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OPINION
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln
IT’S TIME TO GIVE UP THE
SHENMUE GHOST AND PLEDGE
YOUR HEART TO ANOTHER
EASTERN ADVENTURE.
Quit your bellyaching and show its spiritual
successor Yakuza some OPM love
Phil Iwaniuk
WHO’D REALLY SUFFER
IF FIFA HAD A THREE-YEAR
RELEASE CYCLE? NOT THE
GAMER, BUT EA.
The yearly cadence of sports franchises is so
ingrained now we no longer question it
Alright, I’ll admit it: I
really wish Shenmue
III was a thing. I’d
even give a couple of
semi-important organs just
to get my dirty mitts on an
HD collection of the first
two. But deep down there’s
a little voice that whispers a
painful truth: “It’s probably
never going to happen,
kiddo. It’s time to let it go.”
That’s the thing about
hope; it’s a powerful
aphrodisiac, especially when it
comes to a franchise you’ve
loved since you were young.
But even series creator Yu
Suzuki has stressed that Sega
isn’t interested in making
a new Shenmue. Hell, even
Kickstarter was considered,
but with the rights remaining
with the publisher its chances
have never looked bleaker.
YAKETY YAK
Thing is, Shenmue might be
resigned to gaming’s past, but
its legacy – the open-world
setting, QTEs, the recreation
of the mundane alongside
huge cinematic moments –
lives on in a series that’s been
building on those foundations
for almost a decade. One that
blends RPGs, beat-’em-ups
and melodrama and pulls it all
off so damn well just writing
this makes me want to play
one of them again. So why am
I frowning? Because good ol’
Yakuza has become a strictly
Japan-only affair.
Why? Simple: money. In an
interview with Edge last year,
creator Toshiniro Nagoshi
stressed that with such a
small team at his disposal,
he only has the resources to
either localise an entry for
the West or focus his team’s
energy on a new instalment.
Sure, I get the desire to always
press forward, but is prepping
a Western version really that
big a job? If certain pubs
release a slew of bland JRPGs
every year and still deem it
financially viable, then is one
gangster sim really such a
risk? With Sega once again
blanking the West with
upcoming prequel Yakuza
Zero, the chance to enjoy
these amazing games is
getting slimmer by the day.
So come all ye Shenmue
faithful, put down your
pitchforks and step away from
that online petition. Put those
keyboards to good use and
start showing Yakuza some
love. Go buy a copy, shout
about it on Twitter and do
whatever it takes to make
Sega realise Western fans
shouldn’t be an afterthought.
The argument’s
so passé now, it’s
embarrassing to even
raise it. Years ago
there was still a conversation
to be had about the merit
of publishers releasing a new
FIFA, PES, Madden and the
like every year. Were the kit
updates and occasional
changes to through ball
passing weight sufficient
to justify a new game? And
why does Modric look like a
finely polished turnip now?
Today you can go ahead and
include that patter in your
stand-up routine alongside
plane food and long lines at
the post office, because such
words have lost all meaning.
The autumn influx of familiar
sports games bearing next
year’s date in their title has
become such a fact of life that
you might as well question
the necessity of the changing
of the seasons themselves.
YEAR ZERO
They’d never admit it, but
the developers who make
them must wish this practice
never became de rigueur.
Imagine the wild dreams they
harbour for their annualised
series, perpetually unable to
code them into being because
Ultimate Team needs better
safeguarding this year. It’s
an absolute miracle that NBA
2K14 studio Visual Concepts
expanded its MyCareer mode
so far within one release cycle
– an absolute highlight in
sports gaming that devs
elsewhere in the genre would
need similar miraculous
conditions to replicate.
Unfashionable as it may
be then, I feel the need to
ask the old question again
– whose feathers would be
ruffled if FIFA had, say, a
three-year release cycle, with
DLC kit updates and gameplay
tweaks available to season
pass holders? Not the gamer,
but the publisher who relies
on hitting certain numbers
in certain months of
each financial year, and the
shareholders whose dividends
depend on those numbers.
As an obsessive of third
kits, fiddler of rosters and
peruser of DLC sneakers I
think we’re not asking enough
of the franchises we show
such devotion to. I don’t
want a game that matches last
year’s quality, I want a game
that feels more like baseball
and ice hockey than anything
I’ve played before. And I’m
prepared to wait years for
that. Are you? Then let’s have
our wallets do the talking.
025
WRITER BIO
When prod ed Dom Reseigh-Lincoln was fresh out of uni, he booked a week off
from a new job just to play Yakuza 2. He then locked himself in his room with his
DualShock 2, lots of bad food and a ton of Dr Pep. The room never recovered.
WRITER BIO
Phil Iwaniuk loves updated team jerseys as much as the next man – probably
more than the next man, actually. How many hours have you spent teaching
yourself image editing just to make your own, next man? Exactly. *rests case*