Yakuza 3 Message Board

Greetings Sony fans and Yakuza enthusiasts! Today is an exciting day, both for PS3 gamers and for us here at SEGA – the PS3 exclusive, Yakuza: Dead Souls is coming to the west! It seems like only yesterday we were all sitting on the edge of our Sony-branded seats, hoping desperately that Yakuza 3 would see the light of day overseas. In the years since, we’ve seen not only the US release of Yakuza 3, but Yakuza 4, too – and, thanks to the fantastic support of fans and PS3 gamers like you, we’re proud to now announce the latest chapter in the Yakuza franchise. What was once Of The End is now Dead Souls!

So, what is Yakuza: Dead Souls all about? I traveled to the top of the mountains and spent two weeks meditating to bring you the answers. In the end, that failed, so I just played the entire game instead. It was awesome, and in doing so, I found that this game is a mix of:

• Zombies in Tokyo
• Yakuza with guns
• Beautiful Hostesses

And while I’m not able to reveal how much content from the Japanese version is coming over, let me just say that you fans are going to be very, very happy when you hear how much we’ve included.

The version we’re bringing to the west features the entire storyline, as well as its brand new mini-game: Pachislot. Yakuza: Dead Souls returns you back to the streets of Kamurocho, which is now under attack by hordes of Zombies. Though you won’t be restricted by Zombies as your only threat, as you’ll also face powerful mutants, and, perhaps most dangerous of all, members of the Japanese underworld.

The name Dead Souls has multiple meanings within the game, beyond the obvious “Oh-hey-that’s-totally-a-Zombie” angle. But did I mention the Zombies yet? Well, there are Zombies. Lots of Zombies. So many Zombies I’m going to start using a capital Z when I type Zombies, just to spite all those English professors back in college who said I couldn’t. Zombies, Zombies, Zombies!

Yet even for all the wacky and hilarious Japanese culture laden within the game – and in past Yakuza games, too – there is a strong layer of serious, emotional storytelling taking place here. This game has also convinced me that, without a doubt, Kazuma Kiryu is more manly than both Chuck Norris and Duke Nukem fused together – but that’s for another blog.

If you’re a fan of the series, we’d like to end by saying THANK YOU for going out there and picking up the western releases of Yakuza 3 and 4. Even now, every copy of Yakuza 4 sold, and every pre-order of Yakuza: Dead Souls helps this franchise continue to survive and grow here in the west.

Got a question about Yakuza: Dead Souls? Want to know more about the game or leave a comment below? Please do – I’m aiming to top my previous response numbers with a 100% response ratio this time. All I ask is that you keep the questions Yakuza related, where possible. Thanks guys – and stay tuned for more Zombie goodness from us soon!

#oddities Back in 2010, Sega held a competition to promote Yakuza 3 with a very dedicated prize: a full back tattoo like the one Yakuza character Kazuma Kiryu sports. Somebody actually won that prize and got the tattoo. More »

#culturesmash Crime saga Yakuza 3 takes players to the belly of the beast, giving them a chance to view the underworld up close and personal. But more than hostesses and mahjong was cut from the game, including an English speaking class. More »

#ps3 A Yakuza 3 ad, an Engrish restaurant sign and ... George Clooney? Gran Turismo 5 is an amazingly detailed game, though some of that detail on its Tokyo race course is a bit strange. More »

#sega There's a terrific feature over at BoingBoing in which writer Jake Adelstein plays Sega game Yazuka 3 with three real-life members of the Yakuza. I have selected two wonderful excerpts. More »

Is Sega's Yakuza series a realistic depiction of life inside Japanese organized crime, or is it a total fantasy based on something the Japanese public would recognize? Tokyo Vice author and reporter Jake Adelstein asked several actual yakuza to play and review Yakuza 3.

"Midoriyama" (a pseudonym) found the power-ups true-to-life. "I like the fact that you power up by eating real food," he said. "Shio ramen gives you a lot of power - CC Lemon, not as much. It all makes sense." "Kuroishi" knew of a yakuza who had run an orphanage like the game's protagonist, Kazuma, once did. "Sure it was a tax shelter but he ran it like a legitimate thing. You know."

The gangsters were less impressed with the fighting. "No yakuza is going to run around getting into fistfights like that," Kuroishi said. "Especially not an executive type. He'll wind up in jail or in the hospital or dead, maybe even whacked by his own people for being a troublemaker." They were even less impressed with Kazuma's red shirt. "He's supposed to be a former boss of the Inagawakai," Midoriyama notes, "and he dresses like a chinpira (low level yakuza punk). He's a yakuza, not a host."

