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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Shenmue III - It's On, It's Off, It's On, It's Off 35

Posted by simoniker from the what-a-palava dept.
Thanks to InsertCredit.com for their brief summary of the ever-more-complicated question - is Sega's Shenmue III in production? The site condenses: "Nov. 2001 - AM2 confirms production of Shenmue III is underway... Mar. 2002 - Shin Izakawa, new Shenmue series producer, says Shenmue II XBOX sales will determine release of Shenmue III... Jan. 2003 - Yu Suzuki reveals Shenmue III game designs, expresses desire to make it movie rather than game... July 2003 - Websites report that AM2 confirms Shenmue III will be released, but not where, when or on what. Minor controversy and buzz ensues." GamePro also has a good summary of recent rumors, most of which have either been unattributable or mistranslated. But clearly, Shenmue III was planned at one point - maybe we'll finally find out if it's still being developed at the next Tokyo Game Show?
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Shenmue III - It's On, It's Off, It's On, It's Off More

Shenmue III - It's On, It's Off, It's On, It's Off

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  • Shenmue (Score:3, Insightful)

    by irc.goatse.cx troll ( 593289 ) on Tuesday July 22, 2003 @07:48AM (#6498245) Journal
    Shenmue has always been more like a movie. While I did enjoy it, it was mostly just storyline strung together by a few simple puzzles or timing games.

  • Xbox Release (Score:2, Interesting)

    by DrWho520 ( 655973 )
    That's what you get for releasing it on the Xbox. C'mon, 'Cube is beggin' for it! Bring me your nichey, your innovative, your non-mainstream. This is just the sort of thing that could push the little purple/black/silver 'cube past the big, ugly box.
    • I think you're right.

      It wouldn't really fit in with the userbase for the X-Box, but for the userbase of the GC, it would fit in really well.

      Same thing with Jet Set Radio Future. Wrong platform/userbase. It's a lot more complicated than simple numbers.
      • As much as I love my black box I would have to agree with you. Jet Set Radio Future would have done MUCH better on the PS2 or Cube (make it cube, I dont think the PS2 has the power to make it happen)

        Ditto with Shenmue II (and soon (hopefully) III). Most Xbox owners just don't 'get it' and would rather play games like Halo, DOA3 or Morrowind. Oh well...at, least I didn't have to pay for my copy directly since it came with my box...

      • I wonder how many discs they would have to use for something like Shenmue to be made for the GC? Three? Maybe four? I agree it's the ideal platform for that kind of game though.

        I think at the time Shenmue II was ported to the XBox the Sega/Microsoft relationship was pretty strong. It seemed like the XBox would be the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast back then! Since most of the Sega stuff on the XBox has only had a lukewarm reception I think Sega are more interested in the Cube now.

        My only worry about
        • Gamecube was designed with this issue in mind. It has excellent disk spanning capability, darned if I can find a reference to it at this time. I'm sure if you looked though this [segatech.com] you would be able to find some reference somewhere. They may be small, but Resident Evil on two disks works fine for me.
      • I agree also Jet Set Radio Future, Toejam and Earl 3, Crazy Taxi 3, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Shenmue II would have all done better on PS2 and GameCube.
        Sega just weren't looking at the target audiences when placing games on the Xbox. House of the Dead 3 was perfect for the Xbox but so far nothing else is. Sega really doesn't have the correct library of games for the Xbox. They were trying to be equal to all the consoles but wound up killing some of their series in the process.

        If Sega was smart and actuall

      • What the heck are all of you talking about? If you know that Sega is now supporting Xbox as a platform, and you're a fan of their games, go buy that console and the games. All of a sudden, hey, you're an Xbox owner who "gets it." To say that these games performed poorly because Xbox owners didn't "get them" or that it was for a wrong userbase is a very convenient way to support low sales numbers without any facts whatsover.

        Maybe the marketing was wrong? Like when the JSRF commercials on TV ended with "
        • Not to mention that the first Shenmue was a Dreamcast title, and the Dreamcast sold fewer units than the XBox has, meaning good luck finding a lot of people that own the first one and the XBox and were itching for the sequel.

          I may go out and buy the sequel eventually (I own an XBox and a Dreamcast and Shenmue), but at the moment I can't really justify it with the number of games I'm still playing on my 4 consoles + GBA.

          As for which system has the best games, I'm really having at least as hard a time findi
        • Confidently saying that sales would have been higher on another console (one without the necessary graphics for Panzer Dragoon Orta or the better audio for the awesome soundtrack of JSRF) is nothing but empty speculation, no matter how authoritative you sound.

          Well, since PS2 has a much, much larger installed base, and their game sales dwarf those of the other consoles, it's a _little_ more than empty speculation.

