PlayStation LifeStyle » Yakuza 3

Incredibly Devoted Fan Gets $9000 Yakuza 4 Tattoo

Paulmichael Contreras — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:03:14 +0000

There are some fans of different products, franchises or characters who put a small tattoo on their arms or legs to show their appreciation for whatever it is they like. This fan goes far above that level of dedication, as he has what may be the largest videogame-related tattoo ever crafted.

SEGA ran a contest almost a year ago, asking fans of Yazkua 3 to state in 25 words or less why they think they deserve to win a $9000 real-life tattoo to match that of character Kazuma Kiry. 46 year-old Fari Salievski from Liverpool, Australia ended up winning said contest. An MMA trainer, Mr. Salievki went through with the entire process, to end up with the impressive full back tattoo you see above (and in higher detail in the gallery below). It has earned him the nickname of “The Dragon,” and the entire process entailed four-hour sessions at least three hours apart for six months, with the artwork done by Josh Roelink from Tatudharma Studios in Sydney. Take a look at the tattoo below, and let us know what you think in the comments. Yakuza 4 is out now, and you can expect our review soon.

Yakuza 4 Gets New Trailer, North American and European Release Dates

Mike Hartnett — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:21:34 +0000

Sega has just announced the North American and European release dates for the latest iteration in the tremendously successful PS3-exclusive Yakuza series, Yakuza 4, along with a kick-butt trailer to boot.

Things are going to be much more interesting this time around, as players will not only be able to take control of series veteran Kazuma Kiryu, but three of his closest comrades as well. Not to mention that Sega got smart this time around and decided to keep the hostess clubs in all versions of the game, as opposed to Yakuza 3 where they were removed.

Look for Yakuza 4 when it hits North American shores on March 15th, and then shortly thereafter in Europe on March 18th.

Any Cuts to Yakuza 4 Will be “Nothing Like Yakuza 3″

Corey Schwanz — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:01:49 +0000

When Yakuza 3 was finally released to Western audiences this past Spring, gamers rejoiced at the release of a critically acclaimed, yet niche title. All was not well however, when Sega decided to cut a majority of the content. Will it happen again?

Fret not Yakuza lovers! Western gamers who like their Japanese games pure and populated by signature elements of Tokyo culture are sure to get a dose of what they want in next year’s upcoming release of Yakuza 4. Yes, the hostess bar will make a triumphant return. Sega’s Aaron Webber, the community manager of the forums that turned into a cesspool of hatred during the previous game’s release, said that ALL of the side-quests “will pretty much be in there.” How much is “pretty much”? Well, according to an interview with Kotaku, Webber actually said he was unaware of any side-quests being cut.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be any cuts at all however. One part that has definitely been cut is the mini-game of an interactive Japanese game show, Answer X Answer. While the extensive nature of the Japanese trivia was deemed “too exotic” for Western audiences in Yakuza 3, the lack of the trivia section was actually not the case at all for this game. This mini-game involved custom-made 16-bit graphics with very specific fonts. To keep the game on schedule for a March 2011 release date, this portion had to be cut. They really looked in to implementing it, but it just would have been too much work. Webber said that the main goal is to minimize the time between the Japanese and Western launches of the game, so as long as Yakuza 4 sells well, it looks like Sega will be able to fully localize more and more content in the future.

Interested in the Yakuza at all? Check out PlayStation LifeStyle’s review and tell us what you think!

[Source]

Yakuza 3′s Price Gets Slashed

Kyle P. — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:57:14 +0000

After only being on the market for roughly six months, Amazon has, drastically, cut the price on Sega’s Yakuza 3, by quite a large margin. If you haven’t played this phenomenal game (PSLS gave it a 9/10), then now is certainly the time to pick this title up.

Amazon has cut the price of Yakuza 3 to a cool $34.99. This represents a 42% price reduction; dropping from the game’s original $59.99 price point. Now is an excellent time to pick up this game, as the game is top-notch, and at a price like this, it would be very silly to pass this up.

Yakuza 3 is the fourth installment in the popular Yakuza series and continues the adventures of Kazuma Kiryu (of Yakuza and Yakuza 2 fame).

