Yakuza

Nagoshi discusses the next Yakuza title – promises a more physical experience

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Yakuza series producer and SEGA of Japan CCO Toshihiro Nagoshi discussed the next Yakuza title this weeks issue in Dengeki PlayStation magazine. According to Nagoshi, the development team will be taking a programmatic approach with the next title, meaning players can have a more physical experience. The game’s battle system is said to see new innovations, and in general the plan to broaden gameplay. The next Yakuza game will most likely not be seen on the Playstation 3, as Nagoshi believes that Yakuza 5 will be the last entry for the series on the current Sony console. Given the interview taking place in a Playstation magazine, the next game will probably end up on Sony’s next gen console. Nagoshi hopes to show something related to the new game this year.

Thanks to SEGAbits forum member Aki-at for the tip!

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Hey, you got Yakuza in my Border Break!

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From the Tokyo Game Show comes a crazy bit of crossover news. While showing off the iOS Border Break game, Gun Front Gale, and the arcade game Border Break Union (version 3.0 of the game), SEGA announced that a number of Yakuza characters will cameo in the arcade version of the game. It seems, however, that it has yet to be revealed just how the characters will be worked in. Only illustrations and the promise of cameos were revealed. As for version 3.0, 10 player co-op will be possible and the game will hit Japanese arcades on October 11th. Click here for more photos from the event.

Thanks to Aki At for the tip!

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Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition Trailer

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Sega will release a remastered version of Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2 exclusively for the PS3, the remastered version boasts HD graphics and a much needed cut in loading times for both games. Will it head West? It’s hard to say at the moment, we don’t really know Sega’s plans for Yakuza in North America and Europe but we can all hope, right? Heck I would take it as a PSN digital download if it meant we could get it in English.

The Yakuza series is one of my favourite new IPs from Sega in recent years, it’s such a shame that with each new release it feels like another heart ache over weather it’ll receive a Western release. Let’s hope Sega West sees the potential in the Yakuza series and continues to support it for years to come because by the looks of Yakuza 5, it’s not going anywhere.

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Yakuza 1 & 2 HD confirmed by Famitsu

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We posted the rumor, now it’s confirmed. SEGA is planning on releasing Yakuza 1&2 HD for the Playstation 3. The issue states that both HD remakes are set to release on November 1st, with a price of ¥5,290 (about $67 dollars). November 1st date is a month earlier than what SEGA had in their release schedule, but can’t complain about getting games early, right?

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Rumor: Yakuza 1 & 2 HD coming out this December in Japan?

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This screen above was from SEGA Japan’s calendar, which now has been taken down. It shows that the company is planning on bringing Yakuza 1 & 2 HD to the Playstation 3. Could it have been a mistake? I think this rumor will come out to be true for one reason. Yakuza makes money. Not to mention SEGA wants to do more digital releases.

Think about it this way, what will sell more? This or those SEGA AGES re-releases?

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Free Japanese Binary Domain DLC on Xbox 360 is region free

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So if you didn’t know, Japanese consumers have been treated to free DLC for Binary Domain. We English speakers haven’t received such luxury. But you know what? I really want this DLC, since it lets you play as Yakuza characters in mulitplayer. Sadly, I own the Playstation 3 version and I tried downloading the DLC from the Japanese PSN store.  Guess what? Nothing.

 
Though the Xbox 360 version will work with the Japanese DLC. Isn’t it ironic that it doesn’t work on the Playstation 3 after they boasted so much about it being region free?  Thanks to Sanus, who wrote about the Xbox 360 DLC being region free. The DLC adds Goro Majima as the ‘Crusher’ class with a shotgun, Shun Akiyama as the ‘Gunner’ with a submachine gun, and Ryuji Goda is the ‘Defender’ with a heavy machinegun. Kazuma Kiryu sadly isn’t free DLC, it was a pre-order bonus in Japan. More screenshots of the DLC can be found here.

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Yakuza: Dead Souls – Mini Game Trailer

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Apparently killing zombies can be hard work. Personally I’ve always found it to be quite a breeze, either way the Yakuza like to unwind after a long day of slayin’ and what better way to unwind than with some mini games? I was worried that with Yakuza:Dead Souls being a spin off based around fighting off undead hordes Sega might have seen fit to drop the mini games. However I’m pleasantly surprised to see there are just as many mini games appearing in Dead Souls as ever. It seems that even in a zombie outbreak there is always time for a spot of fishing when you’re as badass as Kazuma Kriyu.

Yakuza: Dead Souls releases for the PS3 on March 13th in America and 16th in Europe.

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Binary Domain Multiplayer DLC to feature Akiyama, Majima and Goda!

