Rumor: Shenmue Gone for Good

[JKKDARK]

via Wired Blogs (http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/08/rumor-shenmue-g.html)

Some fairly depressing rumors are declaring that Shenmue, that sailor-loving Sega franchise, is all but dead and buried. As recently as last year, series creator Yu Suzuki confirmed the development of Shenmue Online, but legal issues between Sega and developer JC Entertainment stalled the game's development.

A post over at Shenmue Dojo (http://shenmue.planets.gamespy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34660), which quotes an email from Kikizo's Adam Doree, bodes ill for the future of both Shenmue Online and Shenmue 3:

"As for Shenmue, I would have to say at this stage, it is worth forgetting about. If all the fans get any rich relatives together and channel it though Dojo perhaps we could buy rights, hire Suzuki (he'd likely say yes) and independently make the game under license from Sega at no risk to them. That is the only way it will get made at this stage I think."

If that's not quite declarative enough for you, Doree also says "Shenmue Online is f***ed and Suzuki's status is, once again, up in the air, which counts Shenmue III totally out of the picture right now. This is confirmed, it seems."

While we can hope that Doree has no clue what he's talking about, it's sadly more likely that he's absolutely correct. We'll probably never see the conclusion of Ryo Hazuki's story, or see the comeuppance of the evil Lan Di. Sigh.

[Lupin3rd]

GameCentral is going to explode.

Also: Nooooooo... oh well the 2nd instalment wasn't that good anywho.

[sourced]

i never liked shenmue

[JKKDARK]

GameCentral is going to explode.

Also: Nooooooo... oh well the 2nd instalment wasn't that good anywho.


i never liked shenmue

This is like: "I don't like video games"

[gronne]

I only tried the second one on xbox, and it totally sucked... Slow-paced and utterly boring...

[Ichijoe]

Well Sourced and Gronne I can not begin to tell you how worrng you both are, I can suppose that there simply wasn't enough fragin' and shooting goin' or driving on as with your average xbox game. =(

Personally I saw this as a ~good thing~!!

If the game has any flaws AND IT DOES!!!
It's only that you can only really appreciate the entire game the first go 'round, sadly almost ZERO replay value.

So yeah there was that bit about having to search for Sh*t (um People and Places etc.), But, not unlike the "Player", the Character also was just about as clueless to ~his~ Surroundings as well.
Having only just shown up in (Late '80's), Hong Kong, with nowhere to go, (i.e. Slum Hotel by the Dock's)

I thought the Dev's / Story Writer's did an excellent job in bringin' that element forward, at the eventual cost of the Game as a whole.

It saddens me a great deal, that Sega could turn there Backs on this Game, but then again Yu Suzuki probably got over ambitious with Shenmue.
The last thing I heard about the Franchise My Suzuki was planing on stretching Shenmue out to about Six Episodes (or Individual Games), if there was any truth to that, sadly I could see why Sega would be less then enthusiastic about producing it. T_T

[gronne]

Hey don't give me that crap, I know what constitutes a good game and if that contains fragging, then so be it.

As I said, I only played the second title and there's a chance I didn't give it enough time, but it simply gave me a too stiff and boring sensation I had to turn it off.

I'm a major fan of games with good stories and it really seemed interesting, but I'm just the guy that can't stand the awful arcade feeling it gave me. Final Fantasy 7, that's a good rpg with an awesome story.


But I can understand it has it's fan base.

[Lupin3rd]

My point is I preffered driving forklift's to stacking books.

[iniquitous_beast]

I played both shenmues when they came out on Dreamcast. It actually took me two attempts before I got hooked on the first game. The problem was that it was marketed like an RPG, and in those days, RPG meant games like Final Fantasy VII or Grandia II. Shenmue was a graphic adventure game, and it was an awesome adventure at that. In a way, it began the "go anywhere, do anything" trend that was later perfected in Grand Theft Auto III. The main difference was that you could not randomly attack people, and there were many smaller things which were possible, such as entering unimportant buildings, chatting with shop clerks, or collecting things from vending machines. It was an innovative game series, and it will be sorely missed.

