Visit the shady side of town with this Yakuza 4 trailer

So I hear talk Kenzan might come over here.

This is my way of saying 'lets start a rumor that Kenzan and Of The End will come over here' and then Sega will feel obliged.

Also because Siliconera pretty much got Of The End confirmd and Kenzan 'maybe'd'

Noguchi: In terms of the older games, I can really speak to that at the moment. Because currently from the Yakuza franchise we have Black Panther, Kenzan, and now we have Of the End. Which all intents and purposes is a working title for the West, we don’t know what it’s going to be called. I think the possibility is there. We haven’t closed the door on any of those titles. We’re always looking at what might be the next title that will be appropriate for the Western market.

Wat a sexy voice.

So will the hostess stuff be in the Western version this time round? Sure it would've been culturally confusing, but no need to cut it out altogether. Why dumb down the game?

I would get 4 if my experience with Yakuza 3 had been better. Cue selfish sob story in 3, 2, 1... !

After Sega (whom I've idolised and followed since Master System II) stated emphatically that there would not be a Western release, nor would they release an English subtitle track, I ended up getting the Japanese version as well as those translation FAQs just to play it. I was studying Japanese at the time and had just gotten back from holiday there where I had a wonderful time, travelling through 7 cities on shinkansen and sushi lunch packs, beating a Japanese guy at Street Fighter 4 in a Hiroshima arcade and feeling overly proud of myself, seeing a J-2 division soccer game in Yokohama and the sumo grand championship in Fukuoka, enjoying hot spring baths, drinking Pocari Sweats from those Lawson 7/11 type stores and getting addicted to their hot and cold cans of vending machine coffee. Etc etc, it was the best holiday ever. And so with this amazing looking Ryu Ga Gotoku 3, I was so looking forward to walking through these virtual streets where cities had been recreated lovingly and with such attention to detail, my nostalgia ignited through this game. It was going to be hard work but I was willing to give it a go nonetheless. But maybe I was expecting too much.

And then, months later, Sega reneged on their earlier announcement and said that they were indeed going to release an English version. So what was I to do, get another copy? Screw that. Luckily I didn't anyway as, contrary to what they'd claimed (as usual), the game had been horrendously stripped down for Western audiences in order to better 'suit' them. Out went a ton of side quests, the hostess and other minigames...content that made the game what it was, and they just couldn't be bothered to translate it? Screw YOU Sega.

Look, if we wanted a more suitable Western game for our Western sensibilities, we'd buy them. When we buy Japanese games about Japanese cultures, we aren't expecting bloody ... I dunno ... main Western character Westin McWest takes on other Western enemies in a Western setting.

Sorry, this has gone on for ages with about 200 words' worth of unnecessary tangents, but all I wanted to point out was that I don't like Sega anymore, and that I hope they don't cut out stuff in Yakuza 4 for the outside of Japan release. Great.