Getting people to play Shenmue I and II is a hard task, advices?

Yeah its pretty hard to introduce new gamers to Shenmue. Being that its over 20 years later some elements are starting to show there age. More importantly though IMO you had to experience Shenmue during that Dreamcast era, it was brilliant and magical. Being a new gamer to Shenmue just don't hit the same.
 
I think it can only help if we keep playing Shenmue from time to time, even only for the statistics they collect. Playing games, watching streams and videos on youtube.... It's a good thing, right? :) When the game is on 80 percent promotion ($5-6) gift it to a friend who doesn't have the games without asking him. Even if only one of ten tests the games, I still think it helps to make revenue.

Maybe it's more important to buy more copies of Shenmue 3 than I and II remasters. Buying remasters not necessarily means that people want new games. At least publishers sometimes understand it like "Old gamers wants old games and they need more remasters. They don't buy newly created games."

Deep silver will never share statistics on how many Shenmue 3 copies are sold to the customers. However, if Shenmue 4 is made, the sales of the game are directly related to how many people have Shenmue 3. There is no way the 4th will sell more than the 3th. Unless they change the name and advertise it as a standalone game.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
Yeah its pretty hard to introduce new gamers to Shenmue. Being that its over 20 years later some elements are starting to show there age. More importantly though IMO you had to experience Shenmue during that Dreamcast era, it was brilliant and magical. Being a new gamer to Shenmue just don't hit the same.
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to me it did, I played it in Christmas 2020 for the first time, I had to take a break of over two years and played Shenmue II only in 2023

it hit me just the same way or even better as when I played Ocarina of Time in 1998 when I was a 13 year old kid

Shenmue I and II became my favourite games ever, I think about them nearly everyday
 
thedemon1238 said:
I think it can only help if we keep playing Shenmue from time to time, even only for the statistics they collect. Playing games, watching streams and videos on youtube.... It's a good thing, right? :) When the game is on 80 percent promotion ($5-6) gift it to a friend who doesn't have the games without asking him. Even if only one of ten tests the games, I still think it helps to make revenue.

Maybe it's more important to buy more copies of Shenmue 3 than I and II remasters. Buying remasters not necessarily means that people want new games. At least publishers sometimes understand it like "Old gamers wants old games and they need more remasters. They don't buy newly created games."

Deep silver will never share statistics on how many Shenmue 3 copies are sold to the customers. However, if Shenmue 4 is made, the sales of the game are directly related to how many people have Shenmue 3. There is no way the 4th will sell more than the 3th. Unless they change the name and advertise it as a standalone game.
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players buy old games if they are modernized, see the horrible Capcom remakes of Resident Evil, with terrible cliche stories and trash action sold like water in the desert

My bet is Shenmue games are too much for the big crowd, Im starting to think theres a reason why Marvel movies are blockbusters and Resident Evil games are best sellers
 
Wong Shen said:
players buy old games if they are modernized, see the horrible Capcom remakes of Resident Evil, with terrible cliche stories and trash action sold like water in the desert

My bet is Shenmue games are too much for the big crowd, Im starting to think theres a reason why Marvel movies are blockbusters and Resident Evil games are best sellers
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I dont think Shenmue is to much for the mainstream audience. Shenmue is just a unique franchise completely different than any other game. Shenmue is a game ahead of its time.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
I dont think Shenmue is to much for the mainstream audience. Shenmue is just a unique franchise completely different than any other game. Shenmue is a game ahead of its time.
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I wanted to say, Shenmue was mainstream when it was released for the SEGA Dreamcast

but for that audience, much like Virtua Fighter was for SEGA fans and then players who moved to PS2

Virtua never reached a wider audience like Tekken
Silent Hill never reached a wider audience like Resident Evil
No One Lives Forever never reached a wider audience like Half-Life
and Shenmue never reached an audience as big as Yakuza

all these have something in common

Shenmue shares a lot with No One Lives Forever in terms of marketing and release time

NOLF was stuck in PC with high requirements and it received a broken port for the PS2 years later, despite winning several game of the year awards when it was released in 2000, it remained relatively unknown to the big public compared to other first person shooters


today its a hidden gem, like Shenmue

Shenmue had the lucky of coming back, NOLF and its sequel are stuck in copyright hell, the only hope is Microsoft purchase Activision and they partner with WB Games to release the games again for the XBOX

