Ok, this could become the final draft if i don't get time to add to it, thanks to Sean for checking the grammar. Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Also please leave any points on what you think i should add, take out or could do to improve it,besides buying a thesaurus! 
Here goes...
I guess I?ve been stood talking to Hattori-san for the past 5 minutes or so, this guy always seems to be stood around his sports store lately. The shop can?t be doing too well these days; I say to my self like it holds any significance.
I quickly scour to the reference section of my prima guide, anxious to learn more meaningless information on this nonessential, prosaic appearing character.
Now after reading this detailed, but needless biography, for a few seconds I feel some kind of simple emotion towards this lonely old gentleman; however I?m a busy man, and make I my excuses and leave.
Besides I?ve got things to do, I?m on the trail of a senior member in the Chinese mafia, a man who murdered my father right in front of my eyes. But first, a quick game on the slots is in order as I?m only 800 Coins away from the elusive Mitsuka Certificate!
This is when I, a gamer in a ?real? world of my own realise that this game had taken control of me far more than I would say is healthy. I was spending hours at virtual slots, torturing myself with virtual reels after virtual reels in order to attain a virtual certificate with which I could do virtually nothing with.
This is Shenmue!
Please allow me to explain how this obsession with a virtual Yokosuka, a town on the outskirts of Yokohama, Japan began.
As I sat watching the demise of my virtual father in this the opening sequence of one of my very first Japanese import games, all the way back in January 2000. I knew I was experiencing one of the most groundbreaking, culturally significant forms of digital entertainment ever created.
I had been made aware of Shenmue through the official Dreamcast magazine, reading its propaganda and claiming that this this Yu Suzuki project "Project Berkley", would be something very special indeed.
Like many gamers at the time, I was sceptical of how Yu Suzuki's vision would be realised. After all, I was reading about it in the same magazine that gave Sonic Adventure a very generous review score of 9! However, I was still engulfed by the hype and waited feverishly in anticipation for Project Berkley.
The stumbling block at the time was that the PAL release was what seemed like a lifetime away and my Japanese ability stood between ?Sushi? and **** for brains, I didn?t have a clue how I was going to even be able to enjoy it, but that?s where part of the romanticism was unintentionally induced.
Just watching the introduction itself was enough to tell me this game graphically on was on another level in comparison to any game that had preceded it. The way the characters spoke, moved and acted convinced me that this was the future of entertainment but in fact it was now, and I was experiencing it before most people were even aware of it. Even if due to my lack of knowledge of the language I couldn?t understand why this man Ran-tei had just killed my virtual father, the performance and emotions of these digital characters left no doubt in my mind that I would probably be finding out.
The sheer amount of detail in this game was unbelievable at the time. Almost every item in sight seemed to be examinable, touchable and rotated in real-time. For the most part doing so had absolutely no bearing on the game, but the simple fact that I had the choice to interact with my environment in this way, gave me an incredible feeling of immersion. Just as in our lives, not every decision or action needs to result in a significant meaning, and Shenmue captured this beautifully.
While most RPGS at that time relied on a fantasy setting to hide their bland plot, Shenmue opened itself for all kinds of criticisms by placing itself in a real world. The world of 1980?s Japan, a place where many people would have expectations and experiences of what should be and this must have been the challenge that spurred Sega into making such a masterpiece.
So anyway, after leaving the impressive looking Hazuki abode I took a stroll through the neighbouring areas not having much of an idea what I was specifically looking for, and came across seemingly hundreds of locals, all moving around not especially interested in my actions at all. These characters all seemed to have a life of their own, Megumi-Chan is attending to her orphan kitten, Liu Gong-san is taking a break in the park watching the young children >.< and of course Hattori-san is once again telling anyone who will listen, soccer is the sport of the devil and responsible for the collapse in interest of his beloved sport; Baseball!
Day and night arrive and departed insignificantly in a way that isn?t so different to our own. But it?s the inhabitants themselves that held the significance. In the morning I had every chance of seeing a salary man heading to work straight tied; come the late evening that same office worker could be spotted leaving a hostess club a few sakes worse off. This character doesn?t have any influence in the game; he can?t tell you anything of use at all and doesn?t even add anything to your notebook. But once again this mirrors the reality of that, not every one in the ?real world? can or wants to be of any help to you.
The setting itself was completely alien to me, the clothes stores, bento stalls, game centres and alike where not what I would expect to see down a typical urban street, and thus Shenmue was allowing me an experience of travelling to a place that I had no way off getting to at that particular moment in my life.
I also didn't particularly care much for this country ?Japan?. As far as I was concerned it was a crazy place where incomprehensible games and really bad TV shows came from. This blinkered view changed literally within minutes of placing the GD rom in my Dreamcast. The subtleties and differences that this once alien culture had to offer were being beautifully and clearly illustrated through a computer game.
