A new book about Yu Suzuki

[Yokosuka]

No one read IGN France that is a new site. I'm still waiting to see the leading medias talking about this book. Perhaps they will after the official release but I think I'm going to tweet some of them anyway.

[Hyo Razuki]

No one read IGN France that is a new site. I'm still waiting to see the leading medias talking about this book. Perhaps they will after the official release but I think I'm going to tweet some of them anyway.

IGN is not big in France? OK, thanks for letting me know. Good idea to contact some of the mainstream media.

[Yokosuka]

Benjamin, I'm still intrigued by your preface. Marc Lacombe never seemed to be passionate of Sega neither a specialist of the arcade. He even claimed one day that the Saturn was the worst console ever and was bored by Shenmue 1. I really wonder what he could have said in your book.

[Benjamin Berget]

Hello everyone !

Regarding the fact that my book is little publicized, do not you worry, the promotional campaign that begins this coming week. For now, we just announce it.
Of course, everyone is free to speak about it to accelerate the movement !

Regarding "Marcus", this is the presenter of video game show the most famous in France, and I am very proud to have him on my project.
He spent his youth in arcade rooms on Hits by Yu Suzuki. His preface recounts how he spent the 1980s and 1990s, his passion for SEGA arcade games of the time, and I can tell you that it's great fun to read !

[Hyo Razuki]

^Done. I wrote some emails to the biggest video game and computer-related media in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.Perhaps some of them will cover the news about your book, although I think in non French-speaking countries people would be more interested in the English version. I think I'll do the same thing again once the English translation is out.

It never hurts to spread the word about Yu and Shenmue.

[DEVILLE_David]

Thanks for the feedback guys, appreciated !

[Benjamin Berget]

Thanks Hyo Razuki, that's the spirit.

(PS : whoa, my signature is very big... Someone knows how to reduce this ?)

[Hyo Razuki]

^One of the websites in Germany already covered your book. See the "News and Updates" thread: http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=49071

I hope some others will follow. I will keep updating my post on that thread, if I run into further German language articles on your book.

[Yokosuka]

Jeuxvideo.com (the most famous video gaming website in France) has announced the release :
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/442695/un ... tembre.htm

Well done guys.

[KidMarine]

Does Suzuki himself know about this? Having a book written about you is a pretty big honor!

[DEVILLE_David]

He's aware of it now as I got the chance to talk to him about it when we met today.

[johnvivant]

I have much to tell about the relationship between Yu Suzuki and SEGA, and you will soon discover in my book.

I hope there is nothing in there that is going to harm Suzuki's current relationship with Sega. We need to stay friendly with sega since they still own the IP.

Can Suzuki at least read the book before its released in order to give some kind of blessing?
Even if the information is accurate maybe there there things which he prefers not to be made known, at least at this point in time.

since you're a fan i assume that you have Suzuki's and shenmue's best interests in mind, so maybe my fears are unjustified.
thanks

ps.
I just don't want any more supposed 'controversies' associated with Shenmue.
With shenmue 3 in development a lot is at stake.

[Hyo Razuki]

^Not too sure about that. I prefer reading critical journalism over all that "officially approved" stuff.

Also I think, for the sake of Shenmue it is better this way. This way, if something highly controversial surfaces in that book, Yu can always say "I didn't approve of the book and I was in no way involved in it" to Sega, whereas if he officially approves of it and there is still some things in there which he thought were OK but Sega don't like, then Yu could be in trouble.

That said, I still think you're overreacting a bit. YS Net and Sega have a signed contract about Shenmue 3 and the project has been funded long before the book's release.

On top of that, remember the book is in French. English translation seems to be on its way but is still a maybe at the moment and Japanese translation probably won't happen. At least not anytime soon. I doubt that someone in SegaSammy's higher management will be able to and take the time to read a 500+ pages book on a former employee - in French.

[James Brown]

Yu Suzuki is still working as a consultant for Sega if my memory is right so I guess they still have a good relationship.

I have to say that I do not know what's inside the book beside the content that I've translated and/or been working on, like my 2 pages etc.

The book will probably never be available in japanese. But what's important here is Yu Suzuki exposure and the games he has created so far, Shenmue included.

If we keep providing our support like we've been doing for the past years, great things will happen. When I say good news are on the way, I mean it.

So let's keep going

[Benjamin Berget]

Hello,
I will try to reassure you friends, by saying first that I never wrote this book with the intention to harm anyone.
I started this book in 2010, in parallel to my trilogy on "L’Histoire des jeux polémiques." I love Shenmue, and from there I expanded the circle of increasing my research, and I've never stop writing, hence the 500 pages. As soon as I found a publisher, last year, I paused on the last volume "L’Histoire des jeux polémiques" (after two volumes published) and I'm dedicated myself only on Yu Suzuki, for whom I have great admiration.

Second, I am a journalist and foremost, my duty is to inform readers. My book does not have to serve the interests of a person or an editor. It is a biography, not an apology.
To help you understand what I mean, I'll give you a concrete example.
It happens that there is a book formalized by SEGA in France, called "L'Histoire de Sonic the Hedgehog".
It is a book made by people I know very well and I really appreciate in human terms.
On the form, the book is a beautiful object that provides a panorama of the Sonic games.
But I was saddened because the dark side developments of misfire games simply is not in this book, because SEGA would not permit it. This kind of censorship is to me unthinkable.

Last,if you go on the website of the publisher you will have the accurate presentation of my book:
"Discover Yū Suzuki as he is, through his childhood and adolescence, his philosophy of the game, visions, worship games and unfinished projects."