First off, sorry I didn't review Yakuza 3 for you. I got some crap about not putting it up on Destructoid, but I'm sure that everyone interested bought it and has already played it now. The problem was that my travel schedule was so hectic that I couldn't finish the review in a timely manner. If you're still thinking about Yakuza 3, go get the game. It's fantastic. It's easily one of my favorite PS3 titles.
Someone way more qualified reviewed the title, though. No, not other games press. Some of those bitter, jaded dicks don't know a good game when they see one. In this case, actual yakuza members reviewed the game! The whole thing was set up by journalist and writer Jake Adelstein, who wrote the stellar book Tokyo Vice (get this book while you're out getting Yakuza 3). He interviewed several high-level yakuza after playing the game.
His piece on BoingBoing is definitely worth a read. Some of the commentary is solid gold. One of the yakuza guys comments on all the foreigners in the area where some of the game takes place, Kabukicho.
S: You got your salaryman in there, the delinquent school girl and her sugar daddy, Chinese people, and even those Nigerian touts. What's with all the f*cking gaijin (foreigners) in the area anyway? It used to be just Japanese, Koreans and Chinese.
M: Don't say gaijin. Say Gaikokujin. It's more polite. Jake's a gaijin.
S: Yeah, I forget sometimes. What's with all the f*cking gaikokujin in Kabukicho anyway?
They call out the game a bit later in the article. One of the guys says that nobody ever really dies, and calls that unrealistic. Another says that no yakuza is going to run around getting into fistfights. We'll excuse that, as that's what makes the game so fun.
Yakuza review Yakuza 3, find it surprisingly accurate [Japanator]
Contest:
3:20 PM on 08.11.2010 | 
also people seriously need to play this game. although one yakuza in the article himself said that SEGA USA are dicks for cutting out his favourite parts of the game from the Western version (mahjong, hostess clubs and something else i think)
M: Kiryu is the way yakuza used to be. We kept the streets clean. People liked us. We didn't bother ordinary citizens. We respected our bosses. Now, guys like that only exist in video games.
S: I don't know any ex-yakuza running orphanages.
K: There was one a few years ago. A good guy.
M: You sure it wasn't just a tax shelter?
K: Sure it was a tax shelter but he ran it like a legitimate thing. You know.
the whole thing is amazing
That was some entertaining stuff right there.
Been holding off playing this only because I didn't beat Yakuza 2 yet...
S: The breaded pork cutlet bento box is like mega power. More than ramen. That's accurate.
truly amazing insight.