Shenmue Feature on Gamasutra...

[willmame]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26913/Analysis_On_Shenmue__Dare_to_Be_Dull.php

[Jokatech19]

I've come to believe that Sega will never crack. This campaign is useless now. All the industry wants is gore and more GOW clones. Shenmue is becoming less and less appealing to the bloodthirsty media.

[OL]

All the industry wants is gore and more GOW clones. Shenmue is becoming less and less appealing to the bloodthirsty media.

Jesus fucking SHIT, Shenmue fans are getting irritating to listen to now.
That "everyone just wants blood and gore!!1!" excuse has overstayed its welcome.
No, not everyone wants blood and gore now. With primarily story-based games like Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 selling very well (and getting excellent reviews), as well as the Wii being the most popular console and the Zelda series being a constant success (along with about a hundred other points I could name), I think the "everyone just wants gore" excuse has been proven thoroughly false at this point.
We haven't gotten Shenmue 3 because the first two didn't sell well enough.
That's it.
Now quite whining about shit that isn't even true.

[Crimson Ryan]

If this came out of the news that Famitsu ran an article on Shenmue and more Shenmue games, we should be happy mainstream media have finally started picking up the craze once again. People probably haven't seen Shenmue news since the Online announcement, this should hopefully get people talking again.

[SpikyAd]

All the industry wants is gore and more GOW clones. Shenmue is becoming less and less appealing to the bloodthirsty media.

Jesus fucking SHIT, Shenmue fans are getting irritating to listen to now.
That "everyone just wants blood and gore!!1!" excuse has overstayed its welcome.
No, not everyone wants blood and gore now. With primarily story-based games like Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 selling very well (and getting excellent reviews), as well as the Wii being the most popular console and the Zelda series being a constant success (along with about a hundred other points I could name), I think the "everyone just wants gore" excuse has been proven thoroughly false at this point.
We haven't gotten Shenmue 3 because the first two didn't sell well enough.
That's it.
Now quite whining about shit that isn't even true.

Dont forget Final Fantasy.

[Bluecast]

All the industry wants is gore and more GOW clones. Shenmue is becoming less and less appealing to the bloodthirsty media.

Jesus fucking SHIT, Shenmue fans are getting irritating to listen to now.
That "everyone just wants blood and gore!!1!" excuse has overstayed its welcome.
No, not everyone wants blood and gore now. With primarily story-based games like Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 selling very well (and getting excellent reviews), as well as the Wii being the most popular console and the Zelda series being a constant success (along with about a hundred other points I could name), I think the "everyone just wants gore" excuse has been proven thoroughly false at this point.
We haven't gotten Shenmue 3 because the first two didn't sell well enough.
That's it.
Now quite whining about shit that isn't even true.

And as much as I love NMH series I love Okami and Klonoa and Shenmue remains my fave game ever along with other faves as Skies of Arcadia Grandia II Ace Attorney series and LOVE the click and point genre..so recent titles like Hotel Dusk and it upcoming sequel I want Last Window..hell anything by Cing is class.

If anything blood and gor games were more popular in the 90's esp early 90's.

[Jokatech19]

It may not be attibuted to blood and gore, but there is definitely hesitance and doubt within these companies to deal with finishing Shenmue. Or maybe it's paranoia on Sega's part. I seriously believe that Shenmue 3 would do much better than they expect if it were to be released properly. I mean, all I want is at least an MMORPG/offline finish to the series. I don't think it would be too much of a headache to push that out.

[redline]

"Well -- Shenmue was, almost ten years ago, a hideously flawed game. Today, it is a hideously flawed game with a thick coating of cheese and clunky to the point of inadequate controls"



what a load of shite

[Kenny]

Well, they're right.

Shenmue has its moments and achievements but I don't think its a particularly well made game overall either. Its what put me off at first. I thought the controls were broken, the story and dialogue were terrible, and the fight mechanics were god awful.

To be honest, I still do but I was more tolerant of it at the time. Now i'm back to be intolerant since i've been terribly spoiled with games with better stories and controls since. Shenmue is one of those franchises I whole heardedly think it'd benefit with an overhaul. Keep the things that made it special, like the little easter eggs, mini-games, weather effects, and realistic time schedules. But change everything else except maybe the plot and story flow. The events in Shenmue II were quite good but my god, the acting and dialogue was terrible. Even in Japanese.

[Riku Rose]

Got to agree with Kenny Shenmue ain't the amazing game that some make it out to be. It's a great game but not the best. I've never understood how people can like the fighting as it is quite bad. I still really like the series and will most likely play the game again in a couple of years and buy the third game on the first day. But some people here need to accept it ain't a perfect game.

[Bluecast]

I actually agree to some extent but the cheese factor IMO is not intentional but comes from the horrendous voice acting.
It does have many flaws and the controls are a bit clunky,however didn't stop it from being a great game.

Those things can be fixed and with a little polish it could be better.
I didn't read the article only commenting what Redline quoted out of context.

Still a great game and my fave ever but it was too ambitious and is still a love or hate thing as it's such a different type of game than many it makes it very difficult to be middle ground about it.


The lovers overrate it and the haters underrate it so it normally goes two extremes.

[Kenny]

I still think the production values are of high quality, especially for its time. The level of detail and humungous enviornments are still a marvel. When I would play Shenmue before, the first really, i'd just like to walk around and admire the sights. It was just one of those games.

