Random Shenmue Thoughts

Thomasina said:
South Carmain Qr is an amazing track. I found myself randomly humming it a couple weeks and have since been listening to it when it pops into my head. It's such unusual sounds and composition.
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This is one of my favorite tracks of any of the three games. I love that it plays when I go to visit Jianmin (or Kenmin, if you will), who is possibly my favorite character in the series, and I was getting hysterical with glee when it popped up as background music in conversations with Feng and Bei.
 
I've always been curious about Mark's story in Shenmue 1. He's looking for his brother but he's not sure if he's alive. Its kinda hard to believe if Mark's brother is alive he wouldn't reach out to his brother. Where would black Americans go in Japan? Unless he's in WITSEC, but I'm not sure WITSEC is in the Shenmue universe.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
I've always been curious about Mark's story in Shenmue 1. He's looking for his brother but he's not sure if he's alive. Its kinda hard to believe if Mark's brother is alive he wouldn't reach out to his brother. Where would black Americans go in Japan? Unless he's in WITSEC, but I'm not sure WITSEC is in the Shenmue universe.
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As a storytelling device, I much prefer the idea that Mark's brother was murdered by the Mad Angels, as opposed to being on the run or in witness protection. It makes them seem all the more dangerous, ruthless, and unlikeable. It shows they're not some ragtag clubhouse, but an outfit not to be trifled with.
 
Can't believe I never told you guys this before... Story time!

Between the years 1993 and 2005, my dad was the site supervisor (a posh word for "caretaker") of the massive building complex right next to my joint primary and secondary school, the latter of which, as luck would have it, was right next to our house. My dad was good friends with the caretaker of the school, so I essentially had a free pass to explore the grounds of both outside of operating hours whenever I so desired. This was on the condition I stuck to my word that I would be on my best behaviour, which amounted to not messing around with anything I shouldn't or attempting to open any of the doors, and I stayed true to it. Freedom within reasonable bounds; it was fucking awesome.

One time, when I was about nine years old, I managed to recreate the Old Warehouse No. 8 sneak-in thanks to a surprise appearance by the school's security guard (who, rest assured, had not turned up on account of my presence; his schedule was seemingly all over the place), who bore a striking resemblance to the wrestler Mr Hughes, when I was playing in the playground early one evening.

Despite knowing the layout of the playground and everything in it like the back of my hand, which meant I could make good my escape home at any point, I could not allow such an opportunity to simply pass me by. That would have just been foolish. So, I stayed in the shadows, lying in wait, keeping an eye on his movements, treating wherever he was heading on his rounds as my destination - which, seeing as I was unable to read his mind, changed at the drop of a hat at least a dozen times. I hid behind walls, took cover in doorways, and tiptoed mere metres behind him - the sound of my footsteps masked by the jingling of the massive bunch of keys attached to one of his belt loops - and he was none the wiser.

In retrospect, I wish I would have fucked with him a little by throwing a pebble at a bin or placing something on the path for him to find on his way back to create a distraction before changing position, but that's hindsight for you.

What a rush!
 
So I started playing Shenmue I again, because I want to play the Shenmue trilogy one after another with the end goal of playing III with all the DLC attached and playing it naturally. I've lost count of my play throughs, but this must be my 8th or 9th? At any rate, i'm playing it a little slower than usual (which is difficult as patience isn't a strong suit).

However, it is so much fun trying to find different conversations and 20 years from first playing it, i'm noticing cut scenes i've never seen before! Stuff like going to the Yakuza building when trying to find Charlie and fighting the girl deliquents at the harbour. With the QTE's, I fail them on purpose to see the reaction, so with the latter, it was a shock to see Ryo get stabbed and smacked with an iron bar (although sad to learn I couldn't play it again!)

I'm now at Xmas Eve after purposefully failing Warehouse #8 and about to get the handguard. I hope to have a few more Nozomi scenes together <3

Finally, it's fun talking to Eri and Noriko and hearing about their chats with Nozomi and especially going to Abe Store and asking the old lady for advice :D

PS: As much as i'd love to, I don't think I have the time to read 82 pages of random notes!!
 
The Shenmue 3 capsule toys turned out great. Do you think Sega would ever follow the trend and release every single capsule toy from Shenmue 1,2 and 3. Shenmue merchandise always sells well. Cmon Sega take my money.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
The Shenmue 3 capsule toys turned out great. Do you think Sega would ever follow the trend and release every single capsule toy from Shenmue 1,2 and 3. Shenmue merchandise always sells well. Cmon Sega take my money.
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I can see the potential as numerous series of mystery boxes until each and every capsule toy is exhausted, but the question is whether the investment of money, time, and effort will pay off. I'm in two minds about this; on one hand, mystery boxes are very popular, so I have no doubt they would sell well initially, while on the other I wonder if people will simply lose interest after a couple of series because of the vast amount on the roster.

They could always dip their toe in the water with a limited run initially, which could then be re-issued in light of demand, followed by successive series.
 
ShenGCH said:
I can see the potential as numerous series of mystery boxes until each and every capsule toy is exhausted, but the question is whether the investment of money, time, and effort will pay off. I'm in two minds about this; on one hand, mystery boxes are very popular, so I have no doubt they would sell well initially, while on the other I wonder if people will simply lose interest after a couple of series because of the vast amount on the roster.

They could always dip their toe in the water with a limited run initially, which could then be re-issued in light of demand, followed by successive series.
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I wouldn't want mystery boxes I'd rather them release each capsules in waves. For example: Sonic, Virtual Fighter, Kid Virtual Fighter, etc. They could even make a replica capsule machine to house all of them. Three different machines for each game.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
I wouldn't want mystery boxes I'd rather them release each capsules in waves. For example: Sonic, Virtual Fighter, Kid Virtual Fighter, etc. They could even make a replica capsule machine to house all of them. Three different machines for each game.
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In that case, they might as well just release each individual series without the Shenmue branding. Seems unnecessary to have a brand and a sub-brand at the same time, in my opinion.
 
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