Shenmue..The next part of the series (Part III)...movie only?! (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

There was a recent interview with Yu Suzuki after the announcement of his AIAS award win (Congratulations Yu Suzuki!). In the interview Yu discusses the future of the Shenmue series.

Yu Suzuki suggests "different approach" for what's likely to be the series finale

13:01 Bad news for fans of the ponderous, yet absorbing, adventure series that began life on Sega's Dreamcast. In an interview with an American games magazine, legendary designer Yu Suzuki has suggested that he'd like to take a "different approach" for Shenmue III - specifically, he wants to turn the next chapter into a CGI-only movie.

This is in line with prophecy of course, as Suzuki had previously stated that should sales of Shenmue II prove disappointing (as was the case), the series may well be wound up far earlier than it's original eleven-chapter plan entailed. Some sort of resolution would be expected however, as Shenmue II (look away now if you don't want to know the score) ended on something of a major cliff-hanger and it simply wouldn't have been fair to the devoted fans of the series to leave them twisting in the wind like that.

The movie would be along the same lines as the CGI 'extra' that accompanied Shenmue II (essentially all of episode one's FMV sequences strung together to bring newcomers up to date).

The decision, if indeed it is final, has not proved to be a popular one with said fans however - most of whom are so devoted to the world of Ryo Hazuki that anything less than a fully interactive game seems like a hasty way to wrap up a failed experiment.

Nonetheless, it's not all bad news for fans of Suzuki-san. It was announced yesterday that the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science has inducted the Japanese genius into its Hall Of Fame - taking residence alongside such luminaries as Will 'Sim City' Wright, John Carmack, Hironbu 'Final Fantasy' Sakaguchi, Sid Meier and the one and only Shigeru Miyamoto.

"I am greatly honoured to receive the AIAS award," commented Suzuki on hearing the news, "and I am pleased to be highly commended along with many industry visionaries."

The award will be presented to Suzuki as part of the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in Las Vegas on February 27th, where he will be taking part in an "Audience With The Masters" workshop with fellow Hall Of Famer, Shigeru Miyamoto."

Its wonderful to hear the story has a good chance of being resolved (the most important thing) but its ashame that it will not be done so as it should be, on a gaming platform.

Not a suprising development as I pretty much expected Xbox Shenmue II to be disappointing in the sales department (much like its predecessor on the DC). I'm glad to have had the chance to experience the first two games nonetheless.

 

[Dan B]

I don't like it. If they aren't going to finish the series, he should just put it to rest. I'm not going to pay to watch the movie. Without any gameplay, the story means nothing to me.

Of course I don't blame them for pulling the plug, they've lost well over $50,000,000 on the series if my guess is anywhere near accurate.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

To tell the truth, the first game was mostly a movie anyway. Making it CGI-only would mean you don't have to waste time doing nothing and the visuals would look better.

Unless they make it like the games and the movie is 50+ hours long.

 

[JasonK]

Dag. I just picked up Shenmue 2 a week ago for XBOX, and will get to it once I'm finished with Resident Evil 0.

I was hoping for another sequel, but figured that would be a long shot. I don't know that I'd pay to see the story resolved in a movie. In any event, I'm glad I had the opportunity to play these 2.

 

[Benson R]

I'm surprised Sega hasn't looked into releasing Shenmue II for PS2 in Japan. Maybe they have and their agreement with MS won't let them but I would have to think that MS doesn't seem to be putting much effort into the marketing the X-Box in Japan and therefore wouldn't care. Shenmue had a decent following for a DC game in Japan so wouldn't it make sense to release it for a console with a much larger user base in that country?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I had a friend a year ago (who moved) who was a die-hard Sega fanboy. He mentioned that Shenmue was part of a long saga that would be told over the course of several games.

My question is, how many chapters were covered in Shenmue 2 and how many would be covered in 3 if it were a movie?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

3 chapters were covered in Shenmue 2. Hong Kong, Kowloon and umm, I forget the name of the small town
There were originally 11 chapters, so with the 2 chapters in Shenmue 1 that would make 6 to cover

 

[Kelley_B]

Leave it up to the "PlayStation Generation" to completely let one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time fade away, while Lara and her gigantic tits will sell another 2+million copies of her next game. I hate to say it but I pray for a crash now.

 

[John Kilroy]

Kelley_B,

Amen.

 

[Mike__D]

Leave it up to the "PlayStation Generation" to completely let one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time fade away, while Lara and her gigantic tits will sell another 2+million copies of her next game.

