Random Shenmue Thoughts

24Nathan said:
That's the one! But it has interview commentary with it, or maybe that was a separate video. It's been a while.
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This has the footage with the original sound & commentary from the Tokyo Game Show presentation, which you might be thinking of (linked to timestamp):
 
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Switch said:
This has the footage with the original sound & commentary from the Tokyo Game Show presentation, which you might be thinking of (linked to timestamp):
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Hm, I remember watching that presentation, I just don't remember this clip, but I guess it has been awhile. Thanks!
 
Hoy! I still need to go through my Retro Gamer magazines for Shenmue articles, but the good folks at Sega Magazines have recently uploaded all the issues of DC-UK (with the exception of issue #15 which has the preview of Shenmue). With the exceptions of issues #3 and #10 which I already own, i've gone through all the remaining issues for any mention of Shenmue. Because I only have a small laptop, there are lots I couldn't screen grab, but I will make a mention of the pages so that someone with a bigger monitor might be able to grab it?

Please enjoy!

DC-UK #2 (might be worth getting a better scan of pages 53 & 54)

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DC-UK #4
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DC-UK #5
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DC-UK #6
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DC-UK #7 (Pages 68-74 and 121 I cannot get)
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DC-UK #8
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DC-UK #9

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DC-UK #12
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DC-UK #13
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DC-UK #14 (I can't do pages 112 & 113)
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DC-UK #16
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DC-UK #17 (I can't do pages 42-47)
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DC-UK #18 (I can't do pages 78 - 83)
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DC-UK #19 (I can't do pages 82 - 84)
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DC-UK #20 (I can't do page 29)
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On another note, editor Keith Stuart currently works for The Guardian and he has posted some positive Shenmue related stuff on the site in recent years, so it's good to know he still likes it (again, another possibility for an interview?)
 

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code l name said:
I have a silly but random question. What exactly is this outside street leading to Sakuragaoka/

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Had to do a little Googling as I remember this being brought up on the old Dojo some years ago, and my search was successful. According to this post from @Switch , what you see in the video you posted is a "survey peg," which are used to denote land boundaries.

Here is one in the flesh:

M4AVQ6K.jpeg
 
ShenGCH said:
Had to do a little Googling as I remember this being brought up on the old Dojo some years ago, and my search was successful. According to this post from @Switch , what you see in the video you posted is a "survey peg," which are used to denote land boundaries.

Here is one in the flesh:

M4AVQ6K.jpeg
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Amazing, of course there’s is @Switch explanation for this! It’s odd but in all my time playing Shenmue this is first time I noticed this!
 

Well this is mega click baity and a rather shitty article (same old tropes of no story in Shenmue, tedious Yakuza comparisons etc), but frankly if Shenmue is considered similar to the highest grossing film of all time (with the sequel currently #12), i'm not complaining.

I feel bad sharing the link now, but too late now :/

My favourite bit is when Ryo does a tornado kick to one of the Na'vi, because they dissed Nozomi. Possibly.
 
bcdcdude said:

Well this is mega click baity and a rather shitty article (same old tropes of no story in Shenmue, tedious Yakuza comparisons etc), but frankly if Shenmue is considered similar to the highest grossing film of all time (with the sequel currently #12), i'm not complaining.

I feel bad sharing the link now, but too late now :/

My favourite bit is when Ryo does a tornado kick to one of the Na'vi, because they dissed Nozomi. Possibly.
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Not gonna give them my click, but looking at the url I agree with the sentiment and comparison. From what I have heard, Yu cares a lot more about the mechanics of Shenmue than he does the story. Shenmue 3 backs this idea up, as too does the fact that we didn’t just get a manga or novelization to complete the story already.
 
I sorta agree where you're coming from, but what I think Shenmue doesn't get enough credit is the lore all around. You could argue that the main thematic beats are not world beating, but it's like that misguided tweet a while back of some joker saying that they should just end it in an hour with Ryo defeating Lan Di, when there's so much more to it than that.

I won't go over old boils again, because I agree that 3 is the weakest story wise, but on my 2nd playthrough, I learned so much more when I took the time to go off the beaten path. That said, the true worth is how Shenmue IV progresses the story. We will be more forgiving of III depending on its place within the wider context of the overall story.
 
