Posts tagged Toshihiro Nagoshi
Sega speaks out about Sony’s PS4
Mar 22nd
Sony’s recent announcement of a yet unseen PlayStation 4 has fuelled the endless discussion of the next-generation of games consoles that has been going on for the last five years or so. Obviously, we Sega Addicts haven’t had much need to shout about the PlayStation 4. Not until now.
Weekly Famitsu recently asked a host of key figures in the Japanese videogame industry for their thoughts on the allegedly super-advanced games console. Two of these figures were no other than Yakuza 5 producer and series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, and Yakuza 5 writer and Sega Section Manager, Masayoshi Yokoyama.
What do they make of the PlayStation 4′s specifications and unique controller? Hit the jump to find out!
[Source: Kotaku]
Team Yakuza’s Toshihiro Nagoshi chooses Phantasy Star Online 2 as the best game of 2012
Jan 6th
In a recent feature celebrating the new year (and ostensibly our survival of the apocalypse) Japanese site 4Gamer asked a heaping handful of industry figures what their favorite games were from 2012. Among the esteemed crew was Toshihiro Nagoshi, creator of the Yakuza series.
Known as the mastermind behind one of Sega’s best modern franchises, Nagoshi is a guy whose judgement I don’t have a hard time trusting. Maybe that’s why it’s such a big deal to me that his favorite game of 2012 is Phantasy Star Online 2. Here’s what he had to say about the game:
A game that really shows off the might of online games. It’s been a great success both in terms of business and as a game, putting pressure on the future of traditional game consoles in a lot of ways. A double threat.
This isn’t the first time Nagoshi has expressed an admiration for the power of online play, as he has mentioned in past that he’d love to work on an online game in the future. Sure, his praise for another Sega game could be a bit of nepotism, but considering that he seems to have his eye on the potential of online games, I’m inclined to believe him.
Team Yakuza’s Toshihiro Nagoshi wants to make an online game
Jul 26th
I always love when developers reveal the games that they most want to make, regardless of money, publicity, potential for franchise, yadda yadda yadda. It’s refreshing to get the unadulterated, honest truth of their passion projects, and even if they aren’t always that likely to come to fruition.
Nintendo-centric site GoNintendo recently posted a handful of projects that developers are reportedly interested in making. Most of them are kind of assumed: Capcom wants to make a sequel to their recent fantasy game Dragon’s Dogma, Team Ninja wants to do something new with Ninja Gaiden, etc.
But one project has this Team Yakuza fan’s ears perked. Apparently, Toshihiro Nagoshi, mastermind behind Yakuza and Binary Domain, expressed his interest in making an online game. Even more interesting is that he clarified that the game would need to be more than just “Yakuza Online.”
Obviously, this is all just wishful thinking, but I’m always interested in seeing Nagoshi’s new ideas. For now, I’ll just keep all my chips on Yakuza 5 coming to the US, but I’d love to see what the man has swimming around in his brain.
[Source: GoNintendo]
Toshihiro Nagoshi gets promoted in Sega reshuffle
Feb 29th
Photo from Gamers.de
Toshihiro Nagoshi, head of the Yakuza Studio formed back in August of last year, has now been promoted to the newly created position of “Chief Creative Officer”. Okitami Usui, who has been the president of Sega so far, is retiring which started the reshuffle. Naoya Tsurumi, the former managing directer now becomes the newpresident of Sega. Nagoshi also gets a seat at the board of directors, where he now has more influence over the decision making process.
[Via Edge]
Yakuza 5 will take place within five different cities
Nov 23rd
In a recent interview with that ever-so fruitful publication The Weekly Famitsu, Yakuza series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi offered us ravenous gamers yet another generous helping of brand new tidbits pertaining to the next entry in his beloved franchise.
Nagoshi revealed that the game will take place on a massive scale, unfolding within not one, not two, but five independent locations (Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka), each of which comparable in size to the cities of previous Yakuza games. Nagoshi also confirmed that Yakuza 5′s main character will indeed be series staple Kazuma Kiryu, and that the story will take place subsequent to the events of Yakuza 4, not the upcoming zombie-fest Dead Souls.
