Yakuza Director Already Working On Another Yakuza Game

By Spencer . March 16, 2010 . 12:19am

At a Yakuza 4 press conference Toshihiro Nagoshi, Producer of the Yakuza series, took the stage and unveiled a trailer for Project K.

Famitsu’s report from the event says the movie featured a young boy walking around Kamurocho in the rain. The publication believes the kid is the game’s protagonist. Text from the trailer explain the boy will commit crimes in the future and he is fated to fight.

The video closes with the line, “a new challenge for the Yakuza series begins.”

Further details such as release timing, platform(s), and who the boy is were not announced. Project K? Could the “K” stand for a young Kazuma Kiryu or the fictional (but based on a real world part of Shinjuku) Kamurocho?

Tokyo Guy

Ok, this is just plain silly. The games don’t sell here, less the fact that stores discount them 2 weeks later be any indication of a “hot product”. Why the heck does Sega keep approving more and more of these?

Yakuza 3 was hyped up to no end here in terms of promotional advertising and even the PS3 bundle, and yet lo and behold when it came out no one cared. Stores had those “omake magazines” for weeks and weeks after the game released indicating they didn’t even sell through their initial shipment.

Sega really wants to have its own GTA series, but in truth Japanese gamers really don’t care about that type of open-ended gameplay. Heck, GTA itself doesn’t even sell well over here, especially not when compared to the sales in North America and Europe.

Sorry for being so negative, but personally I would much rather see something new and original come out of Sega’s finances rather than another Yakuza game, especially when we have now had 2 in the last year. It sounds to be suspiciously similar to Capcom and the Rockman series wherein they churn out game after game by doing nothing more than pallet swaps and whatnot. HOW long did it take to make Yakuza 3? And yet 4 is finished so quickly?
- malek86
  
  I thought Yakuza 3 sold ok? I mean, it had a great launch week.
- Mazen
  
  Y3 sold 500k on PS3 which has much less user base than PS2 and the PS2 ones were from 500-700k sold, but I agree we want something new the team are obviously talented its criminal for them to get buried for so many years in Yakuzas.
- Aoshi00
  
  Interesting.. never would’ve guessed. I was asking myself too if Jpn really like Ryu ga Gotoku that much for Sega to be milking it like crazy.. I wonder if a real Shenmue 3 would fare any better.
  - symytry
    
    The other end to this “milking” is that Nagoshi doesn’t see it that way. He LOVES making these games, which is why they actually turn out great and have awesome scenario/script.
    
    I could see Sega stop green-lighting Ryu Ga Gotoku products if the games got lacklaster and sales were down.
    - Aoshi00
      
      I know they’re good, I’m sure Ono likes his Street Fighter also lol.. It’s just that there are so many, Kenzan, 3, 4, and now another new one in rather a short span of time, and it’s a little surprising they actually don’t sell that well in Jpn from another comment.
      
      I just imagine a Shenmue 3 would be quite awesome w/ this engine. So I constantly ask myself, is it just a handful of us who want to see the conclusion of Ryo Hazazki seeking his revenge, or people just want to see badass yakuza.
      - Tokyo Guy
        
        Well “selling well” in Japan has long since became a relative idea, because stores now seem keen on liquidating any game that doesn’t sell out immediately. Though with that said, it’s always a particular type of game that is discounted. You will NEVER see games like New Super Mario Bros on sale, yet you will see Zelda slashed immediately. You will never see a game like Heavy Rain on sale, yet you will see Yakuza 3.
        
        Selling “bad” really depends on what your own idea of sales are. Someone mentioned Yakuza 3 selling 500,000 copies. That’s great for a game like Xenosaga 3 which (IIRC) didn’t even hit 200,000 copies, yet it’s pathetic for a game like Dragon Quest 9 which sold millions upon millions. But, as was also pointed out, the earlier games sold more and thus the series is clearly on the decline.
        
        I think part of the problem is that the PS3 has had a much lower installed user base than the PS2 had at the time (in no small part because of the cost originally, and the lack of games), but it might also be that games like Yakuza are becoming more and more repetitive. I mean seriously now, how is Kenaka Bancho 4 any different than KB3 except for an altered story and graphics? It’s the same thing over and over again, and perhaps for this genre of game, people just don’t have as much interest as say, a generic RPG series that is churned out over and over. Who knows.
        
