Interview: Possibility of Yakuza on Switch/Xbox One, Binary Domain 2, Yakuza Spinoffs, etc

cw_sasuke · Jul 12, 2018

Godzilla's Left Toe said:
lol Using the Wii U as your excuse nothing sold on the Wii U but go ask bethesda how the Skyrim and Doom ports did.

Thats the approach of EA and many other publishers when it comes to Nintendo.

"Token support" - releasing something that will very likely bomb, so they can justify not bothering with Nintendo plattforms for the next decade and always have a case to bring up why they are justified. Always title that have been released on other systems before, in general are old and lack feature + being overpriced.

The funny think is...the WiiU was a failure anyway - so even "solid" product would have underperformed. Yet, they still fell the need to make sure it bombs. See Mass Effect 3 w. the cheap trilogy on PS360 or using those old Yakuza 1+2 ports as WIiU sales after they had established that the next main-titles will be exclusive to PS3/4 again.

Gelf · Jul 12, 2018

It was always pretty clear to me that this series was only exclusive due to Sega being conservative about where it would sell rather then any deal with Sony. The same reason we had to wait years and beg constantly for them to even get localised. Xbox was never going to be considered for titles not even expected to leave Japan at the time. Now that western sales have finally improved and the series has greater visiblity, ports make much more sense and I hope it happens as the more people able to play Yakuza the better.

MeltedDreams · Jul 12, 2018

Majiebeast said:
Would flop hard on Xbox.

Well, they can easily test the waters with a port of 0, i doubt that it'll cost them so much.
It's the same with PC, they are porting 0, Kiwami for now,. If these doing good, we will see more yakuza for PC.
I really hope PC gamers show them a good support.

SAB-CA · Jul 12, 2018

CITY HANTAAA?!?!?! YES YES PLEASE I'LL TAKE IT. With the new animated movie coming out next year, I imagine this is pretty much the only chance we'll have for this to happen! Not like the Yakuza games are Mokkori enough...

Normally, I'd be all over Binary Domain 2 possibilities (you;ve basically ruined all other shooters for me with this game, I love location based damage), but City Hunter is such a big series, it kinda trumps that. Still, I'd trade every boring post-apocalyptic zombies-or-similar-again game coming out for the next 3 years to get BD2 to exist.

Stairouais said:
What ?

How?

Umibozu is already in 6, ffs

HMPH!!

Come to think of it, if they made a City Hunter game, they should throw Cat's Eye in there too as a bonus, just because. Both Bars, and the 3 sisters.

Ryo's view of life is pretty different from Kiriyu's, though. It'd really be a nice breath of fresh air, while still being similar enough to fit in all the wacky and fun. Just... Maybe even more wacky. Would probably have to focus on gunplay a LOT more than Melee, too.

fiendcode · Jul 12, 2018

Eolz said:
Nagoshi is Sega's CCO, not just the boss of the Yakuza team.

He also talked about personally developing a Switch game.

Romain · Jul 12, 2018

Godzilla's Left Toe said:
lol Using the Wii U as your excuse nothing sold on the Wii U but go ask bethesda how the Skyrim and Doom ports did.

Read what I wrote earlier today. He didn't use the Wii U as an excuse.

Romain · Jul 12, 2018

SAB-CA said:
CITY HANTAAA?!?!?! YES YES PLEASE I'LL TAKE IT. With the new animated movie coming out next year, I imagine this is pretty much the only chance we'll have for this to happen! Not like the Yakuza games are Mokkori enough...

Normally, I'd be all over Binary Domain 2 possibilities (you;ve basically ruined all other shooters for me with this game, I love location based damage), but City Hunter is such a big series, it kinda trumps that. Still, I'd trade every boring post-apocalyptic zombies-or-similar-again game coming out for the next 3 years to get BD2 to exist.

HMPH!!

Come to think of it, if they made a City Hunter game, they should throw Cat's Eye in there too as a bonus, just because. Both Bars, and the 3 sisters.

