It’s been a busy week of news and media coming out of Sega regarding the impending release of Yakuza 3 in the West. We have a new trailer (which you can see above) showing you around some of the scenic locations you’ll explore in the game, such as the serene Okinawa seaside (for a round of baseball with the kids), the streets of downtown Tokyo (to hit up a karaoke bar, perhaps?), and… erm… your local convenience store? Well, to be fair, we should already be used to that last one from previous titles in the series.
One destination to scratch off your list of tourist attractions, however, will be the original game’s hostess clubs. For an explanation why (and some new screens to go along with the trailer), hit the jump.
A Sega rep, speaking with IGN, said that some content ended up on the chopping block as part of the localization process.
“The content between Yakuza 3 US/UK and Yakuza JP is a little different in that we took out certain bits in order to bring the game to the west in the time alloted for us to do so. The parts we ended up taking out were parts that we felt wouldn’t make sense (like a Japanese history quiz game) or wouldn’t resonate as much (such as the concept of a hostess club).”
While we can agree that a history quiz might only appeal to the most stringent of Western Japanophiles, the hostess clubs’ omission seem to be drawing a lot of heat from fans. While the concept may not have a direct equivalent on these shores (bars full of attractive young women paid to provide companionship to businessmen and the like by having drinks, chatting, singing karaoke, etc.) it seems the most vocal portion of the game’s fanbase were rather looking forward to this aspect of the game.
Sega’s blog on the subject of the cuts has been virtually flooded with comments, most of them claiming that if the hostesses are gone, so are they. While I would have preferred to see the game arrive totally intact myself, I’ll take a few small cuts rather than no game at all – my Japanese skills are not strong enough for me to enjoy the game in its original form. Besides, there’s always the chance we could see it released down the road as DLC, right?
Right, Sega?
…RIGHT, SEGA!?
*Ahem* But I digress. Chime in below and tell us what you think – is a slightly trimmed version of Yakuza 3 better than no Western release at all? Are the fans in question being huge hypocrites for begging Sega to bring the game over and now supposedly turning their backs on the project?
All things considered, I don’t see why it’s such a huge deal to some people. Sega confirmed you can still date girls and go to strip clubs. Maybe they’ve mistaken the Hostess Clubs for whorehouses?
Either way, I highly doubt Yakuza 3 is the only game to have ever had content cut in an attempt to “Westernize” it.
Besides, they’re including the Japanese voice track and subtitles. That’s way more important.
Yeah, I think we’re lucky we’re even getting Yakuza 3 in the first place. Missing a wee bit of content is better than having no content at all.
It doesn’t matter to me that the clubs and quiz are removed. Sure, I’d have liked the missing stuff to be there for those who might have wanted it but I’m happy that we’re getting this game at all…honestly, I didn’t think it would be released in the US.
While I am sad that Sega couldn’t or wouldn’t take the time out to localize more of the game (I personally, was looking forward to managing a hostess club), maybe not all is lost. It seems like there has been enough fuss online that maybe Sega will localize what they left out and release it as DLC. I would pay for all that extra stuff they left out.
I hope that the fans threatening to not buy the game because of the content that was stripped from the game *do* end up buying Y3. If they ever want to see Yakuza 4 localized, they need to support Y3. That way Sega might not take out any content when (if) they bring over Y4.
Regardless, I am very happy that Sega released Y3 in America and I am going to enjoy every second of the game!!