Yakuza 4 Bringing Crime to the Western Hemisphere

Matt Baker — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:05:59 +0000

SEGA had still not decided whether to give Yakuza 3 a release outside of Japan until only a few months ago. The fourth installment in the open-world Japanese gangster game based on the infamous Yakuza gang was announced a while back but, as expected, it was a Japan exclusive title when it was revealed. SEGA stated that if Yakuza 3 was a success in the west in terms of sales, which was acheived, they would plan on localizing Yakuza 4.

As Yakuza 3 was making its long-awaited worldwide debut in March, its sequel Yakuza 4 had already been released in Japan and SEGA has since announced that it will be released in the west in “Spring 2011″. Yakuza 4 will introduce a slew of upgrades from its critically-acclaimed predecessor, which introduced three new playable characters with each having their own engaging backstory as well as a “gripping interwoven plot.”

If you have some questions in regard to Yakuza 4, Sega has given the opportunity for fans to question the Yakuza series’ Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi. Just head on over to the SEGA Europe blog and leave your questions in the comments section.

Proof That Sonic Team is Finally Listening

Mike Hartnett — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:50:38 +0000

Sonic Team has been in a state of deep decline over the past several years, while recently attempting to re-attain their good name with their upcoming title Sonic 4: Episode 1, now scheduled for a “late 2010″ release. I won’t be so quick to praise the team, as to avoid a possible enlargement of their craniums which would result in a state of complacency, but I would like to point out that Sonic Team is doing something right and, if they persist, just might manage to get back in good standing with the gaming public while successfully bringing back a franchise that many of us have cherished for quite some time.

Sonic 4, we’ve heard good things about it, we’ve heard bad things about it, but so far in the development process the game wreaks of mediocrity, with fans of Sonic titles past annoyed with how Sonic seems to have no real weight to him and floats rather than jumps and lacks what the blue blur has been known for all these years… speed! One huge issue those anticipating Sonic 4′s release have had has been the fact that Sonic seems to float forward with a slow jog as opposed the to the rapid, fancy and more realistic footwork he was known for back in the Genesis and even Dreamcast days. Well, in a pretty awesome move, Sega and Sonic Team showed that they had been listening to the fans and, in a recent trailer, Sonic was shown chasing Robotnik (don’t even think about saying “Eggman”) and was no longer floating forward but actually running much like he did back in the old days. Albeit it’s not perfect, but it’s a start.

This small improvement mixed with the new “late 2010″ release window should be considered a positive sign for Sonic and Sega fans alike. First Sega listened by bringing Yakuza 3 stateside and now their taking the time to polish a game that, otherwise, would have probably been considered the final nail in Sonic’s coffin, at least for the main storyline. If Sega can continue to tweak the game’s physics, make Sonic feel more solid gameplay-wise, avoid gimmicky gameplay like the leaked “Lost Labyrinth Zone” and pull the camera out a bit, we could be looking at one awesome PSN release, but that’s if, and only if, this game gets several extra coats of polish. Yes, many of us Sonic fans out there have been hard on this title ever since its inception, but that’s only because we want it to succeed.

All-in-all, I think Sonic fans have a lot to look forward to, and although this significant delay may seem like a letdown for some, it can certainly be seen as a shining beacon of hope for others who may have been skeptical from the get-go but really want to see this game do well. So what do you guys think? Has Sonic Team finally gotten their act together, or is it really too soon to tell? Let us know in the comments below!

The West Bows To Yakuza 3

Mike Hartnett — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:19:19 +0000

Yakuza 3, the Japanese gangster themed title by Sega, was a phenomenal success in the land of the rising sun, but only until recently had Sega decided to port the game over to the West to see how it would fare. Turns out that may have been one of Sega’s better decisions in recent memory, and may even cultivate a new base for their typically eastern style of games.

Community manager and administrator for the official Yakuza 3 forums has stated the following:

As was mentioned a couple times above, SEGA doesn’t generally release any specific numbers in terms of game sales. (Even in Valkyria’s case, after a huge surge, we listed percentages.)
So, while I’m not able to give you any numbers, I can at least still confirm that the initial sales were really positive, and that all of the fans who jumped in to support the franchise in the west did a great job.

This really is phenomenal news, even if the impact was minimal, as fans of Japanese culture can look forward to Sega porting over future iterations, possibly even the recently released Yakuza 4. If gamers want Sega and other companies who prefer developing select titles solely for those based in their homeland to start sharing some of the gaming goodness, don’t hesitate to support them with a purchase if the title really delivers, much like the Yakuza series is doing now.

