Thanks Jibby!

Update: links for all articles to date have now been added to the OP.

What do the Abe Store and Come Over Guest House have in common?

Well, I can think of a lot of stupid answers, but I assume you're looking for something notable. Is there any way you can rephrase the question?
Hint: It's a thing . Inside and outside.
They both have posters advertising the energy drink "Hararon" (featuring the Segata Sanshiro look-alike)?

My first thought was that it was related to the rice, but I thought it was meant to cook the rice and when I searched for such 1980s devices, results didn't confirm my idea. Damn!
So close! You were on the right track.
PS. To be fair, my very first thought was "personal computer"
Yeah, it looks pretty bad-ass for what is just a low-tech container box. 8)

Mr357 wrote:Edit: Scratch that, it's for storing rice!

Correct! They also dispense the rice in pre-measured amounts.


Take it away, Mr 357.

Edit: actually, that's 7 points for Mr 357, right? Congrats!

Update! I've managed to make a small hack of the 1ST_READ.BIN file to skip the dial-up check on the Passport disc.

Now the various Passport disc screens can be accessed from the main menu, without needing to simulate dial-up.

Most of the screens display at least some images and other data, although there's obviously no online data displayed.

I'll put a post soon on the Phantom River Stone blog with the details.

Before hack:
http://i.imgur.com/FkN6sMsm.png

After hack:
http://i.imgur.com/XfcmYBjm.png http://i.imgur.com/YPVknIum.png

http://i.imgur.com/QlFp7M5.jpg

A new software hack allows access to all areas of the Shenmue Passport disc without need for a dial-up connection. Until now, a Dreamcast with internet connection has been required for access.

Read the full report & Instructions for applying the patch at Phantom River Stone:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/shenmue-passport-unlocked-hack-to-skip.html

OK, I've posted up an article at Phantom River Stone with more details, including some simple instructions for patching your own image of the Shenmue Passport disc.

Blog post:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/shenmue-passport-unlocked-hack-to-skip.html

Have a play around with applying the patch, let me know if it works for you.

http://i.imgur.com/4wElCDAm.jpg

How do you guys learn how to do this shit!?
:D At least in my case, I've got an unfair advantage as my day job is software development.

kind of stuck in hex replacement stage, In gdi image, in which file to search&replace? I tried all files but no results were returned. I found reversed one, but it didn't seem to change anything
Thanks for trying it out! Ok, seems there may be some difference with gdi image as I've been using a cdi image (NTSC) for my testing. I'll take a look at it.

I'll write it up tomorrow! In total it took several hours with the built-in debugger in Demul v0.49, an SH4 manual and the Cheat Engine, slowly tracking through the code.

Haha I love the leaderboards with the music, more games should do that, totally has a great presence and vibe, it's amazing (and totally not surprising) to see so much effort put into the content and interfaces.
Exactly. And this was back in 1999!

Switch, your legend will never die! Thank you so much, love and appreciate all the outstanding contributions you have brought to this community!
Woah! :oops: Flagship, I will definitely have you write my eulogy when I kick the bucket!

I have downloaded what I think is a NTSC copy and opened the GDI in 2 different hex editors but when I run a search it doesn't find the hex sequence. I presume it's just a case of opening the GDI in the software and running a search from there?
Radar reported something similar earlier, and I checked it today and can clarify that this patch can't be applied directly to a GDI image of the disc.

It should be applied to either a CDI or MDF image of the Passport disc (currently NTSC only, with a PAL patch to follow shortly).

Further Update:

I've updated the patch instructions in the post to cover the PAL version as well as NTSC.

So b_ren, were you able to successfully patch your GDI image (track07.bin)?

The new logo is intriguing, given the recent logo announcement.

Also liked this second piece of art from the release.

Correct! (Yes, I was looking for the fact that it is only available for use after completing the game once).

Spaghetti, find of the year!

The hunt is on for a tiny Ren!

