Maybe not Sega USA/Europe at fault.

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

This is my first post on here. I have been reading about this issue for days and share my frustration with the cuts. I have played both Yazkua 1 and 2 and really enjoyed them. Although I feel the cuts were not needed I can not imagine the people who worked on the localization project were happy about having to cut/change anything. In my opinion, I feel the blame falls squarely on Sega Japan. They control everything. The US and Europe still have to obey what comes from Sega Japan. I say this because of my experience working with a Japanese English school for over a year in Japan. I had to follow all the rules of the company no matter whether I was a 'gaijin' or not. I had better pay then the Japanese staff because I was a native speaker, but not much. I was expected to sell English no matter if the student needed it or could afford it, wear a suit, going to training sessions, and pretty much anything else they wanted. Many teacher complained and nothing was ever done. It was the companies way or no way. They did not respect the gajin staff at all. So I can understand Sega US not commenting, they have been ordered to. I also believe that their jobs depend on it. You do not stand up against your superiors in a Japanese company even if you feel they are stupid.

So I feel that this is how it went down...(in my opinion) Sega US wanted to give us the full game, but some higher ups in Sega Japan said No. Why? Well based on my knowledge of Japan and their choices in entertainment and how this entertainment has been looked at recently in the west, Sega Japan was probably worried about image. I mean if you look at all the different manga, anime, PC games that come out of Japan you can understand a little about why they would not want to bring attention of hostess clubs to mainstream America. They know we understand but are worried about more negative exposure after that PC game issue. I have been to a few hostess bars and they are interesting. You can pretty much purchase any type of companionship. Of course you do not have to, but can. Japan is a very secret country. Having any of their hobbies exposed to mainstream is not something they want. When Yakuza 2 came out, it was played by only a few people and was under the radar. Recent events in the entertainment industry in Japan have changed that. Japan has some interesting media being produced and the last thing they want is for the West to see them as crazy, strange, weird and perverted. It is not about money or screwing us, it about 'saving face' and keeping a dirty little secret out of the mainstream. There is a lot more attention place on Japan and what sort of videos, games, manga, anime, movies, and other enterainment being produced in 2010 then 2 or 3 years ago.

I do not agree with the cuts, but if you do some research into the history of Japan's entertainment you might get some insight into why this may have been cut.

Or maybe I am totally of and they are cheap or think we are ignorant...

Anyway my 2 cents....I can feel for Sega USA having to keep quiet. They have been ordered to.

[Yakuzakilla3]

No I agree 100% there seemed to be a racist element to the statements. The Japanese don't really want many people knowing about them or how they do things in Japan and are extremely racist to people outside of there groups. A perfect example is the Xbox in Japan, no one really supports it because they would rather support there own industry, I could go on about this topic but I would get off track. I think that the Hostess clubs were something that they didn't want American Culture to learn about. Even I think the people at Destrutoid or kotaku commented on how they couldn't get inside hostess clubs because they were american. I don't know why they were in the other games but this is something that is very believeable. If anyone needs another example look up trying to be a citizen in Japan, its next to impossible even if you have a child with a Japanese women or get married.

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

I agree. I only got into hostess bars because I had 'Yakuza' friends. Or a friend teacher did. As for why they have become more Xenophobic, just look at their history. They have very little respect of any other culture, especially Chinese, and Koreans. 'Prying' eyes have fallen on Japan because of the 'eroge' industry in all its forms, real and anime. They are arrogant and strongly believe that no one can understand Japan in all of its forms. I have to say though that this is mainly an old school thought. The younger generations are going to bring a much more open Japan. I put no blame on Sega USA or Europe. They HAVE to obey and did a great job bringing over any part of Yakuza. Even though I want to have the whole game I am grateful they did that much. If they are like the 'gaijin' teachers I worked with, they are doing everything in their power to stand up for us and fight the brain dead Japanese management blob.

One thing I did feel in Japan was that I wasn't a stupid and ignorant Canadian....It was more like I wasn't Japanese so I couldn't understand....A subtle difference, but one that explains, perhaps, SEGA Japan's choice(if they made that choice).

