How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

(Chapter 7 and beyond)

How long have you been a Shenmue fan? (Total votes: 63)

Since the release of Shenmue 1 1999-2000
47
75%
Since the release of Shenmue 2 DC 2001
2
3%
Since the release of Shenmue 2 Xbox 2002-2003
5
8%
since 2004-2006
3
5%
since 2007-2009
0
No votes
since 2010-2012
4
6%
since 2013 - 2015 (but prior to the June 2015 Kickstarter)
2
3%
since the June 2015 Kickstarter to Now (2017)
0
No votes

Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby mrandyk » Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:47 pm

2005 or 2006.

I had played the Dreamcast just one time while it was still on store shelves. It was a demo at Toys r Us with either Crazy Taxi or Ecco the Dolphin to choose from. I was just blown away by Crazy Taxi. The music coming at you, the openness to the game and frantic gameplay, real world businesses being placed into a video game. I was only 9 years old at this time and had no ability to secure this new and exciting video game system, but the memories of Crazy Taxi would stick with me.

Flash forward 5 or 6 years to 2005 or 2006 and I spot a copy of Crazy Taxi at a pawn shop for $3. The memory of the one time I got to play it came flooding back, so I purchase the game with the intention of finding a Dreamcast later (found one for $20 with a controller and VMU a couple weeks later).

In the time between buying Crazy Taxi and actually getting a Dreamcast I was doing research to learn what other gems I had missed out on in the Dreamcast. I had never heard of Shenmue, but it consistently showed up on 'best of' lists for the Dreamcast, and came with the allure of the massive budget attached to the game. So once I was able to get a ride to the nearest second hand video game store (about 60 miles, a long ways for someone with no means of transportation) I picked up Shenmue, and NFL 2k2, to go with my copy of Crazy Taxi. Crazy Taxi was as incredible as I remembered it being years ago, but Shenmue quickly became my favorite. Straight away from that opening cutscene I was hooked. I had to avenge my father's death! My lust for blood would fall to the wayside as I became immersed in the world Shenmue provided though.

Needing to continue the series and living in the US, my options were to get an Xbox or find a copy of the European Dreamcast version online. The $40 I spent on the Dreamcast and few games was all I had money for, so the Xbox was out of the question. I found a torrent for Shenmue 2 online, but the 4 disc game had a file size of about 1.8 GB, and on my dialup connection I got download speeds of about 3 KB/s. Two agonizing months later my download completed and I had a whole new Shenmue experience to enjoy. A few years later I would purchase an Xbox 360 and the Xbox version of Shenmue 2.

So it's been about 11 years since I became a fan and 10 years since I began the wait for Shenmue 3. It's so surreal that a new chapter is looming on the horizon for this series that means so much to me.

mrandyk has received a thanks from: Monkei
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby BlueMue » Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:22 am

I'd say I've been a fan since I first saw images and read about it when it popped up in magazines.
I was instantly hooked by what I saw and read and couldn't await the next issue with more info.
This is something I've never experienced before and the release couldn't come soon enough for me.
I really don't know how and why but I didn't get the game on it's release day after all... It was a few weeks until I bought it. Then of course I really fell in love with it as soon as I really got into it.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Henry Spencer » Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:17 pm

Since I got the game for Christmas in 2000. Best Christmas game ever, seriously. I initially saw it on the adverts on the interactive teletext service hosted back then, thought it looked great and constantly went into the game shops looking at the cover in Electronic Boutique and seeing the videos promoting it on those CRT displays they had in there. It was then I knew that I wanted a Dreamcast. I was a smart kid. ;-)
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Monkei » Tue Jan 10, 2017 5:59 pm

mrandyk wrote: 2005 or 2006.

I had played the Dreamcast just one time while it was still on store shelves. It was a demo at Toys r Us with either Crazy Taxi or Ecco the Dolphin to choose from. I was just blown away by Crazy Taxi. The music coming at you, the openness to the game and frantic gameplay, real world businesses being placed into a video game. I was only 9 years old at this time and had no ability to secure this new and exciting video game system, but the memories of Crazy Taxi would stick with me.

