Ryu ga Gotoku Studio

Yakuza 3 PlayStation 4 demo hits Asian PSN stores

by


We already knew that Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 was going to hit the PlayStation 4, with Yakuza 3 coming out August 9th. What I didn’t expect was them to do a demo for the Yakuza 3 release. But it seems SEGA has launched a demo on the Asian PlayStation Store which includes: Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and other Asian countries. The demo hasn’t even hit the Japanese PSN store yet!

If you didn’t already know this Yakuza 3 port will be the definitive experience on console, running at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. As for a Western release, SEGA hasn’t discussed it but don’t be shocked if they do end up announcing it sooner than later.

[Source: Gematsu]

1 Comment

Yakuza Producer says Nintendo Switch isn’t an ideal platform for the series, considering Xbox One

by


It looks like Yakuza Producer Daisuke Sato is going to ruffle some feathers today, in a new interview with Gameblog.fr he was asked some really great questions. One of those questions was about the possibility of the Yakuza series coming to another console outside of the PlayStation, which he replied:

“To be realistic about what happened, Yakuza 1&2 HD for Wii U was a huge failure. But we are always looking to develop for multiple platforms as much as possible and know that brings in a greater audience to attract more people. However, as far as Switch is concerned, I’m convinced that it isn’t the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games. Maybe people don’t expect this kind of game on Switch. Maybe they’re used to different games. It may not be the ideal platform. As for Xbox One, we can consider it, knowing that Xbox One users may be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza. This could potentially be an option.”

Personally think Daisuke Sato is wrong on a few levels. While Yakuza 1&2 HD did bomb on the Wii U, it was only released in Japan. Not only that, it does feel like the Nintendo Switch has a much wider audience that are buying more games (and ports) in mass. This also doesn’t take into account how much more popular Yakuza is world wide than it was back in 2015, especially after the release of Yakuza 0.

He also talks about the possibilities of Binary Domain 2, seeing Kazuma Kiryu again and Yakuza 0-2.

Continue Reading ➜

9 Comments

Yakuza: Kiwami 2 demo goes live on Western PSN Stores

by


SEGA has just launched its 10.01 gigabyte demo (better than Yakuza 6‘s 36GB demo) for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, which can be downloaded on both America and European PSN stores.

The demo lets you play as our baby boy Kazuma Kiryu, where we can explore the city and retrace the steps of The Grand, Goro Majima’s old place and aid people in their daily struggles. So typical Yakuza-ism. The demo also allows you to try play spots such as darts, karaoke, golf and more.

SEGA has also put up digital pre-orders for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, if you pre-order early you get to unlock an exclusive PlayStation 4 theme. There is also a ‘Special digital edition’ that is available for a limited time that comes with a special item pack that contains a Demonfire Blade weapon, Hostess Ono Michiyo, Sotaro Komaki R Clan Card, Jo Amon R Clan Card, The Comedian suit outfit, and 1 million yen to spend. You can pick up Yakuza: Kiwami 2 on PlayStation 4 this upcoming August 28!

[Via: Gematsu]

No Comments

Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami joining “PlayStation Hits” budget branding

by


Growing up and owning the first PlayStation was a huge thing in the USA because Sony had the ‘greatest hits’ budget branding on games, making a lot of great games available for only $19.99. That tradition is now continuing with ‘PlayStation Hits’ brand games that will launch at $19.99 USD / $19.99 CAD / €19.99 / £15.99, the new budget brand hits June 28th in America and July 18th in Europe. In the past, ‘Greatest Hits’ was a badge that meant the games sold over a certain threshold in that specific market (PSone era it was 250k units in 9 months). No idea if they set one for these titles but they all seem to be rather popular games.

Hit the jump to see the full list of games, but Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 0 will be joining the new ‘rebrand’ budget title line-up!:

Continue Reading ➜

2 Comments

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami & Valkyria Chronicles 4 Coming To PC Discussion

by

SEGA Europe teased that they had a big PC announcement to reveal during the PC Gamer conference, usually I always assume this would have to do with their in-house titles like Football Manager, Total War series and so forth, but this time we got a massive surprise. SEGA is doubling down on Japanese PC games by releasing not just Valkyria Chronicles 4 but also Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. On this video of the SEGA News Bits, we discuss all the information known about the ports and my general thoughts on the announcements.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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

 

1 Comment

Yakuza: Kiwami 2 E3 2018 trailer shows the power of the Dragon Engine

by

SEGA is really promoting Yakuza games now and it feels great from the standpoint of a long time fan. If you’ve been on here over the years, you are well aware of how I push this series all the time.Now we get a E3 2018 trailer showing off whats new in Yakuza: Kiwami 2!

“One of the most beloved storylines in the franchise’s history has returned in full HD in the Dragon Engine for PlayStation 4. Yakuza: Kiwami 2 features the return of mini games like Cabaret, a revamped clan creator and the original arcade release of Virtual-On, Kazuma Kiryu will have plenty of leisure activities when he isn’t taking on his fierce rival, the Dragon of Kansai, Ryuji Goda.”
As you can tell, Yakuza: Kiwami 2 is a huge leap graphically from the first Kiwami game based on being developed on the Dragon Engine! Yakuza: Kiwami 2 hits America and Europe on August 28!