Inspired by Spags, I dug out the old magnifying glass and came up with a couple of interesting things - don't think these have been commented on yet.

An NPC sitting at a table?
http://i.imgur.com/Xj5WQi4.png

It looks like there are posters of characters lining the street.
http://i.imgur.com/FIwEksH.png

Latest post added!
List of Ryo's Goals | Shenmue Passport Disc

New post added!
Yu Suzuki's Meet & Greet Schedule at Gamescom

New post added!
Global Publishing Partner Announced for Shenmue III

Yu is ready to go!

Edit: the restaurants in the background reveals he is at the Haneda airport terminal.

Tweet: "I'll be heading to Gamescom now".

Great work on the summary, masterchan777!

I wonder if Switch could kindly provide a complete translation of the original interview, as there are much more things to cover ...
On it! :) There's also a new Famitsu interview out so it will be interesting to see how much information overlap there is.

I've posted up a full translation of a Famitsu interview held yesterday with Yu Suzuki at Gamescom.

"Tortoises, ducks and frogs will be making an appearance!"

Link to interview:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/translationinterview-with-yu-suzuki.html

http://i.imgur.com/ZLKRROxl.jpg

Here's a new article translation from Game*Spark Japan, interviewing Yu Suzuki and executive producer Hideaki Morishita.

I think it contains a lot of interesting insight. They speak about the fuss surrounding the teaser trailer despite the fact that many of the characters in the trailer are nowhere near their finished form.

Read the interview here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/translation-interview-with-yu-suzuki.html

http://i.imgur.com/1xOO0HZl.jpg

The_Fuzileiro wrote: Thanks a million, thanks a ton, thanks, thanks, thanks.... when will come the next interview Switch? lol

As long as there are untranslated interviews, they will keep coming!

Multiple new posts today for Gamescom!

http://i.imgur.com/2DCAeE7s.jpg New Shenmue III Logo Designed by Yu Suzuki
http://i.imgur.com/s9TIzQBs.jpg Shenmue III Title Screen Image
http://i.imgur.com/061htQes.jpg New Shenmue III Character + Promo Screenshots
http://i.imgur.com/pYBUkOys.jpg Ryo & Shenhua Images on Famitsu.com
http://i.imgur.com/L8BGuiFs.jpg Yu Suzuki's Journey to Gamescom | Photo Selection
http://i.imgur.com/0Y53uBRs.png Shenmue III Video "The First Teaser"

Famitsu interview translation added!

Translation:Interview with Yu Suzuki [Famitsu]

Game*Spark interview added!

Translation: Interview with Yu Suzuki [Game*Spark, Aug 23]

I was working on the other interview translations yesterday, but I'm aiming to complete a full translation of this one today.

I think it may have been the Famitsu interview, but Yu said they'd get into a full promotional swing next year, with the end of 2017 being the very earliest for reemergence.

Seems reasonable. Come back with a splash.

Right, this is the quote from Yu from the Famitsu interview :
We will be expanding into global marketing going forward, with the year-end likely to be the earliest.

Here it is, a full translation of the GAME Watch interview. Enjoy!

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/0 ... uzuki.html



(masterchan, you might like to put this link in the OP)

Thanks David & fittersau, it's great to have a team of translators in the community!

I began some work on the new 4Gamer one.. but it's quite a bit of work. But hope you guys get something out of it. Switch etc will do a better job and faster.
Hey, not at all. Really nicely translated, and thanks for picking up the slack!

Here is a full translation of the Dengeki interview.

Link to article:
Dengeki Online Interview with Yu Suzuki @Gamescom

The full translation of the 4Gamer interview is now also up on the Phantom River Stone blog (together with his interview with Dengeki Online).

Interview link:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/0 ... uzuki.html

Translation of the 4Gamer interview with Yu Suzuki is now up!

