Shenmue HD (XBLA/PSN)

[Scutch]

http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/122/1220936p1.html

A new report is claiming that Sega has been sitting on finished HD remakes ofShenmue and Shenmue II for over a year, waiting for an apt release window.

GamerZines cites a person with "ties to Sega" as the source of this information. "Shenmue HD is real [and has been] finished for well over a year, as is Shenmue II HD," says the source.

The reason for the delay, evidently, has been uncertainty over the series' future and whether Shenmue III would ever happen (short answer: no). The HD remakes are reportedly headed to PSN and XBLA.

With Jet Set Radio heading to Xbox Live, and re-releases (not remakes) of Sonic Adventure, Space Channel 5 and Crazy Taxi already widely available, it's not absolutely out of the question that Shenmue I and II might make their way to modern consoles after all. Shenmue II was remade for the original Xbox in 2002 following a Dreamcast release the previous year.

In their day, the Shenmue games were amongst the most ambitious video games ever made, featuring huge, living cities - Sega's Yakuza series is often considered their spiritual successor. If an HD remake does indeed exist, would Shenmue stand the test of time?[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]

 

[SnapMonkey]

It wasn't THAT good to remake it surely? And it introduced quick action events (button press to see action, usually during cutscenes - barfight etc) which are horrible.

Has imagination and creativity just dried up in the last few years? Why not just make new games instead of frigging about with old ones.

Is this the boyband comeback epic for console games?

 

[Cliotoby]

God, was this the game I played with my mate on Dreamcast, where I drove forklifts for a job and pretended to be a chinese ?

 

[Krispwee]

I hooked up my Dreamcast up a few months back and played all the way through Shenmue again. It's still awesome. If they release a HD version then I may actually explode with excitement.

 

[treemanx]

It wasn't that good?! It was frickin awesome!

 

[Gally]

It wasn't THAT good to remake it surely?

Be quiet silly man. Shenmue was a gamechanger of the highest order.

There will still be games made today with stuff that was introduced in Shenmue. It was simply lightyears ahead of it's time.

On pure emotion and the mark it made on the games industry just like Zelda did, it's still my favourite game ever made.

It might not be the best game ever made and by today's standards it might look and play crap, but on release this game changed everything in the games industry.

 

[Toby]

Loved shenmue, spent many many hours on it!

Will link this to a mate who I know will love it, thanks Scutchio.

 

[Lee]

I'll be playing them both again.

Maybe they'll make enough cash to cobble together a third to finish the story.

 

[Goodj]

dreamcast was all about shenmue....

...and 2d scrolling shoot em ups...
...and beating people on virtua tennis whilst not even looking at the TV

 

[BatFastard]

This is the only reason I still have my dreamcast hooked up to the TV!

 

[st3ve]

Absolutely loved the Shenmue games back in the day, I wouldn't hesitate buying a HD remake of them.

I don't know if it would be a good idea to make a third now though as it would probably end up being rushed and on a strict budget.

 

[treemanx]

Yeah as said way ahead of its time, felt more like a real world than GTA3/4, obviously on a much smaller scale.

Get your sega console out the cupboard, go down the shops buy a new game for it. Play on the arcades for a bit, buy some cat food and a new tape for your walkman, get back home before you mom gives you a bollocking for being late and then get up for work early for your forkilift job, thats before touching the actual story of the game.

 

[Lee]

Absolutely loved the Shenmue games back in the day, I wouldn't hesitate buying a HD remake of them.

I don't know if it would be a good idea to make a third now though as it would probably end up being rushed and on a strict budget.

With all the good third partyengines, physics and UI software out there these days, they could do it far cheaper than the first two.

I need to know the end. Lol.

 

[Marky_]

Epic games. I would buy.

 

[Bodge!]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

Now remake Toy Commander!

 

[seanybaby1788]

Best games ever made: shenmue and zelda ocarina of time. shenmue was the absolute nuts! Fact

 

[SnapMonkey]

Zelda Ocarina of time = excellent game. Goldeneye (original) = excellent game. Portal / Half Life Series = excellent games. MGS series = excellent. All these game made huge steps forward.

What did Shenmue bring? By what measure is it an excellent game? What did it do new? (apart from crap quick time events). Nothing. Graphics were good, story was average, and most of the events you had to do were dull.

Example - get a job. NO, I've been at work for 10 hours, I'm not simulating work in my free time for no particular reason.

Please take your rose tinted glasses off.

 

[Christopher]

Incredible games.

Hopefully they'll make enough money from the re-release to fund a conclusion to the series. :dapprove: