Will Shenmue get the recognition it deserves someday?

[Damon Plus]

Shenmue was, at the time (and still now), one of the most ambitious videogames of all time. After some years, it was released in 99 (Japan) and 2000 (rest of the world). It was very hyped, and it was received with mixed opinions. Some hated the slowness of the gameplay, while others found the game to be one of the best they had ever played. I, being on the latter group, think Shenmue, even with its flaws, is not only a videogame, but a masterpiece of incredible proportions.

It has happened sometimes in the past. Movies, books, paints, videogames too, have been received with nothing more than hate or indiference by the masses, only to be considered classics years later.

The question is: do you think Shenmue will get the praise it deserves in the future? Or will it fade in obscurity forever?

[Clownzilla]

Unfortunitly, I don't think it will. It seems like many "gamers" didn't understand what the game was about. It was slow, not enough action, pointless tasks, blah,blah, blah. These were it's "faults" according to "gamers" and critics alike. Kind of like how Dante's Inferno, Oliver Twist, and 1984 are horrible books because they are TOO LONG and TOO SLOW. I guess everything depends on how much a person looks into a game. I personally think that Shenmue 1 and 2 deserved a score of 10 out of 10. Then again, I also think Halo 1 and 2 (never played 3) deserved a 5 out of 10. I guess it all depends on the approach each gamer takes towards gaming.

[Pantechnicon]

As much as I personally enjoyed the game, I'm inclined to say Shenmue is headed for obscurity, if it's not already there.

The style of gameplay is in many ways antithetical to what most people conceptualize gaming is supposed to be, i.e. - fast-paced action. Additionally, I don't think that the grand vision of Shenmue as a multi-volume epic spanning across six games or whatever was ever realistic to begin with when one considers the disparity between the respective development cycles of games and consoles. Consider that Shenmue was originally conceived for the Saturn, but then ported to support the Dreamcast, then sputtered to a halt after only two games were released owing to the Dreamcast's short life, only to have a small revival on XBox (itself now obsolete) and now who-knows-what looking the future? The pacing of game development here doesn't seem to be able to keep up with state-of-the-art consoles.

Sad to say, but I think the best Shenmue can hope for at this point, with respect to a legacy, is to be the footnote one mentions when discussing the history of console games with immensely explorable worlds: "There was a game like that before GTA III, you know..."

[Jackattack]

To answer the question at hand, no. Now don't laugh, when I read your topic I actually got mad because you once again reminded me of how amazing Shenmue 1 & 2 are and how 1) no body cares 2) people somehow didn't love the game, and more importantly 3) we will never get to finish the series and play Shenmue 3.

I'm not really that condemning of gamers, however I do find myself in strangely the same position as Clownzilla in that Shenmue 1 & 2 both deserve 10s and after just playing Halo 1 and 2 (never played the 3rd) they both turned out to me amazingly average, especially considering all the hype behind them.

One last thing, since you didn't mention it Damon Plus, if you haven't played Shenmue II do yourself a favor and make it the next game you buy. I would heavily recommend importing the pal release (I actually found the pal release in a gamestop in tennessee) since the english voice acting is god awful in the xbox version. You can burn the boot CD yourself for dreamcast to play the game. If nothing else get the xbox version found at any gamestop across america for no more than 5 dollars (an utter shame since it's better than just about every other game in the entire store) and love it.
You do have to look past the voice acting if you get the xbox version, the pal version on the dreamcast had great japanese voice acting with english subtitles just to clarify.

[j_factor]

Anybody who said Shenmue was "slow" wasn't playing it correctly. It's not necessarily slow-paced, it just doesn't prevent the player from taking it slow. It can be pretty quick, depending on how you play it.

Honestly, the first time I played Shenmue, I had the same negative reaction. I thought it was kind of boring. Then I decided to give it a second chance, and on my second play, I took a more aggressive approach to the main part of the game, and it just kind of "clicked".

I never understood the complaint that it doesn't have enough action. It's not an action game. That's like complaining about the lack of puzzle solving in Contra.

[Damon Plus]

To answer the question at hand, no. Now don't laugh, when I read your topic I actually got mad because you once again reminded me of how amazing Shenmue 1 & 2 are and how 1) no body cares 2) people somehow didn't love the game, and more importantly 3) we will never get to finish the series and play Shenmue 3.

