Yakuza 3 Western release lacking content.

[donovan515]

http://kotaku.com/5478862/sega-you-are-once-again-making-a-giant-mistake

Missing Hostess bars nooooo and Japanese history quiz noooo (well if you like history like me).

Guess at this stage there's probably little chance for it to be added back in. Maybe if there's enough backlash it might be released as free DLC, who am I kidding that'll never happen.

[Phreakuency]

I'm glad I finished the Japanese version now, but to be honest you're not missing much.
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[arbok]

What to do?

I hate Sega for ruining one of the best gaming series ever.... its basically everything i've ever wanted from a video game, brawler, deep story, sprawling free roam city, quirky japanese cultural things.

Yakuza 1 was released properly, I thought the voice dub was pretty good. But it didn't sell because it wasn't marketed properly, it was marketed as a GTA clone with no cars and guns. Silly right? Considering its a brawler with a focus on the storyline. Its only issue was to release one year after the japanese release and subsequently the hype was lost and the game looked old towards the end of the PS2 cycle.

When it didn't sell, Yakuza 2 was even more neutered than the original. No voice dub which meant strictly the hardcore who enjoyed the first game bought it. Sega blamed the lack of sales on it being not suitable for a western audience, which is true in some ways, but it didn't do the game any favors.

Yakuza 3 decisions have been even worse, releasing the game in March and removing content? Will the hardcore even buy the game? Will Sega blame western audiences for not understanding?

I still want to play Yakuza 3 badly but should I really support Sega. Its a lose lose proposition. Supporting the neutered Yakuza 3 will mean Sega will make the same decisions again for Yakuza 4. But not buying it will mean we won't even see it.

What to do?

What I really want to see is a Fatal Frame/Project Zero 4 - Fan english subbed of the japanese version as a patch to download. That would really show Sega what is wrong. Imagine over 50-100k extra japanese Yakuza 3 sales while the western version bombs.
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[He need to cut the ego.]

Headline next week: "Due to overwhelming demand, SEGA announce 'Hostess bar' and 'Japanese quiz' DLC for Yukuza 3 for only five dollars each!".

[redemption]

doesn't bother me too much. It would have been interesting to play with them, but then again, there's another Yakuza game coming, they might release the next one uncut.
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[Kerrby]

I voted no. I don't see why it should annoy me.

[dc0079]

I've finished the Japanese version. IMO most of the minigames in Yakuza are pretty boring. While I would not miss them, it is sad that they're not included.
IMO the hostess club is due to censorship issue. SEGA don't want to risk having some people making a big deal out of the sexual undertone of this content which isn't directly related to the plot (but there are side quest related to it...) With GTA and all these family group and our very own politician in recent news, it might be for the better they removed it.
As for the Japanese history quiz, they could change it to some other form of trivia knowledge if they really wanted to.
Considering how much localisation SEGA has already gone through, it is strange these parts of the game are missing.
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[fatpizza]

I won't miss the Japanese history quiz... Funnily enough in regards to the hostess bar you can still date the girls and the strip clubs are still in the game so overall it doesn't sound like we're missing much.
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[G3ck0]

What's the hostess bar? How does it differ to strip clubs?

[raffieltiger]

Sega have a bad track record for not marketing their products well to western countries.

Just look at the dreamcast, back in the day.

Great system, better graphics than the ps2, good games, but it died because it wasn't marketed well.

I don't like the fact that they took out the Japanese history quiz, because I know a little bit about Japanese history, and it would be fun to learn something new.

And even if people didn't want to do the quiz, I'm sure they would (and could) have the option to walk past it, and continue with the rest of the game.

Hostess bars aren't that important in my opinion, because like people are saying, the strip clubs are still there.
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