA Japanese twitter poll:

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Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu joins Street Fighter V via fan mod

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Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu joins the fight in Street Fighter V, thanks to this fan mod created for the PC version of the game. The mod was crafted by Khaled Antar, who is known in the Street Fighter V community for his past mods, this time he is giving us SEGA fans something to cheer about. If you didn’t know, when Tekken 7 producer asked fans what DLC character they wanted, Kazuma Kiryu topped their list. Maybe someone will make a Kazuma Kiryu mod for Tekken 7 next?

Download the Street Fighter V Kazuma Kiryu mod here

The mod uses Ryu as a base for Kazuma Kiryu and features three variants of the skin that each have 15 color options. You can play with shades, no shades and even have breakable shades via fighting. According to the description it also features jacket and hair physics.

[Thanks Sanus]

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Yakuza Kiwami now available in the Americas and Europe for PlayStation 4

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SEGA’s remake of the original classic that kicked off the popular Yakuza franchise, titled Yakuza Kiwami, releases today in the Americas and Europe for the PlayStation 4! To celebrate, SEGA has released a special launch trailer which can be seen above. As mentioned in the SEGAbits review, Yakuza Kiwami improves on the original game in almost all aspects and features additional plot points, includes the option to save anywhere and is the first time the game can be heard in Japanese outside of Japan.

If you still have not ordered the game, the special Yakuza Kiwami steelbook edition is available to purchase for a cool $29.88.

Have you picked the game up yet? If so, tell us what you think of it in the comments below or over on our Discord server or message board.

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SEGA officially announces Yakuza Kiwami 2, Goro Majima will be playable

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We all knew it was coming thanks to Sony’s mistake on early Friday morning but SEGA has now officially announced Yakuza Kiwami 2. Following from the success of Yakuza Kiwami, SEGA began developing a remake of the second Yakuza game. It’s obvious to see the mass improvements the dragon engine is already providing as they bring this classic back for the modern generation. Personally speaking Yakuza 2 has my favorite story and cast of characters in the series but the game obviously has been held back by the technology of the time so to see it updated brought a smile to my face.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 promises to feature seamless maps of Osaka and Tokyo. The theme song for Yakuza Kiwami  2 is being performed by SiM, a Reggae Pop band. Yakuza Kiwami 2 hits the PlayStation 4 in Japan on December 7th of this year. No word about a Western release, but I wouldn’t expect it until months after Yakuza 6 ships.

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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!

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Yakuza Creator and Persona Director to host SEGA live stream on July 25

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Its not uncommon for SEGA’s general director and creator of the Yakuza (then Spikeout, Super Monkey Ball, Daytona USA, and more) series Toshihiro Nagoshi to have a stream. Its a very regular thing he does over in Japan. On the live streams he likes to bring on other SEGA creators to talk about various topics including movies, music and even their projects they are working or worked on.

We should be having a pretty good live stream later this week as Toshihiro Nagoshi has invited Persona 5 director and producer Katsura Hashino and will stream on July 25, 2017. Not to mention Katsura Hashino is also working on a new game, with a new studio within Atlus, this project is being called Project Re: Fantasy. Maybe the stream will offer more details on that project and even the next Yakuza title? Maybe, maybe not. Tokyo Game Show 2017 is only a couple of months away, so it wouldn’t be crazy if they hint at something.

You can catch the live stream, if you are fluent in Japanese or watch anime, on July 25th at 8:55pm JST on Niconico. I guess we shall see what comes of this, stay tuned to the site as we post an update on what went down on the stream.

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SEGA says ‘Yakuza’ and ‘Persona’ added to their SEGA PC Ports list

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SEGA had a pretty good start this year releasing the widely acclaimed titlesYakuza 0 which saw a brand new audience in the west and Persona 5, which happens to be the best selling entry in the franchise. One thing both these titles share is that they are Sony exclusive titles, so if you don’t own a Sony PlayStation 3 or 4, you won’t be able to experience the goodness that is Yakuza 0 or Persona 5. Seeing that SEGA Europe has been very kind to their SEGA PC ports list in the last few months, by having Platinum Games port over both Bayonetta and Vanquish to PC platforms. The guys over at PC gamer asked SEGA Europe’s senior vice president of commercial publishing, John Clark, what they are looking into porting over to the good old steam store:

“If I asked you to write me a list of ten games you want Sega to bring out on PC, it probably isn’t any different from the list [we have], I could ask anyone at Sega: write me a list. And what motivates it? I think there’s a certain catalogue that people just have an affinity with. If you send [your] list over I’ll tell you which ones we can tick, which ones are on our list, which ones are possibilities, which ones are not possibilities, which ones we’ve talked about, which ones we’re talking about, which ones we’re working on, you know, they’ll be on that list.”  

