Minamida (南田) is a character featured in Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5. He is a game developer based in Kamurocho and the creator of the Inner Fighter series of virtual reality video games.
Profile
Appearance
Minamida has long white hair and a pair of safety goggles.
Attire
Minamida wears a white lab jacket over a black shirt and trousers.
Background
Minamida was the president of a video game company, and created the YF6 arcade game.[note 1]
In 2008, Minamida was visited by Jo Amon in his office, with the proposition of building a special machine to train fighting capabilities with just the human brain. After being showed the blueprints, Minamida deliberated for three sleepless nights, until he gave in and decided to build the machine. Minamida let Amon play the first prototype of the machine, and was left absolutely astonished on what Amon was able to do with it.
When Minamida was examining Amon's battles, he realized he would be killed by Amon eventually. He also realized Amon had struggled with fighting someone, and found the person was Kazuma Kiryu and the fighting location was Kamurocho. Fearing his eventual death, Minamida escaped to Kamurocho with the machine, which he called IF7, with hopes of encountering Kiryu. In February of 2009,[note 2] Minamida's company goes bankrupt, and he brings his IF-7 machine into the public and charges people to play it.
Involvement
Yakuza 3: 2009
Minamida meets Kazuma Kiryu in the lot of the Champion District, and charges him to play his game, IF-7. Eventually, he decides to reveal the truth about IF-7 to Kiryu, and motivates him to defeat Jo Amon.
Yakuza 4: 2010
Moving to the underground of Kamuro Theater, Minamida is now developing his new virtual reality game called "IF7-R" ("Inner Fighter 7-Revolution")
Yakuza 5: 2012
Minamida now travels across Japan to collect test data for his newly-developed game system, Inner Fighter 8: Road Fighter.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name: 2019
Minamida has finished development of IF9, which the Hell Arena uses for the "Minamida Grand Prix." While the specifics are unknown, he became reacquainted with the Amon Clan.
Notes
Triva
- Minamida bears an uncanny resemblance to Doc Brown, the quirky inventor from the Back to the Future films, down to the goggles and shock of white hair. In the English translation of Yakuza 4, he exclaims "Great Scott!", which is Doc Brown's catchphrase.
Gallery
Yakuza 3
Yakuza 5
