Does anyone know exactly how many editions of Shenmue II were released in Japan? I have seen copies with the Virtua Fighter 4 sticker on the slip case as well as the jewel case, and copies with no sticker. This would mean at least four different editions, plus the Dorikore edition released later. Can anyone confirm? I've looked at numerous eBay and Yahoo Japan auctions, bar codes, collections, etc.
I had a browse around Japanese websites and can find reference to 3 distinct versions:
1. Shenmue 2 (standard version) Release date: 6 September 2001, price 8190 yen
2. Shenmue 2 (limited edition w/ VF4 discs & sticker on the front) Release date: 6 September 2001, price 8190 yen
3. Shenmue 2 (Dorikore release) Release date: 6 March 2003, price 2940 yen
About the VF4 sticker, I think it is normally stuck directly on the shrink wrap. Possibly the ones in the auctions where it is directly on the slip case / jewel case are where the owner transferred it there after opening?
^ Switch is right. On the Sega Retro Database, there is a complete list of all the versions released worldwide. And the versions available in Japan are the 3 mentioned by Switch. More likely the ones with slip case and no VF4 stickers you've mentioned are pre-owned.
BlueMue wrote: It seems to be impossible to find any pictures of the Dorikore version. Does the cover it even look different, like the rest of this rerelease lineup?
It's just the standard edition with a sticker slapped onto it, labeled Dorikore and maybe an extra spine. I have it and would take a pic of it but I just moved, so that discounted version is buried somewhere among other piles of stuff. I will post a pic whenever I find it, but it is really nothing to write home about. I guess it's uncommon because like the limited edition the sticker was on top of a shrink wrap, so it is hard to locate a mint condition one nowadays.