Shenmue is like an indie game now, I want to say being a superb product is not enough if your marketing strategy sucks, NOLF and SHENMUE were victims of their time


and NOLF1 is a hell of a good game, I think today Shenmue is my favourite, but NOLF was my favourite for over 20 years , sadly it was also a commercial failure

(the main characters also ride motorcycles lol)
 

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I have never liked something because somebody suggested I may like it. Games, films, tv, anything really. Something I end up liking almost always happens because I found out about it myself. If anything, when people say I would like something, I end up being disappointed by it. You go in with high expectations when somebody suggests something, it's natural, it's not something you can really avoid, so I think it's better just to find something yourself.
 
Hermit said:
I have never liked something because somebody suggested I may like it. Games, films, tv, anything really. Something I end up liking almost always happens because I found out about it myself. If anything, when people say I would like something, I end up being disappointed by it. You go in with high expectations when somebody suggests something, it's natural, it's not something you can really avoid, so I think it's better just to find something yourself.
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Same here. I have to discover things for myself to know if I like them or not. I am very stubborn in that regard.

Getting new people to like Shenmue is noble quest but I think it is rather futile one.

Shenmue is special. It consists of many different elements. it is unlike many games even up to this day.

you cannot just tell people" hey if like game x then you will Shenmue automatically."

It is not simple unfortunately.

Shemue is mixture of a classic point and click andventure ( a dead genre these days) and a exploring and fighting game.

It is realy hard to recommend for the main stream gamer that just plays mainstream stuff today.
 
9dragons said:
It is not simple unfortunately.
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It is simple but when short ages, indoctrinating kids since babies is very simple. The bedtime tales, lullabies and so on pivoting around Shenmue without neglecting. Add martial arts training and movies, Sega History and legacy - Theory & Practice. Bang! Seed planted, you made a Shenmue fan. I did it already several times.
This idea came to me years ago thanks to Nolan's Inception.
 
9dragons said:
Shemue is mixture of a classic point and click andventure ( a dead genre these days) and a exploring and fighting game.

It is realy hard to recommend for the main stream gamer that just plays mainstream stuff today.
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To me, Shenmue is more like a Quantic Dream game that is not linear, its story driven, but you have a full world to explore and the gameplay has some depth

If you played those youll notice Shenmue influence.

If a player liked Heavy Rain or Detroit Become Human, theres a big chance he will like Shenmue

except for the outdated graphics, which I think are still good to my eyes, as its how videogame graphics should look like (games arent meant to try to be real life-like)
 
@Seaman Tha's an interesting take.

@Wong Shen Also a very interesting point. I would not agree completely because ther quantic dream games are more playable movies with horrible controls that kill the fun of these games some elements might be similar. But Shenmue is at least for me different beast altogether. Shenmue is real game and it it has controls that makes it playable.

The atmosphere of the quantic dream games is quite deep though similar to Shenmue. So I can see where you are coming from.
 
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9dragons said:
@Seaman Tha's an interesting take.

@Wong Shen Also a very interesting point. I would not agree completely because ther quantic dream games are more playable movies with horrible controls that kill the fun of these games some elements might be similar. But Shenmue is at least for me different beast altogether. Shenmue is real game and it it has controls that makes it playable.

The atmosphere of the quantic dream games is quite deep though similar to Shenmue. So I can see where you are coming from.
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the first Quantic Dream game is Omikron: The Nomad Soul, also for the SEGA Dreamcast. Then they released Indigo Prophecy.

No One Lives Forever 2 is also influenced by Shenmue at some degree.

in NOLF1 the world is not interactive, but in NOLF2 you can open almost every cabinet and drawer, to search for clues and documents, something that was done before in Shenmue 1

this is either good and bad, good because it makes the game more immersive, bad because it breaks the pace of the game

NOLF1 is more action oriented and its an overall much better game with a high replay value due to its stealth mechanics. In NOLF2 they went too much for realism.


I can also see Shenmue influence in NOLF1, as dialogue has multiple options to choose from, which will end in different results. I dont know many games that did that before Shenmue.
 
Wong Shen said:
I can also see Shenmue influence in NOLF1, as dialogue has multiple options to choose from, which will end in different results. I dont know many games that did that before Shenmue.
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Agreed at all Shenmue 1 achievements and influences except for this part. There was a plethora of text adventures, point & clicks and rpgs prior to Shenmue with interactive dialogues altering the course of the game in more or less degree. For example Broken Sword, FFVII Gold Saucer date event. And dialogues in Shenmue weren't as much decisive.
 