I'm not really that condemning of gamers, however I do find myself in strangely the same position as Clownzilla in that Shenmue 1 & 2 both deserve 10s and after just playing Halo 1 and 2 (never played the 3rd) they both turned out to me amazingly average, especially considering all the hype behind them.

One last thing, since you didn't mention it Damon Plus, if you haven't played Shenmue II do yourself a favor and make it the next game you buy. I would heavily recommend importing the pal release (I actually found the pal release in a gamestop in tennessee) since the english voice acting is god awful in the xbox version. You can burn the boot CD yourself for dreamcast to play the game. If nothing else get the xbox version found at any gamestop across america for no more than 5 dollars (an utter shame since it's better than just about every other game in the entire store) and love it.
You do have to look past the voice acting if you get the xbox version, the pal version on the dreamcast had great japanese voice acting with english subtitles just to clarify.

I live in Spain. That's all I have to say ;-)

PS: It's amazing how much is cramed into each Shenmue II GD-rom.

[Jackattack]

I know, I couldn't get enough of the game when I was first playing it. And every time I talk about it, it makes me want to go back and play it again. However, I'm sadly up at college and don't have my dreamast with me. :(

[IronBuddha]

I'm one of the people who'll agree it's one of the greatest games of all time. I had a dreamcast with a good bit of games and Shenmue was the only game I loved out of all of them. Unfortunately like a dumbass I am at the time I didn't think it was worth keeping the system for just one game, so I traded everything for the PS2. To this day I regret it, I miss that game but eventually I'll pick up another dreamcast just for Shenmue, I don't care how much space it takes!

Majority rules though and I hate saying it but eventually Shenmue will just fade away and be forgotten.

[YoshiM]

You know, since its release I have tried to play Shenmue. I think I got as far as the shipyards (second disc?) before I called it quits. I would later pick up on the game and start fresh only to bow out a few hours later. I attribute this the sheer linearity of the adventure-even though I'm in this open world with all sorts of "freedom" I'm not truly allowed to "explore". Oh sure I could wander all over the place, pick up objects and rotate them, collect toys, drink soda until I was sure Ryo was diabetic (and then some) but whenever it came to interacting with people it was always about the next piece of the puzzle. No chit-chat, no information about who the person was. Hell, there wasn't much information on where Ryo lived other than a map. It's practically like being one half of a split personality, only the other half knows everything and only tells you stuff on a need to know basis.

I do applaud Sega for putting out this game. The concept was ahead of its time but ultimately tried to do too much that gave it a disjointed play experience for many a gamer. To this day I'd like to play and finally beat the game but having to go through "Remember the day when the rain turned to snow/do you know any sailors/tell me about the four blades" single-minded clue finding methodology will just drive me to hit the "off" button.

[Cryomancer]

There was a bio for every single character in the game written up and printed in (I believe) the Japanese strategy guide. There's tons of side story and little details just a lot of them are unfortunetly not accessable via normal gameplay / in the game at all. Hell, they skip a chapter between the two games. I think the online stuff also went into back story things like this, but it's been a long-ass time and I could be wrong.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Unfortunitly, I don't think it will. It seems like many "gamers" didn't understand what the game was about. It was slow, not enough action, pointless tasks, blah,blah, blah. These were it's "faults" according to "gamers" and critics alike. Kind of like how Dante's Inferno, Oliver Twist, and 1984 are horrible books because they are TOO LONG and TOO SLOW.
Well, if Shenmue gets half the recognition of those books, I would say it will have gotten the recognition it deserves. Those are hardly obscure books today.

You see, there's two types of recognition. There's mass popularity and there's critical acclaim. Shenmue has always been very highly acclaimed by both professional critics and lay critics such as those of us on this board, so it already has one type of recognition. It's true that it was never terribly popular with the masses of gamers the way a game like GTA3 is and it almost certainly never will be, but as time passes on, that kind of mass popularity becomes less and less significant while the critical recognition remains steady and so eventually becomes the more important measure of recognition. This is how it is with all forms of art/entertainment.