No Comments

SEGA announces Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Valkyria Chronicles 4 for PC

by


While Yakuza franchise has had a great lifespan being a PlayStation only exclusive franchise, it seems that SEGA is changing that to open the franchise to a brand new audience. Yakuza 0 will be hitting PC on August 1st! That will be followed by Yakuza Kiwami and Valkyria Chronicles 4 later. It will be great to play these titles with beefed up hardware. Yes, SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza 0 will run at 4k, 60 fps. Get hyped. Yakuza 0 will cost $19.99 and if you pre-order it now you get 10% off! The only negative about the announcement is that this title has Denuvo DRM, if that is an issue to you of course.

These two Yakuza games run on a older engine, what I really want to see is a PC port of Yakuza 6 since the new ‘Dragon Engine’ was a bit much for the PlayStation 4. But I’m pretty happy with Yakuza 0 and yes, I will play it again.

3 Comments

SEGA confirms Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise hitting PS4 on October 2, 2018, includes optional English dub

by

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise was actually ‘leaked’ early thanks to an Amazon listing and today, SEGA Europe confirmed it is a reality. The game is set to hit western store shelves on October 2, 2018! Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise actually released in Japan earlier this year under the title Hokuto no Gotoku, which is a game developed by the Yakuza Studios.

Unlike Yakuza games that retain their Japanese voices and offer subtitles, it seems Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise will have an English dub, which has been confirmed to be optional. So users can play it with English voice acting or Japanese. Check out the trailer above for more a sample of the voice work.

2 Comments

Amazon leaks ‘Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise’ Western localization

by


It seems that SEGA has plans on localizing ‘Hokuto no Ken‘, the Fist of the North Star game created by the Yakuza developers considering that Amazon has listed ‘Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise‘ product page (which they have taken down). The listing was spotted by Twitter user @RedMakuzawa and it seems that the product page has now been pulled.

Don’t be shocked if you see it revealed during Sony’s E3 press conference tomorrow, considering that Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise will be a PlayStation 4 exclusive.

No Comments

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 Coming to PlayStation 4 Reaction

by

It seems that SEGA have heard fans as they announce that Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 are heading to PlayStation 4 consoles. As of this recording, the three games have only been announced for Japanese release but I’m pretty sure they will end up coming to the West. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our thoughts on these games getting a second chance, talk about the details regarding the releases and discuss other last generation releases that deserve ports. What are your thoughts? Will be pick them up if they come West? Let us know in the comments below.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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

4 Comments

New IP from Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, the Yakuza studio, in development

by

SEGA has released their 2018 performance summary, which falls under the “Road to 2020” initiative, and among the information contained within is a confirmation that Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, the creators of Yakuza, are working on an “unannounced new title” which falls under the New IP section. For comparison, other New IP in this section include Kotodaman and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – the former being a smartphone game and the latter being a console game.

Longtime Ryu ga Gotoku Studio fans might remember their previous attempt at a new original IP, Binary Domain. Binary Domain wasn’t the success Ryu ga Gotoku Studio had hoped it would be (in my opinion, part of the blame falls on SEGA badly marketing it in the west), but it is great to see that the studio is hard at work on another new IP.

Remember, it took Sonic Team a few attempts at original non-Sonic IPs before they found success, so here’s hoping Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s next attempt is a success!

2 Comments

SEGA America survey wants to know if you’re hyped for Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Fist of the North Star

by

thumb-chara02-modal

SEGA has put up a survey asking English consumers if they are interested in the newly announced Yakuza Studio titles: Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza Online and The Fist of the North Star video game. If you really want these games to come over to the west, I suggest you take the survey and share it with other English speaking fans of Yakuza Studio’s games.

SEGA SURVEY HERE

I think its quite obvious that everyone that reads this blog would love to play Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Fist of the North Star console games, but how do you feel about the mobile Yakuza Online? I will also like to add that its fantastic to see SEGA acknowledge Japanese releases so quickly, before the management team pretended that Japan didn’t exist. Maybe studies are correct that Americans don’t have good geography skills? Glad to see we got some people with good navigational skills over at SEGA America now.

7 Comments

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

by

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.

Continue Reading ➜

2 Comments

Yakuza Online announced for Smartphones and PC

by

The latest entry in SEGA’s long running Yakuza has been announced, Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku/New Yakuza was shown off on the stream and gave us a look to the new protagonist Kazuga Ichiban. Not much was shown off but one scene depicting the tone of the latest game keeping in line with the gritty crime drama aspect but now with a slightly more laid back character as the lead.

KazugaIchiban

Interestingly, the new protagonist will not only be appearing on consoles on Shin (New) Yakuza but also the smartphone game Yakuza Online with an undisclosed release date. Yakuza Online will be heading to Android, iOS and even PC! I must admit the new character comes across as quite different from previous series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him as we head closer to Tokyo Game Show where  SEGA will be showing off more of the project.

1 Comment

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Leaked Early By PSN Store Page

by

DICk2CZVYAA7ptC

SEGA was set to have a big stadium announcement this Saturday, that was going to be live streamed world wide to announce several new games by the Yakuza studio. It seems that one of their surprises has been leaked early via the Taiwanese PSN store. The listing says the game will release on December 7th, 2017 in Japan.

Going through the rough English translation of the PSN store page description, it seems that they might have went back and recorded all the voice acting, much like the the first Yakuza Kiwami. But they are also teasing this one being on the new ‘Human Dragon Engine’ which means it could be using the new engine that powered the gorgeousYakuza 6! You already know I’m excited for Yakuza Kiwami 2, but are you?

[Via: Wario64]

3 Comments