Yakuza 3 has been edited for West News

THIS IS THE WORST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

They should have added 'massage' parlours in their stead. Im sure "the west" would get that.

I'm still looking forward to Yakuza 3. I've not played any of the previous titles (bar a demo of each on OPMUK). I will have to download the demo when i finally get a ps3 this friday (yay!)

We aren't all cultural retards in the West. I guess someone forgot to tell the Japanese that.

What's not to get about a hostess bar? Weirdos.

Didn't they have the hostess clubs in the first Yakuza?

In the words of LOLcats: "Japanese Game is Japanese". Apparently that would have been unacceptable to US and Europe. Let's face it, other bonkers Japanese oddities (such as their obsession with collecting stuff) never converts well to the west - just look at the complete flop that was Pokemon.

Hey...

Wait a sec...

Didn't they have the hostess clubs in the first Yakuza?

Yes. And the second one. But, to be fair, they didn't have time to localize the content they removed. It was far more important to Sega to release the latest entry of a franchise which hasn't sold particularly well in the West within days of Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III.

/slow clap

FAIL

Great, now i'm stupid too. Thanks, Sega :(

Weird. The (admittedly Japanese) trailers I've seen a while ago seemed to think the hostess bars are of enormous importance for the game.

"We aren't all cultural retards in the West. I guess someone forgot to tell the Japanese that."

They probably just had a look around the internet and (understandably) formed that impression.

Yeah, too bad. As Yakuza series is one of the rare games we get in the west that actually take place in modern day Japan without fantasy or science fiction stuff, one of the great things about it was always immersion in the Japanese culture, depicted through a pulpy action-packed lens. Hostess bars were in both previous games and were fun. And, of course, rushing to get the game out in the west in the same window as God of War III and FFXIII is probably going to do more harm than good... On top of everything, with both previous games selling poorly in the west, it is clear that whoever buys the third one is probably a fan and THEY are not going to react positively hearing that hostess clubs were cut out. And if SEGA later announces that this stuff will be available as PAID DLC then you can expect the outcry to reach high heavens.

So they basically removed pretty girls from the game.

That makes sense.

Very irritating being automatically treated like an idiot by Sega. I like Japanese history, and the hostess bars worked fine as a side mission in Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2, it wasn't confusing at all.
I was going to buy Yakuza 3 on its long awaited western release, now I really can't be bothered after such a needless and insulting cut.

SEGA fuck up again. What a surprise.

Pretty girls pouring drinks and chatting.... Nope, no sense whatsoever.

Oh
For
Fuck's
Sake

Yes, Japanese game is Japanese, as already said. As if most of the people who want to buy this *won't* have at least a passing interest in Japanese culture, even if that just extends to the yakuza themselves.

This is impressively badly-judged.

WELL DONE: Make it LESS likely for people who *are* interested in a western release of this game by removing content because it's "too Japanese". THAT'S PART OF THE POINT OF THIS SERIES FOR ME.

I don't know why anyone finds this surprising.
Many of the hostesses are real people, most of which are quite famous in Japan. Considering this is a super cheap translation, they were never going to go to the expens of liscencing them, or even take the time to edit the models.

I also have to say the hostess minigame was dire in the previous two games, and nothing of value has been lost here. Even the Japanese got sick of them and removed them from the 4th game replaced with something significantly more interesting. I can understand why some are upset that we've lost some content, but this is the price for finally getting a game that's proved unpopular in the past.

Boycotting it now will only mean we never see the 4th game.

Can someone please remove all spaceships from Mass Effect 2, because I've never been in one and I don't understand the concept of FTL travel.

The things that he said would make no sense to western gamers were the history quiz, whereas he referred to the hostess bars as not resonating as much... which is still weird, given the worldwide predilection for attractive members of the opposite sex. And they had whole trailers dedicated to the hostess club features. But I guess western gamers might actually be out of their depth in a Japanese history quiz. So I don't think he assumes you're stupid.

Anyway, I guess that was just fancy talk for "We wanted to rush out the game, so something had to go. Nyaa!" After all, they could have added "massage parlours" and quizzes about some other topics if they really felt the original ones inappropriate.

@EarlBassett
Actually, I think a better comparasion would be removing a similar tedious minigame from ME for the Japanese release.
Like say the mineral scanning? And I'm sure they'd be just as up in arms about the loss of that, as we are here.

