The announcement must come as a pleasant surprise to Yakuza fans. The franchise, while beloved and successful in Japan, never caught on outside of a devoted following in the in the West. Yakuza 3 was released in Japan back in 2009, and it took a vocal fan campaign to convince Sega to release the game stateside. I guess that, for all of the negative reactions towards Sega's decision to cut content from the game, Yakuza 3 still performed well enough at retail to merit the translation of this new game.
According to the press release Yakuza 4 would allow players to step into the back tattoos of not only series protagonist Kiryu Kazuma, but three new Japanese mobsters as well. Four playable characters in Yakuza 4. Corner offices for everyone in marketing. You've earned it.
Sega has released the first batch of screenshots from their Tokyo brawler:
Gallery
So, Yakuza die-hards, how would you like to see SEGA handle this release, especially in the wake of the Yakuza 3 cuts? And, for those users who have never take the plunge into the seedy underbelly of Japan, what would you like to see from Yakuza 4? Personally, I want more back tattoos and karaoke. But I say that about every game.