Yakuza: Dead Souls Message Board

#showus Surreal stages, events, or gameplay that somehow just don't fit have always been present, and even expected. Their crazy graphics, weird aesthetics and ideas make sure that we have absolutely no idea what's going on. But they have their charm, they are funny, or they're simply part of the experience—and so we love them. More »

Turns out zombies aren't too good at paying their mafia dues. Patrick and Brad have come to collect.

Many people dream of visiting Tokyo and a few lucky ones actually get to go. If the long flights, heavy suitcases and language barriers just aren’t in the cards for you, don’t fret. You can still see some actual real-life Tokyo sights, restaurants, amusements and more in Yakuza: Dead Souls — which is out now on PS3, by the way.

Just like any good tourist guidebook, here’s a map of Kamurocho (a city inspired by the famous red light district in Tokyo), with a numbered list of restaurants, advertising and more that are actually real-life things. We’ve also added the location of the first three zombie bosses*. We’re just nice like that.

*The location of these items doesn’t match those that can be found in real-life. Also, we must warn you: there are no zombies in the real Tokyo – at least, as far as we know – but there are many, many more of them in Yakuza: Dead Souls than we’ve shown on this map. We’ll let you find them all (or let them find you first)!

2. If you’d prefer to eat at home or in your hotel room while watching strange Japanese TV shows, you could buy a pack of Acecook cup noodles from this store. Beware: while in this neighborhood in Yakuza: Dead Souls you’ll come across the fearsome first boss, the Arahabaki Prototype. Eat or be eaten: It’s up to you!

6. Fancy going out for an evening meal? Watami is a culinary paradise! Sashimi, handmade tofu, organic vegetables and fresh Hokkaido mackerel await you, and they go down smoother when accompanied by an original cocktail.

7. Of course, you could buy everyday food and cosmetic items at Don Quijote, but you may be happy to know that you can also buy maid and schoolgirl uniforms to take home as a souvenir for your girlfriend. She will be de-ligh-ted, surely!

8. Karaoke boxes in Tokyo are like trees in a forest. But don’t be fooled by lesser venues: Look for the characteristic blue-colored Karaokan chain stores if you want the real deal. Great rooms, tasty drinks and a good choice of foreign songs (or try some Japanese classics if you think you’re up to the challenge). Still hesitating? Then ask Goro Majima what he thinks about them!

11. Do we really need to tell you that Club SEGA is the absolute best place to go for classic arcade machines and the latest UFO Catchers? But watch your back when you visit this one in Yakuza: Dead Souls — the second boss, Onraki, is lurking just around the corner.

12. Advertising is the key to success and companies like JOYSOUND and Kai Razor know this only too well. The first is a company providing karaoke services; Visit a karaoke box and there’s a fair chance you will use one of their services. The latter is a type of hand razor – convenient for forgetful travelers and handy for all humans, although I’m not sure how zombies find them.

By the way, keep an eye out when you see these two advertisements: you will probably come across the Arahabaki boss, who takes some beating!

Hope you enjoyed the tour, but now you can experience Tokyo for yourself — Yakuza: Dead Souls is available now exclusively on PS3.

#culturesmash Yakuza: Dead Souls is goofy. It's silly. It's a parody. The game looks like it has borrowed pages from both the Left4Dead and Resident Evil handbooks. Yet wrapped inside that hammy exterior is something surprising: reality. More »

If you've played a Yakuza game before, you'll know them as sprawling urban RPGs centred on the tensions and rivalries between different factions of the Japanese mafia, featuring plenty of beat-downs, kerb-stomping and bashing people over the head with tables. Yakuza Dead Souls is kinda like that, b...

Whenever you see a zombie in a TV show, video game, or movie (or real life!), you need to kill it. All of the zombies must die! The unforgiving slaughter of zombies goes back to the 1930s and is stronger than ever 80 years later. What will it take to end the violence?

A group of activists in Yakuza: Dead Souls is trying to do just that. You can learn more, and even donate to their cause, in the game. Regardless of how you feel about zombie rights, it’s worth a stop to admire their creative protest signs, with slogans like “Zombies are people too!” and “What if your child were a zombie?!”

This is just one of the weirdly funny ways that zombies and real life are linked in Yakuza: Dead Souls. The game is full of clever moments, so get out there and explore Kamurocho to find all that is waiting to be discovered! And if you’re not fighting for zombie rights, you can get all the crazy zombie-killing action you’re craving, with a distinct Yakuza twist.

You can pre-order the game to get a special bonus; trust me – you don’t want to miss out on the assets offered! Yakuza: Dead Souls hits shelves tomorrow in North America, and is exclusive to the PS3.

#japanearthquake Japan is turning its attention to the one-year anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The tragic disaster not only destroyed lives, it took them. More »

When tragedy and devastation hit a place, even if it’s a place you’re very familiar with, it can be hard to remember what it used to look like. You may think you know every inch of a certain place, and then suddenly, it’s unrecognizable.

To see how much things can change once the zombie invasion hits, here are some comparison screens of Kamurocho as it used to be and as it is now in Yakuza: Dead Souls.

Before Zombies – a sunny day in Kamurocho.

