Tag Archives: Yakuza

Playstation Store Update Introduces Yakuza 5 Avatars for PS3

InTheSky August 19, 2015 Leave a reply

In a surprise announcement, a Playstation Store update article on Sony’s PSBlog revealed the introduction of several Yakuza 5-themed avatar pictures for PS3 users. As it is, the avatars are immediately available but only for US-based accounts. Every little promotional effort for Yakuza 5 is appreciated, but hopefully Europe can participate too.

They are all priced at 50 cents (US.) Here is a list of avatar types in text that may be chosen:

Yakuza 5 Avatar
Yakuza 5 Haruka Avatar
Yakuza 5 Haruka Idol Avatar
Yakuza 5 Kiryu Avatar
Yakuza 5 Majima Avatar
Yakuza 5 Akiyama Avatar (missing in the PSBlog article’s list…but that’s okay! Or not, if you like Akiyama)
Yakuza 5 Saejima Avatar
Yakuza 5 Shinada Avatar

This preview image of the avatars has been making the rounds online; it’s a great tool to check out which avatars may appeal to you. Most everything here are promotional renders of the characters.

Credit for this featured image goes to this 4gamer article.

Part 2 of the Yakuza 5 Developer Interview Talks About the Game’s Fanbase, Japanese Culture, Character Designs and More

Draikin August 7, 2015 Leave a reply

Sony have released the second part in their Yakuza 5 developer interview, where Gio Corsi from PlayStation interviews the Yakuza series Director Toshihiro Nagoshi and Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama. In this part of the interview, they first discuss the international fanbase. Nagoshi thinks it makes sense that there’s a fanbase for the game outside of Japan given how unique the game is, even though he didn’t necessarily expect there to be one. When asked how much the game actually reflects the Japanese culture, Yokoyama mentions they put a lot of work in replicating real locations in Japan.

Wonder Festival 2015 Sega and Atlus Figures/Garage Kits – Goro Majima Announced, and Much More

InTheSky July 30, 2015 1 Reply

This past weekend, the Summer Wonder Festival 2015 (second Wonder Festival of the year) showed off a variety of garage kits. Sega and Atlus properties were well represented at this event. Shockingly, there are figures for 7th Dragon III Code: VFD! Also, besides the previously announced figma for Kazuma Kiryu, a figma was also announced for Goro Majima to be in production at this event, as shown above.

Find a list below of Sega and Atlus related figures, with links to teaser images courtesy of myfigurecollection.net. Please keep in mind that some of the material is NSFW (as noted), and some of the images are promotional/serve as teasers for the art that is later to come. Some links will not display near-final renders of a figure.

Interestingly, it seems Sega is listed as manufacturing a handful of anime-related figures. None are so important as this one below:

Yahari Ore no Seishun LoveCome wa Machigatteiru. Zoku’s Yui Yuigahama

Only making a figure of Yui, of all characters from that series? Sega solidifies themselves as arbiters of taste by choosing the best character. After all, she was brought to us to bring justice to this world. If you are a fan of Iroha Isshiki, you are probably pretty cool, but if you are a fan of Yukino Yukinoshita, I am beyond disgusted.

Project X Zone 2: “Crossing Paths” Trailer, Release Date Change

InTheSky July 2, 2015 Leave a reply

The first promotional video for Project X Zone 2 that Banpresto have been working on finally hit the internet, in commemoration with a media blitz that Bandai Namco is pushing for their games as part of Japan Expo 2015 in Paris. Be sure to watch it! There isn’t much in the way of new content, but this is actually our first peek into the voice acting for the game. In addition, we get to see a lot of the attacks that the characters will be able to use in this game.

There’s a discrepancy between the Japanese trailer and the English trailer – some of the video content from the Japanese trailer (namely things like Adventure of the Valkyrie DLC, 3DS themes) weren’t present in the English trailer. The segment on the “Original Game Sound Edition” was also omitted from the English trailer. The game is coming out on November 12 in Japan, but the English trailer notes (from Bandai Namco Europe) an early 2016 release date. Odds are this could very well apply to North America, too, so let’s prepare ourselves.

You can check out both trailers after the break. We’ve also attached a gallery with select images based on the trailer’s Japanese version for your browsing, too. Remember that the roster is certainly not stopping here. Wish for your favorites!

…I still find it funny that the Yakuza team’s super attack is called “Ryu ga Gotoku.”

“SE-GA!”

Akira Yuki and Kage-Maru alongside the Tekken team

Kazuma Kiryu

Kiryu and Majima’s super: “Ryu ga Gotoku”

Familiar boxart?

Sakura and Gemini come to support!

Sakura has a new attack, involving using a mop

All four Sakura Wars characters

Le Chat Noir

Sakura in a new super cut-in

Axel Stone’s opening cut-in image

Ulala’s closing cut-in sequence

Welcome to the World of Yakuza 5: Interview Series wth Sony and Sega

InTheSky June 25, 2015 Leave a reply

Gio Corsi’s Yakuza 5 develop interview project is now hitting the internet; the first of three parts of the Yakuza 5 interview series was announced on Sony’s PlayStation blog and their social media accounts. In addition to talking to Yakuza series director/bronze sculpture of Sega Toshihiro Nagoshi and Yakuza 5 producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, Gio Corsi also answers some questions collected through the #Yakuza5PS hashtag on Twitter when the interview project had been first announced.