As for Sega, I believe that they have been suffering a slow death ever since the end of the Dreamcast era. They make their money off of uninspired sequels and the occasional mediocre Sonic game. I can't blame them, though. They really can't afford to take big risks anymore. Their boneheaded merger with Sammy had me pulling my hair out years ago, and it obviously has not helped them. We can always hope for Sega's recovery, but I hold my own hopes that they get bought out by someone who can afford to fund their great franchises once more.

[mcdougall57]

never played it and guess i never will

[acn010]

rest in peace :(

[Dull Blade]

how unfortunate, a great series comes to an end with no conclusion... If you havent played either of the 2, you should try them, your missing alot. I will admit that at the start, it is a bit boaring but it gets better lator on.

[Skai725]

well... I am a big fan of Shenmue, I bought my Xbox just so I could play the 2nd game... Literally. Anyway, Shenmue is an RPG I guess you can say, but Yu Suzuki called it F.R.E.E. (Full Reactive Eye Entertainment) he wanted the game to feel like a movie as much as a game, and I believe he exceeded it, to me it felt more like I was Ryo living in Japan and that I was looking for Lan Di, its immersive and the story is cliche but it works so well since there's more to it than just revenge, I really hope this is a rumor, I'd like to see the end of Ryo's story, and jeez Sega could you have atleast put Ryo as a secret character for VF5, instead of just shoving him to the side like he never existed...?

[Elven6]

Well mabye hes saying we should forget about it because Shenmue Online is a MMORPG, and those need constant care, so they could have meant to say forget about it for a few years?

And if its about sales, Shenmue 1 had the misfortune of being released at a time when the Dreamcast had big piracy problems, if people didn't have Broadband they could have gotten it from friends, or a street merchant. Shenmue 2 wasen't even advertised, so if no one knew about this game being on the Xbox or Dreamcast, how could they buy it?

[Vangar]

God damn. So i played them right though, never to know the end. Fail'd.

[Lupin3rd]

They could go the advent children route to end the franchise, would be better than nothing, bundle it with ports of the first two for current gen consoles.

[sourced]

This is like: "I don't like video games"

hey. i LOVE video games. its just that... shenmue was one of those games which just didnt tickle my fancy. too slow paced and boring to me.

i must agree with some of you guys that the game has an original concept and is to a certain extent interesting. its just that i found the game to cliche and boring. it felt too much like an "interactive movie" if you know what i mean.

[Ichijoe]

hey. i LOVE video games. its just that... shenmue was one of those games which just didnt tickle my fancy. too slow paced and boring to me.

i must agree with some of you guys that the game has an original concept and is to a certain extent interesting. its just that i found the game to cliche and boring. it felt too much like an "interactive movie" if you know what i mean.


It's difficult to argue the point about it being "slow", but, again ~that's the "magical" part~ of this Game.
Your not soposed to know what to do or where to go right of the bat, and yes it can be a bit boring and drag on... and on... et-al.

But, by the time you managed to regain your stolen Gear and find the Temple it starts moving along fairly fast.

I wouldn't really know how to categorizes this Game it does so much, RPG, Puzzle or Fighter, not counting the ~scripted~ feel that this Game has.

I really hope that somehow we'll get to see the "End" to this Story, 'couse it does kinda leave hanging there at the end of Shenmue 2. :(

[ShinMike]

overrate game woo! so only the fans of it care :D, anyways i would actually give it a try if they improve the gameplay and all of that, bc i never liked the series =/, itwas just ok for me =p

[VampDude]

Are SEGA purposely trying to doom themselves?

Firstly: They pull out've the console market.

Secondly: From their pull out've the console market they focus on publishing poor quality games for just about every console in the market.

Thirdly: This rumor is probably true.