Work on Binary Domain has apparently had a huge effect on Yakuza’s development team, as the producer also promised a bevy of newly honed technical features based on what they learned developing the shooter, including better camerawork, better facial modeling, snappier load times, and the integration of seamless dialogue and battles.
As someone who still rolls his eyes and groans at the very thought of Dead Souls, I am already much more interested in what Yakuza 5 looks to offer. Anybody with me?
[Source: Andriasang]
Toshihiro Nagoshi spills the Yakuza 5 beans
Oct 26th
It's-ah me!
In his most recent Nico Nico broadcast, Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi spilled some very tasty morsels pertaining to the upcoming Yakuza 5, the most delicious of which being that the title will spread from Kamurocho to a brand new city. The options currently being considered are Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.
The series may be expanding beyond its birthplace, but that doesn’t mean we’re losing the most iconic member of the game, Kazuma Kiryu. While Nagoshi wouldn’t commit to a character count for Yakuza 5, he did call the concept of Kiryu’s departure “unthinkable,” labeling the character as “Mario-like” for the series.
Nagoshi also expressed an interest in exploring the roots of the Tojo Clan, perhaps through some sort of Yakuza prequel.
With those last two words, I’m fairly certain that every single Yakuza fan just sat up reeeeal straight, like a bunch of puppies who just heard the word “outside.” You have our strict attention Nagoshi.
[Source: Andriasang via VG247]
Binary Domain’s trust system scares me
Oct 11th
The oft-touted trust system in the upcoming Binary Domain has been a source of hesitant excitement and even fascinated curiosity for a lot of gamers lately, myself included. We’ve been hearing about it for months now, but actual prose on the subject has done little to clear the fog and specify just how intricately it affects the way a game is played.
In a recent interview with VG247, Sega veteran and Binary Domain producer Toshihiro Nagoshi has helped to clear things up quite a bit. If there’s anything to really glean from the conversation, it’s that this is far from your average predictable Mass Effect loyalty mission checklist.
Toshihiro Nagoshi talks Binary Domain story
Apr 27th
Well it’s been a way back since we last heard of Binary Domain, Toshihiro Nagoshi is keen to bring it back into the public eye with a recent interview in Famitzu. While information on the game has been scare it seems the game director is desperate to tell us about the game, as we are to hear about it. “There’s a lot I want to talk about; it’s practically all about to burst out of my mouth, but I just have to keep it all bottled up for now. All I can really say is that it’s getting better by the day.”
Now that sure seems like he’s going to keep his lips sealed but he actually revealed a fair part of the story:
The fact the game’s set around 70 years from now is based on something I’ve had in my mind for a while. It took about 50 years for Japan to go from losing the war in 1945 to how it’s developed today, and when you think about it that way, people can change a lot in the span of 70 years. It’s more than enough time for society to change, and if anything, the change is going to be a lot more rapid than what we’ve seen in the past 50 years. The Tokyo depicted in Binary Domain is one way the future might work out, a kind of bold expansion on the changes that are just beginning to come into play right now. We’re aiming for a 2080 Tokyo that doesn’t seem like a total fantasy.
He then revealed that the game indeed has a “deep story element” and that “it might wind up being the game with the greatest volume of dialogue in game history”. Honestly, I’m glad I heard this. From the first trailer, I thought it looked kind of generic but now I’m looking forward to what the story will have to offer. The game however has no set release date so we might have to wait a good while to experience this story. I’ll keep you updated as more information surfaces.
[Source: 1Up]
Major Yakuza announcement due in three days
Dec 13th
It’s quite difficult to find a relevant header image for a mystery announcement. Have this one of Kazuma as a masked wrestler instead.
The official Yakuza site lists a ‘Major Announcement on 12/16′ (according to the ever wonderful Andriasang), and light powers of deduction will reveal that it will most likely be the official release date for the Japanese version of Yakuza Of The End. This conclusion was reached as we had pretty much this exact situation last year, with the international release of Yakuza 3 being incredibly close to the Japanese release of Yakuza 4, and speculation notes it as being roughly 2-3 months from now as Yakuza 4′s release date was roundabout this time last year.
We could be wrong, but this does look to be a pretty safe bet. It’d be interesting if it was something different, but I thought I’d deflate everyone’s excitement before it had a chance to really get going. It’s just what I do.
[Source: Andriasang. Header image courtesy of Canned Dogs]