The interview uploaded onto YouTube is restricted by a content warning, meaning that it cannot be viewed as easily as most videos. Alternatively, if you check out the Playstation Blog entry for the interview, simply responding to the age gate verification will yield the footage for your viewing pleasure.

It’s interesting content! As the autumn approaches, it’ll be nice to have this interview series on hand and hopefully there will be more ways to engage people with the world of Yakuza.

Winner of Sega Franchise X Love Live Collaboration: Puyo Puyo!

InTheSky June 24, 2015 1 Reply

Our readers may recall that of late Sega had been holding a poll to determine the next franchise that Love Live’s Rin Hoshizora would be promoting via a new collaboration project. Previously, Rin and Sonic the Hedgehog had appeared together in promotional materials to celebrate the Sega X Rin partnership. AnimeNewsNetwork writes a couple of weeks ago that Puyo Puyo clinched the victory in this poll.

The final standings weren’t different than what was provided in the interim results report. Yakuza placed second (Kazuma Kiryu would protect Rin’s smile) and Chain Chronicle came third. Other selectable options included Space Channel 5 and Virtua Fighter. Now that Puyo Puyo has been announced as the victor, I think seeing Rin drawn in the art style of the more recent Puyo Puyo games is a must. Here’s a Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary art piece to get an idea of the style, for those who are unaware:

Très kawaii.

This is a good opportunity to note that the most recent Puyo Puyo title, Puyo Puyo Tetris, spans six platforms (PS4, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, 3DS) and none of them have seen a release outside of Japan. As a unique crossover with online capabilities and plenty of game features and modes, it certainly has potential to succeed.

English Yakuza Webpage Online, New Yakuza 5 Release Date Window Hinted

InTheSky June 15, 2015 Leave a reply

TojoHQ, a Yakuza fansite, recently noticed the return of the official English Sega webpage for the Yakuza franchise. After proceeding past the age-gate, visitors can check out the profile pages for the Yakuza games that have been released in the West or are going to be released in the West. Do so by visiting the Games category at the top of the site.

Among those games is the game that is chronologically the latest in the franchise – Yakuza 5. It has its own page, and curiously a release window is mentioned on the website.

Fall 2015.

It’s been a while since we’ve had word on the localization status or any further release updates on Yakuza 5 since its localization was confirmed. It’s nice to see the game receiving attention again, although considering that the original release window was scheduled Summer 2015, the news is not entirely without some misfortune.

It’ll be interesting to see what Sega and Sony have planned next for Yakuza 5. As you may be aware, Gio Corsi of Sony’s Third Party Productions recently traveled to Japan to conduct an interview with Yakuza 5 development team (including Toshihiro Nagoshi) and was planning to release a video production of this interview – perhaps we may see this in the future?

Yakuza Series Reaches 7.5 Million in Global Sales

Kuronoa June 13, 2015 Leave a reply

Congratulations to Sega! Yakuza series will be ten years old this year (original Japanese release was on December 10th) and the franchise has sold 7.5 million in total global sales, according to Gematsu and Games Talk. This is a good milestone considering those of us outside of Japan have missed a few entries and are now catching up with Yakuza 5. It’s a strong property for Sega in Japan overall. Meanwhile, Yakuza 0 has sold 500,000 copies in Japan and Asia territories since March 12th.

Love Live’s Rin to Promote Sega Franchises in Japan

InTheSky May 19, 2015 1 Reply

Last year, Sega of Japan announced a “Sega X Love Live” cross-promotional campaign wherein Love Live’s Rin Hoshizora would occasionally be used to promote Sega franchises. The campaign has already been put to work, with a handful of media featuring Sonic the Hedgehog and Rin making use of this promotion.

However, a new page for this promotion was created earlier this year, asking for input on a specific franchise (among a set of choices) that would crossover with Rin for promotional purposes. One known result for the winner: a special graphical illustration featuring Rin and the winning title. The choices were:

Yakuza
Puyo Puyo
Border Break
Chain Chronicle
Space Channel 5
Virtua Fighter
Wonderland Wars

Some current results for the poll were recently announced, and Puyo Puyo is currently in the lead. I can’t help but wonder how interesting it would be to have Rin help promote Yakuza or Virtua Fighter. In addition, that Space Channel 5 was a selectable option is a pleasant surprise, considering the franchise’s inactivity. If the results skew more favorably for Space Channel 5, it might suggest the desire for another Space Channel 5-related initiative. Or, to be more optimistic, perhaps the franchise being mentioned at all might portend good things. Let’s hope Space Channel 5 being featured in the SeHa Girls anime is the start of something more for the franchise!

In any case, Puyo Puyo was followed by Yakuza and Chain Chronicle in the polling results. Off of the heels of the Puyo Puyo play, it’s nice to see the franchise receiving continued attention in Japan. But of course, the polling’s not over yet – it closes on May 31st.

Golden Week on US PlayStation Store Includes Plenty of Sega and Atlus Games!

Draikin April 29, 2015 1 Reply

Sony is celebrating Japan’s national holiday week with a “Golden Week” sale on the US PlayStation store. A ton of Sega and Atlus games are on sale right now, and we compiled the list of their discounted games below (with Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory included as well, given how it’s getting a crossover game with the SeHa Girls). As usual, PlayStation Plus members receive an additional discount. The discounts will be available until 5/05/2015. My thanks go to Kuronoa for helping me compile this list!