Ah bugger, looks like I'll be importing it after all then. So glad I waited for the Western release :(

Boycotting it now will only mean we never see the 4th game.

And what's to say that won't be edited even more heavily? Apparently there's even more side content in that game, and if Sega think we don't mind, what's to stop them doing an even more half arsed localization?

Also, the hostess management is not a minigame. It's an extensive side mission that, in the JP version, yields XP.

This game doesn't seem to have much going for it, given the competition. What it did have going for it was an authentic Japanese feel, which for me is the only reason to buy this game (being a sad Japanophile). The hostess bars seems like an odd thing to exclude, but I'm not that miffed, but the history quiz I was actually looking forward to!

Anyway, I guess what this means is: translating those parts was too expensive. You can have them as DLC when we've milked enough cash from you.

Sidequest, minigame, whatever you want to call it.. It was horrifically tedious in the previous games, and was apparantly no better here, which was why it was removed from the 4th game. Not even the Japanese liked it.

I'm not saying they should skip out on the parts which show more of the Japanese culture, because I do really like that aspect of the game, I just feel that the hostess stuff isn't that necessarily, especially when it involves an incredibly long and uninteresting side mission.

Yes the localization has been half-assed, but who do we have to blame for the poor sales of the previous two? I think we should be grateful we're seeing the game at all. The fact they didn't want to spend more money on liscencing and cut out one very tedious part of the game, is fine by me. The other option is no game at all. Perhaps if this one sells, they can translate 4 with a slightly bigger budget. The 'fans' boycotting the game are just shooting themselves in the foot.

Have they removed the "Buying used girl's panties from a vending machine" mini-game as well?

Uh, hostesses have been removed from Yakuza 4? 1500 candidates, apparently. This is a huge part of the game in Japan.

"Yes the localization has been half-assed, but who do we have to blame for the poor sales of the previous two?"

I say we blame Sega for crappy marketing and a limited release especially considering I and most of us here have the previous two games. Sorry, i meant blame me for buying it and giving them money in the first place. Consider me told.

Please Sega, i'm really grateful. Can we have Yakuza 4 with all the minigames removed just in case i can't understand them with my culturally blinkered and closed mind?
/ tips cap

Can Sega remove the title of the game please? I'm not Japanese and do not speak the language and do not know what this Yakuza is

What are they thinking? Taking a niche product that appeals to a small but dedicated group of fans and then gimping it so that even they don't want it?

For shame, Sega! :-(

I love how the comments take the extreme view with SEGA taking out all the minigames out of future iterations if they ever see the light of day over here. The hostess bar aspect does add richness to the experience but it's hardly a game breaker since it is a side quest/mission/minigame; unlike the other minigames it also requires work to translate or alter, like the history quiz, whereas all the other minigames don't so I don't see why they would be removed.

@EarlBassett

I laughed :)

@andywilkie35

Alright, you've gone too far now :)

To be honest I wasted too much time in Y2 in the hostess bars with little result. The Karaoke stuffs good for a laugh anyway.

"To be honest I wasted too much time in Y2 in the hostess bars with little result. "

That makes me wonders what you were trying to do in there, eh? ;)

"We aren't all cultural retards in the West. I guess someone forgot to tell the Japanese that."

But as with everything else in games industry it's catering to the lowest common denominator to maximise profit potential and all that bollocks.

A bit like how niche genres are catered for less than less. Games are dumbed down, sorry, streamlined to make them more "accessible". Etc etc. Everything has to appeal to the broadest range of the market as possible to the point where every game feels the same as the next one.

What the shit? The game is called FUCKING YAKUZA! What would the American buyer expect, a Bronx thug simulator? Fucking retards......

I love how the comments take the extreme view with SEGA taking out all the minigames out of future iterations if they ever see the light of day over here.

I'm going to assume you're referring to me since I'm the only one who mentioned anything like that. What I said was what's to stop them removing more content from the next game if they think they can get away with it? I'm not talking about minigames. The host club management in Yakuza 2 was a major side mission, and the "hostess coach" part of Y3 is supposedly even more in-depth. They are not minigames, and certainly in no way comparable to Mass Effect's planet scanning.