[Via]

Sega Software Sales Anything But Poor

Mike Hartnett — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:29:36 +0000

Sega has just revealed details regarding their impressive 2009 fiscal year-end sales results and we’ve got ‘em for ya!

It seems that the console developer turned exclusive software publisher, despite a harsh past few years, is doing quite well in the sales department, with big releases across all three major home platforms in addition to strong PSP sales. Sega has made pretty positive waves with the release of fresh, new IPs like Bayonetta last year along with PS3-exclusive titles like Yakuza 3 hitting North American shores, and of course your Sega character mash-up titles which are doing incredibly well.

Here are some of Sega’s major winners in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2009:

Aliens vs. Predator (PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360) – 1.69 million in US and Europe
Bayonetta (PlayStation 3/Xbox 360) – 1.35 million in US, Europe and Japan
Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing (Nintendo Wii/Nintendo DS/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360) – 1.07 million in US and Europe
Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP) – 600K in Japan

Yakuza 4 (PlayStation 3) – 560K in Japan

Sega has some pretty strong momentum going into the 2010 fiscal year with no plans to slow down. With rumors of a Sega presence in PlayStation Home coming and Dreamcast titles possibly releasing over the PSN, the publisher’s immediate and potentially long-term future is looking quite bright to say the least.

[Source]

Headshots & Friendly Fire: Round 10

Josh Fernandes — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:57:16 +0000

The gaming industry has gotten bigger and better with each passing year, but sometimes it just doesn’t do things right. Whether it’s gameplay, story, pricing, or business practices, sometimes the industry needs a little friendly fire from gamers to keep it in line.

Other times, developers look down their sights and fire off a well placed bullet right into our thrilled heads. This is Josh & Cameron, and today we have a special guest for Headshots & Friendly Fire.

A Bit of Friendly Fire

French Voice Actors

Name your favorite French voice actor. I’ll wait…okay, time’s up. You probably couldn’t think of one, because it seems like most French voice actors couldn’t do an American accent if their lives depended on it. I’m sure the French are a wonderful people with many fine qualities, but an American accent is their Achilles’ heel. David Cage has stated that he is considering using American actors for his next game. Apparently, I’m not the first person to express this opinion. It’s very noble of David Cage to give voice-acting work to his fellow countrymen (especially in this economy), but I’m sure they could find jobs doing terrible voice acting for White Knight Chronicles 2.

FRAGnStein A Mess

I love a good peripheral as much as the next guy, especially when it is designed to give me the feel of using a mouse on my PS3 when I am playing a shooter. In comes the FRAGnStein, and with it comes the bundle of mess that is setting up the damned thing. Hook it up to your PS3–oh, it doesn’t sync–okay, plug it into to your PC and install the drivers. OH WAIT, the drivers don’t seem to want to work, so your PC does not recognize the device. On top of that, when new games are patched for the device, you have to go online and get the drivers for that game. Is it too much to ask that the device plug in and start working?

Maybe Young Fragnstein Will be Better

Wimpy Big Daddies

I’m a Big Daddy. I want to be super-overpowered–a tank that can take thousands of bullets. I don’t want a drill that takes 3 hits to kill someone, and to have to dodge behind cover after taking only a few bullets. Controlling an overpowered character in a game can work. If you can kill anything you want with just one hit of your drill, then you need to make sure that the game isn’t too easy. That’s why you restrict the movement of the character. Make the Big Daddy walk slow. Enemies may be able to move a lot faster than you, but if you ever catch them, they’re as good as dead. Imagine slowly making your way towards a splicer with a Tommy gun, being sprayed with hundreds of bullets, and then taking your drill and plunging it through his chest. Then a Big Sister shows up, and you have to run away, but you can’t out run the Big Sister because you’re wrapped in two tons of iron. Now, the all-powerful Big Daddy has become weak and helpless in the shadow of the Big Sister. I don’t care who you are, everybody would love to play that game.

