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Yakuza 3 Is Posted on Amazon Germany for a March Release

It looks like the game may be released outside of Japan after all

Dec 2, 2009 08:48 GMT  ·  By
It's the lone wolf, staring at the moon
   It's the lone wolf, staring at the moon

As the past has proven many times already, game publishers may be the most reliable sources of information when it comes to new games, but they're also the last ones to release the info. The official response always comes to confirm the already existing rumors that are usually started months before. Some rumors turn out to be inaccurate and some are false altogether, but gossip is still the fastest way for tips to get around. And, this time, the topic of the latest whispers is Yakuza 3, and its possible western release.

While the game has yet to receive an official confirmation for localization outside of Japan, Amazon Germany offered the first real hint that it would indeed leave the country. The title has been listed on the site as an early spring release, in March. Rumors that Yakuza 3 is leaving Japan were started back in September, when a source close to the game confirmed that it was indeed being prepared for the West, but this is the first written, palpable evidence. VG247 tried its luck once again and approached Sega concerning this Amazon posting and the possible Western release of Yakuza 3, but all it got for its efforts was another “No comment.”

If it is indeed brought outside of Japan, Yakuza 3 wouldn't be the first game in the series to allow gajins to march down the street with dragon tattoos, scaring passersby as they walk. The first Ryu ga Gotoku, which is the game's original title, as well as its sequel, were both given a western release. The third installment in the series, Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!, is a spin-off based on the series, as the action takes place during the Edo Period, the famous Tokugawa age of the samurai.

As of now, the spin-off and the Yakuza 3 are the only titles of the series that Sega hasn't yet released to the West. Even so, the company isn't matching its pace with the rest of the world, and while we're waiting to see if Yakuza 3 will indeed make it to us, Sega has already announced the fifth game in the series, Ryu ga Gotoku 4: Densetsu wo Tsugumono, or Yakuza 4, for a July release.