LOL - this made me crack up like hell!
(But later I will cry like a 4 year old)

Am I the only one thinking Sega is foolish, thinking that Shenmue fans want a MMO game to end the Shenmue storyline... I think it sux BIGTIME!

I mean, wtf! The whole point of Shenmue was the single player aspect... it' s almost as you were reading a really good book... you don' t want mainstream gamers running around harrassing and curse each other randomly... this is kinda sad.

Let' s hope SEGA gives Yu a fair chance of completing his masterpiece like it should be.

OFFLINE

SINGLEPLAYER

And still I hope he doesn' t mess things up with Shenmue Online...

ctly what I was thinking if it did come out on Pc I wouldn' t want to play it cos that' s not the medium they started it on.

the whole idea about shenmue online is bizzare.
if i want a mmorpg if i have to pay for it,you can bet your ass it wont be a " SHENMUE ONLINE" .
I love shenmue serie,would give shenmue 2 93% in score or even 94,but a mmo of the serie?
Not worth a smuck...atleast for me.

This is kinda lame but...


PETITION FOR THE WIN!


I' m prepared to get militant on Sega' s ass!

They can' t screw Shenmue up... that' s just sad.

Shenmue Online has a lot of potential for Sega. MMO is a commercially viable direction for Shenmue but nobody is saying it will be the only direction. Not before, and not in this interview.

I' m gonna go ahead and paste some of my comments from other forums right here:

Originally Posted by Remk @ GAF:
Damn Yu! Just give me my Shenmue III, who cares about a MMO game? :(

Originally Posted by Kikizo:
Fuelled further, perhaps, by a report on this website last summer about the future of the project, claiming that internally, Suzuki is not involved with the elusive and still officially-unconfirmed next in the core series.

Originally Posted by Kikizo:
But based on everything we know to be true at this moment in time - and aside from detail that has since changed - all of it was accurate.

Originally Posted by Kikizo:
Officially Sega will not talk about a real Shenmue successor under any circumstances.

Originally Posted by Kikizo:
as complete a summary on the essential topics as can possibly, humanly be published.

Originally Posted by PhoenixDark:
WTF? In one moment he talks about how great touch controls are, then the next he doesn' t sound very interested in doing anything with the DS. WTF?

No, he just said he didn' t think a Lindbergh game would port well to the DS hardware.

Also

" It' s a new means of controlling the games, and I think it' s an important new development."
" It wouldn' t be interesting if all of the console manufacturers were headed in the same direction."
" as any good developer will tell you, it' s important to try new things."

Although I don' t know where he gets the bit about western innovation versus jp devs though.

(at Shenmue Dojo) Hi guys. I should point out that for the most part the expectations here for this interview were nothing to do with us, we just said we would have a Suzuki interview. I would like for people to enjoy this for what it is, which is a great interview with Yu Suzuki that provides an update on what he' s doing now and looks at some cool stuff (he has a lot of fans here regardless of involvement with core Shenmue). But regarding the Shenmue 3 thing, we have done as much as we possible can right here, and I hope people will read my comments before and after the interview, very carefully. One other thing that I couldn' t really add in the article is an answer of sorts: there' s the credibility, " dude" .

What I don' t understand is how Yu says that shenmue Online will not be related to any existing Shenmue game, but then later states it will follow up directly where the story of part 2 left off.

Personally I' d rather just have Shenmue Online have absolutely nothing at all to do with Shenmue, kind of like Phantasy Star Online isn' t even in the same ballpark as a real Phantasy Star game. And isn' t the game for Korea only or something like that? I hate online games as it is. MMOs are even worse.

Nice interview, i think Shenmue 3 could be at E3, any idea if it will be?
When did they begin development on Shenmue 3 was it right after Shenmue 2?
It' s been over 4 years 5 months and 10 days since Shenmue 2 was released, will they show it soon?