Upgrading Weapons

In some games, having to upgrade your weapons feels a little dated. God of War isn’t about upgrading weapons. It’s about tearing out a centaur’s intestines and using them as a jump rope. Once I unlock the Hades Blades, I shouldn’t have to spend time to make them more powerful. They should be perfectly capable of getting me through the game as is. I would feel the same way if Uncharted 2 made me upgrade the guns. I should be completely focused on how to position myself during a firefight so that I can take out the enemies, not about whether I want my pistol to do slightly more damage. Upgrading weapons is still very fun in games like Ratchet & Clank and Resident Evil. These are the games where I would want to go back to a previous area and just grind so that my gun can hold 100 bullets or shoot buzz saws that also perform free colonoscopies. God of War 3 and Uncharted 2 are both very linear games, and the first playthrough is always the best. I don’t want the experience to be bogged down with micromanagement. Final Fantasy and Demon’s Souls can have their textbooks filled with weapon statistics, just as long as the only math I have to do in Uncharted 3 is counting the number of dudes I kill.

Hmmm....What to Upgrade First....

PS3 Reaches Milestone in Japan Lifetime-to-Date Sales

Dan Massi — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:42:34 +0000

For the past three weeks, the PlayStation 3 has been coming in first in the hardware charts. The console has been doing immensely well as of late, especially in the land of the rising sun, with PS3 exclusives (in Japan) such as Final Fantasy to thank.

Enterbrain (parent company of Famitsu) has announced that the PS3 has sold 5 million units since its release in 2006. The company also revealed that Final Fantasy XIII, a PS3 exclusive in Japan, is the top-selling title for the console at 1.8 million copies. Coming in second is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (with over 706 thousand copies sold), and in third is Yakuza 3 (with 526 thousand copies).

[Source/Via]

Impressive Yakuza Series Figures Revealed

Matt Baker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:36:23 +0000

A majority of Yakuza games to date have been released primarily in Japan, with some of the titles in the series releasing outside Japanese borders months later, ala Yakuza 3. However, the series remains strong in the west with Sega’s brawler gathering impressive sales figures. Sega have now announced the shipment figures for the series since its introduction in 2005.

An accumulative of 4 million copies of the Yakuza games within the long-running PlayStation franchise has been shipped worldwide. The first game in the series which made its debut on the PlayStation 2 and racked up 21 million dollars is the most shipped title in the series. The latest title, Yakuza 4 which released last week, has already shipped 500,000 copies to Japanese retailers.

The Japanese gangster-oriented franchise began in 2005. Since then, there has been a total of four Yakuza games so far. Yakuza 4 released in Japan recently this month, whilst its predecessor launched in the west. Yakuza 5 has already been hinted at, despite Yakuza 4 releasing last week.

Be sure to visit PlayStation LifeStyle’s review of the third installment in the series.

[Source]

PS3 Review – Yakuza 3

Cameron Teague — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:41:36 +0000

Sega held off on bringing Yakuza 3 stateside, even after the game saw great sales in Japan. After a year of waiting, the game has finally hit the US, bringing GTA-style gameplay with a heavily Japanese flavor. The game features plenty of fights, story, and a ton of mini games to keep you busy during your trip into Japan. The question is though, is this game worthy of its Yakuza name or does it fall a few punches short of a knockout?

Yakuza 3 continues the story of the legendary 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan, “The Dragon of Dojima,” Kazuma Kiryu. Looking for a way out of the life of a Yakuza, Kazuma decides to settle down and run the Sunshine Orphanage that he grew up in. The story is told in its original language with English subtitles, something that really adds to the presentation of the game. The game is all about the Japanese culture and setting, so having it in its original language further enhances the feeling of being in Japan. A great feature in the game for those who have not played the first two or need to refresh their memory, is a setting at the start screen to view a recap of the first and the second games. This is a great way to get backstory and catch you up on all the events leading up to this third game.

On your attempt to run the straight and narrow, you find that trouble follows you, and you cannot help but get caught back up in the wrong crowd. Luckily, though, your character is always up for throwing his knuckles around and he just happens to be very good at it. This is where the combat comes into play, and boy is it ever fun to throw down with your fellow combatants. Fights happen at random on the streets, with punks and Yakuza alike approaching you and picking a fight. Once the fight is started, you are introduced to the combatants, and then it’s on. Combat breaks down into light and strong attacks, with the ability to block, grab, and dodge.