Flash forward 5 or 6 years to 2005 or 2006 and I spot a copy of Crazy Taxi at a pawn shop for $3. The memory of the one time I got to play it came flooding back, so I purchase the game with the intention of finding a Dreamcast later (found one for $20 with a controller and VMU a couple weeks later).

In the time between buying Crazy Taxi and actually getting a Dreamcast I was doing research to learn what other gems I had missed out on in the Dreamcast. I had never heard of Shenmue, but it consistently showed up on 'best of' lists for the Dreamcast, and came with the allure of the massive budget attached to the game. So once I was able to get a ride to the nearest second hand video game store (about 60 miles, a long ways for someone with no means of transportation) I picked up Shenmue, and NFL 2k2, to go with my copy of Crazy Taxi. Crazy Taxi was as incredible as I remembered it being years ago, but Shenmue quickly became my favorite. Straight away from that opening cutscene I was hooked. I had to avenge my father's death! My lust for blood would fall to the wayside as I became immersed in the world Shenmue provided though.

Needing to continue the series and living in the US, my options were to get an Xbox or find a copy of the European Dreamcast version online. The $40 I spent on the Dreamcast and few games was all I had money for, so the Xbox was out of the question. I found a torrent for Shenmue 2 online, but the 4 disc game had a file size of about 1.8 GB, and on my dialup connection I got download speeds of about 3 KB/s. Two agonizing months later my download completed and I had a whole new Shenmue experience to enjoy. A few years later I would purchase an Xbox 360 and the Xbox version of Shenmue 2.

So it's been about 11 years since I became a fan and 10 years since I began the wait for Shenmue 3. It's so surreal that a new chapter is looming on the horizon for this series that means so much to me.


Nice! =D> Did you get to try out more Dreamcast gems?
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby cactusjack901 » Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:37 pm

I was like 10 or 11; so roughly within a year of Shenmue's release. I had a Dreamcast, and only one of my friends did. He kept going on about this game called Shenmue that he had. He eventually lent it to me, and I fell in love. This led to us importing Shenmue II when it came out. Then getting a copy of Shenmue IIX when that happened.... Then we lost contact with each other a few years later, and I wound up with Shenmue while he wound up with Shenmue II and Shenmue IIX =(

Then a few years later, another friend of mine sent me his copy of Shenmue since his dreamcast died. Luckily, this second copy still had the correct case and manual. Still now Shenmue II though, save for the GDI rips I've got, and the erm.... "copies" of Shenmue IIX I have for my now defunct Xbox (anyone got a modchip they'd be willing to put in mine for like 20 minutes to fix my dashboard, lol)

Literally been waiting more than half my life for Shenmue III and it's finally happening. I am beyond stoked.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Anonymous81 » Thu Jan 12, 2017 11:26 pm

From the moment Lan Di threatened Ryo, and then allowed his father to "die like a warrior." With that ominous music, and for its time, amazing cinematography, I was hooked.

So, original game, Dreamcast.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Mr. Frozen » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:11 am

Oh man. I remember placing Shenmue on my Christmas list in 2000. I was so fucking hyped about the game and I remember being absolutely blown at the graphics in the intro cinematic. I was so obsessed with the game that I constantly occupied the TV in the family room whenever I could. My parents actually gifted me a TV to use in my bedroom because they got tired of me constantly using the big TV to play Shenmue. It was a small ass 13 inch CRT TV, but I didn't give a shit because I could now play video games 24/7. I remember just watching the cinematic videos on the extra disc over and over again and being blown away at the details the character models had.

I imported Shenmue 2 from Europe as soon as I was able to. I think I discovered this forum during that time as I remember being extremely jealous that people from the UK were able to play the game. Crazy, according to my profile I joined in late 2003. I was still in highschool during that time period.

