Ryu, all you're doing is baiting him. Its exactly the same as flaming and trolling.

I have no problem with games having an easy mode what i hate is games made easy from the start.

Its also still funny to see someone from Ubisoft moaning about easy games.

mue 26 wrote: I need an avatar for my SUK account, but I don't know what to use (and I kind of like the default "No avatar" Ryo one). Any ideas of what would reflect my personality, Joe?

Yeah but they are all NSFW.

Q: How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Let's go ride bikes!

You haven't got the hang of this mate. Say par example - "Why did the chicken cross the road? Because she was being carried by her owner to a slaughterhouse because the owner couldn't be arsed with cleaning up her shit every day"

The whole thing about an anti-joke is it starts off as a joke but winds down into something darker, more normal or without any kind of a punchline.

Riku Rose wrote: Never even tried a sip along with coffee.

That's like an American who never ate at Mcdonalds.

hey axm
Sent: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:36 am
From: The_Intruder
To: Axm

Do you have to pay rent in japan and other bills like electricity, heat, water and stuff. Oh man I can't wait for Shenmue 3! lol

<3

.

jesus, is it possible die of boredom?

[appleuser]Ever since I got a Mac, I stopped having problems like that.[/appleuser]

EDIT: Damn the tags didn't work, hopefully they work this time:

It amazes me how many people get a virus on their computer whilst having anti-virus software installed. I stopped usin em years ago, and the only times my computers have been affected is when someone else has gone on em.


I dont have antivirus installed. Haven't for a long time now. Still have never had a single problem though. I only visit about 20 sites regularly, i dont watch porn at all (no joke, i dont get it. I do my thing in real life) i only download torrent files. Oh and use CCleaner twice a week.

Have never had a single thing wrong with my laptop.

I once had someone, on myspace, claim to be my father and began (in a long-winded private message) to tell me how sorry he was for never being there for me... or something.

EDIT: Found all of his messages.

Jim (jimbo) says

if your moms name is patricia and stephanie and michelle are your sisters and nick your brother
then we should probably try to talk. i have waited since you were two so if you arent ready i can continue to wait until you are do you know anything about me other than what you have been told
? the truth will need to come out eventually its concealment has cost so much already. i wont bother you again if i hear frm you i will finnally rejoice if nt i will deal with it if anything you need just ask .if it is in my power t provide, i will
later
jim

Jim (jimbo) says

had i done the things patty helped coach steph,nicki and mitchelle why is there no proof? why no prison record? why did i help deliever you and sign the originol birth cert,? why was i listed as your father on your babtism hard to believe my son could be so easily fooled and manipulated i taught you piano as an infant do you still playor was that taken with a lie of course in your best interest. please just try a dialog talk to me while im still here lies surround you by many you trust ask me for proof i have witnessess like kari my x that promised to provide you with the truth when this day came, i have suffered enough just to protect you untill you became a man regardless you will always be my son and i will always choose to love you from this life on clearly you sit in judgment of your own flesh and blood based on lies is that who you became,son?
love
jim

Jim (jimbo) says

hope you are well. still cant reason with your mom,but i tried for all thats worth.
you should know the truth. i never threatened you or any of the kids with harm.
they were told to lie to me when i called to talk to my wife. patty told them to tell me she was sleeping and i demanded nick wake her up it was an emergency. fact is she was out but told them to lie to me. also to conceal the fact my wife was pretending to stay with patty, while already screwing another man. that was the lie that cost you and i all to cover up my wife cheating on me.
then i came to get our dog my wife left behind . y had michelle lie to the police. claiming i stole her dog and broke into a store room and stole items that never got taken until kari came and got them.
i went to court to have them caught for pergery so patty sent nick and mitch to calli so they wouldnt catch her in her lies. she swore to the court that i was some past boyfriend that was stalking her and that i had no relation to you . she and kari destroyed my karaoke business and continued to make false police reports to keep me from contacting you . they kari stole my car and got me put on the street all to cover up my wife cheating. i protested kari moving in w patty they swore nothing would keep you from me. they lied months later kari came back to say goodbye she moved to mn. we fell back in love and i moved with her. that lasted 6 mo i called your uncle to try to get him to talk some sense into your mom. he also claims i made a threat to you that is so stupid he couldnt come up w a new lie? so i say to both of them you get them to take a polygraph i send you a crisp hundred.
if they pass yea right i send them each a hundred. and i submit to one myself to prove i never threatened to harm any one but myself all to cover up lie after lie.
we used to cruise in a 5.0 conv. you and your siblings stayed w us often we had a badass house w a pool nick and michelle didnt want to go home to pattys yelling so they said. anyway if u need anything i can provide its yours just ask and dont forget the 100$ challenge god be with you love jim

