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Hex · Jan 21, 2010

March is going to kill my wallet.
Yakuza 3, FFXIII, Pokemon Heart Silver, Resident Evil v Gold, God of War 3, and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Iron E Man · Jan 21, 2010

Leckan said:
The " State-of-the Art & "High-Resolution Graphics" descriptions kills me every time. :lol :lol

I do wonder why they can't use the original JP cover though? Why can't they just add the English title instead?

the cigarette

Celcius · Jan 21, 2010

I just realized this game comes out the same day as FF13. How long would you say this game is? I'm trying to decide which one to play though first.:lol

LiK · Jan 21, 2010

celcius said:
I just realized this game comes out the same day as FF13. How long would you say this game is? I'm trying to decide which one to play though first.:lol

well, Yakuza 3 has more sidequests than FF13

krea · Jan 21, 2010

I just realized this game comes out the same day as FF13. How long would you say this game is? I'm trying to decide which one to play though first.

If you play the main game only, you will need 12-14 hours

If you play the main game + interesting stuff, you will need 30-40 hours

If you play the main game + all side quest + mini games, you will need 60 hours

If you play for the platinun award, you will need ~100 hours (+ you have to learn many traditional japanese boardgames).

You have the choice!

Stumpokapow · Jan 21, 2010

Kintaro said:
Only movie I can think of off the top of my head using it is Avatar (which frames the picture MUCH better while this looks like dogshit).

So, could you please give more examples than none?

err, was there seriously an argument about whether half head posters and covers are en vogue right now?

here's literally ten minutes of looking and limiting myself to the last two years, notwithstanding the one bonus image i include below:

half-head yakuza style vertical split:

BigHow · Jan 21, 2010

Leckan said:
The " State-of-the Art & "High-Resolution Graphics" descriptions kills me every time. :lol :lol

I do wonder why they can't use the original JP cover though? Why can't they just add the English title instead?

As Iron E Man noted, the cigarette is a problem.

The art also might not have been contracted for use outside of Japan without the payment of additional royalties. If Sega's attorneys were halfway competent, they should have built that into the contract, but then again maybe they used a Japan-only provision to keep the cost down. In any case, the additional fees to use it in the US/EU and/or altering it to remove the cigarette may have busted whatever modest budget they set for the cover.

That, or they saw the cigarette, got scared and threw the job to a intern.

Noisepurge · Jan 22, 2010

aww crap. I had high hopes the european cover would be blessed with the original art :/

and the worst photoshop-job on an actual game cover has to be The Terminator on Sega CD.

Kagari · Jan 22, 2010

BigHow said:
As Iron E Man noted, the cigarette is a problem.

The art also might not have been contracted for use outside of Japan without the payment of additional royalties. If Sega's attorneys were halfway competent, they should have built that into the contract, but then again maybe they used a Japan-only provision to keep the cost down. In any case, the additional fees to use it in the US/EU and/or altering it to remove the cigarette may have busted whatever modest budget they set for the cover.

That, or they saw the cigarette, got scared and threw the job to a intern.

Edit it out, yo.
And they are using that image on the official site forums... heh. So who knows why they didn't make something closer to it.

lawrence7 · Jan 22, 2010

Fake, unfortunately

Flek · Jan 22, 2010

if someone gives me a complete temlate i woul make a new cover rdy to print out (front+back) :O

rvy · Jan 22, 2010

lawrence7 said:
Fake, unfortunately

So much better...

FUCKING SEGA!

VibratingDonkey · Jan 22, 2010

If we can convince them to release the game at all it should be pretty easy to get them to change the cover. I have hope.

SecretBonusPoint · Jan 22, 2010

I mean even with a 30 SECOND PHOTOSHOP JOB removing the ciggy you still get a far better cover:

Oh well eh! Companies never respond on stuff like this or change boxart with the game coming pretty soon.

Alex Anderson · Jan 23, 2010

Gamestop.com has $7 off orders 39.99+ and free ground shipping with code DEALTASTIC

Makes the game 47.99 + tax

Canceling my in-store preorder since I asked the cashier today what the price is, he looked at the computer and said "looks like 59.99"

Kagari · Jan 23, 2010

SecretBonusPoint said:
I mean even with a 30 SECOND PHOTOSHOP JOB removing the ciggy you still get a far better cover:

Oh well eh! Companies never respond on stuff like this or change boxart with the game coming pretty soon.

THIS SHOULD BE THE BOX ART.

Lard · Jan 23, 2010

It's Ico all over again - but at least we're getting the game.

Ronin · Jan 23, 2010

Now is that so hard Sega?

