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[Krejlooc]

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/promotion/the-raider-returns-in-games-164/

On sale now. A few key points gleaned from the interview:

-Shenmue III was never in production, at any point, from Sega. "As to whether or not [there were ever any plans to actually start production on shenmue 3], I would guess not."

-Shenmue III's record breaking kickstarter success was shocking and completely unexpected by Yu Suzuki (Additional info not in interview: Yu Suzuki wept backstage at E3)

-Key Staff returning for Shenmue III:

Yu Suzuki: Series creator, gaming legend, one of the most influential people in gaming history, returning as director and co-producer

Tak Hirai: Former AM2 lead programmer, and lead programmer for Shenmue I and II. He owns Neilo, the studio helping YS.Net create Shenmue III. He is the Creative Director.

Masahiro Yoshimoto: The original script writer (in japanese) for Shenmue I and II, returning as the scriptwriter for Shenmue III.

Kenji Miyawaki: Original character designer for Shenmue I and II. He has since left gaming to work in the anime industry - Shenmue III is his return to video games.

Ryuji Iuchi: The original score composer for Shenmue I and II, returning to produce the music for Shenmue III.

Manabu Takimoto: Actually not a game designer, Takimoto is an architect living in Japan. He was hired for Shenmue I and II to make sure the building architecture in the games were realistic, and will be returning for Shenmue III.

Masaya Matsukaze and Corey Marshall: The original voice actors for Ryo in both Japan and the English-speaking world will be returning for their respective dubs.

-Sega has still yet to comment - one way or another - on Shenmue III. Radio silence is deafening.

Issue went on sale today, worth picking up to read, IMO.

 

[Tailzo]

Thanks for the key points. I'm glad I've backed it with 200$, Yu Suzuki is trying his best, gathering the old staff and everything

 

[Krejlooc]

Thanks for the key points. I'm glad I've backed it with 200$, Yu Suzuki is trying his best, gathering the old staff and everything

There's more in the article, mainly relating to the organization of the #SaveShenmue campaign itself, but I figured it wasn't worth detailing the entire article.

 

[BocoDragon]

Shenmue III's record breaking kickstarter success was shocking and completely unexpected by Yu Suzuki (Additional info not in interview: Yu Suzuki wept backstage at E3)

Yo that's kind of beautiful ;_;

 

[Krejlooc]

Yo that's kind of beautiful ;_;

Yu Suzuki: Yes, I couldn’t see that reactions live because I was waiting behind the main stage, and before Shenmue 3 there were some awesome games announcements like Final Fantasy VII, I could hear really big reactions so I was very nervous about Shenmue and how the people would react. But then, it happened, I remember screams all over the place… after Shenmue music started it was like an explosion… It was too much for me, I couldn’t bear it and started to cry backstage.

Yu Suzuki also cried tears of joy as the kickstarter ended live on camera:

PlayUK also has a very similar interview in their current issue (which is funny, because GamesTM claims theirs is exclusive). They even include the same exact quotes and detail the same points.

 

[BocoDragon]

That's some genuine emotionalism love it. That kickstarter was a high watermark of a man's life and I'm happy to be a part of it.

 

[Krejlooc]

Front page of Play article:

If anyone is wondering, I feel comfortable posting these front pages of these specific magazine articles because the publications themselves have put them online to view. Obviously the full articles can only be seen by actually buying the magazines, either digitally or on news stands.

 

[Dragun619]

What? Sega hasnt commented on shenmue 3 successful kickstarter yet? Wtf.

Dudes must really want to dissociate themselves from this ip.

 

[Krejlooc]

What? Sega hasnt commented on shenmue 3 successful kickstarter yet? Wtf.

Dudes must really want to dissociate themselves from this ip.

They haven't commented on anything shenmue, remake or otherwise, since the very beginning of the campaign. They never, not once, acknowledged the campaign, which ran for over 3 years.

 

[Krejlooc]

More information, which isn't really shocking for those who followed the campaign - but at one point, Yu Suzuki had considered condensing the game into 3 episodes, but once the kickstarter started rolling, he realized he would have to cut way too much out and has confirmed the series will be at least 4 games long.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

More information, which isn't really shocking for those who followed the campaign - but at one point, Yu Suzuki had considered condensing the game into 3 episodes, but once the kickstarter started rolling, he realized he would have to cut way too much out and has confirmed the series will be at least 4 games long.

So granted a successful launch and release of Shenmue 3, a fourth game will end the series? How many games did he originally envision the series needing?