So, to answer the question, yes I think Shenmue will get the recognition it deserves someday. In fact, I think it already has the recognition it deserves, but it's just a bit obscured by the hoi poloi's indifference (though already much much less so in 2008 than in 2000, I think). You should never give any creedence to the opinions of the hoi poloi anyway. They're dirty scoundrels.


...word is bondage...

[Bojay1997]

I think it will get recognition for being the most ambitious game ever created. On the other hand, I think like a lot of ambitious Hollywood movies that somehow go wrong (Heaven's Gate and Once Upon a Time in America come to mind), it will not necessarily be a game that people rush out to play 20 years from now.

[jahvybe]

I have been reading the Digitpress forum for couple of months and just finally joined today because I wanted to say: I love Shenmue.

I tell every one that asks me about Dreamcast that it is worth buying for Shenmue alone. I bought an Xbox for the sole purpose of playing Shenmue II.

My wife and I would take turns playing this game together, it was basically like playing an awsome interactive movie.

I think it looks better on Dreamcast than Xbox. Not a huge difference but it makes me think Sega could have survived if they would have just put a DVD drive in the thing. Anyway that's my 2 cents if anybody cares.

[GaijinPunch]

Shenmue's reception by the general gaming public reminded me of what short-attention spanning Counter Strike whores "gamers" had turned into. Hopefully one day we'll get to finish it out. Something tells me it'll happen when someone buys the Sega name from Sammy though.

[diskoboy]

I did get the recognition it deserved: the most over hyped game in Sega history.

[Policenaut]

Maybe that hype is because the game was produced by Yu Suzuki, everybody expects the best from him, nonetheless. Maybe they can produce a manga and continue the history at least. I join all those who say that Shenmue is a superb title, I truly enjoyed it a lot.

[Streetball 21]

One of the my all time favorites, Shenmue is just a awesome game. For some reason, it will never get the recognition it deserves. I dont see how the game is "slow". Lets just hope they release Shenmue III, and Ryo gets the bastard who killed his father.

[Jackattack]

I have been reading the Digitpress forum for couple of months and just finally joined today because I wanted to say: I love Shenmue.

I tell every one that asks me about Dreamcast that it is worth buying for Shenmue alone. I bought an Xbox for the sole purpose of playing Shenmue II.

My wife and I would take turns playing this game together, it was basically like playing an awsome interactive movie.

I think it looks better on Dreamcast than Xbox. Not a huge difference but it makes me think Sega could have survived if they would have just put a DVD drive in the thing. Anyway that's my 2 cents if anybody cares.

See, this is how much Shenmue means to people. Of all the times he could have joined, proclaiming his love for one of the best games ever put him over the edge and into the community. Thank you Shenmue, I love you too.

[Gentlegamer]

I just started playing Shenmue for the first time today.

[otaku]

One of the best games/series ever (especially for sega and the dreamcast) I watched and played a friends copy when it first came out but never got to beat the game and never really got into it until I bought shenmue 2 for xbox and fell in love with the game I played it at least once a week for a full year it was my game and to this day I hold out hope it will continue, if I ever make it big $$$ i will see the game finished.

to answer the question I think its sadly doomed to obscurity and will not continue on or be looked back on fondly.

[mlambert890]

I'm looking for some.... sailors?

How much more recognition can you need than a satirical XPlay bit?

[jdc]

That game was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It was technically very advanced for it's time. We were blown away by the texturing on Ryo's face and hands. I own the Japanese DC version of Shenmue2.....beautiful packaging. Sadly....I don't think that Yu is going to finish it anytime soon.....but I sure as hell hope so. "Fuku-san!! You idiot!!" As far as it being recognized? No. There's stuff out now that kicks the shit out of it without breaking a sweat. I'd love to see what Yu could do with the PS3's power.

[roushimsx]

Shenmue got tons of recognition and, much to my confusion, still gets showered with love despite the game being fairly bad. It tries to do a lot of different things and fails at pretty much all of them. The fighting is hindered by a terrible camera, the adventure portions are hindered by awful control, a terrible localization, and generally weak writing, the entire harbor segment suffers from awful pacing. I didn't really care for the game when it came out and after playing through it last year I have even a lower opinion of it.

