Quote:Our freelance reporter Hasan Ali Almaci had an exclusive interview with AM2, creators of the heavenly Shenmue series, during his trip to Japan.
During the interview they discussed the past, the present and especially the future of the Shenmue series. BeGN is proud to be the first to bring you the exclusive news that the Shenmue saga will continue, with a picture serving as evidence to support this claim.
When we asked Shin Ishikawa about the upcoming Shenmue games and the spreading of the story’s 16 chapters, he drawed something very interesting on the whiteboard. The picture on your right side clearly says that there will be at least a Shenmue 3 and 4, one picture says more than a thousand words, doesn’t it ?
Click here to read the entire interview.
Quote:BeGN: First of all we would like to congratulate you on a great year and wish you the best for the new year.
A: Thank you.
Q: What kind of games do you enjoy playing yourself?A: I like action games like Mario or RPGs like Dragonquest.
Q: Have you worked on the previous DC Shen Mue games?
A: I have worked on all Shen Mue versions.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit more about the unreleased Saturn version? How long had it been worked on, and did it use the experimental Saturn expansion cartridge or the 4meg ram card?
A: Nearly 2 years of work was put in the Saturn version. It didn’t use a booster cartridge nor did it use the 4meg ram card, so yes, the game was programmed for and the footage seen as an extra on SM2 is from the code running on a stock Saturn.
(BeGN: Wow, that’s very impressive!)
Q: Is the Shen Mue series likely to continue on the XBox?
A: Maybe, However, I don’t know yet if I will be the one producing them.
Q: Why on the Xbox?
A: The hardware is very powerful, so that makes it easier for us to realize our visions for the series.
Q: Shen Mue2 was AM2's first Xbox project. What do you think of the hardware compared to other high end hardware like Naomi2 wich AM2 is working with, and how does the Xbox compare to Naomi2?
A: They are both high-spec machines. Xbox has a little bit more trouble with transparencies, but overall I think they are comparable technology-wise. Each has their own weaknesses and strengths, but I wouldn’t say that overall one has the edge on the other.
Q: Why did you decide to package Shen Mue the movie with the game?
A: We knew that there would be players new to the series and we wanted them to get a feel for the story, and also as a memory boost for those who had played it when it first came out.
Q: Is there a possibility of Shen Mue2 being released outside of the US?
A: Yes, Microsoft has already picked it up for release in Europe. As for other markets, we can't comment on that right now.
Q: Did you have any trouble converting SM2 to the Xbox?
A: Apart from the aforementioned difficulty with transparencies, no, not really. The Xbox was easy to work with.
Q: How long did it take to convert the game?
A: The entire project took 8 months, which is quite short for a game this big.
Q: Can you tell us more about how the chapters relate to the game, like which chapters are included in SM2 and which will be included in the prequel and eventual sequels?
(At this point Mr. Ishikawa gets up and writes the timeline on the board, so check the attached picture for a timeline of the chapters.)
Q: Ah, chapter 2 is not in either game, that’s the chapter on the boat, right? Was this chapter ever planned to be made for either the DC or the Xbox?
A: No, we never intended to include that chapter in either game.
Q: The European DC version of SM2 was the most imported game in the US ever, so much so that it must have eaten into some of the sales of the Xbox version, how did you feel about that?
A: We are happy that so many people felt so strongly about the game that they wanted to import it, it was proof that the fanbase for the game is very strong and helped us in the decision to make more SM games.
Q: About SM3 then, I see that it will start from chapter 7, will it take place in China as well?
A: Yes, SM3 will be in China as well. Those of you who have finished the second one know that the story will expand enormously, and we will try to incorporate many exciting elements of Chinese culture etcetera into the game.
Q: Interesting, will it be entirely in China or will Ryo leave China at some point?
A: I'm afraid we can't give that sort of information yet.
Q: When can we expect SM3 and further sequels to release?
A: That has not been decided yet.
Q: Ok, aren't you afraid that if you take a long time between the games that interest in the series will dwindle down?
A: The series continues because of very strong fan requests. The fans want them, so we make them. We can't say yet when the sequels will be released, but we will do our best to not let the fans down. So, I would like to say to the fans: please look forward to more Shen Mue games on Xbox.
Q: Thank you, how do you feel about the entire series and all chapters(including those not yet released)?
A: I can't answer that at this point, I'd need to see how SM3 turns out first.
Q: Years ago, before SM1, there were rumours about a virtua Fighter RPG. That turned out to be Shen Mue. How has VF influenced Shen Mue?
A: We incorporated moves and fighting styles from VF in SM, so we took some of the martial arts themes and settings and used those in the game as well.
