Posts tagged Yakuza
Video proof of Kazuma Kiryu’s Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational cameo
Apr 22nd
Last week we reported the awesome news that the great Kazuma Kiryu would be available as DLC for the almost-as-great series Hot Shots Golf. If you didn’t believe it, I suppose I couldn’t blame you. But as the video above proves, this unique cameo is more than an extra-late April Fools spoof. Nay, it is indeed real…and freaking awesome.
As you can see, Kazuma brings with him the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that lent some levity to his home franchise, Yakuza. I even found myself laughing out loud at certain moments in this fun little trailer.
Of course, this sweet bonus is Japan exclusive (surprise, surprise), so this video may be the only taste we may ever get.
…Oh. I made myself sad just now.
[Source: Siliconera]
Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu coming to Hot Shots Golf on the Vita
Apr 17th
Sony has announced that Kazuma Kiryu will be released as a DLC character for Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for the Vita in Japan. Selling for roughly $5, they’ve even recorded brand new voice samples for Kazuma to say in the game.
It definitely makes sense to have Kazuma in a golfing game as he’s already had a lot of practice with a golf club over the past five Yakuza games. No word yet on if you’ll be able to smash other characters’ faces in with a club or if this DLC will come to the West.
[Source: Siliconera]
The Sega Addicts Top 10 Comedic Games
Mar 30th
Comedy and video games often don’t mix well together. Unlike movies, comics, books, stand-up and many other more controlled mediums, a player’s experience with a video game can drastic differently from other players who are playing the exact same game. Things like timing and delivery are much harder to judge when you can’t predict exactly how a player is going to approach your game.
However, even with these challenges, there are some developers who have done a great job of implementing comedy into their games by taking an approach that works with the format. We’ve taken a look back at ten games on Sega consoles or published by Sega that we feel did an applaudable job at making the player laugh, or at the least smile a bit.
Hit the jump to find out our top 10 comedic games!
Binary Domain is a Steam deal of the week
Mar 20th
Have we told you enough about how good Binary Domain is and how unfortunate it is that the game didn’t receive the audience it deserved?
Well, if you’ve always been intrigued but didn’t have the cash to spare on this game’s binary goodness today is your day! For the low price of $6.24, Binary Domain could be a part of your Steam library of games. It’s even got:
-A NEW TAKE ON FUTURISTIC TOKYO!
-A CONSEQUENCE SYSTEM!
-PROCEDURAL DAMAGE!
-WEAPON MODIFICATION AND SKILL SELECTION!
But you must act now as this offer ends on March 25th!
[Source: Steam]
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.
Yakuza themed menu added to Japanese pub chain
Nov 2nd
To promote Yakuza 5 Sega has teamed up with Japanese pub chain Izakaya Hanako to add Yakuza themed food onto the menu from October 30th through December 13th. The dishes were revealed at a press event where journalists could taste the items on the ‘Yakuza 5 Banquet Course’. At the event was Saki Suzuki who actually features in the game as a waitress. When asked about her appearance she replied “I wanted to give my friends a shock by appearing in the game, and I was amazed at how lifelike my CG model was.”
The producer of Yakuza 5 Masa Yokoyama was in attendance and even commented on the cross-promotion with Izakaya Hanako:
When looking for a way to accurately portray the local cultures of each of the 5 cities appearing in the game, I realized that ‘food culture’ was an important aspect of each region.
Izakaya Hanako gives you the chance to eat local specialities from each region all at one place, that’s why I like it. I hope to merge the realms of the game world and reality through our collaboration with Izakaya Hanako.
There was also a lot of other hijinks going on at the event including a t-shirt contest where mail magazine subscribers were given a chance to win a limited edition Yakuza 5 shirt. Overall sounds like a fun way to promote the game which is due for release in Japan on December 6th. Still no word on a Western release, however we will keep you updated and in the know.
[Source: VR-Zone]
New “Easy + Heatup” mode in Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition
Oct 23rd
Two weeks after its release, Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition for the PS3 will receive a patch that includes a new “Easy + Heatup” mode. This will supposedly make both games easier by increasing the rate at which the ‘heat up gauge’ fills and reducing the rate at which it decreases, allowing for more frequent use of ‘heat actions’.
I’m not familiar with the Yakuza series myself, or the difficultly of the two games in question, but making any game more accessible to novices is a good thing in my book. It still puzzles me, however, as to why Sega didn’t think to include this extra mode on the disc.
The Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition will be released in Japan only on November 1st, with the add-on coming out on the 15th.
[Source: Siliconera]
Demon Tribe is an RPG for the iOS
Oct 20th
After weeks of staring at those boob-tastic teaser images, we’ve finally been given some new information regarding Sega’s freshly revealed IP from the folks behind the recent HD port of Jet Set Radio. Demon Tribe is an iOS RPG in which players transform into demons and wage war against other demonic forces. Based on the images we’ve seen, one can only assume that the creepy eye tattoo we keep seeing has something to do with this transformation. The game will offer both a single-player story mode and 3-on-3 battles.
While it’s pretty damn difficult to tell what is going on in it, most of the trailer looks quite gorgeous, and considering that art director Ryuta Ueda worked on both Panzer Dragoon and Yakuza, it makes absolute sense. Suddenly, I care very much about this game, and since Sega is putting more and more focus on the mobile market these days, there’s no reason to believe this won’t get some real attention. Can’t wait.
Demon Tribe is scheduled for release this Winter. Hit the jump for some screenshots and artwork from the game.
[Source: Siliconera]
Special Yakuza 5 Playstation 3 coming to Japan
Oct 2nd
Are you a hardcore Yakuza fan who’s also interested in picking up the new redesigned PS3? Are you ok with paying ridiculously high import fees and risking potential region lockout on certain games? If either of these apply to you, then this special edition PS3 is right up your alley.
The new 250GB system comes adorned with the emblems of the various clans from the Yakuza series, and also comes with the (in these biased eyes at least) very cool gold and black DualShock 3 you see above, and a copy of Yakuza 5. It’s set to hit the streets in Japan on December 6th, for 37,800 Yen.
A lot of people have been down on the new PS3 design, and aren’t digging this as much as the Yakuza 3 “fat” PS3 from years ago, but as someone who’s biased towards simple designs and these colors, I like it quite a bit. Anyone else liking this, despite it likely never coming to the west?
Yakuza 1 & 2 HD trailer shows off cutscenes
Sep 26th
A new trailer has been released in Japan for Yakuza 1 & 2 HD that shows off some of the new HD-ified cutscenes. While I’d prefer to see more HD gameplay it is impressive just how well the PS2 game holds up today graphically. The game comes out in Japan in about a month and there’s still no announcement of a Western release. It’s unfortunate as the original games flew under the radar of many gamers when they were originally released and I’d like to see more people get to play the entire series.
