Sega made a lot of PS3 owners very happy late in 2009 when they announced that Yakuza 3 would finally be making the leap across the pond from Japan to North America and Europe.  Sega originally had no plans to bring the title over, but fan response encouraged them to do so.  However, in a move presumably to keep the localization costs low, Sega did specify that the game would feature the original Japanese voice overs with English subtitles.

Something must has changed over at Sega, though, as Sega of America studio director Constantine Hantzopoulos has seemingly confirmed the North American/European localization will have English voice overs.  Speaking on the latest 4 Guys 1 Up podcast, Constantine talks extensively about the costs of bringing the game over, including hiring voice actors.

"The bulk of the cost is actually the [voice overs]," said Constantine, in regards to how much Sega is spending to bring the game over. "A lot of lines in [Yakuza 3] so obviously the more expensive it gets, you wanna land the right actors, voice the right parts." 

"Whenever Sega brings a game over [to the US] and makes the investment, the heavy investment, into localization, we're talking over 500, 600, 700K to localize this game.  Lot of voices, lot of different peeps, lot of different characters."

When asked about which voice actors will be featured in Yakuza 3, Constantine simply said they hadn't announced anything yet.

Yakuza 3 is due out in March 2010.