Q:There are a lot of rumours circulating about the Xbox based Chihiro arcade hardware, can you tell us more about that and about eventual further Xbox plans?
A: (Takuan replies) At the moment we can only confirm Virtua Cop 3, we would rather not discuss more at this point.
Q: Sega anounced a slew of remakes of older games for PS2 and Xbox recently, will we see any older AM2 games added to those, and who decides wich games get the make over?
A: We decide which games get remade together with our partners.
Q: Nice, what about remakes of AM2 games for Xbox then?
A: If there is enough demand by fans to release a remake of a certain game, we will try oure best to accommodate.
Thank you both very much! I'm sure Shenmue fans worldwide will appreciate this interview.
This interview has been released on TNL and BeGN.
YAY!!! This pretty much confirms a sequel to Shenmue II, whether or not it will be on the X-Box or even come out anytime soon. I can finally get some sleep now.
It, as the name suggests, is the next Extreme-G game... though why they don't call it Extreme-G 4, I don't know. I REALLY liked Extreme-G 2 (on PC) and thought Extreme-G 3 on NGC was a pretty good, if too soulless (it took almost everything in the game straight from Wipeout and F-Zero and basically ignored XG1 and 2... BAD! I really would have liked to see a true sequel to XG2...) and too short and easy (27 races on 10 tracks and you have completely beat the game! And you can save between them... XG2 had 58 or so per difficulty level (on 12 tracks, each of which had 3 variations) (and 3 difficulty levels) and only saving every 4 levels, so you can probably understand I was dissapointed to find XG3 dramatically shorter and easier... oh well. It was still a good racing game, so I'm looking forwards to this one.
Without Midway's racing games (Where in the world did the Midway racing division go? They made so many good N64 racers... 3 Cruis'n games, 3 Rush games (Rush 2049 is still easily one of the best racing games ever... and probably the N64 game I play most, when I play N64...), Hydro Thunder, etc... I know a lot of people didn't like them, but I did, so I am wondering where they went... the only semi-racing game Midway made recently is SpyHunter, and while I really liked that game a lot, it was more action game than racer... I want Cruis'n 4, or, ideally, RUSH 4! That would be so cool... the only reason Rush 2049 isn't best N64 racer is because F-Zero X exists...
Oh well. At least others are partially making up for it, like Acclaim here with Burnout 1/2 and XG3/RA.
Oh... lets go on to the XGRA info! Almost forgot...
Quote:Acclaim is working on a new game in the Extreme-G series.
At a press event last week Acclaim Entertainment released details on and showed a video of XGRA, the latest entry in the company's Extreme-G franchise. An early version of XGRA was shown in video form last week, and it looks as though it has taken the Extreme-G franchise in a completely new direction. Acclaim has decided to tone down the emphasis on speed in XGRA and focus gameplay more on combat.
The speed of the game has been slowed down so that players can take more time to battle it out with opponents. Acclaim is also adding new destructible environments that come complete with gun towers that take shots at you and the pack as you race by.
While the overall look of the game hasn't been changed dramatically, the development team has added a lot to the futuristic racing game. New bike and character models have been added, and new cars and sidecars have been introduced, all with an assortment of new weapons. The game will also feature real-time commentary that will call the action as it happens on the track.
XGRA is currently on schedule for release this summer for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. Check back for more information on XGRA in the near future.
Hmm. It seems like they are changing things from XG3... XG3, if you remember, was EXTREMELY fast. Way faster than XG2, actually... that game is fast, but nothing compared to XG3. Not many games are... but this time they seem to have decided to slow the game down again and increase the focus on weapons. It wil also have destructible environments... cool! Those were great in the Rollcage games... :)
Screenshots. I wonder what platform they are from... the game is on all three. PS2, maybe? They seem to be lower quality than NGC would be... but maybe that's just the image quality.
Anyway, the graphics seem to have changed little from XG3... just, I guess, small changes. XG3 looked pretty good overall, and the changes seem very nice. What do I mean? Well, XG3 changed a LOT of stuff from XG2. For one thing, XG2 had tracks that went all over... roads, cliffs, multiple surfaces, etc. XG3? They were like racetracks... all on one roadtype everywhere, with the same walls and stuff... it got kinda dull. I see already that that has changed at least a little, at least in parts of the game... I don't know if it'll have XG2's variety, but we'll see. :)
-I will start the game out by posting a pic from a game and whoever wins will recieve points based on a point system that no one but me knows about...actually its based on what I post.
-Sometimes though instead of posting a pic I will name a character, enemy, event, weapon, or item from a certain game. Those are worth more points than the pics.
-After a while and no one has given the right guess I will help by giving clues.