Fighting won’t just be done with your bare hands as you can pick up various different objects around the fighting area, which happens to resemble a school-yard fight where a group of onlookers encircle the combatants. The objects you can pick up vary from bikes along the side of the street to trash cans and couches. Each object that you pick up has a set number of uses and once these are gone the object will break. Aside from these objects you can also equip various different weapons for your character to use and these can be easily cycled through using the D-Pad during combat.

Additionally, you build up your heat gauge with each successful attack on an enemy. Once you have filled up your gauge, you will notice a blue aura around your character, indicating that you are in heat mode. This mode allows you to pull off secret techniques to put a major hurt on anyone caught in them. Most of these secret techniques can only be used in certain conditions, like when holding an object or grabbing an opponent. During boss battles, you will get to use a Super Finish, which again is based around your heat gauge. Combat also employs the use of Quick Time Events, but these are not as intense as say the ones in Heavy Rain. For the most part, you will only have to use these during the boss battles and sometimes during story fights.

The combat can become very intense, as every hit taken and given feels very heavy, and you will almost always fight more than one enemy, outside of some boss battles. Enemies will come at you with various different weapons and fighting styles, meaning you will need to make sure to block and dodge correctly. The boss battles are very interesting, as each boss has a unique set of moves, meaning you will have to employ a new strategy during each fight. You will also have the option to improve your character’s attributes and learn new moves through experience gained during combat.

New to the combat side of things is the chase battle. Just as the name sounds, you are given a task to run down someone attempting to flee from you. Both the chaser and the chased have a running gauge that decreases as either character runs into something or someone in their way. You must successfully navigate through crowded streets and jump over obstacles to gain on your enemy. Once close, you can bump into the person you are chasing to decrease their gauge, then tackle them once they are empty.

SEGA Teases New Yakuza

Dan Massi — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:31:41 +0000

Yakuza 3 released last week in North America after fans demanded the title’s localization. Now its sequel, Yakuza 4, is getting very close to its Japan release of March 18th, 2010. But just because two Yakuza titles have recently been released doesn’t mean SEGA can’t tease a new one.

Indeed, at a recent Yakuza 4 event in Tokyo, SEGA surprised all when it revealed a teaser trailer for the next game in the series. Codenamed “Project K”, the game will be once again produced by series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.

The teaser trailer was focused on a new character – a young man – thought to be the main protagonist of the next game. The teaser began when it showed off the Kamurocho neon entrance sign, then cut to the new character. Between scenes of the city and the character, the following text flashed on screen.

The boy knew it
The graveness of the crimes he continued to commit
But the boy still doesn’t know
The cruel fate that awaits
Also, the boy knows
That fighting is his destiny

As the teaser ended, the final sentence showed was “A new challenge for Ryu ga Gotoku starts.” Ryu ga Gotoku, of course, is the Japanese name of Yakuza.

Stay tuned on PlayStation LifeStyle for all the news on the Yakuza series.

[Source]

Yakuza 3 Trailer Kicks Back to the Past

Cameron Teague — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:06:47 +0000

Yakuza 3 is finally on the cusp of finally being released to the West. Sega‘s new trailer takes a step back to recount some of Kazuma Kiryu’s struggles through Yakuza 1 and 2. It has been since 2008 since we last saw Kazuma this new trailer brings back a sense of nostalgia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Western Yakuza 3 Loses Out on Japanese Content

Matt Baker — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:00:13 +0000

Only a few weeks remain until the release of PlayStation 3′s exclusive brawler from Sega, Yakuza 3. The open world gangster game features an intriguing fighting system as well as a detailed environments and a compelling story. But will everything which made Yakuza 3 a success in Japan make it through in to the Western release?

Unfortunately for US and European PlayStation 3 owners, the Hostess Club scenes will not be featured in the Western release of the third game in the series. A Japanese quiz game segment has also been removed. A Sega representative told IGN that some content from the Japanese version of the fighter will be cut out from the western version.

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. 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).
We didn’t replace the parts we took out, but we made absolutely sure that the story continuity stayed intact so that the story experience was the same as the Japanese version and that it didn’t take away the human drama so inherent to the Yakuza series.

Look on the bright side: Yakuza 3 is a great game, and this shouldn’t deter you from the experience which Yakuza 3 will deliver. Check out the latest screenshots and trailer for the game here.

Yakuza 3 releases in North America on March 9th and March 12th for the UK. Expect PlayStation LifeStyle’s review of the brawler soon.