Well I appreciate the article, It' s good to hear about Suzuki-San (who to me unlike Naka, is still as good as i remember from back when... Naka i think isn' t like he used to be after the DC specificly Sonic Adventure)

Anyway... About Shenmue, well I don' t really like the idea of an MMO, and it' s not something i' d play despite loving shenmue and completing the previous 2 games 3 times each. I still think Sega will release a full shenmue game on a possibly next, or next next gen console when they get demand so high. Besides I thought i read somewhere that the MMO, players don' t play as Ryo. In which case it certainly wouldn' t be the game to end the series.

Psy phi looks pretty neat... I' ll probably never play it as I rarely visit arcades, so it' s a shame it wont see a home conversion, though i' d assume there could be a possibility of a Rev conversion.

I am honestly more interested in the next after burner because that will be a blast, VF5 looks fantastic too... Akira' s Gi looks incredible, I wanna see it in motion in HD on my future next gen system.

One a final note one of the pic' s in the interview..
http://www.kikizo.com/viewer/imageview_games.asp?yusuzuki_iv_feb06/s01.jpg
Doesn' t it just make you desire a nice HD Shenmue 3... looks like Shenmue 1 upped to HD looking fantastic...

Well thanks again for the interview.

Ps. Forgot... I think back in the day after Shenmue 2, I remember seeing on Sega-Europe' s site, that Shenmue 3 was confirmed. But nothing ever came of it...

There' s been so much speculation about shenmue here - SEGA please help us and release the best game ever !

ORIGINAL: uumai
One a final note one of the pic' s in the interview..Doesn' t it just make you desire a nice HD Shenmue 3... looks like Shenmue 1 upped to HD looking fantastic...

I agree. It would be awesome.

ORIGINAL: IwantShenmue3
Nice interview, i think Shenmue 3 could be at E3, any idea if it will be?

No way.

Thank you very much kikizo for this interview.

Do you mean you don' t know if it will be at E3 or that it won' t be?

There' s no way it' ll be at E3.

Nice interview, i think Shenmue 3 could be at E3, any idea if it will be?

That was your question.

No way.

That was your answer.

It shows i replied to GaNgStA oops.
It could of also meant no way as in i don' t know, Majikdra6on, as i asked any idea?
Adam, do you know roughly when?
TGS or E3 2007?

In this interview Suzuki San talked a little about Shenmue III,the summary of main points or in the other word high lights are these.


1-He directly said It' s not based on any existing Shenmue title. , (Which means Shenmue Online' s story line is just like a side story from Shenmue II)

2-He directly said No, the (main) story will be finished through games (Therefore We must continue our waitting for official announcements)

3-He directly said This (Shenmue Online) will allow gradual continuation to the story (Which means he is busy with Shenmue Online to keep series alive and make more fans(=costumers) for the series to see Shenmue3 as a big successor for SEGA in neae future like what I am saying since my fansite opened and I mentioned it too in my latest news about Shenmue III before this interview on my site that says first Online then Shenmue III)

OK,What u think ?

You do make a hazy point, and i also admire your enthusiasm for the series.


But what my point is, as ive been trying to emulate since news of the interview came to light, was that once again, the obvious will be stated in spades, but as per dojoesqué style, the littlest point or sentence will be clung onto in order to preserve hope of an offline, console based Shenmue 3.
As seen in your post though almin, it has not now come to us clinging onto one sentence or point, but now a letter, in this case S (as in gameS) that we have for a hope of Shenmue 3. I mean its just ridiculous, improbable and downright pathetic, to cling to the hope that is literally on a life support machine.

I apologise to anyone who sees offence, or unhappiness in my post attitude or content. As some may see me acting like a petulent child, wanting a specific Shenmue 3 is because that IS what i want. I understand if you feel that its better than nothing, and of course i respect that. But for me, and im sure a few others, its just not enough. Not by a long shot. I mean im sure Sega wont give a toss if i feel like that. They are still going to make a " killing" with MMORPG releases in the asian gaming community, but if Sega wanted more capital from a willing paying customer such as myself, then they would be better off releasing a DVD movie of the entire Shenmue story, or even a paperback novel. But there is no way i will be paying for an individual PC game, never mind a monthly subscription!