 

[Neff]

So granted a successful launch and release of Shenmue 3, a fourth game will end the series? How many games did he originally envision the series needing?

Originally 16 chapters, later amended to 11.

Shenmue, which launched in 2000 on the Dreamcast, was considered the first chapter of the saga. The second chapter of the story was delivered in a manga set between it and Shenmue 2 (2001). Shenmue 2 constitues chapters 3 through 5, so Shenmue 3 runs chapter 6 to some unknown point.

 

[N.A]

So granted a successful launch and release of Shenmue 3, a fourth game will end the series? How many games did he originally envision the series needing?

He said somewhere recently that ideally the series will be 5 games.

 

[Krejlooc]

So granted a successful launch and release of Shenmue 3, a fourth game will end the series? How many games did he originally envision the series needing?

"At least."

Shenmue, when it was originally Virtual Fighter RPG, was 11 chapters long. When it became Shenmue, it ballooned up to 16 chapters long. Since then, a few chapters have been trimmed (like chapter 2 - the boat ride from Japan to China) and it's now hovering around 11 chapters again.

Shenmue I was chapter 1 alone. Shenmue II was Chapters 3-5. Shenmue III will begin with Chapter 6 and run to an unspecified point, at which point Shenmue 4 will continue from there and presumably end the series.

The second chapter of the story was delivered in a manga set between it and Shenmue 2 (2001).

This is misleading. The manga for chapter 2 is like 2 pages long and doesn't cover the chapter really save for its climax when

Spoiler

Chai kidnaps Xiaoqin and Ryo saves her just before they dock

. Most of the details of that chapter haven't been disclosed.

NOTE: The above spoiler will actually spoil a detail about Shenmue III regarding a villain, so don't click it if you are interested in being surprised.

 

[Krejlooc]

"Will the battle system be like virtua fighter?"

"I would like to see the battle system evolve into one that fits the world of shenmue."

I wonder what that means

 

[Krejlooc]

More information on why Manabu Takimoto was originally brought on board: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/2512...n_an_interior_designer_to_work_on_Shenmue.php

"We wanted to know Takimoto’s design process," explained Yu Suzuki. "We had a lot of questions about the 'rules' of interior design."

"Imagine you enter a room and no one is there. But you want to have the player recognize, through the 'traces' left by objects in the room, that someone was here," said Takimoto. "It was sort of like, 'how do we create the scent of a human here?'"

"We thought having an architect design the buildings would help us achieve a totally new level of realism...After that we had him stick around in the development room, as a player. We wanted the perspective of someone who’s not in the game industry."

Pretty neat they are bringing the guy back.

 

[AmyS]

-Shenmue III's record breaking kickstarter success was shocking and completely unexpected by Yu Suzuki (Additional info not in interview: Yu Suzuki wept backstage at E3)

This is amazing and so heartfelt.

 

[gdt]

Wait hold on Sega hasn't said shit?

I'm assuming they actually have the right(s) to make the game though right?

 

[Krejlooc]

I'm assuming they actually have the right(s) to make the game though right?

Yes, Sega gave Yu Suzuki permission to use the Shenmue IP (along with a few other Sega IPs in the form of gachapon capsules from the previous games, like Sonic and Virtua Fighter).

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Shenmue III's record breaking kickstarter success was shocking and completely unexpected by Yu Suzuki (Additional info not in interview: Yu Suzuki wept backstage at E3)

that's almost a pity, that such interest and passion for a game series could go unknown for so long and so fully to him (or presumably some of his associates at sega). obviously the kickstarter infrastructure as it is now makes this a lot easier but it seems almost like an inefficiency that so much interest could go unknown to the creator and developer himself. makes you wonder what other games, titles, devs have no idea how much interest there actually is for whatever x game they represent, and could better from removing that inefficiency of getting more perfect information to devs/pubs.

 

[Krejlooc]

This is amazing and so heartfelt.

It's pretty endearing watching the modern gaming world learn about Yu Suzuki, and stories like this will help humanize him. He really does deserve the respect he has. There is no reason Yu Suzuki should be this unknown figure in video game history.

 

[Krejlooc]

that's almost a pity, that such interest and passion for a game series could go unknown for so long and so fully to him (or presumably some of his associates at sega). obviously the kickstarter infrastructure as it is now makes this a lot easier but it seems almost like an inefficiency that so much interest could go unknown to the creator and developer himself.