oh yeah i forgot your mom keeps trying to lay a guilt trip on me to get money.
she says because all your medical bills.
you will get part of a settlement i have coming ,if u want it . and you are the sole benificary on my life ins.
she can earn 1000$ by simply proving the truth under polygraph. and ill add another 1000$ if she discloses how long it was after she found out she was pregnant with you before she quit using cocaine on a daily basis. sure your condition wasnt helped by her use if not the actual cause. athousand dollars just to tell the truth to you while being tested let me know when to set it up. hell maybe in said i would fight for custody and she lied saying i said i would first it was kill you now she says she has a recording i threatened to kidnap you. bet she was doin coke then too peace out jim

Its okay Mitts, I understand where you're coming from. I understand that you're taking into account what you've seen, where you live and your heart is in the right place, with the kids themselves.

I care about the little ones too, and while I have different experiences and perhaps have just been lucky I've always thought that an active approach was necessary. I understand you want to shield them from the bullying, but instead of removing them from the situation, I wish to remove the situation, and if unable, teach them to shield themselves.

MiTT3NZ wrote: Yeah, there's too many laws in place on what you can't do to a kid in terms of discipline n shit, so now they're gettin away with murder, and they're takin full advantage.

A pistol whipped at the face smartens people the hell up. Too bad thats just not in the cards fr you guys.

Am i a big enough fan to spend nearly £70 on the Deluxe Professional Edition? Sadly i think i am

Sundays suck without the premier league on.

ah shit I missed the debate, but I'll just add my 2 cents anyway, mitts has a point if a common gay family adapt a child, of course there will be little problems if they are upper class and can afford to send their children to good rated private schools but for the working/poorer classes that would be a huge handicap on the kid, public schools got so bad here that they were forced to install cameras in a great number of them and suicides over things a lot less important happen pretty often, and not to mention that gang culture is rampant in the poorer areas and they don't keep to themselves, they find any excuse they can to starts confrontations with people and this could mean abuse for the kid every time he goes out forcing him to avoid certain areas and people all the time, but again it really depends on what class they are from, especially here in London

After the Uncharted series I'm willing to try anything Naughty Dog knocks out next. I've only seen one or two trailers but it looks like something I'm going to love. I also love post apocalyptic settings so that's a bonus.


After that series I'm willing to give their next game a time but I'm looking forward to website/user vids because these demos are heavy on the scripted stuff.

That brick wall was supposed to enlighten you, but don't worry since it fails at doing it. Kiba uses the deceitful Aristotle's logic all the time so it's not worth shitting your panites over. In this case, he also completely ignores the fact that he is against something that he himself does all the time to others (as a part of those 'communities' he advocates so strongly for that his nipples go all wild).


You do know you talk some absolute balls sometimes dont you?

The VGM wrote:?
Sent: Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:44 pm
From: The VGM
To: Martin


You're a white nerd.

This is the oldest PM in my box, and probably the best.

I hate that devs seem afraid of stealth now days...yes you SC team go fuck one another to death.

am I the only person who thinks gifs like that are pointless? not having a dig at dorian or anything, he didn't make it, but what does looping about half a second of someone's mouth moving add to the picture? could've just had one frame and the caption...

Who locked the PM topic?

Well ive been dying to know but no-one seems to know what engines and softwares ect ect where used in the first two games, A certain they know who they are :P asked me to make a lucky hit flash game for teamyu.net, now we all know flash is terrible for realtime physics so ive got a real challenge ahead of me if im gonna live up to shenmue 2. ive looked at tonnes of realtime and none of it no matter who or what can live up to shenmue 2's lucky hit. seems odd but Ive ran massive realtime physics from passing spacecraft to golf balls on my pc and nothing can beat lucky hits realtime physics. even sega's current games which graphically and physically outperform anything today (Dont believe my try running anything they've made recently on your PC :P). anyways, what im trying to say is nothing will outperform shenmue 1 and 2 unless their made with the same effort and love and imperfection tat they were over 12 years ago., no matter what they do even if they are better they wont be, and thats why I want to know more on their making. (And Manchester city rules :P)

Procrastination level has sky rocketed since coming back to the dojo. fml.

Cant see anywhere i can be of help to this, but good luck.

