by DreamcastPast » Tue May 06, 2014 1:46 pm
Great video James, really entertaining!
I got into Shenmue aged 29 as soon as I brought a Dreamcast in 2000. I'd just moved house after a big 6 year relationship split, so had plenty of time to spare and emotions were up and down, it just came at the right time for me. I'd get home late at night from my shift work, the house was quiet, it was dark outside, I'd put on Shenmue and relax into it. I have said the same in the past; when I first stepped outside the Hazuki main gate and heard the freeroam music I felt the potential depth of Shenmue, I could feel it would be emotional too. I just stood still and listened for a while, looking round, seeing a cat down to the right of me. Many times I'd wake up at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning having fallen asleep in front of the TV, clutching the controller, to see the first person view out of the forklift of a wall that had stopped me as I'd nodded off whilst moving crates in Yokosuka! I too felt like this was a place I was visiting rather than playing a game... Hanging around Dobuita at night around Christmas, seeing the drunk Santa, taking my time with it all, soaking it in, checking out as much as I could about the people 'living' in these new places I found myself.
It was at this time I put Shenmue down for a while, for no other reason than the bug when working in Yokosuka. I believe it only affects the Pal version. A necessary cut scene couldn't be triggered if you delivered the crates by driving the 'wrong' route to and from the warehouse, so you'd find yourself in this endless loop of crate delivery. I worked in Yokosuka for perhaps 2 weeks (real life weeks!). Anyhow, not having the internet back then I couldn't get past it and eventually sold my DC and Shenmue. Some years later I re-bought them after finding the solution (you had to drive the route past the white van at least once to trigger the needed scene) and eventually completed it, then tracked down a copy of Shenmue II and the rest is history...
Like you I was already into Japan by the time Shenmue came out, but Shenmue really hammered home my interest in all things Nihon. Both games have left a massive lasting impression with me, like most people here. Sometimes I feel a bit odd about attributing so much to a game, but that's just how it is...
DreamcastPast has received a thanks from: shengoro86