The Yakuza series has gotten so big for Sega that it now has two entries in development simultaneously. PSP's Black Panther Yakuza New Chapter is speeding towards its September release. This week's Famitsu reveals that, simultaneous with that, series director Toshihiro Nagoshi and the Yakuza development staff have been working away on another entry.

Similar to past Yakuza unveils, this one comes in the form of an interview with Nagoshi. Expectedly, Nagoshi was able to provide just a few vague details on the new game. He didn't even share a name, so we'll just call the game "Yakuza New Project" for now.

Development on this new Yakuza game has been progressing simultaneous with Black Panther, Nagoshi told the magazine. Like Yakuza 3 and 4, the new game is set for PlayStation 3.

Different from Black Panther, the new title looks like it will be a primary entry in the series. Nagoshi said that while Black Panther inherits many of the elements of the Yakuza series, he wanted it to be built up as a separate game from the series.

Nagoshi wouldn't commit to the new game being called Yakuza 5 (or Ryu ga Gotoku 5, as it would be called in Japanese). He promised a game that would do honor to the Yakuza series name, but said that he could not go into details at present.

The timing for sharing a "clear outline" about the game will come at this year's Tokyo Game Show, he said. This is set for September and is a typical showing point for new Yakuza games.

Majima Goro, a popular character from past Yakuza titles, will be a playable character in the new game. Nagoshi said that he'd wanted to make Majima into a main character for some time, as the character's unique personality offers the chance for a unique story and expression. In the new game, they're working on giving us a closer look at the Majima character, without losing the elements that make the character who he is.

The only bit of media shown in the Famitsu interview is a piece of artwork for Majima. The art shows Majima, with his trademark eye patch, holding a machine gun like he's ready to fire.

Nagoshi seemed to be careful in describing Goro as a "playable character." This seems to leave the possibility for multiple playable characters, similar to Yakuza 4, although Nagoshi did not make any mention of this.

Outside of Majima's role, Nagoshi shared a few high level details on the game. Asked about the game's concept and keyword, he replied with "Destruction." The three pillars of the Yakuza series, drama, adventure and battle, will be unchanged, but they'll be trying out new types of play around those elments. "We want to show evidence of 'there are still these possibilities for the Yakuza series,'" said Nagoshi. "We won't be throwing out the past methods of enjoyment, but we will be taking a scalpel to the fundamentals of the game systems."

Whatever changes are being made, it looks like the development staff has gotten into some heated arguments. Nagoshi joked that while the staff are all perfectionists and tend to throw out their opinion, they've never done so at this level.

Famitsu may have got the first word on the new Yakuza game in this week's issue, but it turns out that Sega has already started promoting it. Remember that hostess audition they started a couple of months back? Nagoshi revealed in the interview that it was actually for this game rather than for Black Panther.

Considering that it doesn't even have a name, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Nagoshi wouldn't commit to a release time frame for the new game. He'd only say "While I can't give a release time frame yet, we're working to deliver it at a time Yakuza series fans will want."

got inggerish ka?

Game is out on the PSN store btw.

Where you people on the hype train?!

First time trying to buy games digitally on PS3, don't see Yakuza 5 nor Bayonetta. Any help?

Which region? US PSN?

Playing already. Duh.