I like the level of graphical detail that they were able to hit in the game world, but that's about all that I think they really succeeded at. Well and the music was pretty ok. Too bad graphics and music aren't the only criteria for judging the game.

[Julio III]

Shenmue got tons of recognition and, much to my confusion, still gets showered with love despite the game being fairly bad. It tries to do a lot of different things and fails at pretty much all of them. The fighting is hindered by a terrible camera, the adventure portions are hindered by awful control, a terrible localization, and generally weak writing, the entire harbor segment suffers from awful pacing. I didn't really care for the game when it came out and after playing through it last year I have even a lower opinion of it.

I like the level of graphical detail that they were able to hit in the game world, but that's about all that I think they really succeeded at. Well and the music was pretty ok. Too bad graphics and music aren't the only criteria for judging the game.

Haha. I think the people who love the game (and that includes me, I used to run a Shenmue website) recognise all these faults and love it regardless. Even most of the story is pretty bad. Its the atmosphere and feeling of the game that really did it. The feeling of living in this community and time passing and just wandering around doing whatever you want. Although, as someone else has already mentioned, this is ruined by the fact you can only talk to people about your current quest point and not just have a good chit-chat.

Here's a couple of the things I love from the first game, that are slightly unusual in videogames:
Crunching the snow on the ground. The sound effect is so nice.
Phoning Nozomi and having lil conversations. In fact, the whole Nozomi relationship was very well done and shows you are playing a character and are not free to do whatever you want. I often this Ryo is a complete idiot. Not just about this but especially for all the stuff Xiuying says.

Anyways, I think the game has plenty of recognition. Shenmue III still crops up on most-wanted lists and the people who got sucked in to its charms still remember it fondly.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

One of the best games/series ever (especially for sega and the dreamcast) I watched and played a friends copy when it first came out but never got to beat the game and never really got into it until I bought shenmue 2 for xbox and fell in love with the game I played it at least once a week for a full year it was my game and to this day I hold out hope it will continue, if I ever make it big $$$ i will see the game finished.

to answer the question I think its sadly doomed to obscurity and will not continue on or be looked back on fondly.
I like the irony of someone gushing about the game and saying how much they love it and then turning around and saying that it won't ever be looked back on fondly.


Shenmue got tons of recognition and, much to my confusion, still gets showered with love despite the game being fairly bad. It tries to do a lot of different things and fails at pretty much all of them. The fighting is hindered by a terrible camera, the adventure portions are hindered by awful control, a terrible localization, and generally weak writing, the entire harbor segment suffers from awful pacing. I didn't really care for the game when it came out and after playing through it last year I have even a lower opinion of it.
That's pretty much how I felt about Shenmue I, but maybe I liked it a little more than you because I decided to get and play Shenmue II when it came out and I absolutely loved it. I keep meaning to go back and replay the first game to see if I like it more after playing and enjoying the second so much, but I haven't yet. One major thing is that the story is not very interesting in the first game, it becomes much more interesting and invloving in the second and from the way II ends, it seems like it would have become *EVEN MORE* interesting in III. But I think a lot of aspects of the game engine and concept were tweaked and improved in Shenmue II and that helps a lot.


...word is bondage...

[Sailorneorune]

Ah, Shenmue. So much to do, so poorly received.

Sega fanservice.

Memorably cheesetastic English dialogue.

Forklift races.

I need to finish the second one still (EU Dreamcast, disc 2)...

and with its reduced development costs, I think, that if it ever happens, the Wii would be a good home for Shenmue III.

Odds are we'll see a Sailor Moon game first though. :-/

(1:1,000,000,000)

[Dreamc@sting]

I can safely say Shenmue was only beaten out by one game as far as enjoyability goes..for me anyways and that other game is FFVII.

Shenmue was probably the last console game that really sucked me in and made me late for work or not sleep.

I've always had an obscure taste in games - I love everything about the game though to be honest. I enjoyed the story, hanging out at the arcade and turning on sega saturn in my apartment. I spent alot of money collecting the capsule toys and forklift racing to me was alot of fun =P

I still never got to experience the 2nd one for I never indulged in an xbox, but I do plan on picking up the PAL release asap.

