Shenmue

Well...It was a good game, something way ahead of its time, unfortunately. For example, I find that a game like Animal Crossing, while unique, is a bit boring. It has no real end. Basically, Shenmue did everything that AC did, but better, plus it had a point to work towards/plot to follow. By this, I mean that it had you interacting with a community, making a name for yourself, and working towards a goal. Plus, you could fight. Fighting's fun.

Then why, if this seems like a better version of a current day successful game, did it fail? I....honestly can't say. I can assume that it had its share of game play issues (though apparently fixed in the sequel), and it just failed to catch on. So many good games end up face in the dirt when they deserve so much better (I'm looking at Okami, Eternal Darkness, and Zak and Wiki right now). In other words, some people may like Shenmue, others may want something more fast paced. In the end, I believe it to be an undisputed pioneer and masterpiece of its time.
 
Then why, if this seems like a better version of a current day successful game, did it fail? I....honestly can't say. I can assume that it had its share of game play issues (though apparently fixed in the sequel), and it just failed to catch on. So many good games end up face in the dirt when they deserve so much better (I'm looking at Okami, Eternal Darkness, and Zak and Wiki right now). In other words, some people may like Shenmue, others may want something more fast paced. In the end, I believe it to be an undisputed pioneer and masterpiece of its time.
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agreed. part 3 never got announced?
 
It was announced for a while. There were updates here and there, a few screenshots floated around, then poof! The project was canceled, and Shenmue practically announced dead.
 
just to answer the question if the series was a success or not, it wasn't. It was a huge failure. The game cost over 70Million to make. The only game that had a bigger budget was GTA4. For Shenmue to have broken even everyone that owned a Dreamcast would have had to have bought the game twice.

Think of it this way, what "Final Fantasy: Spirits Within" is to Squaresoft. "Shenmue" is to Sega. If it wasn't for FF:SW square would still be independent and if it wasn't for Shenmue Sega could have lasted another year or two in the hardware biz.
 
That about says it all...Wow, poor Shenmue. It was destined for failure before it was ever released.

Interesting not about Spirits Within, though. I don't care what anyone says, it was a good movie. I swear, if it was just called "Spirits Within", and dropped the FF title, it wouldn't have gotten the negative connotation from the non-gamers, nor received the scorn from the Final Fantasy crowd. It would just be a cool CG flick. Then again, I don't know about the costs. If it's the same deal as Shenmue, then there was no hope for it to begin with.
 
Yeah, Square pumped so much money into spirits within that when it tanked they had to merge with enix for survival.

But i do agree with ya. Spirits Within was awesome. Even more so because Steve "Shut the Fuck up Donny" Bushemi was a voice.
 
Fun Fact: The Shenmue movie that comes with Shenmue II for Xbox was released as an actual movie in Japan!

frea-king epic.
 
Shenmue fun fact #2. It was originally a Sega Saturn game. If the SS didn't fail it woulda been released. Sure the tech demo you can find on youtube had about 16mb of extra ram crammed into the console but for 1998, it was breathtaking.
 
Yeah, I think you can get the tech demo video if you beat Shenmue 1 or 2. It's hard to believe they actually released the Shenmue movie in theaters...Wow.

Haha, and I agree with you 100%, whitey. Steve Bushemi is fricken awesome. From the second I heard the one character's voice, I knew I was in for some laughs.
 
Ryo even has a similar fighting style, lol. I noticed a couple moves that looked like they were ripped straight from Akira's moveset. It's a shame we haven't heard any news about Shenmue III being released :/
 
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