Ryo's view of life is pretty different from Kiriyu's, though. It'd really be a nice breath of fresh air, while still being similar enough to fit in all the wacky and fun. Just... Maybe even more wacky. Would probably have to focus on gunplay a LOT more than Melee, too.

Reread what he said about City Hunter. While he thinks that the setting fits, he believes that the characters don't.

Godzilla's Left Toe · Jul 12, 2018

fiendcode said:
He also talked about personally developing a Switch game.

He did say that must be in the same place with all the AAA games Capcpom promised.

Jaal · Jul 12, 2018

fiendcode said:
I doubt that matters. Outside AAA games you won't find many games that are selling more on PC or PS4 than Switch these days. The Switch audience shows up for just about anything interesting, especially if it's Japanese. I wouldn't be surprised if VC4 does best on Switch in the west too.

Problem is that third parties support of Switch its just indie, some sparse later port and some low budget titles. So your statement means nothing after all.

Gibordep · Jul 12, 2018

RalchAC said:
The game was "Only on PlayStation" when it launched. A PC port was released 6 months later.

The Playstation hits box art no longer have the only at playstation.

fiendcode · Jul 12, 2018

Jaal said:
Problem is that third parties support of Switch its just indie, some sparse later port and some low budget titles. So your statement means nothing after all.

Switch already has 3 times as many games as PS4 or Xbox One did launch aligned. I don't see that changing anytime soon, it's missing out on most traditional AAA but it's still getting some plus basically everything else.

And for Sega specifically, nearly every game they bring to Switch will probably sell best on Switch.

SAB-CA · Jul 12, 2018

Romain said:
Reread what he said about City Hunter. While he thinks that the setting fits, he believes that the characters don't.

I get that, hence why I focused on how different Ryo and Kiriyu are from each other. I think it'd be a nice change of pace though, because I think there's enough similarity to fit the types of games they make (hence why people are asking), while also making it refreshing. But it'd definitely have a shifted balance that they could pull off, if they tried.

They'd definitely have to go further out of their comfort zone than they did with FOTNS. But that's not a horrible thing, right? Binary Domain was a pretty big shift from expectations, and gained fans that the Yakuza games themselves would probably never have attracted. As old as City Hunter is, I wouldn't expect a HUGE project from them, either. But any thing they'd try would be quite appreciated.

Terror-Billy · Jul 12, 2018

Majiebeast said:
Would flop hard on Xbox.

What year is this.gif

Deleted member 3010 · Jul 12, 2018

I mean, Yakuza 1&2 HD was a Japan only release on Wii U.

Of course it sold like shit.

Jaal · Jul 12, 2018

fiendcode said:
Switch already has 3 times as many games as PS4 or Xbox One did launch aligned. I don't see that changing anytime soon, it's missing out on most traditional AAA but it's still getting some plus basically everything else.

And for Sega specifically, nearly every game they bring to Switch will probably sell best on Switch.

Yes, more games launch aligned that basically are indie that come out on other system years prior. Truth is that Switch dont getmAAA and even AA from western and even japanese publisher. And next gen are coming in the next two year

Montresor · Jul 12, 2018

Please let's get Yakuza games on Xbox One. Would be so so happy about that!

Godzilla's Left Toe · Jul 12, 2018

Jaal said:
Problem is that third parties support of Switch its just indie, some sparse later port and some low budget titles. So your statement means nothing after all.

I'm sorry but what exactly is your point?

Verdanth · Jul 12, 2018

Give me Binary Domain 2 already.

Happy for other consoles to receive Yakuza honestly.

Everydoby deserves to play this epic saga.

fiendcode · Jul 12, 2018

Jaal said:
Yes, more games launch aligned that basically are indie that come out on other system years prior. Truth is that Switch dont getmAAA and even AA from western and even japanese publisher. And next gen are coming in the next two year

More than 3 times as many games as PS4 aligned. Maybe you should let that sink in, I'm not sure if it's really hitting you fully.

Switch is getting plenty of AA games, both western and Japanese, both old and new, it's sort of the one area traditional publishers seem okay with backing it. We're talking things like Ys VIII, Titan Quest, DBFZ, MM11, Sonic Racing, Paladins, Orochi 4, etc, etc. Switch actually has a stronger 3rd party lineup than PS4 in Japan or the rest of 2018, and that's not due to indies.

