Pre-order Yakuza: Dead Souls and get “epic” costumes

Today on their blog, SEGA squealed over new pre-order incentives for the upcoming Yakuza: Dead Souls, due out this coming Tuesday, March 13. Players only have a few days left to take advantage of this bizarre offer: outfits that can only be described as "stereotypical American-ness."

I'm not sure whose sensibilities the publisher/developer is trying to appeal to because Americans with the most national pride are likely to take offense to SEGA's campaign, which in a way pokes fun of our country, and those with minimal pride will probably be turned off or disinterested in the angle.

SEGA expressed their excitement over the pre-order costumes and accompanying trailer:

When we first sat down to talk about our plans for this game, one of the first things he said to me was “wait until you see the pre-order costumes. They’re epic.” And he was right. We were especially taken with Kazuma Kiryu’s American flag shirt. The whole outfit just screamed “stereotypical American” to us. After we laughed about it, we both looked at each other at the same time, and we knew instantly that we had just had the same idea. What you are about to see is that idea.

I mean, if you’re going to have that shirt in the game, why not go even more over the top with stereotypical American-ness? Right? So we threw in a bald eagle, the Star Spangled Banner, and a background of a waving American flag. We also hid a special bonus in there for the eagle-eyed among you (see what I did there?). And although we can’t officially call it that, we’ve been calling this the “America: F*** Yeah!” trailer since that first day.

Exclusive pre-orders at GameStop now come with five special constumes, three Challenge Missions, a Majima Karaoke video, and three extra CG movies as part of the "Hostess Pack," only available as an online purchase deal. The GameStop website does not mention the eight weapons advertised in the trailer, although those who pre-order online should receive the additional "Playable Character Pack" that contains complimentary weapons.

The "Playable Character Pack" (available in-store and online) includes eight super weapons (perhaps the ones shown in the trailer), 14 hostess guns, eight hostess outfits, and 20+ bonus items.

We've contacted SEGA for clarification and will update this post with their response.

What do you think? Is SEGA stepping on our cowboy-booted pointed toes here a bit, or is their approach genuine?

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