[Yakuzakilla3]

I agree. I only got into hostess bars because I had 'Yakuza' friends. Or a friend teacher did. As for why they have become more Xenophobic, just look at their history. They have very little respect of any other culture, especially Chinese, and Koreans. 'Prying' eyes have fallen on Japan because of the 'eroge' industry in all its forms, real and anime. They are arrogant and strongly believe that no one can understand Japan in all of its forms. I have to say though that this is mainly an old school thought. The younger generations are going to bring a much more open Japan. I put no blame on Sega USA or Europe. They HAVE to obey and did a great job bringing over any part of Yakuza. Even though I want to have the whole game I am grateful they did that much. If they are like the 'gaijin' teachers I worked with, they are doing everything in their power to stand up for us and fight the brain dead Japanese management blob.

One thing I did feel in Japan was that I wasn't a stupid and ignorant Canadian....It was more like I wasn't Japanese so I couldn't understand....A subtle difference, but one that explains, perhaps, SEGA Japan's choice(if they made that choice).This was my gut feeling from the start, we both know that there probably isn't any young generation thoughts from the higher ups in Sega Japan. We should see what happens soon enough though. I just wish the Japanese would be more open about stuff, they can't hide in their 98% majority forever.

[ThulsaDooom]

Interesting points. I just think they're cheap as hell.

[Kazahashi]

^ Agreed.....hostesses aren't really that creepy. We have escort services....nearly the same damned thing.

[suketodara]

I have actually thought in those two possibilities in equal proportions, but then I think in the one about Sega Japan wanting to protect the image of their country and I think "It's not like in Yakuza you can buy used panties from a 10 years old like they do in their country, so why care?"

[Yakuzakilla3]

I have actually thought in those two possibilities in equal proportions, but then I think in the one about Sega Japan wanting to protect the image of their country and I think "It's not like in Yakuza you can buy used panties from a 10 years old like they do in their country, so why care?"

nope that part was cut, you have to be at leasted 18 for it to resonate with American audiences.:sad:

[Kazahashi]

In America, in order for anything to resonate, it has to be gore soaked and given to you by a steroid fueled Gears of War cosplayer.

[Macross1984]

In America, in order for anything to resonate, it has to be gore soaked and given to you by a steroid fueled Gears of War cosplayer.

That pretty much summed it up.

CHiPsFan7Mary4, what you're saying might make some sense. The sega blog did state that they had to either cut some stuff out or not release it at all, and this could be one of the reasons why the content was cut. But if the hostess stuff is anything like in yakuza 2 +Management then I still don't see what the big deal is. It's nothing like managing a prostitution ring as a pimp or anything remotely similiar to that matter.

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

Who knows what the management blobs at SEGA Japan think. Maybe they are too cheap to fund the entire process, which I doubt. Maybe they are worried that this game may give them more trouble with the hostess parts in. Maybe they are too cheap to pay the fees to use the hostess' likenesses outside Japan. I still feel they would rather annoy and enrage a bunch of gamers in the West than risk the bad publicity that may come if some crazy fanatical feminist group hear about the hostess club mini game.

[Kazahashi]

And to be honest, if it were 1992, I'd agree with you. Lets look at the TON of sexually fueled games recently, GoW, GTA, Dante's Inferno, Bayonetta, etc etc etc etc. And Bayonetta was Japanese and had quite a sexist view on women depending on how you looked at it.

The likenesses is out, because the models are still in the game, the club portion was the portion cut.

Honestly, this cut has nothing to do with Japan being xenophobic this time. Considering even after the whole "Rapelay" thing that happened, tons of Japanese sexually fueled stuff was still coming out of Japan, and still does come out of there. Go to J-list, where they sell translated classic H-games like "My Stepsister", where I'm sure I don't need to go further on what that's about, other then that your sister looks like she's about 12.

My point is that society nowadays isn't as closed minded as it was. Them saying it doesn't resonate well IS something that SEGA would do. Because like I said in another post, Americans (not all) seem to want nothing but guns, gore, and steroids in their games. Managing a nightclub doesn't really sound thrilling to the typical American male gamer. However, Hostess Clubs DO resonate with Americans, they can lie all they damn want to. When I was in the Army, I was stationed in South Korea for two years, and GOOD GOD do they pack up the clubs to pay for women to sit with them and chat. Granted they are probably more exquisite and expensive in Japan, but you get the point.

