Toshihiro Talks About the Past and Future of Yakuza
Series producer and chief creative officer of Sega Toshihiro Nagoshi recently opened up about his work with the Yakuza series, as well as what to expect from its next entry.
Speaking with Edge magazine, Nagoshi talked about how Japanese companies at the time were facing challenges keeping up with the “high quality and big budgets” of western games. After Sega merged with Sammy, Nagoshi met with the developer’s new owner and pitched Yakuza to him. “Professionally this was irregular and quite wrong. But I knew if the owner said yes, it would be good for the entire company,” Nagoshi said. “I got his approval, but our CEO was really mad about it.”
The producer also claimed to have shopped the title around to Microsoft and Nintendo before sticking with Sony. “Back then they said ‘No we don’t want it.’ Now they say ‘We want it!’ They didn’t understand the reason why I created it.
When asked about the next entry in the series, Nagoshi stated that he’s aiming to do something that’ll bring new fans to the franchise. “By introducing a new and more current systems, I’d like to increase the number of players. And if I do that, I can re-introduce Kiryu-san to some new fans. That would be ideal.”
The next Yakuza game has yet to be announced, but it wouldn’t be too far fetched to assume the team is hard at work on the next title. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life recently launched in the west to critical acclaim, the series just made it’s PC debut, and Sega is remastering the entire franchise for PS4. It’s a great time to be a Yakuza fan, new and old.
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SOURCE: Edge via ResetERA