Couldn't have said it better...

Mike D.

 

[Romier S]

Leave it up to the "PlayStation Generation" to completely let one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time fade away, while Lara and her gigantic tits will sell another 2+million copies of her next game.

We talked about it at length last night Kelley and you know my feelings on the matter. It just sucks to see Shenmue go unfinished it its true form.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Jeff-

I thought Shenmue I only covered 1 chapter? Hmm...oh well, I trust your memory over mine with this subject.

Kelley-

Leave it up to the "PlayStation Generation" to completely let one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time fade away, while Lara and her gigantic tits will sell another 2+million copies of her next game. I hate to say it but I pray for a crash now

Assuming you know my opinions on Shenmue, I don't think I need to reiterate them. But I'm going to anyway.

Shenmue 1 stands out as a true landmark in videogames. It's the first game to actually try to reach a new level of realism that is only mimicked at all by MMORPGS and a game or two since it's release. It had a huge amount of voice work, lovely graphics, historically accurate weather, and a rather well written story.

Unfortunately, the time aspect was dealt with horribly. Realistic? Yes, but that doesn't make it fun to sit around and wait for it to be a certain time. I could go practice my fighting (which I found to be extremely dull and boring), or I could go buy some of those little action figures (which became equally dull and boring soon after). Walking on the streets was a little weird, mainly because the people would fade in and out of the screen due to the graphical limitations of the engine, and when you spoke with anyone the voice acting sucked (it should have been left in Japanese). People complain that RPGs have too many random battles or make the game artificially longer by requiring you to level up for hours and hours, but I think making someone spend half of a game doing nothing and waiting for it to be a specific time just to advance the storyline is just as wrong. The forklift things when you got a job were fun, though.

Overall, it was a beautiful game and a wonderful story, limited only by how realistic it actually was and the power of the engine it used. I haven't played Shenmue II, but I've heard it improves apon the first.

 

[Romier S]

the voice acting sucked

Morgan for once we agree on something, the voice acting was right in line with the english dub of Onimusha, its sequel and several others (Yuck). If you played the import Shenmue 2, its difficult to listen to the xbox incarnation. I'd love an english subtitled version of the first game. Though that well written story you mentioned is what made the the whole experience worthwhile and why folks are saddened to see it wont continue.(In the form of a game)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I forgot the QTEs. I liked them, but there weren't enough in I.

When I get an X-Box, I'll most likely end up getting Shenmue II.

 

[Kelley_B]

by then morgan it should be $9.99 at wal-mart

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I'll definately be buying the XB version, if for nothing else than to show my support for the series

But I'll play my DC version with good acting, screw 5.1 and higher res, how about my sanity?

 

[JamesH]

I've always liked the "bad" voice acting, it makes the game a lot more amusing. I haven't decided yet, but I think Ryo is either an android, or a kid with Down's Syndrome trying to make it on his own. There's nothing better than his classic



Besides, who else would stare at a trash can for an hour while constantly screaming "Would you like to try a game of Lucky Hit?" ?

I'll be very dissapointed if the voice acting in Shenmue 3 isn't in the same style as the first two.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

James, you haven't heard the Japanese dialogue, therefore you can't make a judgement. It's not supposed to be funny.

Another reason why dubbing is wrong, the bad actors they get just lead to changing the tones of the scene

 

[JamesH]

Yes I can make a judgement. What are you going to do? Post a message here saying my opinion is invalid?

I don't really care what the "tone" of a scene was supposed to be. Ryo generally has acted as if he has brain damage in the first two games, so why shouldn't the voice acting mirror that, while giving me a good laugh in the process?

The voice acting isn't responsible for Ryo going up to a random person he doesn't know and beginning a conversation with:

"About those sailors....."

No matter how well it's acted, the situation is simply absurd. Do you want the game to be not dubbed so you'll get to hear him ask about the sailors with feeling ? Considering how goofy most of the characters are, the voice acting matches perfectly.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Do you want the game to be not dubbed so you'll get to hear him ask about the sailors with feeling ?

Yes I do, I wish to listen to good actors who have trained intensively for voice work rather than the craptastic "forever waiter" actors that are in the dub.

In voice work, your delivery is EVERYTHING, and it totally changes the meaning of a line

For example, X-Men, the infamous Toad line by Storm. As delivered it's LUDICROUS and stupid. As delivered the way it was intended to (Buffy style), it would have been hilarious.