Sad part is, is that not ALL of America, or the West for that matter is as closed minded as SEGA makes it out to believe, it's simply that we've kind of created a sort of "bad name" for ourselves, because that's pretty much ALL American companies put development money into these days. I mean seriously, we're getting ANOTHER CoD game this year....as if the first 20 weren't enough. It's the same thing in Japan though, just on the opposite end of the spectrum. FPS games do fairly horrible over there because it doesn't resonate with the gamers there. Does that stop anyone from releasing the games there?? Not very often, if at all, and SEGA needs to have the same thought about the Yakuza series and the West, because there is still, and always will be, an audience here.

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

If you look at all of the issues raised with Equality Now demanding a ban on all H games like Rapelay you will see how quickly and easily most H game makers folded and gave in. At least gave in to deny Western IPs to there web sites and Westerners access to most H games. Things have calmed down now, but Japan's freedom of expression is under more scrutiny now. I agree that the West is a lot more open minded than SEGA Japan would like to think. That does not stop them from thinking we just will not get it. Over my time living in Japan I asked many questions about things. Isn't Pachinko gambling? Japan isn't allowed to have a standing army since WWII, then why are they sending the 'defence force' to help out in Iraq? Aren't hostess bars legalized prostitution? I was always told you need to be Japanese to understand. I pointed out the facts and was told you just will never understand. Japan is the land of contradiction. It doesn't surprise me they would cut content that they felt we are not 'Japanese' enough to get. It wouldn't shock me to think that SEGA Japan just cut content to annoy us. I can see some SEGA Japan blob saying 'Well if nosy American feminists want to challenge our rights to produce what we want, we won't stand up to them. We will just get our revenge by cutting any content that may be misunderstood by the West. Yeah that would show them'.

I still believe cuts were not warranted, but Japanese companies of all sorts have been cutting content since the days of Gatchaman. We have had to put up with this for many years and one would think it would have ended by now. Japan doesn't like change, even less than most countries. It will be many years before the younger, more enlightened generations open the borders more to the West.

Well no matter why the cuts happened, I still believe that SEGA US/EUROPE are our greatest allies in getting this rectified.

[sleepyjoe]

If you look at all of the issues raised with Equality Now demanding a ban on all H games like Rapelay you will see how quickly and easily most H game makers folded and gave in. At least gave in to deny Western IPs to there web sites and Westerners access to most H games. Things have calmed down now, but Japan's freedom of expression is under more scrutiny now. I agree that the West is a lot more open minded than SEGA Japan would like to think. That does not stop them from thinking we just will not get it. Over my time living in Japan I asked many questions about things. Isn't Pachinko gambling? Japan isn't allowed to have a standing army since WWII, then why are they sending the 'defence force' to help out in Iraq? Aren't hostess bars legalized prostitution? I was always told you need to be Japanese to understand. I pointed out the facts and was told you just will never understand. Japan is the land of contradiction. It doesn't surprise me they would cut content that they felt we are not 'Japanese' enough to get. It wouldn't shock me to think that SEGA Japan just cut content to annoy us. I can see some SEGA Japan blob saying 'Well if nosy American feminists want to challenge our rights to produce what we want, we won't stand up to them. We will just get our revenge by cutting any content that may be misunderstood by the West. Yeah that would show them'.

I still believe cuts were not warranted, but Japanese companies of all sorts have been cutting content since the days of Gatchaman. We have had to put up with this for many years and one would think it would have ended by now. Japan doesn't like change, even less than most countries. It will be many years before the younger, more enlightened generations open the borders more to the West.

Well no matter why the cuts happened, I still believe that SEGA US/EUROPE are our greatest allies in getting this rectified.

