Shenmue’s Relevance In Modern Times

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

Now one of the most common criticisms I see leveled against Shenmue III is that it’s “outdated” (which is odd seeing as how it has some more modern conveniences). However it got me to contemplate about how drastically the gaming landscape has changed in the past twenty years. Back in 1999, Shenmue stood heads and shoulders above other video games due to its inventing of a new genre and popularizing many concepts that gamers take for granted today. Sadly though, as well know the series flopped and went dormant in 2001.

For the next fourteen years not only did the industry catch up to what Shenmue did, but refined it. There’s also the fact that the way we consume our entertainment has changed. Nowadays, we have access to an unlimited amount of entertainment options at the touch of our fingertips. This has established a new expectation among consumers for instant gratification. Also a new generation of gamers have entered into the medium since 1999 who have never heard of Shenmue till 2015. However they have heard of its prolific spiritual successor Ryu Ga Gotoku, which tends to conform more towards modern sensibilities.

What I am getting at is that Shenmue faces a very different set of circumstances in comparison to its Dreamcast days. It’s a lot harder for Shenmue to stand out in today's world since its the antithesis of contemporary expectations. Not only does Shenmue now have to compete against its spiritual successor, it has to compete with the entirety of entertainment as a whole. So with all these factors in play, how can Shenmue remain relevant in today’s cultural zeitgeist?

 

[code l name]

So with all these factors in play, how can Shenmue remain relevant in today’s cultural zeitgeist?

The defeatist in me thinks it’s difficult if not impossible for Shenmue to really remain relevant at least in popular culture, outside appealing to its niche fanbase.

Then again someone could have made a similar argument towards Yakuza before is reached huge critical and commercial success in west with Yakuza 0 in part thanks to YouTube Chanel’s like Angry Joe amongst others.

So it remains to be seen.

 

[Mittens2317]

Sadly though, as well know the series flopped and went dormant in 2001.

Oof. Prepare for thirty posts telling you how you're wrong, saying that the first sold extremely well for the Dreamcast install base, and the topic to devolve into yet another twenty page argument about sales figures.

 

[spud1897]

So as we know the first game sold over 1 million copies on.......

No I joke. Can Shenmue be relevant in today's gaming landscape? I think so. What they, for me, need to hone in on is what makes Shenmue unique, what drew people to it in the first place. It was intrigue, it was the story and the fact it was ground breaking. Now as we know the game isn't ground-breaking anymore, the industry evolved and surpassed it. What it has to do is deliver its very best in story telling and immersion to get new people in.

The game is unlikely to appeal to the younger crowd without overhauling alot of it to make the systems more modern. I'd rather they didn't as, for me, it would lose its spirit. What it needs to do is position itself towards the older gamers out there. Modernise elements of the game to bring it up to 2020 standards but keep what makes it tick. That's the no waypoints, the hidden lore, the colourful characters. This for me, if done well can certainly appeal to more than its core fanbase. There's plenty of gamers out there who could like and enjoy Shenmue. The franchise needs to attract them over.

 

[Yokosuka]

Was zeitgeist a thing before Tarantino mentioned it?

I think Shenmue has plenty of features that can easily attract one audience (and terrify the other). But make people aware of them is quite hard indeed since its main qualities are rather informal and difficult to translate into words that don't sound overused.

Meanwhile, the games have aged not entirely well. The graphics, the stiff controls, some tedious gameplay phases, the lack of interaction and dialogues, it's harder to convince people not to pay attention. Shenmue has the originality of being a 3D investigation game but the related phases have never been challenging neither.

I think Yu got it right with his mantra "take your time and enjoy". Plenty of games turn out to be over-complicated nowadays with a lot of different systems and sub-systems to get into. And they're so fast that the action becomes mostly unreadable and eventually tiring.

Nowadays, the strongest and argument-friendly point of Shenmue certainly lies in its thematic. We all buy games because of their thematic, not so much their quality. It's easy to find good games since the market is full of gems, but finding a game that can attract our interest is way more difficult.

