OK, this one definitely falls into the "eh?" category. If you've played any of the games on which it's based, on either Dreamcast or Xbox, you're probably thinking the same thing. Basically, it's a huge, open-ended, single-player adventure game. The story revolves a young Japanese man who's trying investigate the murder of his father. Along the way, he fights a little bit, plays a lot of Sega arcade games, and talks to a whole lot of people. It was created by legendary Sega designer Yu Suzuki (Virtua Fighter, Outrun), and its story was originally meant to encompass 16 chapters. It got as far as game two.
Anyway, an online version of the game is being planned in conjunction with Sega by a Korean company named JC Entertainment. It's set to release in 2005 in Korea and China, and as of yet, there are no plans for a U.S. release. The term "action MMORPG" is being thrown around in reference to it, but to be honest, I'm finding anything related to this project hard to envision. If you've played either Shenmue, you know what I'm talking about. Given how mundane some of the activities in that game were (operating a forklift, feeding a stray cat -- things like this), it's hard to imagine how bringing the experience online would make it anything less than catatonia-inducing. What, will there be crowds of players camping a street corner for the paperboy to spawn, so they can check the day's weather report?
You will tell me where I could find those sailors...
My hunch is that they're gonna take the world in which the game is set, and go off on a completely unrelated tangent. Then, they'll stick the Shenmue label on it, and peddle it to the legions of starving fans (all 138 of you) for a premium.
Uh-oh, Fargo wants to speak on the topic:
"C'mon it'll rock. Thousands of kung-fu badasses picking fights over who will feed the kitten? It'll be like The Matrix meets Tamagotchi."
Yeah man, my thoughts exactly. If that doesn't make your run reflex kick in, I don't know what will.
That's all I got, peoples. Again, if I've missed something huge, or if you want me to focus on anything in specific next time around, don't hesitate to use this link. I'm always in the market for ideas, 'cause it's always better if something thinks for you, right?