Shadow780 · Jan 23, 2010

Alex Anderson said:
Gamestop.com has $7 off orders 39.99+ and free ground shipping with code DEALTASTIC

Makes the game 47.99 + tax

Canceling my in-store preorder since I asked the cashier today what the price is, he looked at the computer and said "looks like 59.99"

nice, pre-ordered, since they got the exclusive bonus(?) as well.

matmanx1 · Jan 23, 2010

Kagari said:
THIS SHOULD BE THE BOX ART.

Yes! Yes it should! Anyone from Sega out there listening? Please?!

Endless-Bravado · Jan 23, 2010

krea said:
If you play for the platinun award, you will need ~100 hours (+ you have to learn many traditional japanese boardgames).

Damn, really? Sounds worse than Shogi and Mahjong in Yakuza 2. Those sidequests took me forever. How hard are the boardgames & mini-games?

BobTheFork · Jan 23, 2010

Endless-Bravado said:
Damn, really? Sounds worse than Shogi and Mahjong in Yakuza 2. Those sidequests took me forever. How hard are the boardgames & mini-games?

I really got sucked into Mahjong in Yakuza 2, but I could never freaking win. I played for hours on end and never got a big win.; it was pathetic. In shogi, I just let him beat me, then I flipped the board and he surrendered.

Endless-Bravado · Jan 23, 2010

BobTheFork said:
I really got sucked into Mahjong in Yakuza 2, but I could never freaking win. I played for hours on end and never got a big win.; it was pathetic. In shogi, I just let him beat me, then I flipped the board and he surrendered.

The Mahjong sidequest is pretty much all luck. It didn't take me long to catch onto the rules for it because I used to play Gin Rummy(which is similar to mahjong) with my cousins out of boredom years ago. The AI in the game just straight up cheats most of the time. :lol And there are some youtube videos for the shogi sidequests. I had to the one for Shogi 2, the one where none of your pieces are on the board at the start.

LiK · Jan 23, 2010

the mahjong rules were eerily realistic. couldn't believe they had that as a simple sidequest minigame.

fu3lfr3nzy · Jan 23, 2010

Shadow780 said:
nice, pre-ordered, since they got the exclusive bonus(?) as well.

Same. Also pre-ordered other games on my list with that $7 off for each one

That $7 is basically CA tax, and now GameStop employees cant harass me to buy more shit :lol

LiK · Jan 23, 2010

yea i went for the GS preorder as well. the lower price plus bonus is a no brainer. i just hope they dont fuck up my preorder bonus. been getting 50/50 success rate with them.

Blast Processing · Jan 23, 2010

Lard said:
It's Ico all over again - but at least we're getting the game.

Actually, in Ico's case, the shitty US boxart was all there was at the time, since the game was rushed to market here before being released in Japan and EU. So yeah, this is WORSE THAN ICO.

Zyzyxxz · Jan 23, 2010

LiK said:
the mahjong rules were eerily realistic. couldn't believe they had that as a simple sidequest minigame.

wtf there's mahjong in this game? I can see myself sinking hours into that alone.

Is it based off traditional Chinese mahjong?

nib95 · Jan 23, 2010

lawrence7 said:
Fake, unfortunately

That one is about 50 million times better.

LiK · Jan 23, 2010

Zyzyxxz said:
wtf there's mahjong in this game? I can see myself sinking hours into that alone.

Is it based off traditional Chinese mahjong?

dunno about 3 but it's in Yakuza 2, and yea, it's the traditional Chinese style from what i remember. you could play that as its own game which is cool.

StayUp · Jan 23, 2010

Quick photoshop with NA rating and case.

Kagari · Jan 23, 2010

â Narayan · Jan 23, 2010

Kagari said:
Yes.

Yes!

hxa155 · Jan 23, 2010

Is that cigarette really a problem? Do you guys remember X-Blade's cover art?

Shadow780 · Jan 23, 2010

&#11375 said:
Yes!

YES!

smoking is bad

Miburou · Jan 23, 2010

Well, I found 5 of my friends/sibling who have never played any of the previous Yakuza games interested in Yakuza 3 and are thinking of buying, especially since they had to endure weeks of praise for RgG3 and Kenzan from me.

While it's true that Sega has not done a great job when it came to localizing and marketing the games, to be honest I think one reason why the series is doing so badly outside of Japan/Asia is simply that Japanese culture (especially pop-culture) just isn't that attractive/popular/cool to most people outside Japan.

Xater · Jan 23, 2010

SecretBonusPoint said:
I mean even with a 30 SECOND PHOTOSHOP JOB removing the ciggy you still get a far better cover:

Judging by the new cover SEGA quite obviously sucks at Photoshop.

Segata Sanshiro · Jan 23, 2010

hxa155 said:
Is that cigarette really a problem? Do you guys remember X-Blade's cover art?

A thong clad woman's buttocks can be displayed on store shelves in view of minors in Canada. A person smoking a cigarette cannot be.

Gravijah · Jan 23, 2010

I'm gonna get the NA boxart tattooed onto my back to spite you all.