RDR fascinates because we can immerse ourselves in the far west era and play a cowboy.
Untitled Goose Game was eye catching because we could control an animal in a pretty and believable way in some social sandbox.
Age of Empires is still very popular because every famous civilization is depicted.
Yakuza intrigues a lot of people because the Tokyo depiction looks fabulous and features immersion within the local mafia world.

Shenmue? It's the only game in the market which goes so far in martial art replication. Even VS fighting games are not paying so much attention to all the cultural values of martial arts.

It's also the only franchise that features China so much for what it is, not for the Three Kingdom or some other mythology while Shenmue 1 is depicting a more intimate side of Japan.
I would even say Shenmue will always remains interesting just for not taking place in New York or California,

Old or younger, people love immersive and role playing games in a fascinating universe as long as the developers are not putting the slider too far like simulators on PC.

Oh, and Shenmue has many, many great cute girls so why people would not catch up?

 

[WuyingRen]

It really depends on how you’re defining ‘relevant’ and to which subset of modern gaming you’re applying the question to.

To the average gamer, I don’t think Shenmue was ever particularly relevant to begin with even if it might have directly influenced some of the games they played and enjoyed. In that sense, I don’t think that Shenmue is any less relevant today than it was twenty years ago.

To the gaming press, that they still seem to love pumping out click-bate articles suggests that they still deem it somewhat relevant. The tone of the articles relating to Shenmue seems to have shifted quite drastically though, so I think the reason for it’s relevance has changed.

To the majority of Shenmue fans, I think it’s still as relevant today as it ever was. The record-breaking Kickstarter and the fact that we’re having this conversation can attest to that.

To other developers, I think Shenmue has gone from a series that pioneered new ideas and pushed the boundaries of gaming to a series that demonstrates the power of a small but passionate fan-base, the viability of crowd-funding to produce more than just indie titles and, unfortunately, an indicator that these things alone are not enough to be successful. It’s relevant in that it may still have a bearing on what other developers do (or don’t do), but as with the gaming press, I think the way in which Shenmue is relevant has changed completely since the launch of the first two games.

That said, I think it probably varies from developer to developer. People like Kojima and Miyamoto would probably argue that games like Shenmue 3 are essential to gaming and up and coming developers might take inspiration from Yu Suzuki’s refusal to adhere to ‘modern standards’. On the other hand, developers that are used to conforming to these standards might argue that the game is a relic of a bygone era.

It’s an interesting topic of discussion and I think that the mixed responses to Shenmue 3 from both fans and reviewers show that it’s not as black and white as it might first appear.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

It really depends on how you’re defining ‘relevant’ and to which subset of modern gaming you’re applying the question to.

To the average gamer, I don’t think Shenmue was ever particularly relevant to begin with even if it might have directly influenced some of the games they played and enjoyed. In that sense, I don’t think that Shenmue is any less relevant today than it was twenty years ago.

To the gaming press, that they still seem to love pumping out click-bate articles suggests that they still deem it somewhat relevant. The tone of the articles relating to Shenmue seems to have shifted quite drastically though, so I think the reason for it’s relevance has changed.

To the majority of Shenmue fans, I think it’s still as relevant today as it ever was. The record-breaking Kickstarter and the fact that we’re having this conversation can attest to that.

To other developers, I think Shenmue has gone from a series that pioneered new ideas and pushed the boundaries of gaming to a series that demonstrates the power of a small but passionate fan-base, the viability of crowd-funding to produce more than just indie titles and, unfortunately, an indicator that these things alone are not enough to be successful. It’s relevant in that it may still have a bearing on what other developers do (or don’t do), but as with the gaming press, I think the way in which Shenmue is relevant has changed completely since the launch of the first two games.