Blade Wolf · Jul 12, 2018

Binary Domain Remaster please.

Also Binary Domain 2 please.

ACL · Jul 12, 2018

It's no surprise why quite a lot of publishers are late to have significant Switch support, if they still think WiiUs situation is reflective of Switchs potential. Satos prejudice most likely is in the majority. According to some sales tracking firm Switch might become the best selling system in the US in 2018, while in Japan Switch is completely dominating the console market. In other words they are leaving quite alot of money on the table, without even trying.

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Jul 12, 2018

TechnicPuppet said:
Games on gamepass are selling more not less.

You don't know that they're selling more for all titles in all genres from all publishers. I know some bigger titles have done well like SoD2 and SoT but that doesn't mean the Tales of, etc of the world will do the same

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Jul 12, 2018

pswii60 said:
Actually Phil said that:

1) Phil acknowledges that they have tried and failed with Xbox in Japan twice (or three times if you count XBO there as an effort) and it sounds like he has accepted where they stand there. Better to concentrate resource on the regions where they are more likely to see success.

2) However, Phil also acknowledges the importance of Japanese games to the global audience, so irrelevant of how well Xbox is doing in Japan, he still wants (needs) the games to come to Xbox.

3) Japanese games with a potential global audience should be much easier to bring to Xbox with the right kind of support. Phil thinks they can support Japanese publishers to give their game a more 'global' (reality: Anglosphere) presence and so far we've seen some successes already - hence the likes of MHW and Valkyria Chronicles coming to Xbox which likely wouldn't have happened earlier this gen, due to the types of conversations Phil has been having.

4) Phil acknowledges Japanese games which are aimed at, or heavily weighted towards, the Japanese market are a much harder sell. These are the games where Phil suggested he could ink a business deal to have them coming to Game Pass instead - where that very deal would cover the development costs of porting. It sounded like he is already having these conversations. The types of games that would never sell in the West (so the deal isn't going to damage any existing sales), but might get a cult following due to Game Pass. He likened it to foreign TV shows and movies seeing success on Netflix.

It's also clear from the presence of Japanese games at Xbox's E3 conference this year, that they're being more proactive there than they have been since the 360 days.

Yeah I've read that. I'm skeptical Japanese devs warm up to it.

Also, with 360 they at least got more high profile Japanese exclusives so I wouldn't say that they're doing better today with getting Japanese games or that they're being more proactive than early 360 years.

More proactive than last few years yes

gela94 · Jul 12, 2018

Good interview but huuuh now I would love a game with more background story of Kazuma's and Nishiki's childhood I actually thought some backflash stuff would be in 0.

IanVanCheese · Jul 12, 2018

Would buy the crap out of any Yakuza titles that came to Xbox. Tbf I reckon it'd do well enough on Switch too though.

danmaku · Jul 12, 2018

The new Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku seems the ideal candidate for a multiplatform release. They'd probably need to invest more money than usual in the franchise, but it's worth trying, with the western market finally showing some interest.

pswii60 · Jul 12, 2018

bonesawisready5 said:
Yeah I've read that. I'm skeptical Japanese devs warm up to it.

Also, with 360 they at least got more high profile Japanese exclusives so I wouldn't say that they're doing better today with getting Japanese games or that they're being more proactive than early 360 years.

More proactive than last few years yes

But I didn't say that, I said "that they're being more proactive there than they have been since the 360 days". Read! :p

RPGamer92 · Jul 12, 2018

cw_sasuke said:
Thats the approach of EA and many other publishers when it comes to Nintendo.

"Token support" - releasing something that will very likely bomb, so they can justify not bothering with Nintendo plattforms for the next decade and always have a case to bring up why they are justified. Always title that have been released on other systems before, in general are old and lack feature + being overpriced.