I didn't post the thread to show the failure of it. I posted it to help the cause, in case it contained anything that would make this attempt easier.

This is the most hype thing to happen around the Dojo in a long time. Make this a reality all involved.

(Count me in for any graphic design)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsWnlKHd-CA[/youtube]

Demonoid will be missed. They really did have some hard to find stuff on there that was seeded almost constantly.

I think to some degree alot of us would be too critical. Especially if its gameplay related, not just graphical style.
Similarly to how true Resident Evil fans prefer the tank controls, puzzles and more survival-horror rather then the now TPS action game.
If they touched the traditional gameplay and reality aspects of Shenmue id be really pissed.
If its just graphics and it's not something drastic like cell shading or anything else way out there, if its just an improvement to look like, for example Heavy Rain or L.A Noire, id live. Id more than live at that.

Also on a side note, i am so fucking uber pumped right now since i am on my way down to my parents house and i am gonna get my Dreamcast out of storage and get stuck into replaying Shenmue! It was just a bit too much, knowing that i couldnt play it one last time before leaving to go travelling! :D

Ah nice, enjoy! :D


Oh i will!!!! Just overwhelmed with nostalga right now!! Start off by watching the Project Berkley GDRom, then move onto Whats Shenmue, then Shenmue and finally Shenmue II. :D :D

BOOM!!!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j290/PeterC2005/20120911_201241.jpg

I was supposed to go to work at 730 this morning... it is now 1019.

...


Fuck it, lunchtime.

Funny what a little change can do.

Can you people move on or keep dwelling on the past. Seriously get over it. Esp Pete


Fella take yourself off, i didnt mention or imply anything to do with you at all. if other people do, then go take it up with them. Its not always about you ya know. I got over that a long time ago. I was talking about the number of visitors on this site reaching a level it hasnt seen in a long while. Sort your ego out man.

I kind of have the feeling that the only character from Shenmue II to make a return in Shenmue III would be Shenhua (other than Ryo of course). I also think that Shenmue III (this is all assuming that more than three Shenmue games are made) would take place entirely in Guilin. I wouldn't be surprised if characters like Nozomi, Ren, Gui Zhang, Joy, Xiuying, et cetera never made another appearance in the games, but I don't know much at all about Yu Suzuki's plans or anything and haven't done much research (any) so I'll probably be told I'm wrong pretty fast :lol:

These are all just hunches, gut feelings, I don't really have any way to back them up...

The one i remember is that Ryo fights all the way through the Chiyoumen HQ and finally gets to LanDi, but its where he learns that Lan Di was a puppet for the "Tentai" of the organisation. Lan Di realises that he was on the wrong side all along, and that he, like Ryo is fatherless. Together they take on the entire Chiyoumen Double Dragon style :lol:

I like the sound of that! I found my theory ! Basically, the theory was (fuck it, IS ) that Ryo is so emotionless because he was sexually-abused as a child by Iwao. It ends with Shenmue III starting as Ryo wakes from a dream to find his dad on top of him. The idea was to craft a theory that explained everything , if I remember.

It is my belief that the truth of Shenmue underlies the beautiful fecade of asian culture, and 1980s espionage. I believe that my theory explains anomalies/inconsistancies within the game, and it's storyline. You've definitely never heard a Shenmue theory quite like this one, so please open your minds, and consider these things (a closed mind is like a closed fist).

To begin with, let's consider the facts (every good theory starts with the facts). What do we have? A young man (Ryo Hazuki), avenging his fathers' (Iwao Hazuki) death, in 1980s Asia (Japan and China, thus far). Said young man embarks upon an adventure across a whole continent. From his little suburban paradice in a little Yokosuka culdesac, the the lush sweeping landscape of Guilin (thus far). It's an adventure, alright. However, I believe that there is more here than meets the eye.

Now, where do I start? I believe that Iwao was an extremely abusive father, who ruled the Hazuki household with an iron fist, ever since Ryo has known him (" Eat your FUCKING carrots! "), up to the day he was killed. Where do I get this idea from? Well, one look at Ryo should be enough. Any psychiatrist could take one look at Ryo, and tell you that he has some very deep-seated problems, stemming from an extremely troubled childhood (anything from mental, to extreme sexual abuse).

You can see it with the way he interects with the world around him. He clearly sees everything through a child's eyes. His sheer sense of wonder at picking random objects up, and scrutinizing them, is textbook child behavior. His fascination with toys is a more obvious example of this. Collecting capsule toys of SEGA games is something children do, and 18-year-old men do neither of the above.