After Zombies – yeah, I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.

Before Zombies – what a nice vending machine!

After Zombies – OH GOD, IT’S ON FIRE! (At least the traffic cone survived.)

Before Zombies – I’m not sure that’s a very safe parking spot…

After Zombies – Uh, yeah. Sorry about your car, mister.

Yakuza: Dead Souls has all the crazy zombie-killing action you’re craving, with a distinct Yakuza twist.

A pre-order campaign is currently running. Trust me – you don’t want to miss out on the assets offered! Yakuza: Dead Souls hits shelves on March 13th in North America, March 16th in Europe, and is exclusive to the PS3.

#yakuza SEGA's new trailer for the zombie-ridden Yakuza: Dead Souls skips the foreplay of human connection and solidarity. The shambling hordes come first, picking their way through Tokyo's red light district with a hunger for human flesh… and bone marrow, and organs, and brains. More »

It’s a question as old as zombies themselves – How do you kill a zombie? I find that most zombie-killing machines fall into one of two main categories: guns and melee weapons. Yakuza: Dead Souls makes sure that you can experience both from the comfort of your own home. After the trailer, a brief discussion on the weapons you’ll have at your disposal in Yakuza: Dead Souls.

Guns – A reliable source of zombie obliteration. A well-timed headshot goes a long way in zombie eradication, and Yakuza: Dead Souls has more than enough guns to choose from. (Don’t forget that you can play as Ryuji Goda, whose fake arm is a gatling gun!) Additionally, Yakuza: Dead Souls allows you to “heat snipe” items for maximum zombie carnage. Horde of zombies got you craving more fire power? Well then snipe the gas tank on a nearby car and watch the explosion spread!

Melee – If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “Alright, guns are cool but what happens if I’m out of ammo or just plain feel like slapping a zombie around?” The answer: pick something up and slap a zombie! Yakuza: Dead Souls lets you play with reliable, time-tested zombie-killing things: chainsaws, baseball bats, grenades, etc., and also allows you to get slightly more creative with your melee weapons: Motorbike? Poles? Desk? Go for it!

Questions about available weapons? Need tips on the art of beating a zombie to death (again) with a couch? Kellie and I are here to answer your questions, and if you’re lucky I might share my super-secret zombie-apocalypse survival tips (Hint: get to a Costco that sells beer and wait for Majima and his sweet eyepatch to show up).

#yakuza Sure, you know that the next Yakuza game from Sega is leaving any semblance of gritty crime drama behind. But did you know that the guy with the bionic machine gun arm likes to cook? We can only hope that there's culinary side missions in Yakuza: Dead Souls when it hits next March. Using zombie meat, of course. More »

You may have heard that Yakuza: Dead Souls is coming to PlayStation 3 in March 2012. Like Yakuza 4, the game will let you play as four characters, including two never-before-played fan favorites: Goro Majima and Ryuji Goda. It’s a Yakuza experience like none other, because this time, you’ll be fighting a horde of blood-thirsty zombies.

The undead are multiplying and filling the streets of Tokyo’s red light district. The area is quarantined quickly, but degenerates into a district full of terror, panic and devastation. Survivors try to flee the city, but four men rise up to protect those they care most about. If you think zombies are bad, meet the Yakuza.

Playable for the first time in Yakuza: Dead Souls, Goro Majima is nuts about zombie movies. He’s so excited to be killing off zombies that when you’re playing as Majima, you’ll be picking fights with zombies, instead of just merely defending yourself. Now that’s bad ass.

You probably thought Ryuji Goda was dead after Yakuza 2. But you’d be wrong, and not because he’s a reanimated zombie back to munch your brains. He’s more interested in cooking you some takoyaki at a street stall. In case mysteriously reappearing from the presumed-dead for some yummy fried octopus is not ridiculous enough for you, you should know that his prosthetic arm can transform into a gatling gun. You’ve never been able to play as Goda before, and it’s not something you’ll soon forget.

Your returning Yakuza favorites, Shun Akiyama and Kazuma Kiryu, will also be packing some heat: Akiyama specializes in dual handguns to protect himself, and Kiryu, not one to skimp when it comes to strength, will have a very special gun of his own.

Play as your favorite character, grab an attractive hostess to be your butt-kicking sidekick and arm yourself with your favorite gun or whatever item is within reach – chainsaws, bicycles, fire extinguishers, desks or anything else you can pick up. It’s time to fight some zombies!

Want to ask Kate about her favorite item to smack a zombie with? Want to ask Kellie what the heck takoyaki is? We’ll both be in the comments to answer these and any other Yakuza: Dead Souls questions you have for us.

Yakuza: Dead Souls is ripping off my idea. Back in high school, I pitched a trilogy of movies. The first would follow a group of friends through a crazy spring break, the second would cover their first summer back from college, and the third -- the movie where you already knew the characters and cared about them -- would put them in a center of a zombie outbreak. Now, more than a decade later, Yakuza: Dead Souls is stealing my idea and releasing it this March...

After a recent teaser campaign, SEGA has revealed that Yakuza: Of the End will come to the US under the title Yakuza: Dead Souls...