Ryu Ga Gotoku is now playable at a Roppongi hostess bar. Seems Sega has provided software so the establishment can set up a seat at the counter where customers can play the game with an actual hostess. This event will continue until December 5th, ending just before the game goes on sale.

For those that have no clue about hostesses, here's a quick Cliff Notes version: you pay like hundred bucks to sit and drink with a woman in an evening dress. In respectable establishments, there's no nudity and definitely no sex. Instead, it's drinking, talking and flirting. (Before ya start pointing fingers at the Japanese, remember that this style of bar was created by the U.S. Government after WWII. The fact that this industry still thrives in Japan is another issue altogether.)

Boy, this is a ballsy campaign. Setting up a barroom kiosk so that salarymen can play the PS2 with hostesses seems a bit much. Yeah, it's kinda like singing karaoke with a hostess, but still. Is this game's in-your-face sleaze actually in your face even necessary?

Japanese Reporter Gushes Over Hostess Bar [Famitsu]
Play at This Bar [Club Ray's Blog]

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