You can also see it in the way he interects with others. Ryo never seems at ease with strangers, especially members of the opposite sex (even ones that he knows). He is often quite rude (unintentionally), and clearly doesn't know how to communicate, on a first-time basis. You don't just go up to complete strangers, asking " Excuse me, where can I find some sailors around here? ". Of course, we all know this, and would go about asking the same question very differently.

However, because of Ryo's troubled upbringing, he lacks communication skills for a person of his age. Where you or I would take time out to introduce ourselves, explain our plight (at least a little), and slowly introduce our question, so that it will not seem so worryingly obscure and random, Ryo happily blurts out all these weird and wonderful inquesitions just as they appear to him in his head. 18 year-olds do not act in this manner.

The juxtaposition of Ryo's 'quest' is also a part of my theory. If Ryo is determined enough not to let the sexual advances of gorgeous women get in the way of his mission (he could have at least kissed Nozomi, with tongues, on several occasions, and Joy asked him to stay at her apartment , obviously for sex), then how can things like arcades, capsule toy machines, arm-wrestling, darts (etc..) so easily distract him? Surely sex would be the top of any 18-year-old males' list? Not Ryo. Everything he does and says bleeds innosense.

What I am leading up to, is that Ryo clearly has the mental age of a child, brought about by severe physical, mental, and possibly even sexual abuse, at the hands of his father, Iwao. Sexual abuse? Notice how, not once, not ever does Ryo change his clothing. It's not because he's lazy, or that he doesn't believe in washing, or even simply that he is a slob. No. Ryo is afraid of nudity, specifically; being naked himself .

This irrational fear obvisouly inhibits his ability to wear fresh clothing everyday, and is (in my view) brought on by the sexual abuse he experianced as a child. He thinks, in that little immature mind of his, that if he never takes his clothes off, then daddy can't come into his room at night and sodomise him, whilst stroking his face and whispering " You're daddy's little boy, aren't you? ". He thinks that daddy will never be able to hurt him, ever again, if he doesn't get undressed. Doing so brings it all back.

Next on my 'hit-list' is Ryo's mother. Her 'death' fits in perfectly with my theory. I believe she was possibly murdered by Iwao, or left him for another man. Iwao, being the extremely abusive, and probably sexualy distant man that he was, drove his wife to the brink of dispair. For, how can you maintain a loving relationship with a man who not only physically abuses you, but is also non-existant in the bedroom? She couldn't, and left for China (where she almost certainly came from, judging by her belongings in the basement). Either of the above would fit. I'm in two minds of which is the correct version of events, so I mentioned both possibilities.

Now we must consider Ine-san and Fuku-san. They are like polar opposites, both to each other, and to Ryo. Ine-san is the very image of a broken woman. For many years she has lived under constant fear of the master of the house, and has probably been the victim/witness of many beatings, assaults, and general Hazuki household nastiness. She was no doubt the individual charged with the task of explaining away Ryo's odd behavior and physical injuries to his mother. Ryo pities her, and sees her as a maturnal figure, but a pitiful one. She may have even been a sexual slave of Iwao's, though I doubt this.

From the evidence at hand, I believe Iwao was a closet homosexual, who felt it his duty (long standing tradition) to wed with a beautiful woman, and concieve an heir to his legacy. As such, Iwao felt that the birth of Ryo satisfied this 'need'. However, this invariably led to Iwao taking his sexual frustrations out on Ryo, and much of his anger (resultant from his sexual frustrations) out on his wife, and Ine-san/Ryo, to a lesser extent. At this time in Japan, it was definitely not exceptable for a man of Iwao's status to be gay. Iwao was indeed a monster that society created.

While I'm on the subject, I do not believe that Ryo's mother cared much for Ryo, for she would have either killed Iwao (instead of being killed by him as I stated in possibility 1), or taken him with her (instead of just leaving as I stated in possibility 2). Not that she had always been so flippant about her son. Far from it. She most likely spent much of her time in that household, under constant fear for her very life. Suffering from such conditions, for such a prolonged period of time (we're talking years ) wears a person down, eventually to a point where they don't care about anything.

This inevitably leeds to Ryo's mother becoming a heavy drinker. Iwao was a man of exacting ruthlessness. He would never allow something like alcohol to cloud his terrifying judgement whilst at home, to make him appear weak. Ryo's mother, on the other hand, needed an escape, and almost certainly found one in alcohol. Anything to numb the pain. The only thing readily available to a Japanese housewife of this period to fit the bill was of course; Alcohol. This leads to a conclusion, almost without doubt, that (at least in her later years, before she died/left) Ryo's mother was hitting the bottle everyday, and hitting it hard. She probably didn't even know she had a son, by the end.