But seriously, who's pumped about this game? I certainly am! I've avoided just about all information on it(I don't even know how the battle system works), so I expect to be pleasantly surprised. And I've starved myself of RPGs for the past.. year or so, so this should be good.
It's coming out on the 25th of February, so let's begin the countdown!
Sega recently held a conference call where they revealed what upgrades were made to the GC version, and also commented on the possibility of a sequel. I'll let you go read about the upgrades and additions (which sound really great) at PGC on your own time, but here's the important thing. Both Sega and Overworks say they would love to make a sequel, but they are waiting to see how SoA:Legends sells. So please, I beg you, buy this game, tell everyone you know about this game, and then buy it again. You'll be happy, your friends will be happy, Sega and Overworks will be happy, you'll make me very happy, and I won't expect any birthday presents this year.
Quote:New Kirby and Fire Emblem on GameCube
This month's issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) claims in its Quarterman section that Nintendo is currently working on new games in two of their most popular franchises, Kirby and Fire Emblem. According to the report, both games are in development on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, with console-to-handheld connectivity in mind. We reported a while ago that HAL Laboratories, the Research & Development group at Nintendo responsible for Kirby, indicated that they were working on at least two new games in the platforming series. Fire Emblem, a strategy/RPG series that has never made it to North America, has a strong following in Japan. A game has been released on the GBA, and was actually announced by Nintendo for a domestic release, but rumor has it that it has since been cancelled.
EGM also claims that a GC installment in the "Wars" series (of Advance Wars fame) is most likely on the way, but that hasn't been clarified yet. No details about the new Kirby game or the Fire Emblem title have been detailed, but we'll keep you updated.
Let's hope the Q Man is right for once! And perhaps the reason why NOA still hasn't released Fire Emblem for the GBA over here in the states is because they want to release the GC and GBA versions at the same time, ala Metroid Prime and Fusion. Right??!! PLEASE TELL ME THAT I'M RIGHT, NINTENDO!!!
Now that I have your attention with a completely irrelevant quote from "The Critic", perhaps you can answer my question about Metroid Prime:
In order to complete the game 100%, must you have all research data, pirate data, chozo lore, and creatures data? Or must you simply have found all the items (missiles, power bombs, energy tanks, etc).
Oh, if you don't know, Vivendi Games includes Sierra and Blizzard primarially. As well as Universal Games, and maybe one or two other ones...
I really hope this doesn't happen, but given how the rumors have been around for months (Vivendi Games has been rumored to be on the sales block since last summer, when Vivendi was revealed to be losing a lot of money), they're getting a lot worse now... :(
I bet if this does happen Starcraft Ghost will suddenly go X-Box only... and who know about Blizz's GBA titles... This is not good!
Oh, I did first see this a few days ago, but now the news has spread a lot more and seems to be growing in credibility... :(
Edit: The only reason I doubt this is that last I heard the Vivendi CEO said he wasn't selling the games division -- just other stuff. However, if someone offered enough money, I'd think he might change his mind...
Oh, one more thing. In those reports of this, a lot of them seem to have the mistaken idea that Vivendi owns Valve (you know, they made Half-Life). They don't... they only publish Valve games. They do own the Half-Life name, I think, but not Valve...
I don't know about anyone else here, but that internet outage REALLY BADLY affected the campus network. My internet connection went down 12:30am Saturday morning (while I was chatting on MSN with DJ, actually...). It didn't come back up until 8:45... PM! Thats over 19 hours! Lets just say that it is not fun to have no internet... not fun at all... especially when its the only way to do much of anything... (esp. with no TV!). :(
Can someone help me with this? It's driving me crazy.
Everything in the past few months had been fine with my browser. Now, all of the sudden, all the text on the webpages I visit is extremely <font size=7>LARGE AND INFLATED</font>.
I'm on Windows XP. The same damned thing happened with my mom's Windows: ME software. To fix it, I would always right click on the page and select Encoding > User Defined. Doing this now, it makes the text a little smaller, but not as small as it used to be. It helps if I pick another language under Encoding, like "Cyrillic", but then the damned font can't display certain characters.
This is really starting to irritate me. Can someone help me with this?
![[Image: showImg2.jpg]](http://planetxbox.com/shenmuedojo/shenmue3/showImg2.jpg)
![[Image: xgra_screen011.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/news/01/27/xgra_screen011.jpg)
![[Image: xgra_screen020.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/news/01/27/xgra_screen020.jpg)
![[Image: xgra_screen018.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/news/01/27/xgra_screen018.jpg)
![[Image: xgra_screen024.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/news/01/27/xgra_screen024.jpg)
![[Image: xgra_screen025.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/news/01/27/xgra_screen025.jpg)
