RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/18!

(Shenmue I & II Re-Release Discussion)

Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby Ceej » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:06 pm

Technophilz wrote: Shenmue and Shenmue 2 are two of the most innovative games ever made, and they still have extra special place in the hearts of almost everyone who played them. That alone makes them eligible to way better treatment than the one they recently have had so far.

I am aware of the low-price tag, the limited development budget, and the joy and excitement of walking into a game store to buy a brand-new Shenmue game off the display shelf. But allow me to ask you this simple question: what are you going out of that game store with? It isn’t a remake, not a remaster and not even a direct port. It indeed has, first and foremost, an identity crisis. so I’d simply call it: a lazy port.

When I take a look at recent (and even last-gen) HD remasters, I feel how lazy and probably rushed this port really is. I can understand and forgive the 30fps, but everything else is totally unforgiven: compressed audio, a mix of 4:3 and 16:9, no reworked models, poor looking textures, missing Passport/VMU content, saves not compatible with Shenmue 3, Denuvo etc …


When I started to read your post I fully expected to disagree with you, but I don't think you're being irrational. I just don't believe that it was realistic to expect Sega to fund a top-down remaster to make all of those extra things possible. I don't think anyone (including the people that frequent this site) would've anticipated the re-release completely taking off the way that it has. I don't think Sega was being lazy per se, I just think they simply dedicated the amount of resources that they believed were warranted for the project.

It's hard for us to be objective about something that we're all so passionate about, but based strictly off past sales figures, Shenmue probably didn't warrant the kind of remaster you were looking for (even with the success of the KS for Shenmue III). If Sega had known how crazy the hype would actually end up being, perhaps they would've devoted more resources to it, but for me, I'm just happy that it exists! I think that the re-release will definitely captivate a new audience of gamers despite the issues that it may have. There's a much more diverse and patient audience of gamers than there was back in '99, and Shenmue's pace isn't as radical in the year 2018 as it might have seemed back then.

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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby DigitalDuck » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:24 pm

Honestly this collection is exceeding my expectations. I was fully expecting a much lazier port than we got, and while it would be nice to have fully recreated textures and models, remastered audio, the time skip and map feature in Shenmue I, etc. my main concern is no longer relying on 20-year-old hardware and easily scratched discs that cost triple figures for a full replacement.

I have no qualms paying £20 for (eventually) a permanent copy of something that looks almost as shit as the originals when I've paid much more than that for the originals over the last two decades. And on top of that, dual language support, widescreen (sometimes), IIx controls and saving in I, and at least two new textures (maybe more)! :mrgreen:
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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby Reprise » Thu Jul 05, 2018 3:09 pm

It's a remaster in the original and true sense of the word, like someone else said. And honestly, it's fine. The main thing I have always wanted out of a port is dual audio and then the standard HD resolution and widescreen options that you'd expect.

The compressed audio is a shame, as is 4:3 cutscenes, but Centrale's post here explains a very sound reasoning for it.

The problem is we've been spoiled by a lot of remasters that went above and beyond the usual expectations of a remaster. So much so that the definition seems to have changed for a lot of people. Redoing audio, altering and manipulating the original code and changing things drastically in the way other 'remasters' have done isn't really what original remasters were like, as someone else also said. The lines are blurring between remasters and remakes...
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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby darksniper » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:39 pm

Maybe this is in the game, but I just wish there was a high score list for the mini games like QTE title. I think those were recorded and uploaded on the passport disc. Either way, it's not a deal breaker. I'm just glad to play these games again and go through the achievements.
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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby mrandyk » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:00 am

TheTimeRanger wrote:
darksniper wrote: I don't care about 4:3, 16:9 , letterboxes, HD, SD or any of that. I'm just glad that I can finally play Shenmue again and that Sega answered my lifelong dream of playing Shenmue I with some bloom on my TV. Life is good.


This!

I could not agree more. Not only are we getting BOTH games released for modern systems, but we are getting a ton of improvements (Save anywhere :heart: )

But also the way SEGA are getting behind Shenmue in such a big way, is really touching to see. After so many years of being a brick wall, they are even featuring Shenmue as one of their key franchises on their website!

Sega jumped on the money train that someone else started. I'm glad they signed off on these ports and let Yu make Shenmue 3, but their role in this franchise's revival isn't exactly respectable. The fans have been vocal for 15+ years and we've only gotten to this point because they let go of the rights.
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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby Centrale » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:09 am

mrandyk wrote: Sega jumped on the money train that someone else started.


Oh, really? Who funded Project Berkley, Shenmue, and Shenmue II?
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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby Valascaziel » Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:46 am

Sega jumped on the money train that someone else started.


Well, yes. Any company would look at a chance to make some revenue. They relinquished the rights because they weren't sure of a return on their investment, especially considering Shenmue wasnt very successful all those years ago.

They were even timid to do these, according to Adam's insider info. Shenmue, despite it's cult following and critical acclaim for the time, left quite a burn financially to Sega when Sony crushed the Dreamcast with PS2s hype train.

Yes, Shenmue has a very strong community, but was it really strong enough to fund a sequel outside SEGA? Was it strong enough to justify efforts to port the games nearly 20 years later?

They did quite a lot to these games for this re-release, in all honesty. They could've just shoveled them, but they didn't. Could they have done more? Maybe, but how did they know Shenmue III's success wasnt just hype off the E3 of Dreams or a one-off for nostalgia goggle wearers?

SEGA has been surprised, very surprised by the reactions to this compilation. Shenmue IV will have only one chance to get made and that is back in-house with SEGA themselves, arguably. Another Kickstarter will not have the same success.

Our support for their efforts on this collection is our one shot to vote with our wallet on the continuation of the series. Now that's a money train I'll jump on.

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Re: RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: Shenmue 1 & 2 will launch 21/8/

Postby Telekill » Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:34 pm

Valascaziel wrote: left quite a burn financially to Sega when Sony crushed the Dreamcast with PS2s hype train.


It was actually Microsoft and the Xbox that destroyed Dreamcast. The videogame market can only sustain three contenders as proven through history. Sony's Playstation destroyed Atari and other companies that threw their hat in the ring during the 90's. When Xbox released in 2001, Sega was already struggling given the past failures of 32X, Sega CD and Saturn. The public wasn't willing to take a chance on them given their history with a new promising contender releasing.
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