Shenmue In The Media

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Shenmue In The Media

Postby Giorgio » Fri Dec 06, 2013 3:58 pm

Just like "Small Tidbit Gaming News" but for all things Shenmue.

P.S.: If you have a better topic title in mind, then it would be nice to tell me.


Why Every Sega Fan Should Tweet #ShenmueIII
http://www.policymic.com/articles/75569 ... shenmueiii
Last week, some malicious brigand applied for a fake trademark in the name of fallen gaming giant Sega's rumored, but never confirmed, Shenmue III. Fans of the classic video game franchise quickly took to Twitter to show their love, and before Sega could scream "Holy Golden Rings, Sonic!," #ShenmueIII was trending. This meant two very important things: Fans like yours truly got a chance once again to rant about how awesome Shenmue was, and Sega got a reminder that its current mantra of mediocrity is not okay.

If you don't know what Shenmue (I or II) is, you should. The game serves as a reminder of Sega's in its glory days, a time before it was crushed by Nintendo and when it made art instead of Ghost Squad and Super Monkey Ball.

In the early '90s, there was serious beef between Sega and Nintendo. It was so bad that they even punked each other on TV.

Nintendo was home to genius director Shigeru Miyamoto, who brought with him franchises like Mario, Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Metroid, and Pokemon. In Sega's corner was another genius, Yu Suzuki, who along with his development team AM2 (basically Sega's Pixar) churned out classics like Virtua Fighter, Hang-On, After Burner, and Space Harrier. Gamers can quickly see the difference between Nintendo and Sega's offerings.

Like a falcon, Nintendo rose to awesomeness. It swiftly moved from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Nintendo, or SNES) to the Nintendo 64 (N64). Sega's trajectory, on the other hand, was more akin to a submarine closing in on "E." It went from Genesis to Saturn to Dreamcast. Clearly, things were falling.

In a desperate attempt to stay relevant, Sega called in Suzuki, who had mostly done work for their arcade market at that point. He was essentially told, "Just give us a masterpiece." About $47 million later, he gave them Shenmue.

In many ways, Suzuki's ambitious project represented a growth of the gaming medium. Long before Grand Theft Auto and Elder Scrolls, Shenmue had an open-world environment, wherein peripheral characters went about their daily lives, and environments were interactive in an unprecedented way. More than just displaying technical advancement (which is what games today think qualifies as innovation), Shenmue had some moments of artistic mastery. When a game is willing to sit by and let the player drive across town with the girl he loves — both knowing that life will never be the same — you know you've come across something far more special than the rain of bullets and fists typically found in gaming.

Add that to a fantastic musical score, some of the company's signature terrible voice acting, and more references to classic games than you can count, and it was enough to leave any fan of Sega's glory days teary-eyed.

Unfortunately, Shenmue didn't sell. Even its critical response was wildly varied. Sega, now realizing the Dreamcast was done, partnered with Microsoft to bring Shenmue II to America on the Xbox. It still didn't sell (but what did Sega expect when it only gave American Xbox owners the second half of the story, anyway?).

Suzuki was never quite forgiven by Sega after this loss, and slowly drifted away from mainstream gaming. Shenmue II was the final installment we got of the series, and Shenmue's protagonist Ryo Hazuki never got his revenge.

Shenmue's story should reminde Sega that fans still remember the days when the company had real ambition, was willing to take risks, and wasn't content with mediocrity. Shenmue II was among the last games in which the company actually pushed the envelope. Now, Sonic is simply passable, those terrible Mario/Sonic crossovers are an insult to what used to be a 90s dream fight, Virtua Fighter keeps piling unnecessary new costumes and moves onto an old game, and we still don't have a Jet Set Radio (remember, Sega, this game spear-headed the cel-shaded graphics revolution!). Hell, Nintendo even made a better Sonic game than Sega ever did.

In many ways, Sega is a lot like Pixar. Both companies somehow lost their genius touch along the way. But Sega no longer being a console maker doesn't mean that it should be thought of as just another company. Bioware, Crytek, and Bethesda don't own consoles, but no one can deny that they're a force to be reckoned with.

The fact that Shenmue III can trend on Twitter after all these years is proof there are still fans who remember that Sega does what Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can't. So, Sega, please remember your roots, and start being awesome again. Getting Suzuki back and letting him make Shenmue III would be a good place to start.
Last edited by Giorgio on Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby ShenmueTree » Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:10 pm

https://twitter.com/TwitchTV/status/409055005191065600

Will Shenmue III win #VGXMostAnticipated? Find out live on DECEMBER 7 at #VGX. http://bit.ly/184K0Ca pic.twitter.com/na1fu3E16r

official tweet from twitch. It's probably just a joke.

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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby Giorgio » Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:13 pm

ShenmueTree wrote:[...] It's probably just a joke.

It doesn't seem a malicious one. But, in any case, they got a lot of RTs they wanted... Despite that, it's nice to see the buzz around Shenmue III going.


A chat SEGA Nerds held with Imran Yusuf a Stand-Up Comedian and a massive Shenmue fan.

From their Twitter account:
"The hilarious @imranyusuf will be joining the SEGA Nerdcast tomorrow to talk #Shenmue, SEGA and his recent trip to Yokosuka, Japan!"
"We're kicking off the Nerdcast with @imranyusuf to talk Shenmue and more. Come hang with your #SEGA friends:"
phpBB [video]

If you want to skip to Imran's segments he appears from 0:06:20 to 0:09:05 and from 0:11:20 to 0:34:00.

