Recently Sega has been updating the websites for some of their upcoming games. Yakuza Zero is one of them, seeing an update to the game’s official website that adds some screenshots that act as profile pictures of characters to be featured in the game. Visit the “Characters” section of the website to check them out. The two playable characters taking up opposing halves of the “0” meant to symbolize Yakuza Zero is a nice touch, and the faces for the added characters seem quite detailed.

The website divides the characters into a section for Kazuma Kiryu and another section for Goro Majima, likely showcasing who will  show up in whose scenario. The character scenarios, according to this Gematsu writeup, will also be centralized on the two locations being featured in the game; Kiryu’s scenario will take place in Kamurocho and Majima’s scenario will take place in Soutenbori. It will be interesting to see how the two characters’ first meeting and the early part of their relationship unfolds. The first Yakuza game already presupposed Kiryu and Majima’s strange and unique dynamic, so it will be up to Yakuza Zero to establish it.

Credit to the above-linked Gematsu writeup for the screen capture.

A new trailer for Yakuza Zero debuted at this year’s Tokyo Game Show during the SCEJ 2014 Press Conference. The trailer focuses on giving insight into the brutality of Kazuma Kiryu’s early life working in the Tojo Clan. Against a bloodied client’s apologies and pleas for Kiryu to stop, Kiryu continues to rough him up.

Siliconera remarks that Nagoshi spoke a bit on the game after the trailer’s reveal. He talked again about the game’s setting during the late 80’s in Japan, “a period of time that was characterized by rapid acceleration of asset prices and overheated economic activity, with uncontrolled money supply and credit expansion.” This is a time that would eventually lead into the “Lost Decade”, which marked a cultural and economic shift in Japan.

In any case, Siliconera’s headline also confirms remote play between the Vita and PS4 – a feature present in Ishin that will again be present in Zero. Also, Gematsu reports that Sega has announced a Spring 2015 release window for Yakuza Zero.

Check out the trailer below!

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Famitsu is offering more details on the newly and officially announced Yakuza Zero. Keeping in line with the numbered titling, Zero will be a prequel to the first Yakuza game, starring a 20-year old Kazuma Kiryu and a 24-year old Goro Majima as playable characters. The game takes place in the late 80’s and will further expand the origins of these two characters, whose friendship/rivalry has endured throughout the franchise. Players will travel through the iconic Yakuza city of Kamurocho in Tokyo (pictured above) and Osaka’s Soutenbori, a city that reflects the Kansai region of Japan and is home to the Omi Alliance, a powerful yakuza group.

Hit the jump to check out character bios for Kiryu and Majima, and their new looks! I’ve also included a personal musing about why localizing this game would be particularly excellent for the franchise in the West, please read it!

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Sega revealed during the Yakuza live stream that the newest major entry of the Yakuza franchise is titled Yakuza Zero and will be released on PS4 and PS3.  Further details about the game will arrive shortly as it makes its proper debut at Tokyo Game Show, which will be open from September 18th until 21st .  It’s likely that given the “Zero” in the title the game will be a prequel.

Sega has revealed a new teaser website for their upcoming Yakuza (Ryu Ga Gotoku) game. While it doesn’t have an official name yet it seems likely it’ll just be called Yakuza 6, seeing how Sega has confirmed that the game will be part of the main series. The website mentions that there will be an announcement on August 24th, so it’s safe to assume that’s when the game will be revealed to the public. The game is also confirmed to be exclusive to the PS3 and PS4.
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Gematsu reports that a recent Famitsu article reveals the development of the next Yakuza title to the public. Series director Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Masayoshi Yakayama spoke about the next game in an interview with the magazine. Details are scant as of this article’s writing, but apparently the interview mentions auditions for the game’s hostesses. Whether this title is a mainline entry or a spinoff, this next game could mark the Yakuza series’ departure from the PS3, even if major titles like Persona 5 are yet to be released. What sort of Yakuza game do you want to see, and where do you think it will end up?

It bears repeating that the Yakuza franchise is sorely absent in the West, with both Yakuza 5 and Yakuza: Ishin remaining unlocalized.

edit: As an aside, It should also be noted that Yakuza 5’s localization was foregone in favor of focusing internal resources on Yakuza: Ishin. Toshihiro Nagoshi has gone on record several times saying that the script for Yakuza 5 is significantly large in comparison to previous Yakuza titles. Ishin’s development was public knowledge a few months after the fifth title came out; if the localization was to be handled in-house and by select Yakuza team developers in Japan, there would be conflict. Some fans noted that localization rumors for the third game only began to circulate six months after that game was released in Japan, giving some merit to the idea of waiting out an announcement.  With more than a year since 5’s release in Japan, and with a possible sixth entry in development, if Sega does indeed prefer to handle localizations in-house the West risks falling further and further behind on Yakuza titles.