How old were you when you first played Shenmue?

[Crimson Ryan]

15. Mum bought it for me from GAME after I saw it on that show GamePad on Bravo TV. Memories, man!

For context that was Shenmue IIx. I played the original on Dreamcast when I was.. 22?

[Henry Spencer]

13. I went to EB to get one and got House of the Dead 2 with the lightgun. I remember the clerk saying "good choice" to me. That game became me and my brother's addiction for the next two months. The reason I got the system in the first place was for Shenmue, which I got that Christmas. I remember Electronics Boutique (a time before GAME, showing my age here) had a few shelves in the corner for Dreamcast games and I would constantly look at the Shenmue box every time I went to town, counting down the days to Christmas and when I could finally play it. I was so excited to play it. And was it worth the wait.

I think I was 10, pretty sure I picked up the game in 2001.

I was at my friends house when I first saw it played by his step-father and I was completely immersed even then and I wasn't even playing it myself. My mates step dad has always had the latest gaming gear ever since I first met him all those years ago and he was playing on this retro 50 inch TV (Which was unbelievably huge at that time.) Needless to say the game looked amazing.

But when it came round to 2001 with my birthday just around the corner I had somewhat forgot about the game and me and my mum went to the local Electronics Boutique (before Game bought it out and subsequently closed down) with the intention of getting an N64. Another friend of mine had one and that's all we used to play for hours, I loved Goldeneye and Banjo-Kazooie and most people I knew had a N64 not a Dreamcast. But they were sold out of N64s (I was gutted!), a store assistant suggested the Dreamcast, it was either that or wait for them to re-stock the N64. I wasn't sure what to do but in the back of my mind I remembered seeing my friends step dad playing that amazing game and I knew then that I would love the Dreamcast even more than I would the N64. It was the right choice of course, I loved every game I got for the Dreamcast and in that spur of the moment decision I allowed myself to experience the best game ever made.


Shenmue4lyf.

DId you ever get an N64 and was the Dreamcast a good console for you overall? Shenmue aside, of course.

[patq2]

I was 18 when fist play shenmue then 19 a couple weeks later it seem most people that first play shemnue was only kids

[ys]

I was about 23 when I first played the game (I guess that I'm the oldest here by far after a few others from the early Dojo-days left). I didn't discover the game at release but only did so a few years later.
I always saw it as something special that the games managed to be my favorites. I rank them above earlier gaming experiences as a kid. So there must be something more to the appeal of the game than the aforementioned "kids being impressionable."

[elfshadowreaper]

I was 17 when I first played it in 2000. A friend had some video game magazine and we happened to watch the DVD it came with. The DVD talked all about how much of an open world Shenmue had and I was hooked from that moment. It looked beautiful. So I asked for a Dreamcast and Shenmue that Christmas. I had never seen anything like it and games since then just don't have the same magic anymore. I got them and both changed my view on video games.

[drunkensailor]

man there are so many beautiful stories in this topic! thank you all

[spud1897]

I was 14, a friend recommended me getting it. So I asked to get it for my 14th birthday and never looked back!

I then remember saving up all my money and bunking off my paper round to buy and play Shenmue 2

[Mitsuzuki]

Probably about 29.

I enjoyed the Dreamcast at a few friends places, but I never owned one until after the system's sunset. During that generation, I was N64-only, then went straight to PS2, Xbox and GC.

One day in a game store around 2002 I found Shenmue II for Xbox in a bin and found myself immediately intrigued by the environment just by looking at the back of the game's case. I'd never heard of Shenmue so I blind bought it and it turned out to be an experience I never expected.

As a result, I got my first Dreamcast and purchased the first game after I had already completed the second. The obvious switch in the order of the narrative didn't bother me at the time and it's something I've never thought about since. I suppose the games are so engaging that it didn't really matter. Of course, I've gone back since several times to play it in the proper order since.

It seems odd that I didn't hear of Shenmue when it came out, but throughout my gaming career I've had a couple of gaps where I just simply didn't game for awhile. That was a result of starting a career and hitting the club circuit pretty hard during those days. It was good times.

I still work a lot now and I'm long overdue for another playthrough. Since I have a PS4 now I'm finding that my gaming time is focused on that at the moment, but I really want to give it another go. I don't want to play it in a hurry, or play it in bits and pieces. This is a game that demands your time. I want to ensure I have the time to roll up my sleeves, kick my feet up and fully immerse myself in the time the games deserves.

And I can't wait to do it all over again.

[mue 26]

I played it as soon as it came out in the UK, so I must have been 11.

I keep telling myself kids are too young in their early teens to understand or enjoy the series, though it's just a different era with different general taste I suppose.

Nah, some kids will love it just like we did. But it will always be a niche thing, especially so for kids. I remember when my friend at school got the DC after it had become really cheap to buy and asked me what games he should get, so I thought I'd do him the biggest favor in the world and lend him Shenmue. I don't think he even made it down the street to Doubita. I can recall at the time being totally baffled as to how the qualities of a game that had charmed me so, were so very easily and completely missed by him. I never got that game back of him though

[Yokosuka Martian]

I played it as soon as it came out in the UK, so I must have been 11.

I keep telling myself kids are too young in their early teens to understand or enjoy the series, though it's just a different era with different general taste I suppose.

Nah, some kids will love it just like we did. But it will always be a niche thing, especially so for kids. I remember when my friend at school got the DC after it had become really cheap to buy and asked me what games he should get, so I thought I'd do him the biggest favor in the world and lend him Shenmue. I don't think he even made it down the street to Doubita. I can recall at the time being totally baffled as to how the qualities of a game that had charmed me so, were so very easily and completely missed by him. I never got that game back of him though

He must have been intrigued and kept on playing it :-p

[mue 26]

It would be nice to think so. I doubt it though. I think he started getting involved in street gangs and stuff, and everyone who has played Shenmue knows that gangs suck. Mind you, everyone who has played Shenmue 2 knows that gangs can also be cool as fuck, and if you join one you might get to be a total badarse like Ren.

[Qix]

First Time playing Shenmue was in early 2000, imported the Japanese Version, wasn't easy to Play without understanding but managed to see the end before the Bad Ending happens.

..and I was 29 then, guess I'm the oldest Fuck here around..

[Mitsuzuki]

We're probably about the same.

You shouting at kids to get off your lawn yet?

[lavrentis]

man there are so many beautiful stories in this topic! thank you all

Looking back I feel my somewhat beautiful story was spoiled by my swearing.

[Qix]

We're probably about the same.

You shouting at kids to get off your lawn yet?

I don't have a lawn.