Imran on his Twitter account:
"Great chat on @SEGANerds, my idea is to introduce Ryo, Lan Di etc as playable characters in the next Virtua Fighter #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense"

He also talked about his experience in the gaming industry where he worked for, his trip to Yokosuka - Japan, his experiences with Shenmue and what he and they love about it and, last but not least, about #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense and how SEGA should approach Shenmue's fate. It's a very interesting and entertaining watch.

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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby Giorgio » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:58 pm

GameTrailers Top 10 Unresolved Cliffhangers - Shenmue Ranked #2.
http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/twta ... iffhangers
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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby Crimson Ryan » Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:47 pm

Five Dormant SEGA IPs Atlus Should Take On
#2: Shenmue

I can keep dreaming, right? Shenmue III is never going to happen, but what would it look like under the guide of Atlus?

If there is one thing that sets Persona apart from the rest of the JRPG crowd, it’s the intricate social interactions which run so deeply into its core systems. Shenmue is a game completely about social interactions. Talking to NPCs, improving relationships, uncovering a mystery of local gangs and rogue martial arts masters.

There is a real sense of community in Shenmue, one that has only been mirrored a few times in the past. Both Persona 3 and Persona 4 are among those that have come close.

The classic martial arts epic setting, straight from the old days of SEGA, and realistic graphics don’t mesh too well with the modern anime look that is often identified with Atlus, but when coming up with new ideas for how to proceed with this talky series, Atlus might be able to chip in a few brain cells.
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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby Giorgio » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:45 am

Don't get your hopes up of course, just at CES'14 "Hip Hop Gamer" got a Shenmue Response from a Sony PR:
phpBB [video]


By the way, can we all upvote this comment by Shenmue NextGen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv2rRkIMJJM&google_comment_id=z13eyjvonojujnf4m04cgn3j0tueg1wbgb0

That will help the #SaveShenmue comment and TeamYu campaign details to appear in the Top comments.

Please and thanks!
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Re: Small Tidbit Shenmue News

Postby MiTT3NZ » Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:05 pm

None of it's actually news really though, is it? "Shenmue Mentioned in the Media" or just "Shenmue in the Media" would be a much more apt title, imo.
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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby Giorgio » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:28 pm

MiTT3NZ wrote: None of it's actually news really though, is it? "Shenmue Mentioned in the Media" or just "Shenmue in the Media" would be a much more apt title, imo.

As I've said in the first post, it would be nice to hear a better topic title you may have in mind or come up with one. Thank you for the suggestion. Okay, I have updated the topic's title as "Shenmue In The Media". However, I will still be open for an even better title suggestion...

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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby MiTT3NZ » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:16 pm

The IGN team reflect on when they came to the realisation that they were adults playing video games. Shenmue gets a mention. Very brief, but relatable nonetheless.

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/01/13/w ... n-up-gamer
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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby Erevador » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:46 pm

I think this article on Kotaku is very notable...
http://kotaku.com/shenmue-fans-sure-are ... 1500240326

Kotaku is one of the most widely read gaming blogs on the net, so a lot of people just had Shenmue and the possibility of Shenmue 3 brought to their minds. This is exactly the kind of conversation that I think those of us who want to see Shenmue 3 happen really need to encourage!

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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby Axm » Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:47 pm

Thank god we got a mention. This is the kind of stuff we need. Mass recognition at a time like this is only making our chances better.
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Guardian: Shenmue–discovering the Sega classic 14 years too

Postby Giorgio » Fri May 02, 2014 8:40 am

The Guardian: Shenmue – discovering the Sega classic 14 years too late

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... s-too-late

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Chilean Newpaper Top 10 Worst Games of All Time includes She

Postby Giorgio » Sun May 04, 2014 10:27 am

Chilean Newpaper's Top 10 Worst Games of All Time includes Okami, Shenmue, Psychonauts and more

http://www.gamepur.com/news/14497-chile ... sycho.html

left a comment over at NeoGAF

1º. ET (Atari - 1982)
2º. Pac Man (Atari - 1982) * they say it's for the lot of bugs of this version *
3º. Desert Bus (Sega - 1995)
4º. Grim Fandango (LucasArts - 1998) WTF!!!
5º. Shenmue (Sega - 1999) TRIPLE WTF!!!
6º. Daikatana (Eidos - 2000)
7º. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (Stellas Stone - 2003)
8º. Psychonauts (Double Fine - 2005) Ufff...
9º. Okami (Clover Studio - 2006) Just unbelievable...
10º. Duke Nukem Forever (Gearbox - 2011)


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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby BlueMue » Sun May 04, 2014 11:45 am

Seems they really needed some attention...
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Re: Shenmue In The Media

Postby Giorgio » Mon May 05, 2014 8:03 pm

^The author is protesting innocence: http://www.tarreo.com/noticias/39963/LU ... o-explota/

It appears it was a publishing mistake from the part of that newspaper's publishers. A look into Wikipedia's article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... e_failures, reveals the similarities between those two lists. Therefore that LUN newspaper put a wrong headline and probably went wrong into describing what's the situation of those games.

It's so negatively mesmerizing how all the good games are named as under-performers...
All those good games, like:
    - Beyond Good & Evil
    - EarthBound
    - Grim Fandango
    - The Last Express
    - Ōkami (!)
    - Psychonauts (!)
    - Shenmue (dot dot dot . . .)
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