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]