He knew about the enthusiasm from hardcore fans, but he didn't realize the entire gaming community would come together and embrace him this way. He said the only reason he ever even considered being able to bring the game back is because for decades, anytime anybody spoke to him, the first question they would ask is "When is Shenmue III coming?"

There is a beautiful example of this from GDC 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amu0_EunHmM#t=38m30s

(skip to 38 minutes 30 seconds if the link above doesn't take you to that point automatically)

Yu Suzuki gives an endearing post mortem about Shenmue at GDC 2014 then accepts questions from the audience. The very first question someone asks: "When will Shenmue III be released?" You can see Yu Suzuki's face light up as he laughs and plays off the question.

However, shame shame on Sega for ignoring their most vocal fanbase.

 

[CreeperBlocks]

Shenmue III's record breaking kickstarter success was shocking and completely unexpected by Yu Suzuki (Additional info not in interview: Yu Suzuki wept backstage at E3)

:') I'm so glad Shenmue 3 is a Reality now.

 

[Krejlooc]

:') I'm so glad Shenmue 3 is a Reality now.

For better or worse, Shenmue III will basically define Yu Suzuki's legacy. Enormous weight on his shoulders to produce, but in 1 game he can change his narrative from "Legendary visionary who failed at his biggest project" to "legendary visionary who refused to stay down"

 

[Bloodrage]

Thanks for the key points. I'm glad I've backed it with 200$, Yu Suzuki is trying his best, gathering the old staff and everything

Yeah, I increased my pledge from $60 to $120 on the last day. There was no scenario where I wasn't going to be a part of this legendary return.

 

[May16]

:') I'm so glad Shenmue 3 is a Reality now.

Well, I'm not saying there's a problem, but we gotta keep ourselves in check here. It's not a reality yet. It's in production, but games get cancelled sometimes. I'm in heavy breathing mode like a million others, to be sure, but I've learned not to count those chickens.

I'm not saying it will, just saying that the possibility exists, as it does with any game.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

Tbh I didn't really have an ongoing emotional connection to the series beyond my times playing the others on the DC. The first one was legitimately the most hyped and obsessed I'd ever been for anticipating a game's release, from the first screenshots I saw in a game mag and that first video it was something that occupied me night and day until it came out. Seeing the video at E3 and that swell of music suddenly brought back all those emotions though, and knowing how much the outpour of support has touched Suzuki just makes it all the more heartwarming. Glad to see so much of the original key players coming back. And yeah, it's odd what with the silence on Sega's end, you'd think there'd be something given they gave him use of the IP. Even a tweet or two by some rando community rep giving a shout out or congrats.

 

[Krejlooc]

Tbh I didn't really have an ongoing emotional connection to the series beyond my times playing the others on the DC. The first one was legitimately the most hyped and obsessed I'd ever been for anticipating a game's release, from the first screenshots I saw in a game mag and that first video it was something that occupied me night and day until it came out. Seeing the video at E3 and that swell of music suddenly brought back all those emotions though, and knowing how much the outpour of support has touched Suzuki just makes it all the more heartwarming. Glad to see so much of the original key players coming back. And yeah, it's odd what with the silence on Sega's end, you'd think there'd be something given they gave him use of the IP. Even a tweet or two by some rando community rep giving a shout out or congrats.

The first video game I ever played, period, was Hang-On on my Sega Master System, the pack-in game (along with Astro Warrior). I have literally been a Yu Suzuki fan for as long as I've been a fan of video games. I was a fan of his before I even knew his name.

I learned about Yu Suzuki, as an actual person that existed, in the early 90's when he reeled off a string of his greatest hits culminating with Virtua Fighter. At that point, he started gaining enough prominence for western media to actually talk about him. When VF2 was preparing for release a bunch of interviews with him in EGM2 lead to my realization that he was behind virtually all the games my father and I used to play on my Master System. As an example, one of my best christmas memories was in 1989 - we had a tradition of going to my grandmother's house on christmas eve and, as the clock turned to midnight, we'd open our big present for the year. So, its a few hours before we're supposed to go there and my whole family is getting dressed to go. I was just a little boy at the time, and I remember walking up to the counter in the kitchen and there, out in the open, was Space Harrier 3D, unwrapped.My parents were about to wrap it but I saw it before it had wrapped. I grabbed the game and started ripping the film off of it and got scolded by my mom, haha. Having got the original Space Harrier a few months prior (and loving it) I basically went apeshit. My christmas surprise ruined, they took a picture of me holding Space Harrier 3D in the kitchen with this enormous smile on my face. If I can, I'll try and scan that picture sometime because it's such a great christmas memory for me.