Besides, how is saying that content might be cut from future localizations any different from saying "boycotting it now will only mean we'll never see the 4th game"? Both supposition. And I'm not boycotting, incidentally, but waiting for a price cut.

Hear that Sega? That's the sound of my money staying in my wallet. Good work.

Graara r ar rarraaaargh

I knew there had to be a caveat somewhere in us actually getting this game, somewhere deep down I knew it, I just couldn't bring myself to admit it until it.

The thing is, of course, SEGA's handling of the franchise in the west was pretty crappy to start with. Yes, both previous games sold poorly but they had next to no promotion and even a lot of the websites reviewing it farmed them off to the reviewers who failed to understand what the game was about and slammed it for being a poorly designed GTA clone. So, a solid seller in japan becomes a niche title in the west and someone in SEGA figures that this is due to cultural differences rather than due to the lack of marketing brains behind the games. I mean, I bought the original Yakuza and then pestered the shops here to get the sequel when it came out and they didn't even know what the hell was I on about. Yakuza 2 was released almost in secrecy here in the west, so no surprise that it sold poorly.

To top it off, both Yakuza 1 and 2 apparently have some problems when running on Playstation 3 (especially damning when you realise when the second game was released). I've read more accounts here of people saying that they couldn't complete Y2 on PS3 due to the game failing to load and I have exactly the same experience with Yakuza on my 60GB PS3 - a copy of the game that works PERFECTLY on my ageing PS2.

So, SEGA really dropped the ball on this series in the west and they keep dropping it... Too bad.

"Boycotting it now will only mean we never see the 4th game. "

Sega's inventive new angle of entertainment rustling/ransom seems to be proceeding very well for them. They're 2/2, so far!

@MasterNameless

Yep, took me ages to realise there in no physical contact in Japanese hostess bars.

@FabricatedLunatic
I'd still call it a minigame.. It's not related to the main story, it's a series of small tasks to make the hostesses like you more. It's a money sink, it's tedious and losing it doesn't really impact the game.

Again, the game has been translated by a very small team on a very small budget, I'm really not surprised to see this cut, especially as the hostesses are modeled after real people. If this game actually sells well, I'm sure they'll raise the budget for the next game which should ensure we don't see anything cut like this, especially after all the complaints Sega have been getting about this already.

But boycotting it, waiting for it to hit bargain bins, buying it second hand or whatever, will simply mean another lazy transaltion or far more likely.. we never see Yakuza 4, Kenzan or any future games in English, ever.

well bang goes any reason I might have bought this game

@ WinterSnowblind
"Actually, I think a better comparasion would be removing a similar tedious minigame from ME for the Japanese release.
Like say the mineral scanning? And I'm sure they'd be just as up in arms about the loss of that, as we are here."

You're right, they should remove that. Because Japanese don't know what planets are

Aren't people in the west interested in Yakuza just *because* it's so very japanese?
Taking that stuff out just makes it less interesting.

Way to go Sega, way to go...

I couldn't believe that this game would even get a release over here but it will. Then you go and remove one of my favourite time-sinks in a [i]Yakuza[/i] game?

Obviously we Westerners are all gay and don't understand the 'cultural' pastime of chatting up women.

I'll still be getting the game but I'm not happy Sega, not happy at all.

Sorry, WinterSnowblind but that's supposition. Maybe if we don't buy it and let Sega know why then they'll actually put some effort into the next games in order to garner some sales? Saying "Buy it or we won't get another" is fearmongering as we don't actually know what their future plans are.

They are offering a game, i am under no obligation to buy it if i don't want to.

And the word of the day is....

supposition

yay!

I'd still call it a minigame.. It's not related to the main story, it's a series of small tasks to make the hostesses like you more. It's a money sink, it's tedious and losing it doesn't really impact the game.

Then you'd be wrong. You seem to be getting confused between the chatting to hostesses (which pretty much is a minigame) and the far more extensive management aspect. What you're basically saying is "I don't care about it so why should anybody else?" If you want to buy it, fine. I have no problem with that. At least do the same courtesy to those of us who aren't happy paying full price for a game with a substantial sidequest removed.

I bought the unedited Yakuza 2 on release for £15. I wasn't expecting another budget release, and was happy to pay £40 for the sequel, I just wanted a full game for my money.