‘We don’t hit women’: How ‘Yakuza’ differs from ‘Grand Theft Auto’

Yokoyama posing next to a promotional poster at the headquarters of game and entertainment giant Sega in Tokyo, ahead of the launch of ‘Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth’, the latest in the Japanese video game franchise ‘Yakuza’ on Jan 26. The ‘Yakuza’ gangster series has long been seen as a Japanese ‘Grand Theft Auto’ but Yokoyama, one of the main designers of the hugely successful games, dismisses any such comparison. — AFP

TOKYO: The Yakuza gangster series has long been seen as a Japanese Grand Theft Auto but Masayoshi Yokoyama, one of the main designers of the hugely successful games, dismisses any such comparison.

“From the start, we decided not to have a game where you can hit people yourself. All fights start with a provocation from the opponent,” Yokoyama told AFP ahead of the release of the latest instalment on Friday.