Yakuza 3 has been edited for West

SEGA has edited Japan-based organised crime game Yakuza 3 for release in the West. Some content, it was felt, "wouldn't make sense" to gamers in America and Europe.

"The content between Yakuza 3 US/UK and Yakuza [3] JP is a little different in that we took out certain bits in order to bring the game to the West in the time allotted for us to do so. The parts we ended up taking out were parts that we felt wouldn't make sense (like a Japanese history quiz game) or wouldn't resonate as much (such as the concept of a hostess club)," SEGA told IGN.

"We didn't replace the parts we took out, but we made absolutely sure that the story continuity stayed intact so that the story experience was the same as the Japanese version and that it didn't take away the human drama so inherent to the Yakuza series."

Hostess clubs are places businessmen and women go to be entertained by attractive members of the opposite sex. Hosts chat, flirt, pour drinks and light cigarettes. Physical romance is not part of the job description.

Yakuza 3, a PS3 exclusive, will be released in Europe on 12th March. We'll sift through our copy to see what else has changed.