I must also draw attention, to those who wish to look upon statements within the interview that can offer hope, to the remark made by Suzuki in relation to how well Sega is doing in the Arcade market:

" Yu Suzuki [/quote

As a result, we' re the strongest in the business now. That' s certainly good for Sega. So even though the overall market is shrinking, we' re still making a killing. We' ve got a sixty per cent market share in Japan now, so it' s not bad at all for us.

Not that it offers any hope to me really, but surely this suggests that Sega have a relief of the bankroll that was spent upon the gamble that was, the original Shenmue. If perhaps money was the problem for bringing forward Shenmue 3 (although if the inside info provided from the Kikizo articles anonymous source is valid then money should not be the case) then there is more light shining on the element of hope.

As much as i am against Shenmue Online, and the whole MMORPG direction of the series, the words AREAS to EXPLORE and also STORY continuing are clearly stated. I wonder how a story can possibly be told through a PC based MMORPG? Ah well but i guess Suzuki is good at creating new features of games, as indicated in the interview with the mention of QTE' S



I personally, am not giving up on Shenmue, and the hope that S3 / a complete Shenmue game on the next gen consoles are still existent (i still believe after SO makes a revenue in its designated areas, then a " western" Shenmue game, aka the complete series will be considered.) I mean does it not strike anyone else a bit peculiar as to SO not being announced worldwide, considering that Shenmue has just a big as, if not even more bigger fanbase in the western world. Id say my theory of having 2 seperate genres of the one game on a global scale DO still exist.
But i do have to move on with my life. I mean im currently working on my university dissertation/thesis and i should graduate this summer. In relation to beginning the Shenmue experience, im now grown up. I have other responsibilities. Unfortunately i have to allocate my time to other features, and cannot sit about and wait for a videogame for much longer.

I don' t really understand the fuss over all of this. Sega has a history of creating spin off games from titles they consider important. I would have been more worried if this MMO was indeed canned because that would have stopped any new installment of the series ever going ahead. The fact that it hasn' t means that there is a chance to see a part 3 or even 4 one day.

PETER C I hate to say this but I agree.

I think what Suzuki meant saying that he' s going to continue the story is that he' ll be making episodic quest-like downloadable content for this online game.

If that' s the way he want' s to finish the story - it sucks.

If this game was made for 360 it would feel much better althought still dissapointed

Am I the only one thinking Sega is foolish, thinking that Shenmue fans want a MMO game to end the Shenmue storyline... I think it sux BIGTIME!

Erm, not to labour the obvious, but if Sega were particularly bothered with what Shenmue fans thought, we' d have had Shenmue III three years ago! Shenmue Online is an ongoing project, because online is where they think the future is and where the most new income can be generated. Personally I feel that the console market is getting increasingly moribund, and though Shenmue of course cannot be compared to the current " dross" , nontheless it' s not really going to make enough of a sales splash to make it worth the while making a last gasp at the single-player genre.

Adam Doree wrote:

Although I don' t know where he gets the bit about western innovation versus jp devs though.

Spot on, that' s exactly what I thought when I read that comment. What? It' s Japan we look to for innovative gaming, not the movie licence clogged Western market!!

I am very impressed with the extent of coherent conversation you guys got out of Yu-san. Regardless of whether us diehard fans got to hear " just what we wanted" or not, getting an extensive interview in English with Yu-san is an achievement.

My only minor quibble would be that since he talked extensively about SO, perhaps it might have been an idea to raise the matter of Western release and English/European language translation for Shenmue Online? (I was a bit ruder about this on the dojo, please forgive me!

And hey, PeterC! Nice to see you over here!