Shenmue was wayyyyyy ahead of its time

[sylentknyte]

As many times as it has been said its never been more true than today. Games like Heavy Rain, LA Noir, Yakuza and even the GTA series borrowed so much from Shenmue (whether they know it or not) and all of those series are hits. People are really interested in slower paced, thinking mans games now. I cant think of any other game series that was a whole decade ahead of its genre. Shenmue could really do well in todays market and I hope the amazing sales of games like Heavy Rain and LA Noir reinforce this for Sega. Not to mention Shenmue 3 could probably have average production costs nowadays. The big problem is Shenmue is a cult game on a cult system. It NEEDS to be released on XBL and the PSN. If it does happen all of us need to buy it and tell our friends about it. I mean you have influencial gamers like the HCG talking about it. Shenmue 3 could be a bit hit.

[ThyDarkAngel]

^Your pretty much right.

From the graphical groundbreaking achievement that is was to the open world/sandbox maturing that it did all the way to the cinematic (and still unrivalled) use of QTE, Shenmue influenced the medium as a whole in a deep way very few dare to admit.

[Riku Rose]

[Yamagashi-San]

I completely agree. It was very far ahead. One of the many things that shows what a masterpiece Shenmue is.

[sylentknyte]

I know its been said before (hence why I mentioned that in my original post) but it seems to me the last year or so has been the first time that many games have come out that are simaler to Shenmue. In 2000 a game as expansive as Shenmue was only accepted by a small market but now it seems like people eat these kind of games up.

[Bluecast]

God forbid anyone talk about shenmue on Shenmue forums. GASP WHAT A CRIME!

[Peter]

i thought the shitty picture gags left with dorian. Guess i was wrong

[Bluecast]

I do agree though that in many ways it was before it's time. Mainly the Tech involved to make it,mocap lip sync and the DC itself it ran on. As for the gameplay I don't think it was ahead of time but late. Point and click adventures were very popular in the early 90's. Shenmue is more of that genre but glorified. Had it been released within the last 2-3 years think it would have done much better. Or on PC in the mid 90's. Hard to guess. However if Shenmue III were to come out the time is now. Otherwise be too late again.

[mue 26]

^
Thats absolutely true, but the actually explorable world of Shenmue was a fairly new and novel idea at the time and then if you add in the way it blended the RPG elements into the adventure it was quite differernt to the old school point and clicks that allowed only limited freedom. Shenmue too may also only have allowed limited freedom and interactivity but it gave a good illusion and cast a brilliant spell (Hence why we're all still here).

Also agree the sooner they get Shenmue 3 out the better, otherwise if by a miracle it did come out years and years later it would just fade into obscurity again( But I wouldn't care, cause we got to see it at least!!).

[Bluecast]

Yeah if POS like Heavy Rain can get popular and now LA Noire(which I dearly want) Shenmue now is the time to be reborn.
However I have been saying it for a while Sega finally fucking gets it and is slowly bringing back a small part of older sega. PSO2,Sonic Generations and now Shinobi. I do think we need to count on these doing well for sega to bring more older IP's and finally hopefully look into Shenmue once more.

[oAzREZNoR]

God forbid anyone talk about shenmue on Shenmue forums. GASP WHAT A CRIME!

I'll be honest. it did seem to be going that way here for a bit...

[*Kenshin Himura*]

QTE's was a Brilliant idea for Video Games. Everytime I play a game that has QTE's I always say if it wasn't for Shenmue*

[Myles]

Totally agree and more. Gamers are growing up now. They play more grown up games.

[Bluecast]

QTE's was a Brilliant idea for Video Games. Everytime I play a game that has QTE's I always say if it wasn't for Shenmue*

Shenmue got QTE popular but did not invent it. Dragons Lair invented it in the 80's. Was also in many CD rom games on Sega CD and other CD based consoles/Add ons

[OL]

QTE's was a Brilliant idea for Video Games. Everytime I play a game that has QTE's I always say if it wasn't for Shenmue*

Dragon's Lair. Space Ace.
Both beat Shenmue to the punch.
(EDIT: And Ryudo beat ME to the punch.)

Still, I do agree that Shenmue could actually do incredibly well now. The only problem is... what would have to be sacrificed in order for it to be a hit?
I mean, let's face it, many of its flaws are just as integral to why we like it as are the things it does right.
The "bad" voice acting (and the muffled, "old movie" quality of it), the stiffness of some of its animation, the very deliberately slow pace, the events that have absolutely nothing to do with furthering the plot, etc etc etc...
All of those things help add to the charm and atmosphere that we all know and love. But with today's market being the way it is, how much do you think would be changed about it in order to compete with other modern games?
Kind of a scary thought. A Shenmue III released now would likely not be what we've all been hoping for.