I hope it does get recognized for what its worth. It's a gaming piece of art.

[roushimsx]

That's pretty much how I felt about Shenmue I, but maybe I liked it a little more than you because I decided to get and play Shenmue II when it came out and I absolutely loved it.

I completely passed on it when it came out despite people saying that it was a fair improvement on the first game, but a few months ago went ahead and picked it up on Xbox anyway (it's cheap!). Based on your opinion and a similar opinion of a few other people that also weren't very fond of the first game, it looks like I'll be playing through it sometime this year.

[suppafly]

SHenmue = best.game.ever

[Julio III]

One major thing is that the story is not very interesting in the first game, it becomes much more interesting and invloving in the second and from the way II ends, it seems like it would have become *EVEN MORE* interesting in III. But I think a lot of aspects of the game engine and concept were tweaked and improved in Shenmue II and that helps a lot.


The story does get more interesting and makes Chapter one seem even more irrelevant. Although a lot of it was really unneccesary and put in for these strange gameplay moments, eg/ 40 floors, plank walking, street fighting etc.

Disc four of Shenmue II is by far my favourite disc of Shenmue. It was just so relaxing and you finally get a chance to just talk to a character and not simply ask them about the next plot point. It also holds some amazing cut-scenes and moments.

[josekortez]

I like Yakuza better. It's like they took some of the things that were working in Shenmue and made a game that moves much faster and is more action-oriented.

[James8BitStar]

It has happened sometimes in the past. Movies, books, paints, videogames too, have been received with nothing more than hate or indiference by the masses, only to be considered classics years later.

When I first began reading this topic, I was going to say "No," because video games, it seems to me, lack that little element.

As you say, books and movies etc. can come back from the dead and recieve popularity years past their prime. Like Moby Dick and Its a Wonderful Life. Video games, from my perspective, are prevented from ever doing that due to hardware life cycles.

But... you say there have in fact been video games that weren't initially popular but then turned around and became classics? Can you name such? Particularly any that weren't part of a long-running series?

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Disc four of Shenmue II is by far my favourite disc of Shenmue. It was just so relaxing and you finally get a chance to just talk to a character and not simply ask them about the next plot point. It also holds some amazing cut-scenes and moments.
Agreed. Even though I liked Shenmue II a lot, I'm not one of the people who gushes about the game and thinks it's one of the best video games ever, but I *DO* think disc 4 of Shenmue II is one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It's simply wonderful. And since it seems to be a sampler of what Shenmue III would have been like, it only makes me regret even more the fact that we'll probably never see that game.


...word is bondage...

[Poofta!]

Shenmue was, at the time (and still now), one of the most ambitious videogames of all time. After some years, it was released in 99 (Japan) and 2000 (rest of the world). It was very hyped, and it was received with mixed opinions. Some hated the slowness of the gameplay, while others found the game to be one of the best they had ever played. I, being on the latter group, think Shenmue, even with its flaws, is not only a videogame, but a masterpiece of incredible proportions.

It has happened sometimes in the past. Movies, books, paints, videogames too, have been received with nothing more than hate or indiference by the masses, only to be considered classics years later.

The question is: do you think Shenmue will get the praise it deserves in the future? Or will it fade in obscurity forever?

the flaw with your question is that you assumed that it actually deserves recognition. i believe you should have put a "it is believed" in the beginning of your description of the game, because believe me, many more people hated it than loved it. it is the textbook definition of 'cult classic'

[j_factor]

But... you say there have in fact been video games that weren't initially popular but then turned around and became classics? Can you name such? Particularly any that weren't part of a long-running series?

How about Zero Wing? From what I gather the actual European Mega Drive release wasn't in the least bit popular or noted. But then several years later, it became an internet phenomenon.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of semi-forgotten Genesis and SNES games that seemed to earn their "classic" status on the emulation scene. How many people cared about Crusader of Centy or EarthBound before the rise of Genecyst and ZSNES?