4Gamer Interview with Yu Suzuki @Gamescom

Also we now get a much better look at his belt buckle, compared to the Kickstarter Update. I had wondered if it was supposed to be an image of a pheonix (hence maybe a clue to a link to Niao Sun), but from the latest images it looks more like a flying crane or similar.

http://i.imgur.com/dXAmtZLl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HNu1ile.jpg

The latest post on the Phantom River Stone blog picks out seven details that appear in the Shenmue III teaser and digs into them a little further.

http://i.imgur.com/oFyAxZLl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WCSNQeLl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gwABoSul.jpg


Read the article here:

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/seven-interesting-details-from-shenmue.html

I'll need to drag the exact quote up, but I think Yu or whoever was just musing on that we might have seen it a few months earlier if the Deep Silver deal was done quicker.

This part from the 4Gamer interview?
Q: Thank you for your time today. To get started right away, there was a teaser trailer released to the public for Gamescom. Why Gamescom and not E3?

YS: If the contract with Deep Silver had been completed prior to E3 2017, that might have been an option.

Time was needed for the final signing, so the trailer's release timing ended up being Gamescom.

Two new posts added!

Seven Interesting Details from the Shenmue III Teaser | Gamescom

Video Interview with Cédric Biscay by Team Yu | Gamescom

Kiske wrote: Is someone able to translate this sign?
.

It says "Shop Name Wanted" i.e. they haven't decided it yet.

Underneath the characters (店名募集) is the pronunciation in Japanese: "ten mei bo syu".

In June, Japanese gaming site Famitsu Online ran a poll to find out which game their readers thought deserved the title of Best All-Time Game on any system, as reported earlier on the Dojo .

The results of the poll have now been published in the Weekly Famitsu magazine, and both Shenmue titles have scored remarkably!

* 12th: Shenmue II
* 10th: Shenmue I

The Top 12 rankings are as below.

http://i.imgur.com/Hil6Zr9m.jpg

Article at the Phantom River Stone blog .

Thank you Peter, great job on the interview! And thanks to everyone else behind the scenes.

I thought I would put a brief post here in case anyone is after the Shenmue Art Book - I know Peter has it!

It's up on Ebay this week from Retro Import Gamer, who are based in the UK and are our sponsor for the Phantom River Stone blog.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322696365144

Also I wrote an overview article about the Art Book:
The Shenmue Art Book: Overview of Contents

I've translated a early design diagram for Shenmue II into English. It's quite fascinating to compare some of the early ideas they were considering for the story. (The diagram can be found in the Shenmue art book).

In particular:

- The little girl who Ryo saved from Chai in the boat chapter side-story & her mother were originally going to help Ryo more, assisting him with finding Xiuying / Master Tao.
- There was going to be more interaction with the "two butchers" who always argue with each other, as part of the main story.

Here are the first 3 sections of the diagram:
https://i.imgur.com/3dLAGu5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1ztPXFkl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1Al2nkZl.jpg

Analysis & the rest of the diagram can be found at the blog:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/ryos-arrival-in-hong-kong-shenmue-ii.html

I wonder when/why they dropped the idea of Akira, how far they went with it and how much they ended up keeping (as opposed to what they made completely from scratch). Not that I have any complaints about it... just curious.

Great article btw... we never stop learning 8)
Glad you enjoyed it!

Yu Suzuki talks about the history of the "Virtua Fighter RPG" and how it evolved to Shenmue in the following GDC 2014 video. The game's name changed from "Akira's Story" to Shenmue in 1998, which is presumably would have been when they renamed Akira.
https://youtu.be/Amu0_EunHmM?t=781

The latest post on Phantom River Stone looks into the difference in the naming of certain characters between the first and second Shenmue games when playing the English versions, and how these relate to the native ordering in Japan & China.

https://i.imgur.com/DrOwE3pl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wfgJtU0l.jpg

Read the analysis here:

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/zhu-yuan-da-or-yuanda-zhu-characters.html