That said, I think it probably varies from developer to developer. People like Kojima and Miyamoto would probably argue that games like Shenmue 3 are essential to gaming and up and coming developers might take inspiration from Yu Suzuki’s refusal to adhere to ‘modern standards’. On the other hand, developers that are used to conforming to these standards might argue that the game is a relic of a bygone era.

It’s an interesting topic of discussion and I think that the mixed responses to Shenmue 3 from both fans and reviewers show that it’s not as black and white as it might first appear.

In the opening, I was thinking in a more general sense. You could take what I wrote about Shenmue and apply to it to just about anything. I think what makes Shenmue a fascinating case is that its greatest ally and enemy are the times itself. If you allow me to use an unrelated analogy, Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka is to gaming what the original 1977 Star Wars film was to movies. Shenmue worked back in 1999 because there was nothing else quite like it, much like A New Hope. You didn’t have endless entertainment options back then as the internet was not as mainstream as it is today. In that climate, Shenmue was able to thrive thanks to its incredible presentation and revolutionizing a new genre of gaming. However if Shenmue were released now, it would not be seen as anything special as open world games are a dime a dozen.

One could make the argument that masterpieces are timeless. However Shenmue tends to appeal more to those who grew up with the series. Younger audiences (especially after the mixed reception of Shenmue III), tend to see Shenmue as an inferior Ryu Ga Gotoku. Like I wrote in my previous post, Shenmue eschews a lot of the modern conventions that modern gamers want from video games. Shenmue is slower paced and does not provide the user with instant gratification. Ironically though, this is something I am starting to see more from long running franchises like Sonic, Final Fantasy, or Pocket Monsters in an attempt to remain relevant.

 

[joethetimelord]

The harder a game tries to conform to today's standards the more likely I am to ignore it. If Shenmue 3 were announced as another Ubisoft/Rockstar style open world I would've been less interested. And God forbid if it became a battle royale.
It didn't trade in its atmosphere and tone for easier money or appeal for a "wider audience", and for me that's a strong step toward a truly memorable game.
You also have to keep in mind that gaming journalists aren't the voice of the gaming public that they think they are, and tend to be incredibly out of touch much of the time, opting instead for controversial headlines that'll more likely generate clicks (one negative DLC review was notably titled "Shenmue's Story DLC is a good example of addons done..." for this exact reason). They're among a very small number of people I know of who've been complaining that Shenmue 3 wasn't generic enough.

 

[WuyingRen]

In the opening, I was thinking in a more general sense. You could take what I wrote about Shenmue and apply to it to just about anything. I think what makes Shenmue a fascinating case is that its greatest ally and enemy are the times itself. If you allow me to use an unrelated analogy, Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka is to gaming what the original 1977 Star Wars film was to movies. Shenmue worked back in 1999 because there was nothing else quite like it, much like A New Hope. You didn’t have endless entertainment options back then as the internet was not as mainstream as it is today. In that climate, Shenmue was able to thrive thanks to its incredible presentation and revolutionizing a new genre of gaming. However if Shenmue were released now, it would not be seen as anything special as open world games are a dime a dozen.

One could make the argument that masterpieces are timeless. However Shenmue tends to appeal more to those who grew up with the series. Younger audiences (especially after the mixed reception of Shenmue III), tend to see Shenmue as an inferior Ryu Ga Gotoku. Like I wrote in my previous post, Shenmue eschews a lot of the modern conventions that modern gamers want from video games. Shenmue is slower paced and does not provide the user with instant gratification. Ironically though, this is something I am starting to see more from long running franchises like Sonic or Pocket Monsters in an attempt to remain relevant.

I think the challenges faced by Shenmue are no different to the problems faced by other long running franchises and I think that it’s pretty telling that in order to remain relevant, the Sonic franchise actually regressed to a retro form in order to recapture some of the series’ original audience.