[RASTAN]

SHENMUE was and forever will be one of my fave game series, but my major complaint to this day... *LOL* was not being able to take Miki out on a date everytime she hinted at it. I honestly didn't give a rats ass about Nozomi. Other than that, great fookin' series. Too bad it more than likely won't be finished anytime before mankind either blows itself up or GOD comes back and does his thing. I'm still ticked it didn't come out on SATURN though, because if it had, we'd have gotten Part III in my opinon. One on Saturn, TWO on Dreamcast, and THREE on XBOX.

:argue:
...oh well.

[James8BitStar]

How about Zero Wing? From what I gather the actual European Mega Drive release wasn't in the least bit popular or noted. But then several years later, it became an internet phenomenon.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of semi-forgotten Genesis and SNES games that seemed to earn their "classic" status on the emulation scene. How many people cared about Crusader of Centy or EarthBound before the rise of Genecyst and ZSNES?

Does that really count though? The "All your Base" thing didn't inspire people to go out and buy copies of Zero Wing and play it and think "OMG this is an awesome game." It just caused them to quote its intro excessively. And Emulation in general has a very small audience and any game that is known only thru emulation can't really be said to be all that popular.

Totally different from the situation with Moby Dick and Its a Wonderful Life IMO... people were reading/watching those. People were buying hard copies to add to their collections so they could watch them again and again. And they were doing it in droves. Nothing like that would ever happen for a fifty-year-old video game (heck, not even a five-year-old game).

[j_factor]

I dunno, I still think emulation raised the profile of a lot of 16-bit games.

Part of the problem with your analogy is the lack of opportunities with games. A book can always be reprinted. It's A Wonderful Life was shown on TV every year at Christmas, and then VHS hit the market.

If games ever transition to the CDi/3DO model, where we have a ubiquitous videogame format as we do with movies and music, perhaps we'll see more of that. Download services also offer the opportunity, but they've really just started.

I think it's simply a little too soon for the type of thing you're talking about. It's nothing inherent in videogames. It's A Wonderful Life wouldn't have had renewed popularity if not for broadcast television and VHS cassettes. Similarly, games will better have that opportunity as technologies to revisit them are better developed and implemented.

[James8BitStar]

I dunno, I still think emulation raised the profile of a lot of 16-bit games.

Part of the problem with your analogy is the lack of opportunities with games. A book can always be reprinted. It's A Wonderful Life was shown on TV every year at Christmas, and then VHS hit the market.

That's not a problem with my analogy, because that's the very point I was trying to make: Games DON'T have the opportunity. And the way the industry is right now, we're more likely to experience another industry crash than we are to see a technology that allows old games to be revisited flawlessly without the end user being some sort of oldskool collector.

[vincewy]

It's sad nowadays that games like GTA sell millions while other masterpieces like Dragon Quest VIII don't get the recognitions they deserve, it seems like end of the world scenario.

[James8BitStar]

Eh, at worst its the one reason gaming will never be taken seriously as an artistic interest and will forevermore be seen as a geek hobby enjoyed by lifeless teenage males.

The other reason of course being that that's mostly what gaming IS (and one need only visit some of the far less respectable gaming communities out there to understand that).

[j_factor]

Meh, the same stuff happens with everything else. Madonna way outsells Sonic Youth and Grandma's Boy did much better than Idiocracy. It even happens with books to an extent (how many people bought "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"?).

[Buyatari]

It's sad nowadays that games like GTA sell millions while other masterpieces like Dragon Quest VIII don't get the recognitions they deserve, it seems like end of the world scenario.

I don't think thats the best comparision. Like the genre or not, who can deny the impact of GTA III on a whole generation of games? We still feel the influence. Thats how crappy games like 50 cent bulletproof and true crime sell like hotcakes.

But yeah I do know where you were going with that one and many games "like GTA" such as 50 cent or True Crime would have been a better comparison.

[otoko]

Thats how crappy games like 50 cent bulletproof and true crime sell like hotcakes.

*twitch*

[Nirvana]

Dammit. I hated that game. It took me like, years just to get into the first battle in that game.

[SegaAges]

I rarely post anymore, but you guys are talking about Shenmue.

Yes, I am a Sega fanboy to the core, so this will probably sound biased (and yes, I bought WarTech for 360 because it was a cheap Sega Arcade Port).

