Yakuza Creator's Futuristic Shooter is Binary Domain

Wake up fool!

The ultra-tanned, hostess magnet Toshihiro Nagoshi, best known as the creator of Sega's prolific Yakuza series, has thrown his skin flakes into the futuristic shooter ring. With an emphasis on squad-based tactics, Binary Domain is set in a torn-down Tokyo circa the year 2080, where it's humans versus the machines, baby.

The trailer, which is quite lengthy, foregos gameplay for the trusty old cinematic sequences, chock full of the same old played out odds and ends. Robots that look like T-800s, a torn down Tokyo, and a very bland group of characters, including a Ben Affleck look-a-like and the token black man.

"When you hear sci-fi you may think of cold, clinical environments," Nagoshi-san states. "With Binary Domain I wanted to combine this with a deep human drama. The keyword we have in mind for this project is 'Life'. I wanted to make something that will be accepted by both the Japanese and Western markets, and this fundamental theme is something everyone knows but which the full extent of can be difficult to grasp." 

You gotta give it to the man, he talks a good one. Human drama is not something that's even remotely tied to shooters, but fans of Yakuza will tell you, despite its action, the well done drama element is the game's main draw. As for appealing to the both Japanese and Western gamers, well.. The hoorah-heavy, testosterone-laced man's men we're looking at aren't typically well received by Japanese gamers. You make one look like Ben Affleck, and the other a racial stereotype, and Japanese acceptance will be sure to plummet even further, no doubt. We'll see.

I admire what Nagoshi-san has done with the Yakuza series, so I'm half expecting Binary Domain to blossom into something special. If the last chunk of the trailer is any indication, we'll at least be in store for something interesting.

Eight HD Minutes Of The End

We previously showed you a nice chunk of Yakuza: Of The End in not so flattering standard def recorded straight from a presentation screen. Ghetto, but effective. Well, we can now replace that with a much nicer looking, slightly longer, still amazing cut of the latest entry in the Yakuza series.

Let's be real, this game looks like mindless, ridiculous fun. Yes, I'm sick of zombies and you probably should be too, but I do enjoy me some Yakuza, so this pairing can't be all bad. Who knows, maybe we're in for the surprise of a halfway decent story, since the previous Yakuza titles are driven by above average writing. Just because zombies have been added, doesn't necessarily mean the game will lose its brains, right?

Sign me up if only for the strip batting cages, Majima singing karaoke, and 50 Cent (at the 7:05 mark in the video, that's definitely him!)

Yakuza 4 Won't Cut Out Too Much Content

My associate and I have recently been playing a lot of Yakuza 3. Awesome game. Like the rest of the Yakuza series, the story and cinematography is killer, making it feel more like a big budget Japanese blockbuster than a game. Before the game was released, Sega announced that content was being cut from the Western release of Yakuza 3, because it would be a little over the head of us English speakers. Needless to say, people were pissed. We don't like watered down games, if you're gonna give it to us, we want it straight, no chaser. 

Well, I guess someone at Sega was listening to all the complaints. Yakuza 4, which has been out in Japan since March, will release stateside this spring with minimal cuts. Kotaku reports the hostess clubs will return, assuring that you will be able to pay for a virtual woman's company to make your in-game gangsta feel like a pimp, which ain't easy. Unfortunately, it looks like the game's quiz show, Answer X Answer, will not be making the cut, since translating the custom animated text would be too much of a chore for the localization team. It sucks, but some progress is better than none, right?

Now, entertain yourself with one of Yakuza 3's most amazing moments.