Americans have a strange relationship with the Yakuza series. While Sega's action-adventure games have enjoyed overwhelming success in Japan—it's set in Tokyo, after all—our Call of Duty/Halo-obsessed gamer community has given the games a more muted reception. It's no wonder that the game publisher-developer has released their Yakuza games a year or two after the original Japanese version; the latest in the series, Yakuza 4, was released in mid-March...of 2010. With its upcoming release in North American markets next week, we're doing our best to get the word out about the game, because if you've got any interest in Japanese culture, beating people up, hot hostesses, or simply like video games at all, this is one that needs to be on your radar. Need some convincing? Fine, here's a five-pack of reasons...
By Troy Mounis