The last truly innovative and pioneering Mario game was probably Mario 64 which effectively defined 3D platformers. The series hasn’t really evolved too much since then in terms of core gameplay and it could be argued that other games that have released in Mario 64’s wake refined and perhaps bettered it from a gameplay perspective (in much the same way that the things that once made Shenmue stand out are no longer cutting edge).

I think the biggest difference between Shenmue and other long running franchises like Mario, Sonic and Pokemon is that all of these games were hugely popular at the time of their release and have maintained their popularity over that time (for the most part, at least). They have always been relevant.

In contrast, I don’t think Shenmue was ever particularly relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers and so to ask how it can remain relevant 20 years later when the things that could have made it relevant are no longer true seems like something of an oxymoron.

A better question might be ‘How can Shenmue become relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers?’, and that question is a little easier to answer.

Yu could turn Shenmue into a GTA clone and add in all of the creature comforts that modern gamers have come to expect and it would sell a hell of a lot better than S3 did. I think the question then becomes ‘Is this still a ‘Shenmue’ game?’ though.

Unfortunately, I think that the things that make Shenmue what it is are the things that prevented the game from ever becoming relevant to the average gamer 20 years ago and the reason that Shenmue will never be seen as a ‘mass-market product’ (or whatever Mr. EmbraceFace said earlier this month).

 

[otbr87]

As with everything in the evolution of technology in the last 20 years there's been a lot of benefit but also things are worse than ever in the spirit of consuming movies, music, games and media across the board. All these forms of media at our fingertips gives us a constant stream to it. As for video games long gone are the ideas of pushing games to a whole new level of depth like there was 20 years ago. I understand there's only so much they can do with current gen titles that play nearly identical to last gen titles versus the PS2/Dreamcast era versus the Genesis/SNES era, that part is apparent. My concern is the lack of depth and quality in gaming as a whole that we saw come into the market circa 2003/2004 and by the time the XBox 360 launched in 2005 it was all downhill from there(with the exception of very FEW motion sensored games that were great introduced in 2006 like Wii Sports Bowling or 2010's PS3 Sports Champions disc golf). While graphics and online gaming experiences have improved, the market has been saturated and flooded with tons and tons of trash titles and therefore it makes it harder for something like Shenmue to stand out, it also doesn't help that Shenmue 3 only progressed the story line roughly 5% from start to finish. Games have always been created with the intention of being a distraction, something to consume our dollars and extract our energy from real life, this becomes very obvious when you step away from it for nearly 15 years and travel the world without owning a TV, video games or listening to mainstream radio and selectively allowing certain important media to come it for educational and informational purposes only. I'm not against gaming in and of itself, as I was once a hardcore gamer in the 90's and early 00's, but I can tell you the #1 reason I stepped away was video games were not evolving in a healthy and progressive direction when it came to content of light versus dark. Sure, the graphics and physics of gaming became amazing in 2005 when stuff first started to look somewhat realistic, and now more than even it does and I can't wait to see what the PS5/Series X gen brings in, but whatever innocence games had was buried during the mid 2000's and with it went the intelligent gaming design. Even when a unique, uplifting, refreshing title comes out nowadays, its still buried under mountains of marketing for over-hyped over-marketed games like Call of Duty and Mario. Another issue with darker titles that really don't bring any personal reward or thought provoking 'moral of the story a-ha! moment' with them is most of them aren't even good, it's like they're out of ideas. Take Resident Evil for example: Though nothing that really pushes us on a personal level within the content, as pure entertainment that was well executed, the first three games were amazing for their time with RE4 nailing the franchise to perfection. 5 was terrible, 6 was worse, 7 was regurgitated etc. Why else would they re-release RE2 and now RE3 within the last year? Games are stale as a whole. Back in 2001 you had just as much of a chance of hearing about GTA 3 releasing as you did with Shenmue 2 because sure GTA 3 had more marketing and is more appealing to the masses but there was a smaller divide between the so called "AAA" titles and more niche market/indie style titles like Shenmue. To it's credit, GTA 3 truly was a great game for its time but GTA wasn't a household name for casual gamers until GTA 3 came out, and look at it now GTA 5 is the best selling media item in human history, and GTA is one of the only exceptions of a franchise that makes a fantastic title every time, regardless of how mainstream and shallow it is. It's been 7 years since GTA 5 came out, that's an amazing gap to give it to perfect the next title. I wish Call of Duty, 2K Sports and other lesser mainstream titles would space out their releases and focus on quality. With all the digital content available in the current market you'd think we would have more open mindedness towards unique titles like Shenmue, but it simply doesn't seem to be the case with the *majority* of the population outside of a niche gaming community looking for Shenmue-like experiences, such as the people on this forum. Games like Shenmue aren't even heard of by most gamers, yet most people know what Call of Duty is, even those who don't play games.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

