Yakuza Studios

SEGA’s Judgment debuts third on the Japanese sale charts

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SEGA’s Judge Eyes (Judgment in America) came out in Japan this month and now we have the games first weeks sales. The game came in third place on the chart behind Super Smash Bros Ultimate (still on top) and the newly released God Eater 3. While both these established franchise got the two top spots, Judgment did pretty well for a new IP selling 148,773 units in just three days. For example God Eater 3 sold 150,523, so SEGA was just 2,000 sales away from topping a well established Japanese brand. Judgment will hit English speaking countries, with a English dub, this summer.

Hit the jump to see the full media create sales charts starting on 12/10/18 through 12/16/18:

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Yakuza 4 launches on PS4 January 17, 2019 in Japan, Masayoshi Tanimura being recast

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Famitsu has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 port of Yakuza 4 will be launching in Japan on January 17, 2019. Yakuza 5 is set to come out during 2019 as well.

The magazine also ran a story talking about how Masyoshi Tanimura, a main character in the game, will be recast. According to the magazine, SEGA needed to revise and re-record some lines for the character and since the orginal voice actor Hiroki Narimiya has retired from voice acting SEGA decided to recast the role as Toshiki Masuda. This means that SEGA will be changing the model and voice. Quite a bit of work, I guess Japanese men take their retirements very seriously.

[Via: Siliconera]

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SEGA News Bits: New Yakuza Studio Game “Project JUDGE” Announced

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SEGA and the Yakuza Studios team have announced their new upcoming court dram, detective game ‘Project JUDGE’ or Judge Eyes if you live in Japan! On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we have a look at the newly revealed trailers, discuss the similarities to the Yakuza franchise, and much more. Tune in and let us know what you think of Project JUDGE in the comments below.

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Yakuza Studios new IP to be announced next month, three years in the making

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During the SEGA-Nama stream earlier today, Toshihiro Nagoshi talked about finally revealing more information about Yakuza Online then said that September bring an announcement of a new IP by the Yakuza Studio. He said that this game will be very different and that he had the idea for the game in various stages for over three years. He suggested that he had been hinting at the game for as long and I can see what he means in our past stories.

But it seems that the wait will soon be over since the game will be a big part of SEGA’s Tokyo Game Show 2018 stage show which will start on September 19 through the 23rd. Expect a announcement before the show and more information during it. The last non-Yakuza IP the studio released was Binary Domain back in 2012! Yeah, I think its about time they did another one.

[Source: GameTalk]

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SEGA survey asks fans if they want remasters of Yakuza Ishin and Yakuza Kenzan

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If you guys missed the official SEGA Survey for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, you should probably give it a spin because it suggests that the company is considering Yakuza remasters of its Samurai spin-off games Yakuza Ishin and Yakuza Kenzan.

As you know SEGA already announced that they are porting or ‘remastering’ Yakuza 3 through 5 on the PlayStation 4. We already know that Yakuza 3 just released and it topped the sales charts in Japan. The latest spin-off on here, Yakuza: Ishin! came out in 2014 while Yakuza Kenzan came out way back in 2008.

Here are the questions from the survey:

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Next Yakuza Project to remain ‘hardcore’ but ‘interesting’ according to SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi

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The latest retail issue of Edge magazine features a interview with SEGA Chief Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi where he talks about the development stories behind F-Zero GX and Yakuza; but also teases the Yakuza Studios next project:

“It will still be quite hardcore at the beginning, but I want the player to think “Oh this game seems really interesting” – that’s what I’m aiming for this time. That goes for the technology too, though I don’t want to say more as it will spoil the fun. By introducing a new and more current systems, I’d like to increase the number of players. And if I do that, I can re-introducing Kiryu-san to some new fans. That would be ideal.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi
The most interesting part is where he says he wants to re-introduce Kiryu-san to new fans, which is odd because the next Yakuza project, being titled Shin Yakuza, is suppose to have a brand new lead character and Yakuza 6 was meant to be Kiryu’s last game. Some people are assuming there is some translation errors, but could it be that Shin Yakuza will have Kazuma Kiryu as a NPC supporting character in the story? I guess we will find out sooner than later, with Tokyo Game Show 2018 around the corner… What do you think?
[Via: ResetEra]

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

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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.

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Yakuza: Kiwami 2 demo goes live on Western PSN Stores

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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]

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

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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!:

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

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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.

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

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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!

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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SEGA releases Yakuza Kiwami 2 extended announcement trailer

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SEGA has released another announcement trailer, this one being a bit longer. The first announcement trailer was just over a minute in length, this one is almost two minutes. If you didn’t know, Yakuza Kiwami 2 came out in Japan on December 7, 2017 and we will be getting the game in America and Europe on August 28, 2018. This means that Yakuza Kiwami 2 is the fastest localized version of a Yakuza game ever. Very well done by the translation team!

Like always Yakuza Kiwami 2 comes out this August 28, only on PlayStation 4. You can pre-order the steelbook edition now on Amazon.

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