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Kazuma Kiryu is not the only character set to make the jump from the Yakuza series to Binary Domain. SEGA today has revealed free DLC skins for three other highly popular Yakuza characters in the forum of Goro Majima, Shun Akiyama and Ryuji Goda. Just like with Kiryu, each character will have either a government forces outfit, which is their default model, or a resistence fighter outfit. The characters will be released for PSN users in Japan starting with  Akiyama on February 28, Goda on March 6 and Majima on March 13. XBLA users will get all three characters free on March 13. For all the screenshots, hit the jump after the break and for additional information on the sponserships that will be found in Binary Domain, hit the Andriasang link for more info!

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SEGA makes Kazuma in Virtua Tennis 4 on Vita

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SEGA showed off some of Virtua Tennis 4’s create a character mode. Sure, we already played the mode on the console releases so we should know how it works. But SEGA is showing off new things you will be able to do when the portable title comes out. They showed off by make Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Black Panther’s Tatsuya Ukyo. You can see them both above.

Shown above, the Vita’s camera will be able to scan a human or picture’s face to re-create in the game. So you could take sexy looking Kazuma, put his face in the game. Pretty neat right? You can also take pictures with your 3D character you created, so you can create yourself and then take a photo side by side thanks to Vita’s argumentative reality camera. Hit the jump to see all the photos.

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Yakuza 5 – Details Leak (Edit: More info)

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Some juicy tidbits have escaped from Famitsu today regarding Yakuza 5 (Ryu Ga Gotoku 5) The first bit of news is that Yakuza 5 will again be released on the Playstation 3. Considering four Yakuza games have already been released for the PS3 and every game in the series have been exclusive to Playstation consoles and handhelds I’m sure anyone could have guessed that one.

The second bit of info is a lot more interesting-

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Kazuma Kiryu brings his swag to Binary Domain

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You know that Nagoshi and his newly new named Yakuza Team couldn’t make a new title without featuring their most successful hero, Kazuma Kiryu. It has been confirmed that Kazuma Kiryu will be playable in the game, but not in the single player mode. He will actually be playable online.

“Since this is from the Yakuza team, after all, we figured we’d offer this as a present and as a symbol of the spirit we’re putting into this. Some people may see him as too out-of-place in this near-future setting, but the game is set in Tokyo, after all — I don’t think it’ll feel that strange. I hope you have fun having him go crazy on people.” –Producer, Toshihiro Nagoshi 

Kazuma has two different looks, his government outfit will feature him in his white iconic suit. If you decide to play him as a rebel, you will get him shirtless with a Rambo type get up. This includes a bandanna as well.

I guess Kazuma is a better choice than something from Super Monkey Ball.

[Source: 1up]

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Nagoshi reveals why Yakuza is Playstation exclusive

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SEGA’s action adventure series Yakuza has never moved from the Sony platforms and it does not seem like that will be changning anytime soon. Speaking to Eurogamer, Nagoshi revealed recently why Yakuza is exclusive solely to Sony platforms;

“At the beginning of the project we spoke to all the platform holders including Sony and Microsoft,” he said, “Every platform holder was negative about this prospect, but we kept on pushing because we believed in the potential, and as we kept going one platform holder that showed interest and saw the prospects of this title was Sony.”

“That’s how we started working with them, and that’s probably not going to change.”

Nagoshi also revealed that Yakuza of the End is the end of one particular era of Yakuza games, saying that as the series started as a Playstation 2 game, some design aspects were not changed when they moved to the Playstation 3.

“The basic style and mechanics is really an old game that started on PS2 and continued on PS3,” Nagoshi said, “Times keep changing, and if we started on some new games they would be in a very different shape – so the last game was the end of one particular era.”

[Source: Eurogamer]

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Yakuza series sells over the 5 million mark

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As I revealed in my last SEGA in the Charts post, the Yakuza series was due to cross over the 4 million mark in Japan if sales of Yakuza of the End were to continue and indeed, as confirmed by SEGA, it has shipped 400,000, which means that the series has crossed the 4 million mark in Japan. SEGA however also confirmed that the series has topped over 5 million units worldwide, making the series one of SEGA’s most consistent and best sellers in the last seven years.

[Source: Andriasang]

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Round Table: Our favorite thing about the Yakuza series

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We are bringing you this week’s round table early, to celebrate the closing of Yakuza week. This time we are talking about one thing we love about the Yakuza series… while Cube_b3 lists everything he hates. What a negative Nancy.

If you guys liked what we did for Yakuza week, tell SEGA about it. I’m sure we can do this for more games if there’s positive feedback.

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