I think the challenges faced by Shenmue are no different to the problems faced by other long running franchises and I think that it’s pretty telling that in order to remain relevant, the Sonic franchise actually regressed to a retro form in order to recapture some of the series’ original audience.

The last truly innovative and pioneering Mario game was probably Mario 64 which effectively defined 3D platformers. The series hasn’t really evolved too much since then in terms of core gameplay and it could be argued that other games that have released in Mario 64’s wake refined and perhaps bettered it from a gameplay perspective (in much the same way that the things that once made Shenmue stand out are no longer cutting edge).

I think the biggest difference between Shenmue and other long running franchises like Mario, Sonic and Pokemon is that all of these games were hugely popular at the time of their release and have maintained their popularity over that time (for the most part, at least). They have always been relevant.

In contrast, I don’t think Shenmue was ever particularly relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers and so to ask how it can remain relevant 20 years later when the things that could have made it relevant are no longer true seems like something of an oxymoron.

A better question might be ‘How can Shenmue become relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers?’, and that question is a little easier to answer.

Yu could turn Shenmue into a GTA clone and add in all of the creature comforts that modern gamers have come to expect and it would sell a hell of a lot better than S3 did. I think the question then becomes ‘Is this still a ‘Shenmue’ game?’ though.

Unfortunately, I think that the things that make Shenmue what it is are the things that prevented the game from ever becoming relevant to the average gamer 20 years ago and the reason that Shenmue will never be seen as a ‘mass-market product’ (or whatever Mr. EmbraceFace said earlier this month).

Fair enough. Do not misunderstand me, I do not want Shenmue to lose its individuality either. However, that doesn't change the fact that I am disheartened that such a wonderful series doesn't get the love it deserves. Apart of me wishes more people were open to Shenmue's charms. If it had, then Kickstarter would have never been necessary. But I guess it is what it is.

 

[otbr87]

I think the challenges faced by Shenmue are no different to the problems faced by other long running franchises and I think that it’s pretty telling that in order to remain relevant, the Sonic franchise actually regressed to a retro form in order to recapture some of the series’ original audience.

The last truly innovative and pioneering Mario game was probably Mario 64 which effectively defined 3D platformers. The series hasn’t really evolved too much since then in terms of core gameplay and it could be argued that other games that have released in Mario 64’s wake refined and perhaps bettered it from a gameplay perspective (in much the same way that the things that once made Shenmue stand out are no longer cutting edge).

I think the biggest difference between Shenmue and other long running franchises like Mario, Sonic and Pokemon is that all of these games were hugely popular at the time of their release and have maintained their popularity over that time (for the most part, at least). They have always been relevant.

In contrast, I don’t think Shenmue was ever particularly relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers and so to ask how it can remain relevant 20 years later when the things that could have made it relevant are no longer true seems like something of an oxymoron.

A better question might be ‘How can Shenmue become relevant in the eyes of mainstream gamers?’, and that question is a little easier to answer.