The funny think is...the WiiU was a failure anyway - so even "solid" product would have underperformed. Yet, they still fell the need to make sure it bombs. See Mass Effect 3 w. the cheap trilogy on PS360 or using those old Yakuza 1+2 ports as WIiU sales after they had established that the next main-titles will be exclusive to PS3/4 again.

I mean would old ports really do that well on Switch? Wouldn't it make more sense to start with something more fresh?

famikon · Jul 12, 2018

fiendcode said:
He also talked about personally developing a Switch game.

that's probably just Super Monkey Ball

fiendcode · Jul 12, 2018

This whole "audience" thing could've been avoided if CS1/Genki had just ported Yakuza and Yakuza 2 to 3DS instead of Wii U.

famikon said:
that's probably just Super Monkey Ball

Hopefully it is. I'd love Nagoshi to return to his best selling title.

Jaal · Jul 12, 2018

fiendcode said:
More than 3 times as many games as PS4 aligned. Maybe you should let that sink in, I'm not sure if it's really hitting you fully.

Switch is getting plenty of AA games, both western and Japanese, both old and new, it's sort of the one area traditional publishers seem okay with backing it. We're talking things like Ys VIII, Titan Quest, DBFZ, MM11, Sonic Racing, Paladins, Orochi 4, etc, etc. Switch actually has a stronger 3rd party lineup than PS4 in Japan or the rest of 2018, and that's not due to indies.

Ok, i suppose that its better to let you live in your own world, where Switch is the center of the industry (lol) and third parties are on full force on the system ! Fans like you never learn the lesson when we talk about third parties and Nintendo system.

TechnicPuppet · Jul 12, 2018

bonesawisready5 said:
You don't know that they're selling more for all titles in all genres from all publishers. I know some bigger titles have done well like SoD2 and SoT but that doesn't mean the Tales of, etc of the world will do the same

Neither do you but you still said they would sell less to make a point.

SuperFakerBros · Jul 12, 2018

RPGamer92 said:
I mean would old ports really do that well on Switch? Wouldn't it make more sense to start with something more fresh?

Considering the sales of old ports on the Switch, surprisingly yes. I'd prefer newer games myself but old ports wouldn't exactly prevent them so why not both?

BBboy20 · Jul 12, 2018

Seriously, people: play this game.

fiendcode · Jul 12, 2018

Jaal said:
Ok, i suppose that its better to let you live in your own world, where Switch is the center of the industry (lol) and third parties are on full force on the system ! Fans like you never learn the lesson when we talk about third parties and Nintendo system.

I'm just giving you actual information, as in the scale of releases Switch is getting and some real examples of AA games it's recieving. But sure, I'm the one living in my own world, lol. I'm not the ignorant one in need of a lesson or two here.

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Jul 12, 2018

pswii60 said:
But I didn't say that, I said "that they're being more proactive there than they have been since the 360 days". Read! :p

My mistake

Pariah · Jul 12, 2018

RalchAC said:
The game was "Only on PlayStation" when it launched. A PC port was released 6 months later.

Yakuza 0 was released in the West in early 2017 (January), the PC version is not releasing until August 2018. It's more like 16 months, or a year and a half later. Or more than 3 years, taking into account the original Japanese release.

Though better late than never, before someone goes for my throat.

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Jul 12, 2018

TechnicPuppet said:
Neither do you but you still said they would sell less to make a point.

True. But Japanese games do have a history of selling less on Xbox so it's not like there has been much sign of life, outside of a few titles like MHW and mainline FF games.

Example: Phantom Pain selling 3x on PS4 vs Xbox, Ground Zeroes selling 6x, FFXV selling 5x, etc

So if MGS and FF sell so low compared to PS4 versions on xbox, I can't imagine smaller Japanese IPs would do better even with games pass. I could be wrong obviously.

I think big games pass successes like SoT and SoD2 aren't good examples because they had Xbox marketing behind them. Japanese games won't have that and will have to convince an audience that hasn't played many of their games to give them a chance.

Again, chicken and the egg.

Giant Enemy Crab · Jul 12, 2018

Romain said:
Reread what he said about City Hunter. While he thinks that the setting fits, he believes that the characters don't.