This theory would hold a lot more weight if the most recent articles didn't mention that the strip clubs are still in it.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1071367p1.html
"The good news? Even though the hostess clubs are out, you can still go on dates with the girls. Better news? The strip clubs are still in Yakuza 3, so plan on dropping some Yen there. "

[Chass32]

So I feel that this is how it went down...(in my opinion) Sega US wanted to give us the full game, but some higher ups in Sega Japan said No. Why? Well based on my knowledge of Japan and their choices in entertainment and how this entertainment has been looked at recently in the west, Sega Japan was probably worried about image. I mean if you look at all the different manga, anime, PC games that come out of Japan you can understand a little about why they would not want to bring attention of hostess clubs to mainstream America. They know we understand but are worried about more negative exposure after that PC game issue. I have been to a few hostess bars and they are interesting. You can pretty much purchase any type of companionship. Of course you do not have to, but can. Japan is a very secret country. Having any of their hobbies exposed to mainstream is not something they want. When Yakuza 2 came out, it was played by only a few people and was under the radar. Recent events in the entertainment industry in Japan have changed that. Japan has some interesting media being produced and the last thing they want is for the West to see them as crazy, strange, weird and perverted. It is not about money or screwing us, it about 'saving face' and keeping a dirty little secret out of the mainstream. There is a lot more attention place on Japan and what sort of videos, games, manga, anime, movies, and other enterainment being produced in 2010 then 2 or 3 years ago.

I do not agree with the cuts, but if you do some research into the history of Japan's entertainment you might get some insight into why this may have been cut.

Or maybe I am totally of and they are cheap or think we are ignorant...

Anyway my 2 cents....I can feel for Sega USA having to keep quiet. They have been ordered to.

Really I think you are underestimating American Branches of Japanese companies. It`s not the same as working as a gaijing in japan under an old school japanese boss, not at all (Tell the Toyota chairman). When Peter Moore was CEO of Sega America had a reunion with Yuji Naka (creator of Sonic) and they had a terrible (literal) argument about what direction the dreamcast had to take. Moore was not fired or sent back home with a "you are not Japanese" label on his cases, years later he decided to accept a better job offer from Microsoft.

My point is, and I`ve not seen it in this yakuza forum, is that in my opinion the clubs cut were made because a bad understood morality that some western country still have. I mean some guy, that of course never have played yakuza before (when oh when we`ll have a change of generation, in high places of this industry) decided that a strip club is ok for an adult game, but "flirting" with hostess aka "scorts" is a bit too much. For me it`s as simply as that. He doesn`t care if it was possible in yakuza 1&2, now he doesn`t want the name of the game to be linked to the possibility of flirting with escorts on some Fox news around.

[apoc_reg]

Good level headed article mate, whether its true or not.

Welcome to the boards

edit: oh and everyone has strip clubs, the Japanese may be concerned about the slightly more odd ball entertainment they have like hostess clubs which i think is what this is suggesting.

[Quezcotl]

I do blame SEGA EUROPE/US.
They can/could be honest about everything, but they arn't at all. They hid the cut content,until IGN questioned them, then they replied,and they reply only on direct questions that suits them.
It's disgusting, and then they make up ****, like saying "we only cut 1%" if so, why cut it? BS.
Second, they seem to act like this game was rushed out in March, the worst month for any ps3 game to get released on.
BC2 company beta was on ps3, God of war III and FFXIII also come in the same week.
Mayby its time to fire the pr- and marketdivison over at SEGA, who are clueless on how to treat any fans, and when to release games that make most sense.
You doesnt release a game aimed for a certain small audience and then cut content on top of that, telling them it was "too japanese".

[CrimsonBurn]

I do blame SEGA EUROPE/US.
They can/could be honest about everything, but they arn't at all. They hid the cut content,until IGN questioned them, then they replied,and they reply only on direct questions that suits them.
It's disgusting, and then they make up ****, like saying "we only cut 1%" if so, why cut it? BS.
Second, they seem to act like this game was rushed out in March, the worst month for any ps3 game to get released on.
BC2 company beta was on ps3, God of war III and FFXIII also come in the same week.
Mayby its time to fire the pr- and marketdivison over at SEGA, who are clueless on how to treat any fans, and when to release games that make most sense.
You doesnt release a game aimed for a certain small audience and then cut content on top of that, telling them it was "too japanese".