Yu could turn Shenmue into a GTA clone and add in all of the creature comforts that modern gamers have come to expect and it would sell a hell of a lot better than S3 did. I think the question then becomes ‘Is this still a ‘Shenmue’ game?’ though.

Unfortunately, I think that the things that make Shenmue what it is are the things that prevented the game from ever becoming relevant to the average gamer 20 years ago and the reason that Shenmue will never be seen as a ‘mass-market product’ (or whatever Mr. EmbraceFace said earlier this month).

I fully agree with these sentiments. Sonic was fantastic in the Genesis era, and even was still fairly decent with Sonic Adventure 1 and Sonic Heroes, but every after that was really bad, or trying to mimic the modern culture when gaming ultimately made a downhill slide into trash as whole circa 2003-2005. What happened to the Sonic franchise in 2005? Shadow the Hedghog came out, as if Sonic wasn't edgy enough we have to make him dark. I love what they did in 2011 with Sonic Generations to give new life to the series and again with Sonic Mania in 2017.

Mario 64 was truly the last Mario game that felt fresh and completely unique. I know they've added new elements since then, but there's never been anything over the top that has redefined the franchise since Mario 64, and most of the post Mario 64 games are even less playable from an enjoyment standpoint than some of the Sonic ones.

I feel that unfortuanetly in the world we live in where everyone wants darker, grittier, more violent, more mainstream, fast paced that stuff like Shenmue will continue to die off and disappear. Honestly, the only thing that gives Shenmue 4(or 5) a chance to exist is the fans demanding it like they did Shenmue 3, and even with that it's questionable if we will ever see a 4th or 5th one. It'll be near impossible to get the mass majority into a franchise like Shenmue, especially 20 years past its prime. From a technical standpoint Shenmue will never surpass the modern titles, nor should it. I don't want to play GTA: Bailu Village or Call of Duty: Kowloon. The reason the mass majority of new gamers(and some old)can play Super Mario Bros NES from 1985 and go "it's so amazing for it's time!" is because the brainwashing to think the Mario games are actually really great is very real in our culture and yet those same people who don't think for themselves will say "Shenmue isn't that good, it's overrated/boring". When I bought my first copy of Shenmue 3 at Best Buy on release day the guy who rang me out literally told me "There's a Shenmue 3?...I remember playing the original on the Dreamcast, it was really painful to sit through. I remember the fans being like religious with this game, it was crazy to get that into a game that much." I said "Its an acquired taste for sure, and requires time to take it all in" He started talking to me about how he's been playing Pokemon since Red/Blue and is currently wrapped up in whatever the current game is and I'm like...."Pokemon? *laughs* talk about religious fans?" Pokemon has been trash since after the Red/Blue/Yellow/Silver/Gold original Gameboy era and yet it still sells...marketing 101.

 

[WuyingRen]

Fair enough. Do not misunderstand me, I do not want Shenmue to lose its individuality either. However, that doesn't change the fact that I am disheartened that such a wonderful series doesn't get the love it deserves. Apart of me wishes more people were open to Shenmue's charms. If it had, then Kickstarter would have never been necessary. But I guess it is what it is.

It’s disheartening, but that Shenmue will likely never be a game for the mainstream isn’t necessarily the end of the world in my eyes. Of course, I’d love for Yu and his team to reap the rewards for their work. Aside from that and the continuation of the series though, whether or not Shenmue is ‘relevant’ to the shit-munchers who blindly chow down on their annual serving of COD and Assassin’s Creed while dismissing anything that doesn’t conform to what they’ve been brainwashed into believing a modern game should be doesn’t concern me too much.

I don’t think it’s possible for Shenmue to become relevant to mainstream gaming without losing the things that make it what it is, but I definitely think it could sell better with a few minor tweaks to the formula. If it’s able to sell enough copies to provide a budget for further games, that’s more than good enough for me.