Back to Fuku-san. Herepresents an anomoly in the Hazuki household. In the game, when speaking of Iwao, Fuku-san is the only one who seems truly sad at his passing. Ine-san seems like an emotionally-scarred, physically fragile woman (potentially from years of beatings), who seems asif she should be upset, not that she actually is (of course she isn't). Ryo seems so distant, and emotionally handicapped, both from a life of physical and mental torture, and from conflicting feeling at his father's demise, of what he should feel, and what he actually does. Fuku-san is the odd one out of the household. Why is this..?

Well, I believe that Fuku-san was never exposed to Iwao's evil side. The latest to join the household, I think that Fuku-san represents Iwao's opportunity to change, to start again. For Iwao wasn't truly evil. He wanted to be a good man. It was too late for Ryo, who he had already sodomised and beaten. He could never have a real father/son relationship with Ryo. He could scare Ryo into pretending (and he often did), but they both knew it was a sham. He could never give Ryo back his innocense. However, Fuku-san joining the house presented an opportunity for Iwao to play 'father' with someone who didn't know any better. With a boy who was very ugly, and posed no attractiveness on any sexual level. Iwao revelled in this newfound relationship.

This can be seen in-game, when Fuku-san is generally appalled at Iwao's death. Iwao was like a father to him. A role which Iwao no-doubt cherished and lived to it's fullest, just to feel normal (if only for a little while). He lovingly refers to him as 'Hazuki-sensei', a statement not to be ignored or under-minded. If this is the case, then shouldn't Ryo hate Fuku-san? No. Ryo sees Fuku-san as the only innocent person in the Hazuki household. He reminds him of how he should have been raised. In these solumb thoughts, Ryo finds comfort, if only a little bit. Fuku-san represents the only remaining ounce of purity in that house, which has not been defiled by it's master, or failed to speak out and end Ryo's suffering (something which Ryo holds contemp for his Ine-san, and in particular, his mother).

Nozomi is also another ingredient in this mix, which perpetuates Ryo's self-torment. For, while Ryo is mentally immature, he does recognise that he should be doing certain things. Things like dating, etc. Nozomi represents a small attemped on his part, to reach out for the life that he should be leading, which is downplayed and eventually ruined by Ryo's own haphazardness in these situations, brought on by mental instability, self-loathing, and general feelings of worthlessness. Ryo is in many ways, the complete negative of his father. Where Iwao definitely had a superiority-complex (brought on by his secret homosexualty, and his attemps to compensate and appear normal), Ryo, by contrast, suffers from an inferiority -complex. This is evident throughout his entire adventure, though becomes less prominent, the further into his quest he gets.

So if all this is true, why does Ryo chase Lan Di? Shouldn't he be relieved at his father's murder, and just live the rest of his life a happy man, finally free from the tirrany of Iwao Hazuki? Well, her's where Ryo's sense of self-loathing, brought on by his confused and under-developed emotions comes in. Firstly, Ryo thinks that, if he avenges his father's death, he will show loyalty to his father's legacy (important in Japanese society). Secondly (more importantly), if Ryo succeeds, he will finally have 'beat' his father. Iwao instilled feelings of self-hate, and worthlessness within Ryo. Completing such a long, dangerous quest will prove to Iwao, and to himself that he is not 'worthless', and can accomplish great things. Doing so would mean that Ryo no longer lives in his father's terrifying shadow. Maybe then, the nightmares, the self-loathinfg, and constant feeling of utter dread will go away. Lan Di is just the key. The treasure at the end of the rainbow, if you will.

As Ryo's journey takes him to Hong Kong and beyond, we see him begin to come out of his shell, the invisible barrier he uses to keep the world at bay, to protect himself. He starts to show feelings of indepenace, and self-worth. In Shenmue II, partakes in things such as gambling, street fighter (for money, not self-defence), etc. Things which his father would never permit. Ryo begins, if only slightly, to rebel against Iwao, against his memory, and what he stood for. The cave sequence near the end of the second game is further evidence of this. Ryo is alone , at night , with a pretty girl . Sure, nothing happens, and Ryo is still obviously battling his demons at this point (otherwise he'd have shagged her), but he is slowly recovering from years of abuse.