Finally, "Shirokawa" offered his opinion of the changes made in localization: "I feel sorry for the people who bought the American version. SEGA USA sucks."

#japan She won't be alone. Oh, no. More »

#yakuza With the release of Sega's Yakuza 3 going down well with many, let's take a look at the actual Yakuza, Japan's "mafia", and see just how powerful - and accepted - they are in contemporary society. More »

#yakuza One of the most interesting things about Yakuza 3 is how you keep running into men with enormous, fantastic tattoos. Well, those tats are the work of one man: Kazuaki Kitamura. More »

#review It's funny, for all the Japanese games you and I have ever played—and they number in the hundreds, if not thousands—few of them are Japanese in the way that Yakuza 3 is. More »

Plenty of attention has been lavished on one nontraditional Japanese RPG this week -- but Sega sneaked out another one alongside Final Fantasy XIII. Luckily, enough reviewers remembered that Yakuza 3 exists to provide a decent swath of reviews.

While it's certain to be the best game this week about playing fictional arcade shooters, singing karaoke with dates from hostess clubs and hitting gangsters with street signs, how did Kazuma Kiryu's latest saga fare under more common rubrics?

• IGN (8.5/10): "You're getting this intense story about Japan's seedy underbelly that's set in an open world where you can take all sorts of side quests, but as you do so, random battles are popping up, you're earning experience points so you can level up your moves, and you can take stuff from your extensive inventory list and craft new weapons and armor. There are no cars or chocobos, but you see where I'm going with this -- one minute you're slamming a crowbar into a guy's face or tearing off a fingernail with pliers, and the next minute, you're taking photos to blog about or on a fetch quest to find a certain fish."
• GameSpot (8/10): "While the pace and events of the story are enough to propel you towards its conclusion, the non-story peripheral content gives Yakuza 3 a welcome sense of diversity. There are more than a hundred side and hitman quests that allow you to do everything from carrying ice cream for a father who has overpurchased, to playing UFO Catcher claw machines in the arcade, to chasing down a bag snatcher, to offering financial advice to a man deep in debt and precariously perched on the edge of a bridge."
• Eurogamer (8/10): "From the publisher that brought us Streets of Rage, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue, Yakuza is essentially a mashup of all three, which is hardly surprising but does mean it's the stuff of Segaphile fantasies. Liberally sprinkled with their genius, it's the grateful beneficiary of some of their most satisfying elements, in a context which delivers a uniquely Japanese -- and uniquely Sega -- flavour."

#yakuza Sega has made cuts to the Western version of gangland brawler Yakuza 3. The publisher says that hostess bars are gone. People playing the game say a lot more than that is missing. More »

It's Santori time, gangster.

#humor So you thought the hostess bars were the only thing cut from Yakuza 3, a very Japanese game that's being brought to the West by Sega? Nunh unh. There are way more changes than that. More »

The big day is finally here. As Yakuza 3 begins the journey to stores across the west, we take another look at what makes Yakuza 3 something you’ll find only on the PS3.

“If there’s one thing about Yakuza that these last few months have taught people,” I thought as I sat at lunch on Monday, “It’s that the fans are a force to take seriously…usually.” Fans can be the biggest allies and proponents of games that may not be the huge, multi-million sellers like (insert generic FPS here), or (insert additional generic FPS here). They can create amazing successes for games that were never expected to have them – looking at you, Valkyria Chronicles – and they can just as easily do the opposite, in some cases.

But more than anything, most fans just want to be heard. Fans want interaction, and to be responded to. So let’s begin this blog post by jumping right in to one of the biggest things fans have been asking about: the content.

Yakuza 3 is huge. Besides exploring Tokyo and Okinawa, you can also visit restaurants, pick up ramen at a local convenience store, go golfing, bowling, fishing, karaoke, or bust some heads in a local street fight.

As someone who enjoyed Shenmue, my love for Yakuza grows in knowing that some of the people who developed the original Shenmue games also work on Yakuza now. The similarity in feel between the two is no coincidence – and the epic feel of exploration, and Japanese culture, that the game offers are things you won’t find anywhere else. I’m also a big fan of playing darts while drunk – the extra level of difficulty is quite entertaining, besides being notably safer in Yakuza 3’s virtual world than it is in real life. (Note: I do not condone playing Darts while intoxicated. You’ll probably take someone’s eye out.)