 

[otbr87]

I don’t think it’s possible for Shenmue to become relevant to mainstream gaming without losing the things that make it what it is, but I definitely think it could sell better with a few minor tweaks to the formula. If it’s able to sell enough copies to provide a budget for further games, that’s more than good enough for me.

Yes!! I couldn't have said this better myself. Like dropping the mini-game crap and focusing on story progression would have helped Shenmue 3/will help Shenmue 4. Why introduce a terrible fishing simulator and eating food(yet no animation of it, like when Ryo would drink soda in S1 and S2)spending money on those resources when it could have focused on story-line progression. If Shenmue became GTA: Bailu Village or Call of Duty: Kowloon it would have more success commercially but it would be franchise suicide for the spirit, moral message and essence of what makes it Shenmue....so in other words we could just call it Yakuza lol.

Assassin's Creed is another one I forgot about for a moment. There's an example of a modern high fructose corn syrup game that tasted good for something that provided empty calories when the first one came out but didn't need 600 sequels.

 

[Down by Law]

It's not just Shenmue that has declined, the market for more linear, story driven single player action/adventure games just isn't what it used to be.

Some of my favourite games from the last 10 years:

Binary Domain - sold terrible
Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided - mankind divided put the serious on 'hiatus' i.e - "it's dead Jim"
Max Payne 3 - sold 4 million copies and was deemed a flop. Apparently the budget was as high as 100million.
Spec Ops : The Line - terrific narrative, brilliant game give it a go. Marketed like a me-too shooter and sold like crap.
Alien Isolation - Disappointing sales
Alan Wake - Sold so well Microsoft gave the rights back to Remedy
Control - Saved by Epic
Shenmue III - Hopefully broke even or made a small profit
The Evil Within 2 - Sales bomb
Dishonored - Dishonored 2 was a Sales bomb
Titanfall 2 - Sales bomb

Now lets have a look at the games I did enjoy that were commercial successes:

Uncharted 4 / Lost Legacy - power of Sony marketing and Naughty Dog wizardry
God of War - Sony marketing and cutting edge graphics
Horizon Zero Dawn - Sony marketing and cutting edge graphics
Yakuza Zero - A game than let new players in by being a prequel and having 5 sequels to build off
Resident Evil 2 Remake - It's Resident Evil 2 with cutting edge graphics

I think the market is unsustainable the way it is. There are so many free to play games, seasonal mutiplayer games..there just aren't enough hours in the day to enjoy them all, never mind afford them.

Shenmue is lucky that the fanbase is so absurdly loyal and will spend money. We're borderline fanatics !
People always doom and gloom about Shenmue but there's a better chance of seeing Shenmue IV than sequels to any of those games I put above again.

I find it wild that we're likely going to get Shenmue IV before Virtua Fighter 6? Now who would have taken that bet in 2006?

 

[otbr87]

I find it wild that we're likely going to get Shenmue IV before Virtua Fighter 6? Now who would have taken that bet in 2006?

That is bizarre to think from a 2006 standpoint for sure! From a 2020 standpoint it's more like...Virtua Fighter? What happened?....oh Tekken happened lol.

 

[Down by Law]

I think it's more a case of Sega's classic 'fuck this popular franchise' bizarre decision making than anything to do with Tekken.

See also : Streets of Rage until very recently.

 

[高野和泉]

Well...Yu could always re-invent the wheel with the next installment while there's still chapters left to be adapted if Sega or another publisher wanna take the risk. If anybody can, a legendary visionary auteur like Yu for sure can do it..

 

[RyoIsTheShenmueTree]

To 99% of video-gamers, Shenmue will never be relevant. This is because gamers, like consumers of all other forms of media such as movies, music, and even literature lack knowledge, perspective, patience, curiosity, and taste. It just is what it is. There may even be those among us who would not be interested in a game like Shenmue 3, had we not been Sega devotees in the 90s, so how can we expect the rest of the gaming populace to care or be interested in the series much less be sympathetic to our point of view?

