Yakuza 4 Has Tie-ins with Playboy and Famitsu
Sega teaming up with 40 brands for latest Yakuza game.
One of the defining features of the Yakuza series is its promotional tie-ins with real world brands. For Yakuza 4, Sega has tied up with the highest number of brands in series history -- a total of 40!
Included in the bunch are past promotional partners like Don Quixoti, Matsuya and Ace Cook. But Yakuza 4 also adds new collaborators. Did past Yakuza titles have a tie-up with Playboy?
Here's a full list of promotional partners, which Sega provided today at a press conference commemorating the end of Yakuza 4's development:
- Apa Hotel
- A national hotel chain. The "Apa" stands for "Always Pleasant Amenity."
- Ameba
- I believe this is in reference to the blog site. Yakuza director Tohishiro Nagoshi has his blog off on Ameba.
- Watami
- A restaurant chain. Details here.
- Ace Cook
- A food maker. Yakuza always teams with them for instant ramen. Details here.
- esNAIL
- Yes, it's a nail salon.
- Kai Razor
- Yakuza's Kazuma Kiryu will be the image character for this product. Details here.
- Karaoke Kan
- A chain of karaoke rooms. Details here.
- Matsuya
- A beef bowl chain. Details here.
- Kindai Mahjong
- Something to do with mahjong, I reckon.
- Suntory
- A beverage maker.
- GP Museum Soft
- A video production and sales company.
- Weekly Jitsuwa
- A weekly tabloid.
- Weekly Spa!
- A weekly tabloid.
- Weekly Famitsu
- Japan's biggest video game publication
- Weekly Young Jump
- A weekly manga magazine from Shueisha
- Weekly Playboy
- Hmm...
- Stone Market
- A jewelry maker.
- 777town.net
- A pachinko site.
- 3TIMESPress
- A free magazine that targets businessmen.
- Darts Club
- A darts bar.
- Tanning Studio Sole
- A tanning salon. There was a similar promotion for Yakuza 3.
- DMM.com
- A DVD, CD and comic rental, sales and distribution site. You might remember them from this.
- Dijimono Station
- A monthly magazine.
- TVBros
- A bi-weekly information magazine.
- Tokyo One Week
- A weekly information magazine.
- Tokyo Sports Shimbun
- A sports newspaper.
- dwango
- They own the company that operates Nico Nico Video and the company that owns Chun Soft and Spike.
- Don Qixoti
- A discount retailer. Details here.
- Nesta Brand
- A fashion brand.
- Nol Corporation
- Their logo is "fragrance, accessories, pet items."
- Bike King
- A motorcycle shop.
- Vanquish
- This is a t-shirt company -- not the new Platinum Games title. Details here.
- Bijin Tokei
- An iPhone app that counts the time via pictures of hot girls. Details here.
- Fits Corporation
- I believe they sell cosmetics.
- Platinum Production
- You know, with Yakuza 4 having tie-ups with both "Vanquish" and "Platinum Productions," and Sega serving as publisher of Platinum Games' Vanquish, someone could get really confused.
- Pronto
- A chain of bar cafes. Details here.
- Mitsui Repark
- A parking lot chain. Details here.
- Mobage Town
- A popular cell phone portal site
- Lightec
- They make stuff like Zippos, ash trays, and eco bags.
- Ryukyu Shugou Densetsu
- I believe this is an Okinawa drink maker -- or maybe the drink they make. There was a similar promotion for Yakuza 3.
Sega has only provided details on a few of these promotions. For the rest, we're going to have to presumably see the game itself.
Incidentally, although this was probably obvious since these promotions are used to promote Yakuza 4 as much as they are to promote the various brands, Sega isn't actually making any money off the promotions. Saneki Biz reports this in a story that followed the press conference. This model could change in future titles, though. Sega's PR department told Sankei "We're looking into recovering some development costs through advertisement fees in the future."
Maybe in time for Project K?
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