I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

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I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

Postby Lan Di-sama » Fri Jun 26, 2015 4:54 pm

So, over the years, my sporadic 'Shenmue 3' google search often yielded a hit from metro.co.uk. Their Games Inbox, which I think is posted twice daily, is a collection of reader submissions. Usually anything Shenmue related was rather negative in nature, and it definitely seemed like those who run the blog aren't fans either based on some of their responses and just the mere fact they frequently post about Shenmue and it's usually in a bad light. Anyway, I wrote in a response this morning after reading yet another downer post about Shenmue's kickstarter. Here's the post I responded to:

I don’t know If you’ve been following it day-to-day, but the Kickstarter for Shenmue III basically seems to have stalled. It may have broken records at first, but it’s been hovering around $3.5 million for days now and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Any chance of making it to $10 million seems to be out of the window and it’ll probably struggle to make $5 million.
I know that’s still a lot of money but I do wonder whether the popularity of the game was overstated a bit. It seems to me it’s more a meme and in-joke than anything else. I actually played the first one again recently and it is really pretty bad: awkward controls, terrible dialogue, pointlessly easy combat, and a story that goes nowhere.
That doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I do admire its ambition a lot, but I can’t imagine myself sitting down to actually play the whole thing again. I’m curious to hear from other readers that have also played it recently and what they honestly thought of it. To me it was a niche game back in the day and it’s probably going to be a niche game now too.
Iceman


And here's my response which was put in the evening edition:

Speaking on behalf of Shenmue fans everywhere: We get it it. You guys don’t like Shenmue.
In the past couple of years, typing Shenmue in the little Google searchbox to see if there was any buzz has usually yielded nothing more than an occasional outlandish rumour – or some Metro Games Inbox blurb about how overrated the game is.
Now that the sequel’s been announced, you’d think Metro would back off a little bit and let the game’s fans have their moment, but already I’ve seen a couple snippets about how hard it is to understand that people actually love this game.
Granted, no one’s trolling per se, and all opinions are valid, but still: give it a rest. All Kickstarters stall in the middle. It’ll get a rush at the end, and I’m confident it will reach a solid $5 million – a huge success, by all means. As a fan who has yet to make his pledge but certainly will be before the end of the campaign, I’m perfectly content with how this is panning out, and I look forward to see where it ends up.
The stretch goals are ambitious – but ambition is the first word that comes to mind when you consider Shenmue. Sure, I’d love to see this soar to $11 million, and though unlikely, after last Monday’s announcement I will say this: anything is possible. It’s been 10 days and I’m still basking in the glow of this unexpected announcement – and I haven’t played video games seriously since, well – Shenmue II on Xbox. This series very effectively dulled my appetite for gaming, because to me, it’s just that good.
So let us fans who have stuck this out for 15 years continue to bask – and perhaps Metro can stay quiet about their distaste for Shenmue for a while.
Michael Chenard


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/26/games-inb ... z3eCgXiSvl


I don't think I was too off-the-mark: Definitely seems like there's a disproportionate amount of anti-Shenmue rhetoric on this blog, although I don't really follow it, or gaming news at all, in general. Has anyone else ever noticed this? I do think there's no reason for the negativity when us starving Shenmue fans have a 30 day window for redemption.

Regardless, I encourage you all to send in your praises for Shenmue!

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Lan Di-sama
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Re: I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

Postby Truck_1_0_1_ » Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:12 pm

Bravo, Lan-Di Sama!!
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Re: I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

Postby Reprise » Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:19 pm

Nice one! =D>

I don't really follow the Metro's gaming site that much. They have some decent writers and tend to have some well written reviews, although I don't always agree with them. Sometimes their 'hate' can be strong haha. For example, just look up their review of Hyrule Warriors. It wouldn't surprise me if they've published some anti-Shenmue articles.
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Re: I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

Postby Mr357 » Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:25 pm

Never heard of the site before, so I could care less what they think.
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Re: I was featured in Metro.co.uk's Games Inbox

Postby Yokosuka » Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:15 pm

Iceman wrote:I actually played the first one again recently and it is really pretty bad: awkward controls, terrible dialogue, pointlessly easy combat, and a story that goes nowhere.


He's completely right but is he aware that this game has been released in 1999 ?
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