Well, I will compare this to other Sega games to be on the fair side. I have played many games, and also played through many more. Shenmue had major flaws. They have all been pretty much covered. Shenmue was able to do something though, that no other game was able to do to me. When I was done playing the game, I, honestly, felt like I experienced something. I felt like I was unraveling a story. I wanted to play, and dreamed of playing it (Yes, I played guitar hero 2 so much that I had little circles in my dreams for no reason, but that is different).

There is nights. Nights was an awesome game, but it was getting the same talk that Shenmue was getting. It was getting the never again, you will never see a sequel stuff going. Look what happened. Regardless of how good the game is, it got its well deserved sequel. Obsquere Sega game that not alot of the GTA people sought after got a sequel. It gives us Shenmue people hope.

Whether we want to admit it or not, some of us have strong feelings about Shenmue, just like some of us have extremely strong feelings about nights. Nights got its sequel, and even if Shenmue never gets a sequel, it is still fun to imagine it.

It is hard to describe. I played through a few final fantasies and a buttload of other games in my collection, but not a single game has got me as intrigued as Shenmue. I liked the first one better than the second (Thats right I said it). I played through the second one and it was excellent, and definately better in every aspect, but the first, it left an impression on me.

Shenmue online, poop on that. I didn't really like that idea. This game is a superb 1 player game. It would be like making Sam and Max Online. Sure it would be cool for awhile, but uh, yeah, exactly.

p.s. - my 2 fav saturn games are nights and steep slope sliders. it is also time for a steep slope sliders sequel.

[emceelokey]

I think the game got the recgonition it deserved. Not too many people bought or played the game and for those that did, they apparently didn't like it enough to boost it's sales. I played the first one for about 5 hours before putting it down and I didn't know what the hell was going on. All I remember was that I was buying little figurines from a vending machine for an hour. That game tries to have too much stuff yet a lot of it was not important.

I don't think the ambition of the game was justified by it's sales and if they were to try to put as much in a 3rd iteration of the game they would be just throwing away their money. I think the Sonic games each sold more than Shenmue did on Xbox and those were probably much cheaper to produce than a Shenmue game.

I would like to see a third game though. Just to see it go multiplatform. The game was on systems that was at most 2nd in installed base in this country and I know it would do better if it were available to more people.

[j_factor]

You know, as far as games go, Shenmue sold pretty well. It wasn't the sensation that it should've been considering its budget, but it didn't do that badly. People often talk like it was a total flop, which just isn't the case.

If they were to make a third iteration, I don't think they'd need to "put as much into it" as they did the original. Of course they should update the graphics and tweak the gameplay a bit, but they don't have to reinvent anything. The reason people want a Shenmue III is to continue the story/experience, not necessarily to have something revolutionary.

I still think Shenmue III could happen someday. Look how long it took for them to come out with Out Run 2, NiGHTS: JoD, the new Samba de Amigo (coming soon!), Virtua Cop 3, etc. I wouldn't count on it, but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility either.

[RetroYoungen]

Honestly, as far as Shenmue goes, I spent more time playing Space Harrier in the arcade than actually playing the real game. I found the duration of what I played to have been boring, slow and fairly uninteresting. I can only handle so much of walking up to a random person, asking about "the incident" and whoever it is you're looking for, walking to the next person and asking the exact same questions, once in a while petting a kitty or buying a capsule toy and doing the same over once again. It was just... tedious to me.

I didn't like the game. Yeah.

But that doesn't say I don't respect what the developers were going for. I can see the proof in the pudding; the game is beautiful, it's (supposedly) fairly deep, there were a lot of different characters to talk to, and the fighting sections of the game were very nice (as was the ability to learn and master new moves). I can see the sort of all-encompassing sort of feel they were going for. Maybe I just didn't get it... I haven't hooked up my DC in a bit, maybe I should break it back out and give the game another go.

[GaijinPunch]

I like Yakuza better. It's like they took some of the things that were working in Shenmue and made a game that moves much faster and is more action-oriented.

With a worse fighting engine, graphics, and pretty cliche story (although I do give them props for no fan-service [read, girls in panties]). For me, Yakuza was the big let down. It was touted as "the next Shenmue" or "like Shenmue". I got 2 hours into and laughed at such idiocy.