Yeah agreed, but who cares what we think we are a vocal minority.
Most gamers have no idea any thing and buy what ever they hear.

We the true fans who keep a name alive in the times of drought are always treated like **** no matter what.

Only a handfull of companies respect us, the rest want our money and after that they want us to shut up.

[Quezcotl]

I mean, sure i'm grateful that SEGA release Yakuza3 even with cut content.
But what bugs me, WHY RUSH OUT YAKUZA3 ON THE WORST MONTH TO RELEASE IT ON, ONLY TO ADD ON TOP OF THAT WITH CUT CONTENT, PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME SEGA WHAT YOU*RE THINKING!!!

Are SEGA telling us a month of translation wouldnt cover the hostess bar?
If so, how much did you guys actually cut?????
Do the right thing SEGA, you got 2 options: delay the game a month and add it, or announce that a dlc or future patch will include it - if not, I cant really be thankful for SEGA tbh, they release a game a year later with cut content, am I supposed to be a happy fanboy and cry with joy about it?

[dragonofdojima17]

Hey guys, don't forget, its not just the hostess, its other stuff they cut out as well. Shogi, Majong, the theme song, Answer x Answer, god knows what else!

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

I know that strip clubs were left in but the 'West' is aware of these and they are tolerated or ignored by most people. Hostess clubs are different, they offer direct contact with the woman and could lead to more than just talk. Not something most people would understand and accept, at least certain media outlets. As for underestimating the Western Branches of Japanese companies, well the company I worked for has numerous English schools across the world. These include the 8 that were recently closed in Australia. I could have worked at one when I got back to Canada, but found that the expectations were the same. Sell English no matter what. Sell books, tapes, extra lessons, etc...I did not want to do that in Canada so I did not take the job. As for SEGA, if the branch of SEGA in the US hasn't been ordered to keep quiet, then what is preventing them from releasing more information about the current state of cuts from Yakuza 3? If the employees at SEGA US are as die hard as us then why would any company or employees not come clean with this to dispel all the rumors. Only when Toyota faced major backlash did they come clean. They were aware of these issues most likely long ago and that meant employees were most likely aware. It was admitted that Toyota moved to slowly to fix these problems. Toyota Japan gave the order to keep quiet about these issues to all of the dealerships across the world. People may have died from these issues, yet no one from Toyota US to my knowledge came clean without first getting the okay from Mr. Toyota himself. So maybe I have underestimated the influence of a Japanese company with branches around the world. Or maybe I haven't. Just look at Toyota. Of course a cut in a game is a really small thing compare to the Toyota issue.

[Kazahashi]

Ok man, I think you're trying too hard now....seriously. It's game content....it's not like we're talking about some political thing going on, or some huge thing where Japan is recalling all products made there and building a giant shell around their country, complete with a Gundam Defense Force to keep back all the alien Westerners.

It's video game content, and I'd bet money, that it's not as big as you think it is.

[Yakuzakilla3]

Hey guys, don't forget, its not just the hostess, its other stuff they cut out as well. Shogi, Majong, the theme song, Answer x Answer, god knows what else!

Answer x Answer is not translatable, however they have cut many side missions relating to the hostess section, there were at least more then 7 hostess clubs that you could choose from, think of that as a bigger chunk then you expect tack on the mini games THE MASSAGE PARLOR, and other tid bits that we will have to find out or at least the people who buy it will and you have a game that has a completely different vibe overall then the japanese version.

It partly has to be sega was being lazy/xenophobia related issues here. I wonder what would happen if it sold well even after our *****in... Kenzan? Yakuza 4?

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

I am not trying too hard to figure it out. I have said that it is only game content. I just wanted to bring more to the discussion than cursing and anger. It is what it is. I am still going to get the game and enjoy what I can. It is disappointing that these cuts have been made but life will go on. That being said, that doesn't mean I do not enjoy discussing the possible reasons behind the cuts. I have always enjoyed Japan in all of its splendor, good and bad.

