If you just finished Yakuza 0 and want to start playing through the original series, we have some good news. Sega has released a limited reprint of the first four Yakuza titles, available now on Amazon and Canadian retailer Video Games Plus.
Apparently a retailer out in North America placed a reorder for these classics, sooooo limited reprint! #yakuza #thatNewGameSmell pic.twitter.com/koJnYEdARI
— Sam Mullen (@sam_mullen) February 10, 2017
It seems insane that Sega would make more of a PlayStation 2 game — any PlayStation 2 game — in 2017, but it’s definitely a cool thing the company did for fans. While the first Yakuza game isn’t particularly difficult to come across, less successful sequels like Yakuza 2 are difficult to come across; the going rate for a used copy often exceeds $100.
Unfortunately, these games are priced close to or at the original MSRP, so both Yakuza and Yakuza 2 cost $50. Yakuza 3 and Yakuza 4 cost $40.
The original Yakuza was released in 2005 in Japan and 2006 in North America. The game has seen five sequels and multiple spin-offs. For fans that jumped on to the Yakuza series later on, many have hoped that an HD port would occur for the first two Yakuza games. That port actually did occur, but was a Japanese exclusive. While the PlayStation 3 is region free, the game lacked any english subtitles or voice acting. Some fans have actually imported the Japanese HD port and followed along with a guide. That’s dedication.
It is cool that Sega has taken the time to re-release these games for fans, but many are wondering if Sega will give past generation Yakuza games a modern remaster. Unfortunately, last year’s Yakuza 6 wasn’t a breakout sales success in Japan, so it’s not looking likely that Sega will invest the resources to remastering past Yakuza games. On the other hand, Yakuza 0, a prequel to the original Yakuza, came to North America last month and has become something of a critical darling in the U.S.
Yakuza 6 is currently on track to launch in North America in “early 2018.”
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.