Shenmue Dojo

This might seem like a random question, but is Shenmue I too SEGA?

I've just finished day 3 of my rediscovery game and I can't help but notice SEGA, SEGA, SEGA everywhere I turn.

I know Suzuki is a SEGA legend but is there any need for this in your face marketing? There's the Saturn at the Hazuki home, the Sonic and VF toy capsule machines, the SEGA branded batteries at the Tomato store, the huge SEGA sign on top of the buildings in Dobuita, the second lot of toy capsule machines outside the arcade, the arcade games, the motorbike mechanic's SEGA branded jacket
... I get it, I get it!

So, why exactly is the game so SEGA?

Because Sega funded it. And this game was really their last hurrah. It was their last big time exclusive triple A title on their own hardware. They held nothing back and poured so much money into this thing. It was only natural for them to really leave their mark all over the game world of Shenmue 1. It was the best way of letting people know "Yeah, WE created this!" They were proud of this game and for good reason. There was nothing like it at the time. Even to this day it still holds up (in my opinion).

...It's a Sega game. It's meant to be fan service, not 'in your face marketing'.

As Miles said, fan service.
They would get absolutely nowhere self-advertising in a game that was on their own console.

Re-playing this game only a few weeks back, I'm so thankful that they did put their logo everywhere. The nostalgia was literally dripping from the screen!

You guys are all wrong. Shenmue was obviously a very expensive marketing campaign to get people to buy a defunct console and master system games.

I actually love the Sega vibe that Shenmue radiates profusely. The Dreamcast was a flash in the pan, but if you ask me those were their golden years in terms of the games they released.

Sounds to me like there's not enough SEGA.

It's the best of SEGA though, that's a very good thing and 100% welcomed. Adds to the charm.

Well if you think about it, many other games share this thing to it. They promote the creators and/or organisations associated with the game. It is pretty much a normal thing to do but yeah Shenmue did get a little overboard with its capsule toys and stuff, at least it's not straight in your face, that'd be a desperate attempt in hijacking your wallet. Just think, Shenmue 3 is going to have our backer's names all over it, why? Because its assocaited with the game, thats why. They need to have the stuff in there which have happened to make the game get there in the first place.

Kinda makes me think that Suzuki-san should have a cameo somewhere in Shenmue 3, in the same way that Hitchcock did in his films.

I think the question I was trying to ask was, why go to all the effort of making the most realistic and interactive open world game of all time to then take some of that realism away by going overboard on the Sega branding?

Of course it's SEGA. Even the guy who played Iwao in the Japanese version was Segata Sanshiro, the Sega Saturn mascot!

iyapol wrote: I think the question I was trying to ask was, why go to all the effort of making the most realistic and interactive open world game of all time to then take some of that realism away by going overboard on the Sega branding?

Because Sega was the shit back in the day:







The days Sega couldn't be underestimated.

Wude-Tang Clan wrote: Kinda makes me think that Suzuki-san should have a cameo somewhere in Shenmue 3, in the same way that Hitchcock did in his films.

That's a great idea. Similar to how that Sega representative had a cameo in SI in that restaurant. What's his name? Mr. Yukawa or something. If I remember correctly, Ryo had to win the raffle at Abe Store to get the figure, and then Yukawa would be at that restaurant between 20:00 and 21:00. But as soon as you looked at him he'd run away lol. I'm sure Yu-san can come up with a clever way to implement himself into the world of Shenmue!

iyapol wrote: I think the question I was trying to ask was, why go to all the effort of making the most realistic and interactive open world game of all time to then take some of that realism away by going overboard on the Sega branding?

So having sega branded stuff is what bothers you and not the fact that Ryo sleeps and wakes up wearing his clothes, never eats or shits and can sprint around without ever needing to catch a breath?

The environments are only loosely based on real life locations too, they're hardly 1:1 copies.