There is no doubt that Yu Suzuki is one of the best game creators in the world.
He has a big life time achievement like Hall Of Fame because of his great impact on this industry.but now Yu Suzuki is in a real bad situation (because of bastards like Hajime Satomi in the head office? who knows?)

--->Let' s review the major news during last years until now!
and then I' ll say what we want!

2003-Suzuki left legendary " SEGA-AM2" to work in his own studio " Digital Rex" .

2003-Sammy chairman Hajime Satomi became CEO of Sega
(The Nightmare Is Coming!)

2004-SEGA Sega Sammy Holdings!
(KIKIZO said " The Nightmare Begins!" )

2004-Shenmue Online announced for China/Korea!
(instead of Shenmue 3 for world!)

2005-Shenmue Online facing trouble?
(JCE not working with SEGA anymore)

2005-Suzuki is the head of AM Plus(+)?
(a completely new division to develop arcade games plus(+) anything else!)

2006-Suzuki' s new arcade game " PSY-PHI" canceled.
(Hell! NO! after working for years on a game! finally canceled by SEGA!)

2006-China Joy 2006: Shenmue Online resurfaces!
Suzuki showed Shenmue Online at China Joy 2006.
(well, a 15-min trailer released and Suzuki had many interviews
with Chinese media)

2006-China Joy 2006: Yu Suzuki said
" Regarding Shenmue 3, we' re not carrying on relative development yet,
and I can' t give you any further information for the time being."
(this means Shenmue Online is not Shenmue 3)
http://game.163.com/06/0717/19/2M8NONCU00311T2V.aspx

2007-China Joy 2007:
The T2CN both was planned for Shenmue Online to be shown!
(After years not even a release date and finally is dead?)
http://news.17173.com/content/2007-06-03/20070603111046758.shtml

2007-In the new structure of SEGA Corp. Hajime Satomi takes over
current President Hisao Oguchi' s position, too.
(The Nightmare Continues!)
http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/20070613_sega.pdf


2007-Hajime Satomi(SEGA' s CEO):
" SEGA may withdraw from Chinese online game projects"
(The Nightmare Talks!, wasn' t working on Chinese market your plan? )
http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/sangyo/20070515AT1D1407714052007.aspx

2007-China Joy 2007: Shenmue Online didn' t exist at China Joy 2007!
(Surprise!!!!)
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20070713/ch12.htm

2007-SEGA-SAMMY:" We' re not withdrawing from China,
but going back to the starting line."
(WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING?)
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20070713/china_01.htm

---END OF HISTORY

As you see first PSY-PHi and now Shenmue Online!
what the hell is happening to one of the greatest game developers & his games!

Now we really need an update on Suzuki' s current situation!
can KIKZIO do this favor to us?

Can Suzuki explain the whole ignorance thing from SEGA-SAMMY for his Projects?
will he remain at main SEGA or he should do what Yuji Naka did?
how many years we can live to see another real game with " YS" seal?
(especially another Shenmue)

(Thanks to Kiyuu from Shenmue Dojo for most of the links)

Regards-Alimn

Yeah, I' m not sure what is going on with Yu Suzuki. He always seems very guarded in interviews. On the one hand, it seems like he' s sort of being stifled and punished by Sega for losing so much money on Shenmue. On the other hand, his games were the ones that made Sega so prominent to begin with. I' d love to hear the man speak candidly about whatever has been going on, but will that ever happen?

He should leave Sega and make other games untill they can sort themselves out.

I agree with you guys. It' s been too long since he released something and appeared at Western shows.

I think that we should see something from him soon really. If not, they' re probably just giving him some projects to keep him busy without ever releasing any of it. Kind of like Nintendo did with one of their employees before, if I remember correctly.
I did gather from interviews that he seems like a loyal person and stayed at Sega because he was grateful for the chances he got there. But maybe he should leave now, the company has changed a lot since then after all.
As you said Zoy, it seems like the man is being punished for Shenmue selling less than expected. While Sega should blame themselves partly for it. Besides that he did indeed create a lot of stellar games so they should be thankful.