I've played virtually the man's entire catalog now, with only a couple of extremely rare exceptions. I have a bunch of really fond memories of my father and I playing Hang-On as a kid, particularly watching my dad complete the circuit over and over again (something I actually couldn't do for many years). The sole reason I ran out and bought a Saturn at it's surprise launch was Virtua Fighter 1. A few months later, at christmas, I got Virtua Fighter 2 - the video game I asked for. I actually pre-ordered Fighter's Megamix at Electronic's Boutique. For a good portion of my life, he was the creative force behind Sega, my favorite gaming company (along with Sonic Team).

Naturally, when Shenmue was being hyped, I was hook line and sinker. Yu Suzuki, Sega, and Shenmue are all intrinsically linked in my mind.

I've been a diehard fan of Sega since before Sonic the Hedgehog, before Wonderboy, before Fantasy Zone. Yu Suzuki alone is the reason why I eventually became huge fans of those games too, because he lead me to that company. The entire reason I took up computer programming - at 8 years old - is because I loved Sega games. The reason I loved Sega games was due entirely to Yu Suzuki. Hundreds of thousands of hours of my life dedicated to learning computer programming and game design, countless nights of reading, practicing, frustrating progress has ultimately lead to my career in professional game development. Yu Suzuki is the reason why. The man had a profound and enormous impact on me, and I've never even met him before.

I cannot wait to play another major release from Yu Suzuki.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

I first heard of him in connection with Shenmue but like you VF was one of the primary motivations for me getting a Saturn. Seeing that sucker on a big screen in a local golf+arcade place as a kid was like staring into the future, just couldn't believe that was possible when I had a Genesis at home haha.

 

[Krejlooc]

I was actually extremely disappointed with my Saturn the day I got it. The VF1 port wasn't very good, neither was Daytona USA. The thing that kept me playing my Sega Saturn was a little game called Panzer Dragoon.

But all that changed when I got VF2 a few months later. I cannot explain how enormous the jump in graphics from VF1 to VF2 was. Everything about that VF2 port is phenomenal.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

I missed the Panzer boat unfortunately, my go to's were VF, Virtua Cop, Nights, and Tomb Raider. There was a side scroller I remember renting that had a frog I think? So yeah I didn't really utilize the library that fully when I had it

 

[Krejlooc]

I missed the Panzer boat unfortunately, my go to's were VF, Virtua Cop, Nights, and Tomb Raider. There was a side scroller I remember renting that had a frog I think? So yeah I didn't really utilize the library that fully when I had it

Gex? He was a lizard (gecko to be exact), and Crystal Dynamic's (and previously, the 3DO's) mascot.

 

[Just_myles]

I learned about Yu Suzuki, as an actual person that existed, in the early 90's when he reeled off a string of his greatest hits culminating with Virtua Fighter. At that point, he started gaining enough prominence for western media to actually talk about him. When VF2 was preparing for release a bunch of interviews with him in EGM2 lead to my realization that he was behind virtually all the games my father and I used to play on my Master System. As an example, one of my best christmas memories was in 1989 - we had a tradition of going to my grandmother's house on christmas eve and, as the clock turned to midnight, we'd open our big present for the year. So, its a few hours before we're supposed to go there and my whole family is getting dressed to go. I was just a little boy at the time, and I remember walking up to the counter in the kitchen and there, out in the open, was Space Harrier 3D, unwrapped.My parents were about to wrap it but I saw it before it had wrapped. I grabbed the game and started ripping the film off of it and got scolded by my mom, haha. Having got the original Space Harrier a few months prior (and loving it) I basically went apeshit. My christmas surprise ruined, they took a picture of me holding Space Harrier 3D in the kitchen with this enormous smile on my face. If I can, I'll try and scan that picture sometime because it's such a great christmas memory for me.

I've played virtually the man's entire catalog now, with only a couple of extremely rare exceptions. I have a bunch of really fond memories of my father and I playing Hang-On as a kid, particularly watching my dad complete the circuit over and over again (something I actually couldn't do for many years). The sole reason I ran out and bought a Saturn at it's surprise launch was Virtua Fighter 1. A few months later, at christmas, I got Virtua Fighter 2 - the video game I asked for. I actually pre-ordered Fighter's Megamix at Electronic's Boutique. For a good portion of my life, he was the creative force behind Sega, my favorite gaming company (along with Sonic Team).

