YU SUZUKI TALKS SHENMUE ONLINE 15:08 Okay we admit it, when Sega announced Shenmue Online, even our normally keen news instincts were caught on the hop.
It was like a bolt from the blue - Virtua Fighter creator Yu Suzuki' s Dreamcast classic, not only revived but launched headlong into the PC MMORPG arena? Oh yes please!
Well now the game' s creator, the legendary Yu Suzuki has gone on record to provide some tantalising details on what players can expect from the game. Not only that, but Sega has confirmed important release information and we suspect, like us, you' re not going to like it.
But first the details: speaking to Japan' s respected Dorimaga magazine, Suzuki-san first revealed that he' d been plotting an online Shenmue since the series' appearance on the Dreamcast. " I' ve been interested in massively Online gaming since the time of the Dreamcast version of Shenmue." said Suzuki-san. " If asked ' why Shenmue?' it' s because with the plan that the original game would have a world larger than any other game and have more characters appear than in any other game, the series was meant for massively multiplayer online."
" The game will have the community and level-raising elements of a standard massively multiplayer Online title, and will progress centering on the battle system cultivated in Virtua Fighter and Shenmue. To that, we' re adding fighting based on spirit power and weapons, and plan on making it something that anyone can play."
" The game takes place throughout all of China and has a story set in the beautiful rivers and mountains and in the historic cities of this country. Events, some from the Dreamcast version and others original and meant for this title, will number over three hundred. Of course, we' ll have updates, which will make the world gradually grow. Enemies who don' t appear in the conventional Shenmue will appear, so please look forward to this world."
" Conventional Shenmue characters like Ryo Hazuki and Xiuying Hong will appear as Game Masters - that is, NPC (non playable characters) controlled by the computer. The relationship between those characters and the players themselves is a focus of this title."
Well that all seems marvellous, but as ever the devil is in the detail and indications are that China of all places, will be the first, and possibly the only territory in which Shenmue Online makes its debut.
That Shenmue Online will release in China isn' t such a surprise, given the game' s background and subject matter and the fact that China has enormous untapped gaming potential, which is projected to grow exponentially in the next few years.
What is shocking though is that there are currently no plans to release the game in the US, Europe and most surprisingly of all Japan, according to Dorimaga.
Denied!
We have contacted Sega UK and a spokesperson confirmed that there are no plans so far to bring the game to the UK and Europe.
We' ll keep you updated if there' s any change, but really, will China be the only country to receive Shenmue Online?
Sega, please say it ain' t so...
Thanks, Computerandvideogames website!
< Message edited by DaRoosh65 -- 9/9/2004 11:37:13 AM >