I hope we get an update on the Shenmue situation soon. Shenmue Online is a no show this year at the China Games show. This has left me to wonder what Yu Suzuki is doing now at Sega. It' s been 3 years since Shenmue Online was announced. Maybe it' s time to do a follow up on that Shenmue next gen article. This series deserves better then the state its at now....

Shenmue is dead, Yu Suzuki is dead, Sega is dead. Accept it. Move on with your lifes.

I hope Shenmue Online never sees the light of day. Judging by Phantasy Star Online, it' d be a very bad idea and inferior to the original in every single possible way (even the worst Phantasy Star game is about a trillion times better than the best Phantasy Star Online game). Shenmue Online can go to hell.

Shenmue 3, however, really needs to be made. Sega of Japan' s CEOs have never been very bright. Sega of America only employs those whose IQ is below 56. Nobody gives a rat' s ass about Sega of Europe. It' s no surprise Sega is where they are now.

I' m still waiting for Sword of Vermilion 2, Suzuki!!

I really like to know Adam Doree' s comment?
does he think that Suzuki san is still at SEGA?!!!

We really need an update about Yu Suzuki & his current position.
seriously! I' m not talking only about Shenmue! I want to know
what the hell is happening to one of the best game developers!

We can' t sit and watch what SEGA-SAMMY are doing with him!
didn' t he made SEGA famous???

Suzuki san to SEGA is like Miyamoto san to Nintendo.

Regards-Alimn

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm



BAH!!

Me want shenmue!!!

Shenmue is dead, Yu Suzuki is dead, Sega is dead.

Not quite, but they certainly haven' t been doing well the last couple of years. Just take VF5 as an example. It should have been a return to VF3' s uneven surfaces with more advanced collision detection, and the fast-paced nature of VF4. Sadly what we got was VF4 with mix of VF3 gameplay combined.

Not a bad combination, and better than VF4, but it feels slightly stalled and other than the visuals and new musical style, not the great leap many fans were expecting. (I love VF5 though, really the best since VF3) That doesn' t excuse the lack of innovation which this gen was crying out to see from such a franchise.

VF5 however was awesome so I can' t complain too much, though when I see Let' s Go Jungle it all falls apart. Whilst it looks alright, it plays like a poor mans Lost Word arcade, and isn' t likely to succeed in any territory.

Other than OutRun2 (both versions), HOTD4, After Burner Climax, and VF5, SEGA haven' t done all that many great games at all in the last few years. The above would be considered one year' s worth of arcade entertainment back in 1997.

I was hoping that the new Euro-based Driving Studio could recapture some of the earlier SEGA magic, but after hearing that the team working on Sega Rally is now aiming at 30fps for the final game, rather than 60fps, I' m not so sure.

The standards have dropped, and SEGA need some creative freedom with their teams and a driving force to make some of the most fun, immersive and innovative technologically advanced games out there. Just like in 1993-2002.

Hell you can use the Sega Bass fishing rod on DC for Virtua Tennis, making it play like the Wii Sports tennis, but with control over character movement as well. That' s forward thinking.

VF5 however was awesome

It is awesome!

Not sure if your a die hard fan or just a fan. (heh, theres a difference) But I do find it odd that you liked Vf3 better than 4? (did you ever play VF4 FT? BTW).

SEGA went back to the flat arena style for 2 main reasons:

To concentrate on having extremely tight collision without the complexity of layers (probably causing too much problems)

The Fans / Playtesters Demanded Flat arenas back (A bunch of the ' Famous' Professional Japanese VF players had alot of input on both VF4 and 5.

I do love Vf3 myself but i think 4 is a more realised polished fighter.

The standards have dropped, and SEGA need some creative freedom with their teams and a driving force to make some of the most fun, immersive and innovative technologically advanced games out there. Just like in 1993-2002.

Yeah, it' ahsame, It seems Dreamcast was SEGA' s last Attempt (too many creative games on that plattform).. and it just got slapped back in thier faces.. SEGA was like ' Ok, F^%K you' , you want Playstation Fasion and EA, w' ere gonna give you that shit from from now on' - Creative side gone..




As for Yu Suzuki..