Also, we’d like to make special note that while not everything from the Japanese version made it to the western shores, our community team has been – and will be– reading, compiling, and passing all of that feedback upwards here at SEGA. I can’t say more than that presently, but know that you are being heard, and we’ll make sure of that for you. To clarify additionally, as has been mentioned: Hostesses are in the game, and you can take them out on dates, build relationships, and sing karaoke with them to your heart’s content.

As Yakuza goes out the door and into the homes of hundreds of thousands of fans, I’d also like to take a moment to give some thanks to the people that really deserve it – and that’s you guys. It goes to the people who pushed from the beginning to show SEGA how much they wanted this game here. To those who post in the comments sections encouraging us, offering bright and helpful viewpoints even when the going got rough. And finally, to those who continue to support this PS3 exclusive by picking up the game, and in doing so give the franchise the legs on which to stand.

Know that we appreciate the support so many of you have already given to this series – and that we are now, and will continue to listen to your feedback.

That said – here’s to Yakuza 3!

Just when you thought it was safe to pick random fights in Tokyo...

The latest trailer for Yakuza 3 (embedded after the break) is all about Kazuma Kiryu's memories of his life before the events of the current game. In other words, you'll see clips from Yakuza 1 and 2 interspersed with footage of Kazuma kicking people. A one-minute trailer is hardly enough to bring you up to speed on the story if you haven't played either of the PS2 games, but it does help demonstrate the visual upgrade the franchise has received as it makes the jump to PS3. (Just imagine how good Yakuza 4 will look!)

Speaking of memories, Sega is right to release a bunch of trailers for this game -- the publisher needs to do everything it possibly can to remind people that Yakuza 3 is coming out, in the hope that a few people might pick it up when they go to buy Final Fantasy XIII or God of War III this month.

#yakuza3 Just because the West isn't getting in-game hostess bars that doesn't mean it won't be getting other cool things. You know, like yakuza movies. More »

One of the best things about the Yakuza series is its detailed reconstruction of Tokyo. The exact details might be fictionalized, but Yakuza's Kabukicho still feels like taking a walk in the genuine article. Yakuza 3 is an even more convincing replica of Tokyo (and also Okinawa!) thanks to the increased detail capable in the PlayStation 3.

Soak in the atmosphere in this new trailer, set to a stirring karaoke performance by protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. Yakuza 3 will be available March 9, at which point you'll be able to explore virtual Tokyo for yourself -- except for the hostess clubs.

#clips Due to hit stores in the U.S. March 9, sans ancient Japanese history and hostess bars, Yakuza 3 isn't just about beating people up, there's also sightseeing. More »

Enter the world of the Yakuza in this locations trailer for Yakuza 3 from Sega and Amusement Vision.

A day after informing IGN that Yakuza 3 was coming to the U.S. with content cuts, Sega offered more explanation. On Sega's official blog, a community manager for the company said that, wihtout the...

[GAME Watch] There's a good chance that many of you were going to play through Yakuza 3 without messing with the hostess club segments or the Answer x Answer arcade quiz game. Now, it's a certainty.

"The content between Yakuza 3 US/UK and Yakuza JP is a little different in that we took out certain bits in order to bring the game to the west in the time alloted for us to do so," a Sega rep told IGN. "The parts we ended up taking out were parts that we felt wouldn't make sense (like a Japanese history quiz game) or wouldn't resonate as much (such as the concept of a hostess club)."

You may have gone on a karaoke date with Rina in the demo. In the original game, you meet her in a hostess club, and have to buy her gifts and learn about her in conversations. Now, we suppose, she'll just randomly call you like she did in the demo. Somehow, the dating won't be affected, as the Sega rep assured IGN that "the story experience was the same as the Japanese version."

Who can blame Sega for cutting some of the more culturally Japanese elements from this role-playing game about modern Japanese culture? After all, it must have been in a rush to release on the same day as Final Fantasy XIII.

Hostesses out, strippers still in.

The girls are getting kicked out of the club--it's about to hit the fan inside!

Go out on the town and look for a fight.

Here come the men in black, but they're not here to defend the galaxy. Fight them in this gameplay.

Cutie Rina Sakurai wants to hit up some karaoke with you. Are you a bad enough gangster to comply?

Your hot girl got you into the karaoke booth. Have you got the minerals to show off your pipes?

Sing karaoke, get drunk, and fight in the streets of Japan.