      • Re:Xbox Release (Score:3, Insightful)

        by analog_line ( 465182 )
        Target audience had nothing to do with it. It's all about the Benjamins. Dinero. Cashola.

        Microsoft paid Sega to bring most of it's Dreamcast franchises over to the Xbox, and didn't care much about target market. They just wanted games on the shelves, and Sega needed the cash, so they said sure. I almost bought an Xbox for JSRF, but after playing it on a friend's Xbox, I'm glad I didn't. I was pissed as hell when Sega pulled Shenmue 2 out of the US DC release schedule because MS paid them off. Shenmu
        • The stories can be appreciated on their own. I played through Shenmue, and very much enjoyed it. I imported Shenmue 2, and played fairly far into it. However, the Dreamcast version was just not up to it. The Xbox version of Shenmue 2 has none of the slowdown affecting the Dreamcast versions, as well as slightly better load times (although KOTOR load times make me eeeh).

          If you're going to enjoy games, you have to realize that publishers go to where the money is. If you want to have the consoles on whic
          • If you're going to enjoy games, you have to realize that publishers go to where the money is.

            This is just plain silly and brain damaged. Of course I realize that publishers are going to take money they're being given, like Microsoft was giving Sega. That doesn't mean I enjoy "games" any more or less. Maybe you can play a game or watch a movie without seeing the sequel, but that isn't something I do.

            If you want to have the consoles on which they publish, spend the money to have them all.

            I don't want
            • "If you want to have the games they publish, spend the money to own all the consoles"

              As in, I expect that if you want to keep on top of games and their sequels, you'll be willing to purchase more machines/import games and machines/etc. If it's not that big of a deal and there's no reason to do it, there's no reason to bitch about it, either.

              Basically, you either buy an Xbox and enjoy the sequel (or import the sequel for Dreamcast), or you don't whine about something you'd never do. Do you see me whinnin
              • The point to the whole thing, is not the "hardcore" gamer, but the casual gamer. They will buy the system that has the games that they want to play at that time. Down the road, they will continue to play games of that same genre. It kind of reinforces things, so to speak.

                And it's not whining. I'm just trying to point out that certain games will do better on some systems than others.

                Microsoft gave Sega money to bring a few games to capture the Asian market. It didn't work. At this point, Sega would be bett
            • Maybe you can play a game or watch a movie without seeing the sequel, but that isn't something I do.

              Huh? Why do you have to enjoy (or even see) the sequels to enjoy a movie?

              I haven't seen the last 2-3 Highlander sequels, but that doesn't affect my ability to enjoy the first one, for example.
    • Because worldwide the Purple/Black/Silver box has sold more units worldwide.
    • I am an Xbox owner, and I want Shenmue III. The fact is, I bought the Xbox for JSRF, Gunvalkyrie, and Panzer Dragoon Orta, not Halo and Morrowind. While I also own a Cube and a PS2, I would prefer for it to go to the Xbox because of the system's aditional features over the other two systems. I'm sick to death of hearing that the Xbox is only any good for blood and guts games. The Xbox's foremost developer is Smilebit, and that's all there is to it.
  • It's sad to see this series teetering on the edge of collapse. I remember in the Dreamcast days, it was one of the showcase titles for the system, yet the XBox community all but ignores it. Although I wasn't into this game myself (a little too much tedium for my case), I always thought it was exceptionally well done.

    However, I remember reading somewhere that when Shenmue (The Dreamcast version) was originally made, it was intended to be the first part of a 16 part series. Perhaps that was a little too ambi
  • Websites report that AM2 confirms Shenmue III will be released, but not where, when or on what.

    When reading that, I found that it summed up the current state of the gaming industry pretty accurately: Nobody knows anything anymore. Not even themselves.
  • I know this game wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I personally loved both titles in the series. They have a gripping (if a tad bit clichéd) story, a very functional combat system, and loads upon loads of detail that go a long way for suspending your disbelief as you scoured the city in search of clues and situations to lay the smack down on any fools stupid enough to pick a fight with you. The second one was light-years ahead of the first in terms of game-play, and it would be a real shame if SEGA did
  • Expensive Development + Niche Title = Death

    (see Falcon 4.0)

    Shenmue is a niche series. It always will be. Most "graphical adventures" are.

    People talk about Microsoft paying Sega for their titles like it's an underhanded thing. Exactly what did Sony do with Rockstar?? Oh, but how dare the Xbox have any good games.

    Sony and Nintendo owners can't stand the thought of the Xbox being legitimate. As an owner of all three, I tend to use the Xbox the most (though there was a time where the PS2 was on top and

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