Since Mr. Clark didn’t go into specifics, PC Gamer pressed him and asked if a franchise like Yakuza would fit their type of list.

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SEGAbits at E3 2017 Interview: Sam Mullen – Yakuza Kiwami & Yakuza 6

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Our E3 coverage continues with an interview with Sam Mullen, Senior Localization Producer of SEGA products at Atlus U.S.A., who has worked on Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. We talk to Sam about these upcoming games in the Yakuza series and what both longtime fans and newcomers can expect.

If you enjoy our interviews 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 new YouTube algorithm is.

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Round Table: Should the Yakuza franchise end after Yakuza 6?

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RoundTableYakuza6The Yakuza franchise has been the longest running new franchise launched by SEGA since going 3rd party, with the first one being released in Japan back on December 8, 2005. The franchise has received seven main entries, one remake, a bunch of spin-offs, and even a full featured length film. SEGA has made a huge deal about the franchise coming to an end, in the past, but seem to have continued churning out games. Yakuza 6 promises to be the end of Kazuma Kiryu’s story while at the same time SEGA has promised that the franchise would continue after Yakuza 6. On this week’s Round Table we ask should the Yakuza franchise end after Yakuza 6?

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Toshihiro Nagoshi confirms Yakuza team are working on more games

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Was there any doubt that Yakuza was ending? Well, Yakuza 6 has long been labeled as “the final chapter of Kazuma Kiryu”, so some have speculated that the series would take a break and the team would work on something else. During the Famitsu Awards, however, series general director Toshihiro Nagoshi confirmed that another Yakuza title is happening.

While not many specifics were given, it was said that he will not be walking back on the promise of the latest game being Kazuma Kiryu’s final chapter. Nagoshi made it clear that he wants to make a new Yakuza and that he did not want to narrow it to a single title, we could be seeing multiple games. The Yakuza 6 engine, dubbed the Dragon Engine, was said to be completed with the development of a second or third title. The timeframe for the reveal of the next game was given as “the not too distant future” and that there will be an opportunity to talk about the game early in its development.

What do you think about more Yakuza games? Would you want another prequel title, a true Yakuza 7 with a new main character, or perhaps a reboot focusing on a totally different cast?

[Source: Gematsu]

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Yakuza Kiwami Steelbook Edition and release date announced

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For those that have been waiting for Yakuza Kiwami information since its western announcement, we finally know when it will release and for what price! For a limited time, people can order a special Steelbook Edition for the game, at a surprisingly low price of $30. The game will be released on August 29th, 2017 in both American and European countries, and is readily available for pre-order on Amazon.

For those that are not informed, Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of Yakuza originally released in 2005 in Japan and 2006 in other regions for the Playstation 2. This remake was built from the ground up, containing the base game but with updates such as having 1080p and 60FPS support and a reworked script, along with a new “Majima Everywhere” system. If you haven’t picked up Yakuza 0, then Yakuza Kiwami is also another fine point to start out with the Yakuza series.

[Source: SEGA]

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Yakuza Kiwami Steelbook | Yakuza Kiwami Standard

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Rare Yakuza titles get reprinted – including PlayStation 2 titles

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YakuzareprintedDid you want to pick up the first two Yakuza titles on the PlayStation 2, brand new and at a decent price? You are in luck as rare Yakuza titles get reprinted thanks to Amazon seller JADD ENTERTAINMENT. Yakuza 2, before the reprinted offer, was over a hundred bucks used, so having it for $50 dollars brand new is a great deal. I first assumed these were actually ‘newly found stock’, but according to producer at Atlus USA, Sam Mullen, these are ‘reorders’. I would totally pick up Yakuza and Yakuza 2 on the PlayStation 2, those are the rarest titles.

There is also a ebay seller, by the name of vgp_videogameplus that is selling these same titles with free shipping option. If you want to save as much as possible.

Rare Yakuza titles get reprinted, but do you think its worth the price? Thankfully, if you aren’t happy with your copy, Amazon has a good refund policy even on 3rd party sellers. Supplies are limited, so be warned that they can disappear at anytime. What Yakuza title are you picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

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