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bcdcdude said:
I sorta agree where you're coming from, but what I think Shenmue doesn't get enough credit is the lore all around. You could argue that the main thematic beats are not world beating, but it's like that misguided tweet a while back of some joker saying that they should just end it in an hour with Ryo defeating Lan Di, when there's so much more to it than that.

I won't go over old boils again, because I agree that 3 is the weakest story wise, but on my 2nd playthrough, I learned so much more when I took the time to go off the beaten path. That said, the true worth is how Shenmue IV progresses the story. We will be more forgiving of III depending on its place within the wider context of the overall story.
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Don’t get me wrong, I love Shenmue’s story. It’s the reason I waited 15 years for Shenmue 3 to come out and it’s the reason why I’ll continue waiting for a proper conclusion to Ryo’s journey until Yu is finally able to deliver one. However, it would seem that his motivation for wanting to make another Shenmue game stems more from his desire to develop new state of the art systems than to provide us with a proper ending (hence him wanting a bigger budget for Shenmue 4).

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though It’s hard to argue that having hyper realistic ball physics in Pachinko tables makes up for the pacing issues in the first game or that having weather based on historical data excuses the crummy voice acting and direction throughout the series. The aforementioned examples and the many others like them are cool and all, but, just as in Avatar, they’re arguably a case of style over substance. Let’s put it this way: would anybody even notice these things if they weren’t pointed out to them and do they actually make the games better?

Yu’s creativity and meticulous attention to detail are what made the Shenmue games so special and unique, but his failure to put as much thought into the story and the player’s experience are problematic and a big part of why Shenmue failed to achieve mainstream success. That so many of the fan base were left disappointed by Shenmue 3 is again indicative of this.

Last year, I heard from a very reliable source that Yu received an offer for funding on the condition that he took a step back from the project and allowed somebody else to direct (they wanted him to serve as the creative director). At the time, I was very much against the idea, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

Granted, I’m not convinced that the person who made that proposal was the right person to take up the reigns (they apparently wanted to make the game “more like Yakuza” despite having never actually played a Yakuza game), but having somebody who understands both modern video games and the Shenmue franchise at the helm with Yu working his magic in the background might not be the worst idea.
 
tomboz said:
Don’t get me wrong, I love Shenmue’s story. It’s the reason I waited 15 years for Shenmue 3 to come out and it’s the reason why I’ll continue waiting for a proper conclusion to Ryo’s journey until Yu is finally able to deliver one. However, it would seem that his motivation for wanting to make another Shenmue game stems more from his desire to develop new state of the art systems than to provide us with a proper ending (hence him wanting a bigger budget for Shenmue 4).

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though It’s hard to argue that having hyper realistic ball physics in Pachinko tables makes up for the pacing issues in the first game or that having weather based on historical data excuses the crummy voice acting and direction throughout the series. The aforementioned examples and the many others like them are cool and all, but, just as in Avatar, they’re arguably a case of style over substance. Let’s put it this way: would anybody even notice these things if they weren’t pointed out to them and do they actually make the games better?

Yu’s creativity and meticulous attention to detail are what made the Shenmue games so special and unique, but his failure to put as much thought into the story and the player’s experience are problematic and a big part of why Shenmue failed to achieve mainstream success. That so many of the fan base were left disappointed by Shenmue 3 is again indicative of this.

Last year, I heard from a very reliable source that Yu received an offer for funding on the condition that he took a step back from the project and allowed somebody else to direct (they wanted him to serve as the creative director). At the time, I was very much against the idea, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

Granted, I’m not convinced that the person who made that proposal was the right person to take up the reigns (they apparently wanted to make the game “more like Yakuza” despite having never actually played a Yakuza game), but having somebody who understands both modern video games and the Shenmue franchise at the helm with Yu working his magic in the background might not be the worst idea.
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If that is true that he was still looking for funding last year, that is a disaster for the possibility of Shenmue 4. If he couldn’t ride the wave of remakes, record breaking kickstarter and the anime, I’m not sure what now could convince investors. Horrible if true…
 
japalp said:
If that is true that he was still looking for funding last year, that is a disaster for the possibility of Shenmue 4. If he couldn’t ride the wave of remakes, record breaking kickstarter and the anime, I’m not sure what now could convince investors. Horrible if true…
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I can’t say for certain that Yu was actively looking for funding at the time, just that somebody approached him to discuss the possibility of funding the project in the first half of 2022. The last I heard talks had been placed on hold, though that was a few months ago now.
 
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