He also said in 2018 that Yakuza would stay a playstation exclusive.
GITS domain ga gotoku confirmed !

Thanks for the interesting interview by the way.

Verdanth @BBoy20
Give me Binary Domain 2 already.

Only one chance for Binary Domain. Wait for BD1 backward compatibility on Xbox one X and still recommand it for Steam:

The 4K, 60 FPS version aged pretty well.

Giant Enemy Crab · Jul 12, 2018

Sorry for the double post.

@BBoy20

BD2 really needs a GITS/Akira skin... (full japanese Sci Fi style)

Gestault · Jul 12, 2018

Particularly with the fully-developed and localized games in question, I think attempting to broaden the market is wise. Assuming such a distinct series wouldn't thrive on the Switch is probably not the most tuned-in assessment, though the delay before it could be released (after waiting so long to even signal a possibility) might have compromised that opportunity. The current Xbox market has certainly shown enough interest to make at least a "feeler" project worthwhile.

I'm always surprised when ports of completed/localized games (with relatively little technical effort needed compared to conversions historically) are locked to a smaller audiences because of what feels like overwrought consternation.

noyram23 · Jul 12, 2018

Yakuza deserves all the love it can get, I hope they give chance to Xbox and Switch ports.

Liliana · Jul 12, 2018

Anti said:
What happen to the Xbox fans who used to say that japanese games were niche and non important?

Please don't bring your persecution complex in here. Lumping together a group into a hivemind just because of a few people on an internet forum (and why Xbox fans? I've even seen that said by Playstation fans at times) is pretty sad.

Also, ironically, the Yakuza series is pretty niche. That's not a bad thing. They hardly sell in the west as is and the more opportunity the franchise gets to expand and gain a bigger audience, the better.

NSESN · Jul 12, 2018

Romain said:
He does seem to think that the Switch isn't a good fit for the Yakuza series. But for other reasons.

If he doesn't give the "other reasons" people will only see the reason that he gave in the interview

RalchAC · Jul 12, 2018

Pariah said:
Yakuza 0 was released in the West in early 2017 (January), the PC version is not releasing until August 2018. It's more like 16 months, or a year and a half later. Or more than 3 years, taking into account the original Japanese release.

Though better late than never, before someone goes for my throat.

Oh right, I just looked up the dates in Wikipedia because I knew it was a late port and my brain messed up in the process. Y0 was a January 2017 game alongside Tales of Berseria and Gravity Rush.

TechnicPuppet · Jul 12, 2018

bonesawisready5 said:
True. But Japanese games do have a history of selling less on Xbox so it's not like there has been much sign of life, outside of a few titles like MHW and mainline FF games.

Example: Phantom Pain selling 3x on PS4 vs Xbox, Ground Zeroes selling 6x, FFXV selling 5x, etc

So if MGS and FF sell so low compared to PS4 versions on xbox, I can't imagine smaller Japanese IPs would do better even with games pass. I could be wrong obviously.

I think big games pass successes like SoT and SoD2 aren't good examples because they had Xbox marketing behind them. Japanese games won't have that and will have to convince an audience that hasn't played many of their games to give them a chance.

Again, chicken and the egg.

I agree with chicken and egg. Seems like gamepass is a perfect bridge though. People see others playing these game they buy them. The only thing needing covered is port costs.

DieH@rd · Jul 12, 2018

BBboy20 said:
Seriously, people: play this game.

I have to replay this soon. The game is such a gem. And characters... they are fucking awesome.

Soilbreaker · Jul 13, 2018

City Hunter is such a perfect fit for a Yakuza-style game especially after Y0.

Stairouais said:
Their response baffles me. Zero is already the right set for a city hunter game.
Please, I just want a Takaya Kuroda voiced Ryo Saeba singing Go Go Heaven in 80's Karaoke.

Man I love Takaya Kuroda's voice but i feel like Koichi Yamadera(Akiyama) or Toshiyuki Morikawa(Shinada) would be a better fit for Ryo.

Interview: Possibility of Yakuza on Switch/Xbox One, Binary Domain 2, Yakuza Spinoffs, etc

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