@Wong Shen I really need to try out Nolf 2 soon. It really sounds interesting. I do not know why I have never played Nolf 2 to be honest. I am a big fan of the first Nolf. I have finished it 3 times.

@Seaman is right about the adventures. They were very good with their different answer path. The old Indiana Jones Games and also Bathomet's Fluch (Broken Sword for the non native german speakers) were really good with that.
 
9dragons said:
@Wong Shen I really need to try out Nolf 2 soon. It really sounds interesting. I do not know why I have never played Nolf 2 to be honest. I am a big fan of the first Nolf. I have finished it 3 times.

@Seaman is right about the adventures. They were very good with their different answer path. The old Indiana Jones Games and also Bathomet's Fluch (Broken Sword for the non native german speakers) were really good with that.
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NOLF2 is a good game, it used newer technology back in the day for the graphics and even had ragdoll physics engine way before than Half Life 2

(that particular level is its the very best)

but overall it feels like a tech demo for the new engine, and a lot of things were changed for the worst from the original NOLF

they replaced the amazing voice actress that did Cate's voice and remodeled her face to not look like Mitzi Martin since both were talent from 20th Century Fox and its very weird to have Cate voiced by the same woman who did Cortana

the aspect NOLF2 is much better at is online multilpayer
 
Ah, NOLF and NOLF2. Such nostalgic classics. I remember owning a copy of the latter back in my elementary days. I never managed to finish any level completely, as I always "KFA-ed" my way through them. Also I can never forget crazy Harij in India throwing temper tantrums if you didn't bring him those 50 Rupees.

Since we're comparing Shenmue games with other AAA franchises, allow me to throw my two cents on the matter: the reason why Shenmue isn't faring that well today, as it did then is simple: human rat race and the loss of moral compass. What I mean by rat race is the fact that many people nowadays think that the whole tempo of Shenmue games is based on "procrastination" and chilled way of solving problems. They find the normal and moral nature of Shenmue games "dreadful" and "painfully boring". It's a lot easier to play GTA games, because there's "freedom". Freedom in the way of breaking the law by going on a murderous rampage and robbing establishments and most importantly: own mountains of virtual bling and spend it on the dapperest of merch you can find.

I discovered Shenmue by sheer coincidence several years ago. For a franchise that started in 1999, when I was only four years old, there are more and more pointers that show that despite ruling the franchise as a "failure", the series paved the way towards the bright future of modern-day open world RPGs. I was thoroughly fascinated by the calm and respectful nature that is Shenmue. In a world where the moral compass went "kaputt", Suzuki san catered to those who wish to find inner peace by playing his games.

Unfortunately, there are people who wish to downgrade everything that isn't "generally favorable" or "critically acclaimed" and are running podcasts on things they hate, with Shenmue 3 being one example. My advice to those who wish to be in the spotlight: don't bad mouth people who are not according to your taste, everything may come back to you someday, one way or the other.
 
Well, Im not thinking anymore if they will like the game or not, not putting effort on convincing people

Some already tried but didnt showed signs of interest, its hard to compete with all these big graphics of today, even if Shenmue looks perfectly fine to us, for them it doesnt

Im buying extra copies of Shenmue I & II whenever I see it on a good sale and giving away, but im thinking on YS Net and Mr Yu Suzuki in the first place and the chance of Shenmue 4 happening

so yes, just buying copies to send as a gift whenever I can and its up to them to try the games or not , as long as its there
 
Shansun95 said:
Unfortunately, there are people who wish to downgrade everything that isn't "generally favorable" or "critically acclaimed" and are running podcasts on things they hate, with Shenmue 3 being one example. My advice to those who wish to be in the spotlight: don't bad mouth people who are not according to your taste, everything may come back to you someday, one way or the other.
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Yes, dont mention it... Ive seen people publish video reviews with covers saying SHENMUE IS UNBEARABLE in big yellow capital letters

Whenever I see a click bait video like this I waste some time to give them a lesson

Im glad this kind of video attracts more people from the fanbase than newcomers and they all disagree and claim Shenmue I & II are among the best games they ever played and they've enjoyed III too
 
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