[Kazahashi]

I mean, I appreciate you bringing more to the table.....God knows cursing and screaming is getting old lol. I wasn't trying to pick a fight, I was just saying.

[CHiPsFan7Mary4]

Hey no worries. I know what you were saying. Some people vent their anger with cursing, I vent by over analyzing what made me angry. It is like counting to ten...If you are the creator of the petition then I applaud you and was happy to sign it. If you are not the creator then I am certain you have signed it and I thank you for that.

As Morrissey has said..."Such a little thing makes such a big difference..."

[Kazahashi]

I'm the creator....I just wish that more people would sign it. We've hit over 400, but we're going to need at least 1000 for anything to really make a difference.

[ShandyGaff]

Pretty sure the decision to rush the game out the door as it is, has nothing to do with how a hostess club might be perceived in the West, and everything to do with having the revenue of this game recognized in Sega's fiscal 2010 ending March 31st. I think Sega of Japan's party line was "whatever you've got ready for March is what is getting shipped". The dollars for the localization work would have been captured in fiscal 2010 and they probably wanted the revenue captured in the same year. It's a niche game not expected to break any records, they most likely planned for the bulk of the sales being within the first 2-3 weeks of release, the game is basically being sold to fans of the series who are all picking it up day 1. With the year closing on the 31st, they were stuck with a hard deadline of releasing the game in early March.

There is no big yellow conspiracy to try and hide hostess clubs from North American eyes. It's just a matter of running out of time to finish up localization. The whole "does not resonate line" is just fancy talk for "we ran out of time and the translators didn't get around to doing this part and accounting wants this closed off the books by year end since it's a hassle to include such a small item on a year end balance sheet". What did and did not make it into the game is all arbitrary. It could just as easily have been the ability to play games in Club Sega being cut, etc.

The reason for the delay in further information is probably because the PR department has no idea how much of the game is incomplete. This is not some big release for Sega with developer blogs, status updates, and the whole nine. It is a small localization project with probably a skeleton staff. If a section doesn't get completely translated they log it and move on. PR is not going to keep on top of the status of this niche game. I mean, honestly, there are 4 blog posts tagged with "yakuza 3" on the American site. When the initial story came out the Sega rep thought it was a non-issue and answered with whatever information was available. They can't just say "we ran out of time since year end is coming" so they tried to spin it as if they ran out of time/resources, tough choices were needed and the parts that they cut were of no consequence and "done for your benefit cause you wouldn't understand it!! 2X LUCKY!!".

"Black Rain" is an American movie which came out over 20 years ago, and it had scenes in a hostess club. Japan is fully aware that the rest of the world has some vague awareness about the concept of hostess/host clubs shown both through American as well as Japanese media. It's all just a case of sucky timing, and the untranslated content may or may not be translated at a later time. I'd wager the game data will all still on the disc with Japanese text but locked off, just waiting to be hot coffee'd. Haha.

[Kazahashi]

This makes prefect, intelligible sense, thanks for typing this all up, lol. I would definitely think that DLC would be the way they'll fix this in the near future, would you agree??

[ShandyGaff]

DLC being released, would probably depend on if the translations for the missing content had already begun, and if so, how far along was it before being shelved. If it was nearing completion but wasn't going to make the deadline and it could be tidied up with minimal work and put out within a week or two of the street date, then yeah, it could be released. If 2 weeks pass after the game goes on sale and there is no DLC, I'd say the chances of it being put out are slim to none. Very few smaller games see DLC released long after the game goes on sale (if at all). I think a lot of companies try and put out DLC a week or two after a game drops just so that they can have it included in the PSN store. People on the fence about buying a game or unaware of the game see the DLC and think, "Ah... maybe I'll pick it up". It's like cheap advertising to try and catch the last few stragglers. I have not played the Japanese version so I'm not sure how dialog heavy the omissions are or if they are tied together (ie. you play shogi in the hostess bar, but now you can't because that location is no longer available). If the download is too large, that as well could affect its release. How many people are going to sit and download a 2GB file for this update? Is it worth the cost and effort? So on and so forth.

