SEGA of America have uploaded a new gameplay trailer for Yakuza Kiwami, showing both the game’s combat system and a range of mini-games Kiryu can participate in. You can view the new trailer below. SEGA have also released a third comic on their Yakuza Experience website.
Every year, Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan and Asia conducts an award ceremony that honors games of particular commercial success released on PlayStation. Last year, Phantasy Star Online 2 and Yakuza 5 received distinction.
This year’s winners have been announced, and SEGA games are well-represented!
EU publisher Deep Silver has posted an announcement trailer for Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of the original Yakuza, revealing that the game is heading West exclusively for the PS4! The trailer is listed as a PlayStation Experience 2016 announcement trailer, an event which is currently underway, so this reveal from Deep Silver seems to be a bit early. Thanks to Gematsu for picking up on the news. We’ll post more details as soon as we learn more! Below you can find the trailer and more info from Deep Silver!
Yakuza Fan writes that the Yakuza Kiwami OST is now available online. The OST is being made available via digital download and is comprised of 33 music tracks.
Amazon.jp and iTunes have the album on their stores. Untaxed, the album as a whole runs for ¥1500. However, customers have the option of buying music tracks individually, and each track costs ¥150.
Speaking of silly commercials…
When we last saw Toshihiro Nagoshi, he had revealed something powerful to the Korean mafia – a Korean copy of Yakuza Kiwami.
After this plot twist, the story continues with a tense exchange over drinks, and a quick overview of some of the game’s action sequences.
All of it culminating with Nagoshi dropping a major bombshell: the release date of the Korean version of Yakuza Kiwami. His business partner on the other side of the table is absolutely shell-shocked.
May 26th, 2016. The date when the magic happens.
Check out the minute and a half trailer below (no English subtitles, Japanese subtitles for the spoken Korean parts.) Riveting stuff. You’ll be on the edge of your seat.
A new web commercial for Yakuza Kiwami has hit the internet. It features a tense encounter between the Yakuza (SEGA series, just to be clear) boss man Toshihiro Nagoshi and a Kkangpae, a Korean mafia man. Clocking in at around two minutes, it features Japanese subtitles for the Korean lines. Check it out below.
It’s been a while since we’ve written about it, but a Korean version of Yakuza Kiwami was confirmed quite a long time ago. There is also this Korean version announcement trailer that you may have seen before, too:
Still, what makes the above-linked commercial unique is the fact that it’s a commercial dedicated to Yakuza Kiwami’s Korean release (coming towards the end of May.) We’ve seen advertisements not based in Japanese, but those were posters, billboards, and the like.
Nagoshi and SEGA have previously expressed confidence in releasing SEGA games in Asian territories outside of Japan, and they have some decent numbers to support their resolve. SEGA of Japan has been embracing the idea of releasing some of their “niche” packaged game titles with such examples as the Mandarin release of Phantasy Star NOVA and Shining Resonance.
In the West, localizations of Japanese titles have picked up since 2014, and the Yakuza franchise is no longer in the dark situation that it once languished in. But of course, there remains more to be localized and played!
Sega has announced an interesting piece of free DLC for Yakuza Kiwami on the official Yakuza website. It was made available starting yesterday in Japan. The DLC contains various items, some of which allow you to customize Kazuma Kiryu in the image of…Goro Majima. The tables have finally turned.
Besides items for visual purposes (including Majima’s trademark snake skin jacket, unbuttoned by default of course,) some of the items include parts for weapon crafting, for the purposes of perhaps better paying tribute to Kiryu’s best friend ever.
Between projects like this and the Valentine’s Day promotion from February, It’s nice that Sega is continuing to support Kiwami in unique ways after the game has been released. Yakuza Zero has been announced for localization in the Americas (no known localization news for Europe since the initial announcement) but there’s no word on Yakuza Kiwami at the moment. Yakuza games are substantial translation projects. In any case, we’ll keep you posted.
Sega and Sony recently ran an interesting surprise Valentine’s Day promotional activity for Yakuza Kiwami. Here’s the setup: actors dressed as yakuza thugs menacingly approach an unsuspecting traveler going about on some business at Shinjuku Station and direct them to a carpet walkway. Or maybe they are real yakuza…? Anyway, the bewildered citizen then traverses the carpet, congratulated with shouts of “thanks for your work!” and a reverential bow, as he or she ultimately makes it forward to a woman at the top who hands them a mysterious gift.
There’s love for everybody – young men weren’t the only recipients of the gift, but women (and an older woman) and a young boy, too. That particular poor young yakuza-in-training might’ve had a rough go of it, it seems. I’m just happy to see the bewildered expressions of the people who were approached, but it’s equally fun to see the approached people who really got into the whole stunt too.
These antics were also covered by 4Gamer and Famitsu.
Check out the videos that were uploaded to PlayStation Japan’s YouTube account below. Doesn’t this make your heart flutter? And want to play Yakuza games?
Yakuza Kiwami is already out in Japan; the current major Yakuza project for Asia in development is Yakuza 6.
Sega has announced plans for another Sega niconico live broadcast set for January 25 (next Monday) at 8:55 P.M. Japan Standard Time. Scheduled for demoing are the Yakuza 6 demo and the Valkyria Chronicles Remaster for PS4.
Additionally, Yakuza Kiwami (which released today in Japan!) will be demoed, and some additional and as of yet unspecified new media/info for Shin Megami Tensei IV Final (which will release on February 10) will be discussed during this stream.
Personally I think it will be quite funny if Toshihiro Nagoshi shows up again, only to act stoic for 90% of the stream. It was strangely enjoyable the last time he did that.
Sign up for a niconico account and view the stream here when the time arrives!
Credit for article info to Gematsu.
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia has put together a highlight reel of Playstation 4 games scheduled to release from January to March this year. The video features an original song by Tofubeats, with a rap about each game.