EDIT: Actually now that I think abotu it I definitely got Shenmue 2 after it was released on the xbox since I had to pay for it with my own money. I specifically remember that Shenmue was one of my first purchases I made with the moeny I earned from my shitty just above minimum wage (which was around $6.00 at the time, I think I was paid $7.15/hr) job as a courtesy clerk at Shoppers.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby shengoro86 » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:31 pm

I recorded my story a while ago for youtube, check it out if you like :)
phpBB [video]
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby mrandyk » Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:17 pm

Monkei wrote:
mrandyk wrote: 2005 or 2006.

I had played the Dreamcast just one time while it was still on store shelves. It was a demo at Toys r Us with either Crazy Taxi or Ecco the Dolphin to choose from. I was just blown away by Crazy Taxi. The music coming at you, the openness to the game and frantic gameplay, real world businesses being placed into a video game. I was only 9 years old at this time and had no ability to secure this new and exciting video game system, but the memories of Crazy Taxi would stick with me.

Flash forward 5 or 6 years to 2005 or 2006 and I spot a copy of Crazy Taxi at a pawn shop for $3. The memory of the one time I got to play it came flooding back, so I purchase the game with the intention of finding a Dreamcast later (found one for $20 with a controller and VMU a couple weeks later).

In the time between buying Crazy Taxi and actually getting a Dreamcast I was doing research to learn what other gems I had missed out on in the Dreamcast. I had never heard of Shenmue, but it consistently showed up on 'best of' lists for the Dreamcast, and came with the allure of the massive budget attached to the game. So once I was able to get a ride to the nearest second hand video game store (about 60 miles, a long ways for someone with no means of transportation) I picked up Shenmue, and NFL 2k2, to go with my copy of Crazy Taxi. Crazy Taxi was as incredible as I remembered it being years ago, but Shenmue quickly became my favorite. Straight away from that opening cutscene I was hooked. I had to avenge my father's death! My lust for blood would fall to the wayside as I became immersed in the world Shenmue provided though.

Needing to continue the series and living in the US, my options were to get an Xbox or find a copy of the European Dreamcast version online. The $40 I spent on the Dreamcast and few games was all I had money for, so the Xbox was out of the question. I found a torrent for Shenmue 2 online, but the 4 disc game had a file size of about 1.8 GB, and on my dialup connection I got download speeds of about 3 KB/s. Two agonizing months later my download completed and I had a whole new Shenmue experience to enjoy. A few years later I would purchase an Xbox 360 and the Xbox version of Shenmue 2.

So it's been about 11 years since I became a fan and 10 years since I began the wait for Shenmue 3. It's so surreal that a new chapter is looming on the horizon for this series that means so much to me.


Nice! =D> Did you get to try out more Dreamcast gems?

Definitely! I even got as deep as Propeller Arena and Half Life :)
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Jesse » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:21 am

Where to begin? The earliest memory was seeing The Who's Nozomi Even with that horrible ad I had a inkling that the scenes showed were not only mind blowing to my 12 year old self but could potentially be my favorite game ever. Which still stands to this day.

This site was the first fan site of any sort that I stumbled upon back in the early 2000's ( i want to say that GameSpy was apart of the address if i recall) I immediately signed up and around 2006 forgot the password for my old account so created this one. This site and the people on here have definitely expanded my love for the series even more than I already had. Because we've all been in the same rocky boat for years and we're finally sailing on calm waters for once. I remember all the theories after 2 and all the different topics that kept this place going even though I'm sure we've covered them all adnasuem.

On a somewhat side note I had a dreamcast magazine back in the day that featured a preview of Shenmue II coming out in summer 2001.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Hyo Razuki » Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:21 am

I've been a fan since 2002 when I first played both games on DC.
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Re: How long have you been a Shenmue fan?

Postby Batosai » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:32 pm

Been a fan since around time it released on XBOX but i first discovered it on the Dreamcast and played the original games. Sadly I was only able to afford the Dreamcast when it was no longer popular and sold cheaply on ebay, even than it was by chance.... I bought it almost for completions sake and it being cheap but it had all the more impact because i had no expectations when I played it, even then around xbox games it was obvious it was something pretty special :D

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