Shenmue 3 is not as good as Shenmue 1 or 2, nor should we have expected it to be. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist or that it lacks historical significance.

In 1927, the French movie maker, Abel Gance, made one of the greatest and most revolutionary films of all time: "Napoleon". In 1960, he made a sequel titled "Austerlitz", which was not nearly as good, but worth seeing nonetheless. Today 99% of the western movie watching populace have not heard of either film.

A similar parallel can be made regarding Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece "Scenes from a Marriage" and its decade's later sequel "Saraband". Who today has heard of either?

Perhaps you can find people who like Bob Dylan's late 60s albums Highway 61 Revisited or Blonde on Blonde, but who scoff at listening to his 80s albums "Shot of Love" or "Infidels", much less his more recent albums such as "Modern Times" or "Tempest". Another comparison could be Van Morrison. Many may know of songs like "Brown Eyed Girl' or even albums like "Moondance", but wouldn't give any time to his later albums such as "Down the Road" or "The Healing Game".

We can't be interested in temporal relevance.

The main thing for us to be concerned with, in my opinion, is did Shenmue III make enough money to justify the making of Shenmue IV and will Shenmue IV make enough money to justify Shenmue V.

 

[WuyingRen]

To 99% of video-gamers, Shenmue will never be relevant. This is because gamers, like consumers of all other forms of media such as movies, music, and even literature lack knowledge, perspective, patience, curiosity, and taste. It just is what it is. There may even be those among us who would not be interested in a game like Shenmue 3, had we not been Sega devotees in the 90s, so how can we expect the rest of the gaming populace to care or be interested in the series much less be sympathetic to our point of view?

Shenmue 3 is not as good as Shenmue 1 or 2, nor should we have expected it to be. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist or that it lacks historical significance.

In 1927, the French movie maker, Abel Gance, made one of the greatest and most revolutionary films of all time: "Napoleon". In 1960, he made a sequel titled "Austerlitz", which was not nearly as good, but worth seeing nonetheless. Today 99% of the western movie watching populace have not heard of either film.

A similar parallel can be made regarding Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece "Scenes from a Marriage" and its decade's later sequel "Saraband". Who today has heard of either?

Perhaps you can find people who like Bob Dylan's late 60s albums Highway 61 Revisited or Blonde on Blonde, but who scoff at listening to his 80s albums "Shot of Love" or "Infidels", much less his more recent albums such as "Modern Times" or "Tempest". Another comparison could be Van Morrison. Many may know of songs like "Brown Eyed Girl' or even albums like "Moondance", but wouldn't give any time to his later albums such as "Down the Road" or "The Healing Game".

We can't be interested in temporal relevance.

The main thing for us to be concerned with, in my opinion, is did Shenmue III make enough money to justify the making of Shenmue IV and will Shenmue IV make enough money to justify Shenmue V.

I think your view that most gamers lack knowledge and taste is a little elitist. Liking Shenmue doesn’t make us any better than anybody else and it’s perhaps this misguided viewpoint that makes others take joy in trashing the Shenmue series.

Video games have traditionally been seen as a form of escapism, allowing players to travel to new worlds and do things that are either impossible, unsafe or illegal in real life. In that sense, Shenmue has always gone against the grain.

As beautiful as the original Shenmue games were for their time, the world they depicted was one that was a true to life reflection of the world outside the player’s front door. Players didn’t fly around, shoot guns or travel into space, instead spending the bulk of the game walking around asking people the same questions over and over again and working a menial, repetitive job.

The game had elements from multiple genres, making it difficult to satisfy potential players who were used to being locked in to a single genre. For a player to enjoy all that Shenmue has to offer, they needed to like fighting games, adventure games and be open to the mundane tasks the game expected of players.

With all these things in mind, I don’t think it should come as a surprise that Shenmue failed to achieve commercial success. If I’d never played the game and somebody explained the gameplay loop to me, I probably wouldn’t be too excited about playing it either.