Yakuza 3 coming to US March 2010!

SEGA set to take western gaming aficionados into the gritty underbelly of Japanese culture

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (December 8th, 2009) – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced that its Japanese smash hit Ryu ga Gotoku™ 3 will be officially localized for the west as Yakuza™ 3. Selling over half-a-million copies in Japan the game has established an ardent fan base in its native land and has achieved cult status with true videogame connoisseurs in the west. SEGA’s decision to bring the game to its western territories was heavily influenced by the recognition of Yakuza’s enthusiastic fan base throughout the U.S. and Europe. Yakuza 3 will be available exclusively on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in the spring of 2010.

The Yakuza series is the brainchild of Toshihiro Nagoshi, one of SEGA’s most prolific and successful internal developers. Along with the Yakuza saga, Toshihiro also created the beloved Super Monkey Ball series and has worked on other well known SEGA games such as Daytona USA, F-Zero GX, Spikeout. To this day Toshihiro still over-sees work of internal development teams to make sure his creations speak to gamers as he originally intended.

“Since its release in Japan, gamers in the west have wanted to know whether SEGA would be releasing Yakuza 3 in the west.” said Sean Ratcliffe, VP of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. “Today I’d like to tell all the Yakuza fans. We’ve heard you. We’re bringing it. Get ready for your initiation into the Japanese underworld!”

Yakuza 3 will feature full English subtitling, while retaining the outstanding voice acting from the original Japanese version of the game to create an authentic and immersive experience. The transition to the PlayStation 3 has allowed SEGA of Japan’s CS1 team to add an unprecedented level of environmental detail and realism to the game – a hallmark of the series that fans have come to expect. In this action-adventure sequel, players will take on the role of Kiryu Kazuma to explore rich and realistic environments, take part in a multitude of unique mini-games and experience the deepest combat experience in the series yet. In addition to the familiar Tokyo haunts from the first two games, fans will also discover a completely new setting on the tropical island of Okinawa where, accompanied by his adoptive daughter Haruka, Kazuma manages an orphanage. However, he is allowed no respite in this idyllic retreat and before long he is once again forced to deal with his sordid past.

For more information on Yakuza 3 please visit www.yakuza-games.com.

Yay, I knew it was gonna come to the US eventually, though I did lose hope at one point. Too many games coming out next year that I want >o<;