Naturally, when Shenmue was being hyped, I was hook line and sinker. Yu Suzuki, Sega, and Shenmue are all intrinsically linked in my mind.

I've been a diehard fan of Sega since before Sonic the Hedgehog, before Wonderboy, before Fantasy Zone. Yu Suzuki alone is the reason why I eventually became huge fans of those games too, because he lead me to that company. The entire reason I took up computer programming - at 8 years old - is because I loved Sega games. The reason I loved Sega games was due entirely to Yu Suzuki. Hundreds of thousands of hours of my life dedicated to learning computer programming and game design, countless nights of reading, practicing, frustrating progress has ultimately lead to my career in professional game development. Yu Suzuki is the reason why. The man had a profound and enormous impact on me, and I've never even met him before.

I cannot wait to play another major release from Yu Suzuki.

Yeah I ad a master system that had hang on and astro warrior. Like you I discovered who he and am2 was after virtua fighter. I just had to know who made this? I have been a fan ever sice.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

Gex? He was a lizard (gecko to be exact), and Crystal Dynamic's (and previously, the 3DO's) mascot.

youtube confirmed, yup that's the one!

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Sad to hear Sega's yet to make a comment on Shenmue III. After all it's their IP and the more it sells the more money they'll earn and they're basically risking nothing since this is all Yu Suzuki, his kickstarter and to a lesser extent Sony.

Not even on social media did Sega ever mentioned the kickstarter? Wtf, guys!

Still hoping for a Shenmue 1 & 2 HD Collection from Sega announcement in the near future. I backed S3 for $60 and I haven't played a second of any Shenmue game.

 

[Krejlooc]

Yeah I ad a master system that had hang on and astro warrior. Like you I discovered who he and am2 was after virtua fighter. I just had to know who made this? I have been a fan ever sice.

My dad became a big fan of Yu Suzuki's work as well, and actually donated to the kickstarter, too. He had an Atari 2600 and an Intellivision several years before we got the master system, and I remember him telling me, as I watched him play, how impressive the game was. The thing that blew him away? It had a gear shift, and to know when to shift, you had to listen to the whine of the engine, just like in real life. And when he would take turns, he'd have to down shift.

That seems so quaint now, but it's funny to remember a time when things like that would honestly blow minds. And this was the home port! My dad didn't see the arcade version of Hang-On until he saw me play it in Shenmue years later (although we did play other Yu Suzuki games in the arcade, notably Virtua Racing -- which basically floored us).

 

[Machina]

Over a month on from E3 and I still can't believe this game, FFVII remake, Battlefront and FO4 are all real things. What a time to be alive.

 

[Krejlooc]

Sad to hear Sega's yet to make a comment on Shenmue III. After all it's their IP and the more it sells the more money they'll earn and they're basically risking nothing since this is all Yu Suzuki, his kickstarter and to a lesser extent Sony.

Not even on social media did Sega ever mentioned the kickstarter? Wtf, guys!

Still hoping for a Shenmue 1 & 2 HD Collection from Sega announcement in the near future. I backed S3 for $60 and I haven't played a second of any Shenmue game.

I don't know about that. I don't think Sega stands to gain much from Shenmue III. I think they are honestly as divorced from the project as they can possibly be. I get the feeling that this is the same type of situation as Nintendo with Bayonetta 2.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Bring on the HD remasters at TGS!

 

[Trojan X]

Those GamesTM Shenmue pages look fantastic. Props to them. I love the talk about weeping and the impact being greater than FFVII. Magical moments that stamped itself into history forever...

I'm so happy that I contributed to the kickstarter. Looking forward to the Tokyo Games Show information and for financial support that is more focused on the Japanese audience as how Kickstarter is more focused for the West.

My mind will explode if they did a complete remaster of Shenmue I & II but a fantastic PC level HD version of the game that can run at 4K would be perfectly and completely fine by me. They must include the Game Transfer though.

 

[Krejlooc]

Those GamesTM Shenmue pages look fantastic. Props to them. I love the talk about weeping and the impact being greater than FFVII. Magical moments that stamped itself into history forever...

I'm so happy that I contributed to the kickstarter. Looking forward to the Tokyo Games Show information and for financial support that is more focused on the Japanese audience as how Kickstarter is more focused for the West.

My mind will explode if they did a complete remaster of Shenmue I & II but a fantastic PC level HD version of the game that can run at 4K would be perfectly and completely fine by me. They must include the Game Transfer though.