Normally, Ryo would never ever allow himself to get into this situation, with an attractive member of the opposite sex. Remember the several occasions where he practically shuns Nozomi, or the time he turns down the opportunity of staying at a gorgeous biker babes' home, in favour of a cold lonely bed, in a unfriendly hotel, run by a shady man obsessed with gambling. This is the first time that Ryo begins to allow nature to take it's course, the first time that he is not outwardly afraid of his feelings towards the opposite sex, or their advances towards him. He is at this point, beginning to understand his feelings of sexual attraction towards women, instead of running away from them.

This (I believe) is brought on by his slowly increasing feelings of independance and self-worth. Also, Shen Hua is not a member of everday society, that which shunned him and cursed him to an eighteen year nightmare. Shen Hua presents no threat to him, only feelings of awe and wonder. She is also innocent, naive, and quite child-like. She reminds him of himself, and he feels very comfortable with her. The cave sequence is the first time his 'shell' truly starts to crack. The first time he really starts to open up to someone.

Which brings me to my theory, in it's ultimate form. My theory ends in one of two possibilities, of which the reader (you) must decide for youselves which you believe in. Given everthything that has been said, Ryo's journey is not to avenge his father at all, but to prove his own worth , and to 'beat' his father. If he succeeds, daddy can never hurt him. Never again. Then the nightmares, the self-loathing, everything. It'll all stop, and Ryo will be able to get on with his life, and grow as a person, and not fear that which cannot hurt him anymore. That is the first, and most immediate possibility.

The second, and more 'out there' possibility, is the one I happen to adhere to, for it provides all the same answers that Actual Theory Possibility 1 does, while answering/addressing some anomolies which 'Possibility 1 does not. I believe, that, all said and true to this point, the entire journey is fake. I believe it is nothing but a dream. I believe Ryo is dreaming his adventure. It would explain how Ryo magically arrives in Hong Kong in less than 10 minutes from finishing Shenmue I, to starting Shenmue II. More importantly, it would explain how he can spontaneously and flawlessly communicate with the chinese-speaking Hong Kong/Kowloon/Guilin populus.

It would in fact, provide a good answer for the whole journey, and it's general surreal quality, and lack of realism. Dreams often become wilder and more strange the further you get into them. I believe the introduction of supernatural occurances is no coinsidence, and it merely the consequence of a dream, taking his natural course. Ryo getting beaten to a pulp by a bunch of punks, then waking up safe and sound on Wong's boat seems very unlikely to me. That, and the event's inconsistancy with the events that transpired at the end of the first game, namely, the 70 man battle. If Ryo can take on and beat 70 men (admittedly with the help of Guizang), then surely a few punks should pose little problem.

Who placed all those planks? Why was that jumbo jet suicidely skimming the tops of the fucking buildings? These strange occurances, and many more (magical mirrors, mystical trees), are (in my opinion) simply the result of a dream taking it's natural course, becoming more obscure as it goes on. Shenmue is merely a dream which Ryo is having. Ryo lives in utter dread of his father, and his dreams are the only place where he can truly be free. Iwao can't take his dreams away from him. The end of Shenmue II (at the point where it is at it's most obscure) seems to be the end of the dream. Everything goes all strange looking, everything stops, the sound fades away. I think these symbolise Ryo slowly drifting out of sleep and into conciousness.

As such, I predict that Shenmue III, if ever released, will start with Ryo opening his eyes, and seeing his father's shadowy figure over him, carressing his face and softly whispering " You're daddy's little boy.. ". This would also explain why Shenmue III has never been released, and will never be released, as the game/concept becomes to outlandish for SEGA execs to condone, and give the green light to. My theory explains everything. All the inconsistancies, Ryo's lack of character, all the symbolism, everything. Everything . I believe there's not a Shenmue-related question you could pose which my theory couldn't provide a good possible answer to. I don't think you could say that about any other Shenmue theory. Hence the title.

Discuss.

Damn, I was awesome back then!

:lol:

The only thing is it doesnt have any of the characteristics of a specific type of trading boat. No crates are on it, qnd from what i have looked into its just an old version of an 80s "Ro-Ro ship" which just ferries passengers from Yokosuka to Aberdeen. I have sent a few emails to some maritime enthusiasts to confirm this, and also if they could provide any links or advice regarding 1980s vessels (interior layouts, exterior characteristics, load capacity, popilar Asian routes).

Also sent a few messages asking for the translation of the Kana on the side of the ship.

Jesus.

Think it's a good job I never had that disk!