Joining the Community

[Sonoshee]

Hey all,

I had no idea this community even existed until a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I was one that loved Shenmue but had given up on a continuation ever happening. I remember reading the Official Dreamcast Magazine with Ryo on the cover and wondering what in the world Shenmue was (I still have every issue and demo disc). Little did I know that it would turn into a lifelong favorite of mine.

The magazine previews and trailers that came on the discs were enough to entice me to preorder the first Shenmue. It was just one of those games that I couldn't put down (with the exception of sleep and work). There have been few games that really pulled me into the story in as close to a full immersion as I think a game has ever come. When it ended, I was disappointed as there was no ending, but was expecting it given the previews. I eagerly anticipated the sequel so I could continue the story. Then disaster.

Living in America, we were one of the only primary gaming communities to not get Shenmue II on Dreamcast and I had no intentions of buying an Xbox for the port. I cursed Sega for leaving us out, but it was them who truly cursed themselves as Sega has never been the same since the end of Dreamcast. I figured that my time with Shenmue was at an end until a couple of years later, a friend of mine in college had gotten into Dreamcast. He's about as hardcore a Dreamcast pirate as I had ever seen as he had download dozens of Dreamcast titles onto his computer... including the European version of Shenmue II. He offered to burn me a copy and I accepted in order to continue the story.

I had to read the subtitles in order to understand the depth of the story but it truly was a masterpiece; being an incredible continuation. I remember playing through it while my girlfriend at the time (now wife) watched me play. Once I was done and the cliffhanger left all of us up in the air, I started to hope to hear news of a continuation. As time dragged on, I had kept my Dreamcast primarily for the Shenmue games, but it seemed as though the story would never complete. I had given up hope of a continuation as Sega seemed to be in the gutter.

Then there were murmurings that Mark Cerni was in talks with Yu Suzuki about potentially reviving Shenmue on the PS4. I was truly excited at the prospect but the murmurings went away... until last E3. Before the show, people were anticipating a potential Shenmue 3 announcement as they do every year and I remember posting that it would never happen; I had given up hope. Of course, when Yu Suzuki walked out on stage my jaw dropped. They announced the Kickstarter campaign and I suppose the rest is now history.

Feeling a bit guilty about participating in pirating Shenmue 2, I put in $100 into the kickstarter. My wife remembered how much I enjoyed the series and regardless that money is tight for us gave the ok for the $100 backing as my birthday gift. I figure it would cover the $50 I would have paid for Shenmue II as well as the $50 I would happily pay for the third game.

I'm really excited to have been part of the kickstarter and it was seeing so many fans in the comments that made me decide to join Shenmue Dojo's community. I look forward to anticipating the new game with all of you on these boards and plan to eventually buy a Ryo Hazuki First Four figure for my shelf when I can come up with $150+ for it. Here's hoping that Sega announces an HD remaster of the first two games.

Telekill

[Bambi]

Hi Telekill, welcome to the Dojo!

You may want to check out this topic New Members Introduce Yourself!