Random Shenmue III Thoughts

I just generally found Smart Ball to be a weird game. What real life game is it based on anyway? I thought that the physics were satisfying enough, but the objective/goal wasn't really enjoyable for me. It just made me feel like playing pinball instead.

The rest of the useless shops are good for information/directions since the civilian NPCs don't speak--a very smart budget cut, btw. Despite the budget, I'm happily surprised they're in-between Shen1 and Shen2 NPC routines. Rather than going easy/cheaper route of looping pedestrians with no work or homes like in Hong Kong.
Yeah, I really liked the way NPCs were handled in this game. It was actually an improvement over Shenmue II. I didn't mind at all that the ones walking around couldn't be spoken to, since most of them had nothing to say in Shenmue I and they just served to guide you around (in the slowest and most annoying way possible) in Shenmue II. They also had the worst English voice acting in those games and some of them actually had duplicate dialogue/voices.
 
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I just generally found Smart Ball to be a weird game. What real life game is it based on anyway? I thought that the physics were satisfying enough, but the objective/goal wasn't really enjoyable for me. It just made me feel like playing pinball instead.

Smart ball is tied to the origins of Bagatelle or Corinth Game. It was a pinball style game. When it was imported to Asian countries in the 20s, it became known as Pachi-Pachi and was sold mostly in Sweet Confectionery stores in Japan...which would then later go on to form what we now know as Pachinko.

Much like Lucky Hit is just another simplified form of Pachinko...so too is Smart Ball (in a manner of speaking)

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Ryan Payton apparently urged for more fanservice IIRC? Originally Yu wanted to do a 70/30 ratio. Admittedly, I'd like to see 70/30 in Shen4, but I still adore the 50/50 we ended up with in final Shen3.

Then Ryan Paton is annoying :mad:
 
I appreciate him. He isn't quite as important as Cedric, but he got the wheels in motion along with a little push from Cerny and Gio, too.

Didn't Dan Houser leave rockstar? Was he one of the GTA guys who said he loved Shenmue and wished to make a Shenmue game someday...? Enormous pipe dream, but still a nice thought to simply have his name involved as a producer/consultant for some more immense financial support.
 
I looked that up recently. It's this guy:

Will Morton worked at Rockstar North for 12 years as a dialogue supervisor and senior audio designer

Will Morton has a loftier ambition: "I would love to work on bringing Shenmue back to life," he says. "I'm genuinely a big fan of Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast and Shenmue 2 on the Xbox. I would love be able to help re-envisage that for the next gen."


He's on his own right now. Would be incredible to have someone who's in charge of GTA/RDR's sound & dialogue involved with Shenmue. What could've been...


(searched an old post of mine for this info)
 
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It's kinda bullshit Fangamer fill out those tax forms properly. Everyone knows you should ship the items from Hong Kong, mark them as a "gift" and put the value as $40.00.
Perhaps they’re worried about items being damaged or going missing during transit? It’s impossible to insure an item for more than its declared value. Pretty sure it’s also customs fraud to intentionally under declare an item’s value.
 
In fairness, none of us can begin to imagine the pressure Yu Suzuki was under to deliver a game that fans had waited for, for all this time. For better or worse, he put content in the game based on the belief that's what the fans wanted. We wanted a Shenmue game, and he made a Shenmue game.
I am curious if he will do any 2020 interviews to discuss some of the game’s feedback. I’m sure he’s been informed about the disappointment many fans had with the story; I’d just like to hear any backroom details on what the heck happened towards the end.
 
I just generally found Smart Ball to be a weird game. What real life game is it based on anyway? I thought that the physics were satisfying enough, but the objective/goal wasn't really enjoyable for me. It just made me feel like playing pinball instead.


Yeah, I really liked the way NPCs were handled in this game. It was actually an improvement over Shenmue II. I didn't mind at all that the ones walking around couldn't be spoken to, since most of them had nothing to say in Shenmue I and they just served to guide you around (in the slowest and most annoying way possible) in Shenmue II. They also had the worst English voice acting in those games and some of them actually had duplicate dialogue/voices.
I agree, pedestrians never served a purpose in any Shenmue game other than visually being ‘filler’ to make the environment feel more realistic. Most had nothing to say except some form of ‘go away’ to Ryo, so no big deal in S3 if they are silent
 
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