Speaking of Japan, this is one of my favorite E3 reaction videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZA33zX-t4Q

This is the only reaction I've seen from people in Japan. They are so stoked!

It's nuts to think that fans all over the world lost their shit at the exact same moment.

 

[Moor-Angol]

Proud to be one of the backers
Never spent better $175 for vg in the last 5 years


oh well actually I never spent more than one hundred bucks for software games...

 

[Musolf815]

While I'm really happy the game is getting made so I can play it, I think I'm more happy that Suzuki gets to finally make it and that it's been such a success so far.

 

[Trojan X]

I like this condensed version of the Shenmue reactions. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oc_6cm8wc


Fantastic...

 

[Elija2]

I like this condensed version of the Shenmue reactions. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oc_6cm8wc


Fantastic...

Haha, this is amazing.

 

[Krejlooc]

I like this condensed version of the Shenmue reactions. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oc_6cm8wc


Fantastic...

It's also incredible to go back onto major forums that were following E3 and you can pinpoint the exact moment in time when Shenmue III dropped. Like every single board had the same "what the fuck" reaction, all at once.

It's like a moment captured in time.

I seriously cannot believe sega missed this. This would have been so major for their brand. Honestly one of the single biggest misses in their company history. Especially since, immediately afterwards, they put out that statement about trying to emphasize quality again.

 

[gamerforever]

I still don't think it's hit home that we are getting shenmue 3! Really hope we get some kind of version of the originals on ps4 before the third one is released, even if it is a 1:1 release.

 

[Krejlooc]

I still don't think it's hit home that we are getting shenmue 3! Really hope we get some kind of version of the originals on ps4 before the third one is released, even if it is a 1:1 release.

Not just that Shenmue III is coming - that, essentially, the classic AM2 is coming back together for another game. That is enormous. It'd be like The Beatles coming back from the dead and making one more album.

AM2 was an industry defining talent in the 90's. What they did, the entire rest of the gaming world followed. Their ability has never been in question, they just had the unfortunate fate of being attached to the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast as Sega's fortunes eroded.

Think of how many other series wouldn't exist if it weren't for AM2, like Tekken, Dead or Alive, or Ridge Racer. The entire playstation console was designed taking cues from what AM2 was doing in the arcades.

“If it wasn’t for Virtua Fighter, the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept,” said former Sony Computer Entertainment producer Ryoji Akagawa.

When Sony was developing the PlayStation in the early 1990s, videogame graphics were transitioning from 2-D sprites to 3-D polygons. However, Akagawa said that it was challenging to properly budget and push for games that used 3-D graphics.

“What if we make the PlayStation using 2-D hardware? Such an idea was seriously considered,” Akugawa said.

Around that time, Sega’s revolutionary arcade game Virtua Fighter became a huge hit in Japan, wowing arcade crowds with its early use of polygonal graphics to produce a game in the popular one-on-one fighting genre.

“Once Virtua Fighter was out, the direction of the PlayStation became instantly clear,” said Maruyama.

http://www.wired.com/2012/09/how-virtua-fighter-saved-playstations-bacon/

You read things like this, but I'm not sure it registers with everybody that Virtua Fighter and Shenmue are intrinsically linked. They are sister projects. They have the same genesis. When you read things like this, they are talking about AM2's ultimate project that eventually evolved into Shenmue.

 

[Trojan X]

There is one thing I wished... something I wished for over 15yrs for Shenmue. I want Yu Suzuki to increase the value of buying drinks and eating food. If Ryo is always well hydrated and eats appropriately (on time) then everything he does will always be on top form. However, if you eat and drink at inappropriate times or even hardly ever eat or drink at all, you will see Ryo always fatigue and his attacks and defense will be weaker than before. He will never go below or above a certain threshold, the whole point is to make Ryo feel more "alive" and to give you a stronger reason to use all those awesome vending machines, restaurants and so on. Yes, you noticed that I didn't mention a HUD for this, well, it's because you don't need it because Ryo's body language well do all the talking. To go a little deeper without going too deep, you can let everything be leveled by the amount and quality level of the food which will help make more distinction between eating food from a restaurant to one from a small shop or vending machine. The other domino effect of this would mean that you NEED to make money and make sure you have money in your pockets, which will domino effect further into money management. This is what I'd love for there to be in Shenmue. It would be fantastic...

 

[ajim]

So amazing seeing Shenmue back in magazines