Crazypanda_85 · Jan 23, 2010

I hope this game does better than we expect it to do. When people come to my store looking for a new GTA style game for their PS3, I always recommend that they reserve Yakuza 3. I explain to them that it's not just like GTA but it does have an open world with a Japanese mafia story to it. I personally loved Yakuza 2 and I hope to one day play Kenzan and Yakuza 4.

Xater · Jan 23, 2010

Crazypanda_85 said:
I hope this game does better than we expect it to do. When people come to my store looking for a new GTA style game for their PS3, I always recommend that they reserve Yakuza 3. I explain to them that it's not just like GTA but it does have an open world with a Japanese mafia story to it. I personally loved Yakuza 2 and I hope to one day play Kenzan and Yakuza 4.

Those people will be so disappointed.

Gravijah · Jan 23, 2010

Xater said:
Those people will be so disappointed.

Exactly what I was thinking. I foresee GameStop employee Crazypanda_85 getting punched in the face by an angry customer returning Yakuza 3.

SecretBonusPoint · Jan 23, 2010

Yakuza has absolutely nothing in common with GTA, its a completely stupid comparison to ever make, ensuring disappointment. A much better example would be "Final Fantasy meets Streets of Rage" or something.

Urban Scholar · Jan 23, 2010

SecretBonusPoint said:
Yakuza has absolutely nothing in common with GTA, its a completely stupid comparison to ever make, ensuring disappointment. A much better example would be "Final Fantasy meets Streets of Rage" or something.

Modern adventure game with more fighting than you can ask for! If that's not a sells pitch I don't know what else is

Crazypanda_85 · Jan 23, 2010

I don't think they will be disappointed. Of course you don't sleep with hookers, or rob banks, or hang with bikers, or get lap dances, or jump from helicopers... hmmm, I guess I'm not helping my case,lol. I guess the GTA element came up when I thought about the crime element in Yakuza.

Most of the customers who normally asked that question are usually people I know that like RPGs too. I do explain to them that it is a story driven game mixed with brawler gameplay. You would be surprised with what games people are willing to try when they approach it with an open mind. I also think people have way too little faith in your average gamer. As someone who use to only play sports and fighting games, I am forever thankful to the person that introduced me to RPGs and adventure games.

Totobeni · Jan 23, 2010

Segata Sanshiro said:
A thong clad woman's buttocks can be displayed on store shelves in view of minors in Canada. A person smoking a cigarette cannot be.

sure but it's not an excuse for the shitty cover since they can remove the cigarette from the original Japanese one , it's not rocket science

SecretBonusPoint said:
I mean even with a 30 SECOND PHOTOSHOP JOB removing the ciggy you still get a far better cover:

Oh well eh! Companies never respond on stuff like this or change boxart with the game coming pretty soon.

but then again it's SEGA.

devilru · Jan 23, 2010

whatever, at least the game is coming out in the West.

Segata Sanshiro · Jan 23, 2010

Totobeni said:
sure but it's not an excuse for the shitty cover since they can remove the cigarette from the original Japanese one , it's not rocket science

but then again it's SEGA.

I was replying to the guy that was specifically asking about the cigarette.

Yes, somehow I am aware that images can be altered using some sort of executable program on this here... personal confuser thing. Although let me be the first to say, the cover looks stupid without the cigarette anyway. It looks like he's whistling into the air.

Ah well, keep on whining about it, guys. I hope SEGA never localizes a single word of RGG4.

jetsetfluken · Jan 23, 2010

Seems there's nothing we can do about the Western release cover art being changed...the JP cover always stood out to me and would realistically stand out from the rest on store shelves in the West. But this whole localization was an answer to pleas and we should just excuse the poor effort on that part, more than likely due to expected low sales = low effort. The only important thing is that I'm sure most of us are more than happy to be able to play the game in English. Of course, this will probably also affect the chances of RGG4 coming to the West (and Kenzan...oh who am I kidding?). But anyway...

About Gamestop's preorder "bonus" - does anyone have the full scoop of what this is exactly? Is it content that was already the the JP disc, and separated+released as DLC in the West, or is it the patched content that JP got? (which was free of course)

Segata Sanshiro · Jan 23, 2010

jetsetfluken said:
Seems there's nothing we can do about the Western release cover art being changed...the JP cover always stood out to me and would realistically stand out from the rest on store shelves in the West. But this whole localization was an answer to pleas and we should just excuse the poor effort on that part. I'm sure most of us are more than happy to be able to play the game in English. But anyway...

About Gamestop's preorder "bonus" - does anyone have the full scoop of what this is exactly? Is it content that was already the the JP disc, and separated+released as DLC in the West, or is it the patched content that JP got? (which was free of course)

Sounds a lot like the free DLC from Japan to me.

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