Creative direction changes with localization, in my mind, would not be cost efficient for a project team. It's cheaper to just have your team break up the game into blocks to be worked by priority and try to plow through it all, than to have a bunch of meetings to discuss what parts of the game are to be left out and potential impacts of those changes. I think the only discussion that occurred was "We're getting close to the deadline, what blocks do you think will have the least impact if we can't finish everything?". An executive for a large organization isn't going to micro manage every last detail of a project that is not expected to turn huge profit, especially if his decision may be game breaking. The omissions of certain pieces aren't edits or censoring, so much as they are decisions of "need to have" vs. "nice to have" in an environment where "this game is getting put out by March, broken or not" (a la Bayonetta "has to be out the same day as the 360 version" PS3, from what I hear).

People might question, "Well why was the free DLC finished before the entire game was done?". The free DLC is already sliced up into a nice package for the localization team. It's easy to give a "go" or "no go" on an item like that. If you translate all the parts of a DLC it is a finished block that requires little oversight (easily testable, quick to validate translation, etc.). If it works, great, if not, drop it and release later. The DLC was announced mid-February, I believe, so it's not as if Sega promised long beforehand that it would be a pack in with the game. If there were any problems with it, I guarantee that we wouldn't have seen that announcement and it would have been put out after the game was on sale.

Of course, this is all just my perception of everything. For me, this game is not big enough for Sega to worry the media will say "Hey look at this Japanese GTA-esque game that maybe 25,000 people in America bought!! It has bars!! Where you talk to women!! Think of the children!!! Yamanaki... Yakazaki... Whatever something in Japanese 3!!! Blarrrrrghghhhg!!" or for an executive in Japan to think "Why are we showing this side of Japan to Americans?!? Cut that out!!!". Then again, it could very well be a huge conspiracy by Sega of Japan to shortchange a small group of customers for no reason whatsoever... just because... it's a Thursday. But I doubt that.

[Kazahashi]

But then again too man, Valkyria Chronicles was a very small selling game, also by SEGA, and more DLC JUST came out for that....so, who knows if SEGA is basing it off of sales. You know what I mean??

[Shenmue3_NOW]

That was a lie guys... Sega ran out of money due to not being given a big enough budget to complete the game. Sega did what they could to localize they game for outside japan (the team who localized it). Y1-2 didnt sell well outside japan and the budget was stupidly low to the point they couldnt complete it, but they still wanted to give it to the fans. Sega, like any company wont put top dollar into a product that keeps tanking, even if the few fans it has pleads for it. You imaginations are running wild for no reason. I read a statement from Sega EU not long ago. If Sega US was smart, it wouldnt have made such a stupid lie, upsetting it's fans. The same content that was cut in 3, was in the first 2 games. Why would they suddenly turn racist or any of the odd conclusion from this thread?

[Yakuzakilla3]

The Japanese are very touchy on some issues, I can only imagane the script for the host clubs being about 7 pages long two translate which for me is like duh with 2 people that could be done in a day however if Yakuza 3 way delayed it could go to development hell and never see the light of day.

When was the last time a company said they didn't have enough time to finish 1% of a game due to translation? WTF LAZY!

[Terranova]

That was a lie guys... Sega ran out of money due to not being given a big enough budget to complete the game. Sega did what they could to localize they game for outside japan (the team who localized it). Y1-2 didnt sell well outside japan and the budget was stupidly low to the point they couldnt complete it, but they still wanted to give it to the fans. Sega, like any company wont put top dollar into a product that keeps tanking, even if the few fans it has pleads for it. You imaginations are running wild for no reason. I read a statement from Sega EU not long ago. If Sega US was smart, it wouldnt have made such a stupid lie, upsetting it's fans. The same content that was cut in 3, was in the first 2 games. Why would they suddenly turn racist or any of the odd conclusion from this thread?

Just when did Sega Eu make the statements about it being because of budget, you say not long ago but i'm in the UK and the sega EU blogs have said the exact same things as the U.S.. and all their official statements have been the same as the U.S in regards to the cuts

so why would the EU part of Sega say the same as the U.S if like you say they already made a statement about it being budget issues, they would have known it would be a huge contridiction.. Sega are not that stupid.