Yakuza 4
Game » consists of 5 releases. Released Mar 18, 2010
Yakuza 4 is the fourth game in Sega's crime drama series, known as 'Ryu ga Gotoku' in Japan. As a first for the series, the story is split between the viewpoints of four different protagonists.
Yakuza 4 Heading To America Next Year
Hot on the heels of the fan-demanded translation and release of Yakuza 3 outside of Japan, Sega has announced that the latest installment in the franchise will also be making its way to America and Europe. Yakuza 4, released in Japan this past March, will be translated and released in the West on the Playstation 3 this coming Spring.
The announcement must come as a pleasant surprise to Yakuza fans. The franchise, while beloved and successful in Japan, never caught on outside of a devoted following in the in the West. Yakuza 3 was released in Japan back in 2009, and it took a vocal fan campaign to convince Sega to release the game stateside. I guess that, for all of the negative reactions towards Sega's decision to cut content from the game, Yakuza 3 still performed well enough at retail to merit the translation of this new game.
According to the press release Yakuza 4 would allow players to step into the back tattoos of not only series protagonist Kiryu Kazuma, but three new Japanese mobsters as well. Four playable characters in Yakuza 4. Corner offices for everyone in marketing. You've earned it.
Sega has released the first batch of screenshots from their Tokyo brawler:
So, Yakuza die-hards, how would you like to see SEGA handle this release, especially in the wake of the Yakuza 3 cuts? And, for those users who have never take the plunge into the seedy underbelly of Japan, what would you like to see from Yakuza 4? Personally, I want more back tattoos and karaoke. But I say that about every game.
Hot on the heels of the fan-demanded translation and release of Yakuza 3 outside of Japan, Sega has announced that the latest installment in the franchise will also be making its way to America and Europe. Yakuza 4, released in Japan this past March, will be translated and released in the West on the Playstation 3 this coming Spring.
The announcement must come as a pleasant surprise to Yakuza fans. The franchise, while beloved and successful in Japan, never caught on outside of a devoted following in the in the West. Yakuza 3 was released in Japan back in 2009, and it took a vocal fan campaign to convince Sega to release the game stateside. I guess that, for all of the negative reactions towards Sega's decision to cut content from the game, Yakuza 3 still performed well enough at retail to merit the translation of this new game.
According to the press release Yakuza 4 would allow players to step into the back tattoos of not only series protagonist Kiryu Kazuma, but three new Japanese mobsters as well. Four playable characters in Yakuza 4. Corner offices for everyone in marketing. You've earned it.
Sega has released the first batch of screenshots from their Tokyo brawler:
So, Yakuza die-hards, how would you like to see SEGA handle this release, especially in the wake of the Yakuza 3 cuts? And, for those users who have never take the plunge into the seedy underbelly of Japan, what would you like to see from Yakuza 4? Personally, I want more back tattoos and karaoke. But I say that about every game.
I have enjoyed 1 2 and 3 so hopefully they can spend the translation time on 4 to not cut out content.
Maybe sometime they can release Yakuza Kenzan as well.
YES! I just hope they don't cut out the hostest clubs again, the weird Japanese gameshow quiz thing was fine. But the managing the hostest club was the best mini game/side quest in Yakuza 2.
You probably won't need to worry about anything being cut. Bringing Yakuza 3 over here was a last minute decision and Sega of America was in a rush to release the game here before the fourth one launched in Japan, and they only barely made it. The game was no worse without the hostess clubs, personally, that's a part of Japan I could do without, but the mahjong was sorely missed.
No worries.
The inevitable news of Yakuza 4 getting a western release excites me.
Something this article misses is that spring 2011 is the release time-frame. Why is this important you may ask? When Yakuza 3 had a western release announced mere-months prior to it's release. There were many excuses for the cuts given, but one in particular that seemed semi-plausible, was that they didn't have enough time. Looking at the haphazard nature of the Yakuza 3 cuts, this extended time-frame gives me hope.
First batch of screenshots? The game's been out for 3 months!
I really hope they''ve learned their lesson and are not cutting out the hostess bar stuff this time around. Well, I'm not even sure if there are hostess bars in Yakuza 4 but I can't imagine Sega leaving a fairly popular part of the game out of this one.
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