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Shenmue Was Released 15 Years Ago Today in Japan

R

Ryo Hazuki

Member
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the release of Shenmue in Japan! It was released on the Dreamcast on December 29, 1999. That's crazy to think about considering it's been my favourite game since. Thought I'd make a thread so we can acknowledge it! Bonus stuff:

GAF member shenhaZ made a pretty great Lucky Hit game you can play in your browser. You can also invest your winnings in to a virtual Shenmue III Kickstarter and borrow money from Ine-san. Requires Unity. Play it here: http://nagaiindustries.itch.io/lucky-hit-challenge

Shenmue Dojo are promoting a Shenmue documentary made by Adam Sipione and released this teaser with Corey Marshall who voiced Ryo Hazuki for the English version. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIaoXjzIARE

GAF member Orioto recently made this awesome Shenmue poster that's worth checking out.



Shenmue GAF Community Thread

Feel free to share your memories of Shenmue if you have them. Or post about wanting HD ports and Shenmue III. That's cool too.
 
ss_lemonade

ss_lemonade

Member
I remember doing that trick to run around Wish/motorcycle road in Shenmue 1. I guess that section was supposed to be playable with your bike

EDIT:
I might be remembering that wrong. The trick I remembered was to walk past behind buildings in Dobuita. I think Wish Road was part of a beta build/hacked save or something
 
F

FullMetaltech

Member
Shemnue was awsome for it days. Used to love to work and i never collected the small figures from the gumball machine or whatever it was.
 
S

SketchTheArtist

Member
That was probably my most-hyped title of all time. From the promotional disc of PROJECT BERKLEY, I was hooked.

Even bought the Japanese version when the game came out and stumbled my way through it. Love that series.
 
L

liquidtmd

Banned
Its fascinating (in a positive way) the love Shenumue continues to generate as a product greater than the sum of its parts.

I enjoyed it muchly as an experience but as a game it wasnt all that.
 
G

Gigarator

Member
Still and forever the best games I've played. I'm at peace with there being no shenners 3 but I'd still love to know how the story was going to develop and eventually conclude.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
That means the 15th anniversary of my first time playing it is coming up in a few days. I played through it in Japanese, barely understanding a word of it, but still fell in love with it.
 
A

Alcoholikaust

Member
soon...
60173-shenmue-iii-special-edition.png
 
S

ShenmueNextGen

Neo Member
Happy 15th anniversary Shenmue! :D

Here's my tribute; Iwao Hazuki's evangelion and what taught us through those inspiring 15 Shenmue years! :)
dnRUoAt.png

#SaveShenmue
 
K

Kikujiro

Member
Best game ever. Thank you Yu Suzuki for making this incredible experience. It's a game of pure love and passion, the artistic zenith of a true visionary.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Member
One of a kind. I played it last Christmas for the first time in years and it's still a classic. So is its sequel.

The Yakuza 5 localisation gives me hope that Sony can further exert their influence with Sega and make a HD Collection a reality.

Bluekaveli said:
You must choose between TLG, Half Life 3,and this. Which one do you pick?
Click to expand...

Shenmue III. Sorry Trico.
 
H

Hyperborean

Member
At this point , I'd be happy if I could play Shenmue 1. My Dreamcast stopped working years ago.

There was a cruel rumor a few years back saying that Shenmue 1 and 2 would be released ob XBLA.
 
S

Shinjiru

Member
NekoFever said:
That means the 15th anniversary of my first time playing it is coming up in a few days. I played through it in Japanese, barely understanding a word of it, but still fell in love with it.
Click to expand...
Same here. I still have the Japanese version in my collection.
 
B

border

Member
Remember when GameFan panned the game the day it was released and everyone flipped the fuck out?

http://www.goodcowfilms.com/farm/games/news-archive/First Impressions Of Yu Suzuki's Shenmue....htm

Maybe it'll be more fun in English, when we understand what everyone is saying... but somehow, I doubt that knowing the content of what's issuing forth from the perfectly-synched lips of fifty different NPC's is going to make wasting hours at a stretch--doing absolutely nothing--worthwhile. This is the evolution of what we, as a gaming public, used to loathe: Interactive Movies. Do real-time visuals, as opposed to Full-Motion Video, really turn a bad game into a good one? Suzuki and company promised a lot with Shenmue... and it looks to me like they got a little too big for their britches. Springing the occasional QTE on you after an hour of walking around talking to people and "looking at the pretty pictures" doesn't qualify as quality game play, in my book.
 
U n i o n 0015

U n i o n 0015

Member
Gamezone said:
Why don`t they release the first two games in HD versions? Wouldn`t that be easy money?
Click to expand...

I've heard everything from they were done and dusted but Sega didn't think they'd make money based on the sales of NiGHTS HD to the original games used tech that can no longer be licensed.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
A happy, unique and memorable game for me, but it's also a game without focus, full of indulgent bloat and repetition, not to mention being almost entirely based around the staggeringly dull gameplay concept of finding out who to talk to next. The 2nd game featured less of the things I liked in the original, and more of the things I disliked.

That said, it's one of the fucking Dreamcast's star titles, and I'd still love a new one.
 
D

DidntKnowJack

Member
One week from today also marks the anniversary of the day Sega execs got together and started asking the question; "Why isn't this game selling?"

I kid, but I do love the original Shenmue. The year I played it was around Christmas and it fit the mood of the season perfectly. I played the hell out of that game.
 
SEGAvangelist

SEGAvangelist

Member
border said:
Remember when GameFan panned the game the day it was released and everyone flipped the fuck out?

http://www.goodcowfilms.com/farm/games/news-archive/First Impressions Of Yu Suzuki's Shenmue....htm

Maybe it'll be more fun in English, when we understand what everyone is saying... but somehow, I doubt that knowing the content of what's issuing forth from the perfectly-synched lips of fifty different NPC's is going to make wasting hours at a stretch--doing absolutely nothing--worthwhile. This is the evolution of what we, as a gaming public, used to loathe: Interactive Movies. Do real-time visuals, as opposed to Full-Motion Video, really turn a bad game into a good one? Suzuki and company promised a lot with Shenmue... and it looks to me like they got a little too big for their britches. Springing the occasional QTE on you after an hour of walking around talking to people and "looking at the pretty pictures" doesn't qualify as quality game play, in my book.
Click to expand...

I was probably arguing with you and duane about it at the hg forums and during chat nights.
 
Mohonky

Mohonky

Member
Shenmue really was unlike anything released at that point. It was very slow yet I couldnt help but be drawn into the game world. The things you could do, I walked around for hours just talking to people, seeing how things changed day to night, even the menial tasks just seemed to fit in with the game. Special games, dont think anything else will quite match the wow factor like it again.
 
G

gugeifer

Member
The game that took my heart and couldn't come back to share this love with me. Or give my heart back.

Real Fantasy Based on Reality T_______________T
 
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