The only company Good enough for him or the thing that would make me more happy, is to see him set up his own division within Nintendo.

After seeing how Sonic & Mario at the Olympics is shaping up (and considering that Miyamoto is directly involved with that game) I seriously don' t want to see any Sega folks working with Nintendo together anymore.

On topic:

Well I think we should finally stop crying after Sega. I even go as far as saying that even if Yu Suzuki would make another Shenmue I seriously doubt it would be as good as it' s predecessors, simply because the fans would expect a game in the vein of Shenmue 1 & 2 while Sega would be interested in making sure the game appeals to many people. Therefore it would end up being some weird " good" game, and not the master piece it' s supposed to be. (Like with Deus Ex 2 which is quite a good game - but only if you don' t compare it to DX1)

After seeing how Sonic & Mario at the Olympics is shaping up (and considering that Miyamoto is directly involved with that game) I seriously don' t want to see any Sega folks working with Nintendo together anymore.

Eh?? I wouldnt use that as an example. What SEGA Developers are involved with that? Miyamoto is only looking over the project. Also How good does one expect a Sonic & Mario Sports game to be???

The Only Game that SEGA and Nintendo Properly Worked together on, is F-ZERO GX and that is one of the finest racer' s ever created.

I expect the game to be damn more fun than any other party game out there. Including established series like Mario Party.

And well, as far as I know, F-Zero GX was also solely Sega' s project. Miyamoto was supervising it and the only other Nintendo guy that worked on the game has been the guy that also designed the other F-Zero games.

Sega did F-Zero better than Nintendo possibly ever could... and Nintendo did an awesome job on their F-Zeros. Sega took a great Nintendo idea and made it better. So the two can make good things happen.

The real Sega died along with the Dreamcast.

Does it matter? Sega died years ago on the day the last Dreamcast was manufactured.

The real Sega died along with the Dreamcast.

Yep, it died along the dreamcast, gone are sega' s good days, Fortunatly there are many excellent developers today and many of the old ones kept up their quality standards, such as capcom and konami.

Shenmue is not considered a masterpiece in the industry except to some few people. Gamerankings shows a score of 89%, masterpieces get at least 93%, you can check that yourself. While this score means that it' s a good game, this is no Masterpiece, You should also know that part of this high score is due to the Gigantic leap forward in graphics... so Leave this word " masterpiece" to games like zelda, resident evil, metal gear, soul calibur and much more...

Dreamcast has many great innovative titles (most of them were by sega itself) , few terrible games but most of them fit the arcad style, it lacked cruely of true AAA console games, i might name them all:

Shenmue (for you fans)
Code Veronica
Ecco' s dolphine
Grandia II
Skies of the Arcadia

and basta i think or you can even add double that if you wish, it' s still terribly few...

In the glorious days of the Playstation, sony had a huge library of AAA titles and Playstation 2 followed suit after its first " terrible" year... Obviously Dreamcast would fail.

Sega today is a shitty developer, and i respect EA much more than Sega as the former keeps a good quality in their games neverthless. I might add that Sony might be considered as the best First party developer, God of war, ICO , shadow of the colossus, Wipeout , loco roco, Gran turismo (POlyphonie: 2nd party ? ), Sly, Socom... Sony deserves all the success it had up to PS3 launch. Nintendo is also excellent and if some think it' s the best 1st party i would NOT object. Mario, zelda Metroid are Masterpieces... the bas thing about nintendo is that it' s whoring mario like never before and i hate that, and compared to sony it doesn' t have many great IP' s.

will Shenmue 3 ever be released ? May be , but then Sega or whichever would be buying the franchise should make the Core gameplay different than shenmue 1 and 2 to succeed.

Leave this word " masterpiece" to games like zelda, resident evil, metal gear, soul calibur and much more...

With the exception of Soul Calibur and maybe Resident Evil 4, I use the phrase " diarrhea inducing" to describe those games. Also, it' s funny that you describe Soul Calibur as a masterpiece with this list, but somehow it didn' t find its way into your list of AAA Dreamcast games?

Shenmue might not be a masterpiece as a game because it had its flaws.
But as a human accomplishment it sure is a masterpiece.