Especially in a time where great games like Uncharted 2 still feel constricted within its environment. Shenmue lets you rome around freely and such and give the illusion of an open environment. Modern sandbox games like GTA4 does too but Shenmue made the extra effort to make it seem realistic, like the forementioned real time schedule for the NPCs and weather effects.

So not to knock off its pedestal, there are good things I like about it, but the bulk of it needs serious improvement. I don't think just changing the voice actors alone would solve it. They need a new Mo-cap system like the one for Uncharted, where the actors themselves not only voice but provide the movements. Basically taking their acting and digitizing it. Shenmue would benefit greatly from that. And Ryo being the monotone Ronin boy, okay I mean that can work I guess. But jesus, give him a little more personality here and there. Or a better method of expressing himself. Like accentuating his voice or something. The other characters are completely inexcusable.

[Bluecast]

I still think the production values are of high quality, especially for its time. The level of detail and humungous enviornments are still a marvel. When I would play Shenmue before, the first really, i'd just like to walk around and admire the sights. It was just one of those games.

Especially in a time where great games like Uncharted 2 still feel constricted within its environment. Shenmue lets you rome around freely and such and give the illusion of an open environment. Modern sandbox games like GTA4 does too but Shenmue made the extra effort to make it seem realistic, like the forementioned real time schedule for the NPCs and weather effects.

So not to knock off its pedestal, there are good things I like about it, but the bulk of it needs serious improvement. I don't think just changing the voice actors alone would solve it. They need a new Mo-cap system like the one for Uncharted, where the actors themselves not only voice but provide the movements. Basically taking their acting and digitizing it. Shenmue would benefit greatly from that.

And Ryo being the monotone Ronin boy, okay I mean that can work I guess. But jesus, give him a little more personality here and there. Or a better method of expressing himself. Like accentuating his voice or something. The other characters are completely inexcusable.

Agreed.

Also I would like to be more in charge of my choices when talking to people and they ask me something.
Sometime like when Ryo's friends or when in a restraunt they asked if he wanted to go somewhere or eat ,be nice if we didn't get a "not....really" from Ryo and knocking on doors be nice to go inside as a choice or something(I know the last part was more to the technical limitations)

You talk about detail I think that is another reason I get annoyed with people shitting themselves over GTA4 or Heavy rain when they reuse so much and most things around them look cookie cutter.

[Master Kyodai]

While the sqaying "Shenmue ain't the best game ever, get over it" may be true it is also true that this wasn't true. When Shenmue came out it WAS a sensation in terms of graphics, large detailed areas, loads of well composed music and well researched and detailed characters.

When Shenmue 1 came out in 1999 it was the worlds best game from nearly every point of view. Of course you can never satisfy just everyone, there's people that wouldn't touch it because you cant get a gun or because you can't fly a helicopter. But back in the days it was the most impressive game released on a console and remained that for quite a while.

Of course it is now, over 10 years later a bit less appealing than it was back in the days. I never really "ranted" about Shenmue II as it was not really bad, but it never had this appeal for me that Shenmue 1 gave me. There are several factors for that from my point of view. In Shenmue 1 Ryo had the "home advantage", having personal ties to the characters and locations making it much easier to identify and "live" with Ryo, feeling with him and really being "alive" in Yokosuka.

In Shenmue 2 you somehow lsoe all ties, but at some points it looks like the game replaced quality with quantity. In Yokosuka i always felt like in a real japanese city, although it was a quite limited area it was made quite cleverly giving the impression you really go through a small japanese town.

Hong Kong is not really made "terrible", there are some quite nice and convincing areas while others just don't give the impression of being "in Hong Kong". Wan Chai is mostly quite well, but other parts lack detail and seem way too linear simply offering nothing to discover. I personally especially dislike the Kowloon part as it's obviously resembling the Kowloon Walled city and if you know (or better: Knew) the real walled city you'd cry what a pathetic version the Shenmue walled city is. Not that Shenmue 1 Yokosuka is totally authentic, but it is simply very convincing. I think the worst thing in Shenmue 2 is that it has neither a beginning nor an ending. That's why imho releasing "just Shenmue 2" on xbox was one of the worst decisions in the history of video games.

To be back on topic - the feature on Gamasutra itself doesn't mean nor change much, but the quite frequent mentionings of Shenmue at various places are actually a good sign. Let there be 10 times the echo and we might finally get the lobby Shenmue 3 requires. AFter all video games are not made for fun, but due to public demand. If there is enough demand there are good chances someone sees a potential in selling the demanded game.

[Kenny]

I would love that too.

It goes back to my fetish of customization and a wide array of choices to get the most out of my experience, but I think it'd make a better game. Hell, it might give it the hype and wide audience it deserves. In this day, going into different apartments and making different choices that shape the story as it goes is definietly doable. Just a matter if SEGA thinks its worth the investment or not.

It's one of the top reasons why Omikron is one of my favorite games and why i'm looking forward to the Mass Effect series if and when I get a 360. In both (to a much greater extent in ME), the story is basically the same but you can alter the pathway and create a different kind of story in the end. I love that concept. I means I can replay it and get a different outcome in the middle. Pretend i'm in the control of a movie. Heavy Rain in particular can be an extention of that but I don't think it'll do it justice. The interactivity element plays a great factor, not just making a choice and see how it plays out. But I disgress.

But adding one or two of those would give Shenmue greater depth.