        As for Shenmue, I’ve never understood the appeal of that game. Then again I’ve never understood the appeal of anything made by Sega (other than the first 3 Sonic games) given that the company-IMHO-has no clue how to make good games and thus always trailed behind Nintendo.
      - Aoshi00
        
        Yea, I guess none of the stores really stocked many copies of games like Heavy Rain, it’s so rare that it won’t even be on fire sale. If I didn’t pre-order mine from P-A, they wouldn’t even have stocked it. Sometimes they just milk the sequels too fast too soon, I agree, like Kenka Banchou 4, it just has a prettier delinquent now.
        
        Well, Shenmue was a pioneer in this type of adventure games where you do every mundane task in life as mini-games, kick some butt, and an epic story as the background. I loved it grand setting being in Jpn in the first game, HK in the 2nd game. I have always thought Yakuza is a spiritual successor to Shenmue. And since all the fans are left hanging in the middle of the story, I thought it would be cool we are finally given a closure w/ PS3 graphics (compared to the blocky Dreamcast graphics), I think it would be something.
      - Mazen
        
        Well I traid to ignore this but I felt so sad that I had to reply, Most Nintendo games are perfect like no one ever can make as good as them,
        but Sega still the only company that gave them a real challenge they are the only one who could made games with style and quality that surpassed Nintendo games, Shining Force 1,2,3 Skies of Arcadia, Land Stalker, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Nights and many others.
      - Guest
        
        .
- symytry
  
  Sega of old is gone…and with it their hardware division. Their teams shrunk and merged. They’ve got a lot less in terms of internal development going on these days as they continually seek to publish other games. I’m not sure what you mean about Yakuza not selling well. The numbers below are damn good for Japan only.
  
  JPN numbers only
  Ryu Ga Gotoku1 740k
  Ryu Ga Gotoku2 820k
  Ryu Ga Gotoku3 560k
  source – http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=yakuza
  
  The reason you’re getting number 4 already is that Sega needs to make back more financial return on their technology investment that the engine required.
  
  If it continues to sell (and it will), they’ll continue to make more of it. That doesn’t mean you can’t complain about not having anything new to play. Just don’t look to Nagoshi’s team to give you something completely different.
  
  I also agree that Japanese gamers don’t want open-ended gameplay. That’s just the way it is. I tend to lean towards that as well, since open-ended leaves me wandering for hours on end and I don’t have that kind of time to blow. To each his own, I guess :D
  - Tokyo Guy
    
    The fact that the 3rd installment sold almost 300,000 copies less than the 2nd might go a long way to explain why the game was put in the bargain bin so quickly. And I expect the 4th to sell even worse, if only for the fact that people JUST played the 3rd game and thus it’s too much too soon.
    - symytry
      
      The third was also on a different system with a much smaller user base. Yakuza 3 was one of the best sellers for the system at the time of its’ release. It has also seen the highest number of 1st day sales for the series in the US, with 48k sold, which is just 2k less than lifetime US sales of Yakuza 2.
      
      I expect Yakuza 4 to sell much better than 3… It will most likely take the #1 spot in next weeks’ top 10.
http://soundcloud.com/tet-chan TetsuyaHikari

Man, he must be trying to make a record or something, lol. The time behind Ryu ga Gotoku must never get any sleep! Another game, already?!

The premise does sound pretty interesting though. Can’t wait to hear more about, “Project K”.
SlashZaku

With Yakuza 4 just releasing, something tells me this’ll be a handheld/PSP title.
- thebanditking
  
  Yakuza on PSP?……..OK that actually sounds pretty awesome.
Mazen

Since the hero is a kid maybe its for Wii?
- SlashZaku
  
  May have been on NeoGAF a few months ago but I think there was an interview where Nagoshi said he wanted to keep the franchise identified with PS. That’s why I’m leaning towards the PSP if it’s a handheld title.
  - Mazen
    
    Yeah maybe PSP and online like Phantasy Star/God Eater/MH this way unfortunately could sell alot.
Xeahnort

Project: Kut Kontent

P.S: J/K
thebanditking

Oh great, so by the time Sega gets around to ” maybe kind of, slightly” thinking of releasing Yakuza 4 we will be behind yet again.

Hopefully this wont be another Kenzan game, because while Kenzan was very cool, the chances of a Western release would be lower the a regular Yakuza :( . It would be cool to play as Kiryu as a young boy and then have the game progress as he ages.
jarrodand

K-Project was the working title for REZ iirc. Weird.
ndjn3979

Man, another Yakuza 3.5? Haven’t even played 1 yet!
jarrodand

They should call it Yakuza Kids.

Video game stories from other sites on the web. These links leave Siliconera.

RSS

Yakuza Director Already Working On Another Yakuza Game

Popular

Gaming Map

About Siliconera