Shenmue not only introduced me to Japan before I had ever been there, but it also allowed me the opportunity of walking through Japans narrow, beautifully clean streets. I was afforded the experience of being able to talk to Oba-san?s; whiney little Japanese kids who wanted to wrestle, and School girls who couldn?t pluck a polite sentence out of their backside if they tried.
So through my daily adventures I eventually found myself being able to memorise simple but effective Japanese.
聞きたいことあるんですが
Kikitai koto arun desuga
I have something I want to ask you
これをください。
Kore wo kudasai
Could I have this?
じゃまた
Jya mata
See you later.
I was acquiring this knowledge not through hours of monotonous repetition, over polite BBC styled educational programmes or internet sites created by geeks who want to understand their latest hentai anime, but by processing the information and putting into enjoyable and practical use in my virtual Japan, something five years of German lessons never did manage.
I really think this perfectly highlights the advantages that gaming can offer over other types of digital entertainment. Unlike movies, TV and music; gaming and more particularly Shenmue allowed me the opportunity to appreciate and experience the people, location and the story in a time in my own living room and at a time frame that suited me. I was afforded the ability to react with the characters, I was given some sort of influence in the inhabitants ?lives? or I could spend my days trying to win that virtual certificate in that virtual. Or if I was feeling particularly generous I was able to purchase cans of soda for poor Chinese delivery man, guide old biddies to there desired destination, or if I was feeling really adventurous I could search around seedy nightclubs for sailors!
This is one of the many reasons I love Shenmue, there are so many other things I could tell you about this wonderful game but this isn?t a review or a F&Q; I?m not a writer and I haven?t tried to be in this piece, I?ve just tried to as clearly as my limited vocabulary would allow, share the passion which I experienced from this ?code?, a passion the people who obviously worked so hard on it hoped I would feel.
Shenmue taught me more than by mixing a red and blue herb; I could cure a poison wound. It had helped me develop a skill; a language for heaven's sake - an appreciation for a whole different culture that previously I had little interest in, and much more significantly a new focus and a new chapter in my life.
Finally five years and 4 months on, I now find myself living in a town similar to that of Doubita, Sakuragoaka and Yamanose. I am able to speak reasonable Japanese; I even have a boss who looks like the foreman from the Yokosuka docks! I can see women like Kondo and Sumiya san stood chatting on street corners, children like Megumi and Rika playing and skipping and I even see old ladies like Mishima-san religiously sweeping their front porch every morning! Although I?ve yet to meet a Japanese speaking, all singing all dancing American hot dog seller as of yet though.
So if you?ve never picked up a copy of Shenmue, or even worse did and detested it and traded it in for a copy of Burnout; I hope this article gave you slightest interest in the series or even better made you consider giving it a go. Because I believe everybody should at least,for one time in their life experience this great adventure for themselves!
And no, I never did manager to get that bloody Mitsuka Certificate?..
*
Here goes...
I guess I?ve been stood talking to Hattori-san for the past 5 minutes or so, this guy always seems to be stood around his sports store lately. The shop can?t be doing too well these days; I say to my self like it holds any significance.
I quickly scour to the reference section of my prima guide, anxious to learn more meaningless information on this nonessential, prosaic appearing character.
Role: Owner of Hattori Sporting Goods
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Height: 5?7?
Weight: 132 lbs
Blood Type: AB
Birth Date: 26th May
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Where: Hattori Sporting Goods
The owner of Hattori Sporting Goods, Hattori-san was born and raised in Yokosuka, so he is a true-blue Yokosuka man. He knows Ryo and Iwao because he sells them their gi used for jujitsu practice. He was very shocked by Iwao?s death. He is also the coach of a boy?s baseball club in the community. He is a kind person, but he sometimes gives too much advice, so the children think he is too bossy (Ryo agrees.) His son works for a company, and his grandson is a surfer. His daughter has married and left home. He lost his wife many years ago so he feels lonely sometimes. When he can afford it, he sometimes closes the shop early to go see baseball games.
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Height: 5?7?
Weight: 132 lbs
Blood Type: AB
Birth Date: 26th May
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Where: Hattori Sporting Goods
The owner of Hattori Sporting Goods, Hattori-san was born and raised in Yokosuka, so he is a true-blue Yokosuka man. He knows Ryo and Iwao because he sells them their gi used for jujitsu practice. He was very shocked by Iwao?s death. He is also the coach of a boy?s baseball club in the community. He is a kind person, but he sometimes gives too much advice, so the children think he is too bossy (Ryo agrees.) His son works for a company, and his grandson is a surfer. His daughter has married and left home. He lost his wife many years ago so he feels lonely sometimes. When he can afford it, he sometimes closes the shop early to go see baseball games.
Besides I?ve got things to do, I?m on the trail of a senior member in the Chinese mafia, a man who murdered my father right in front of my eyes. But first, a quick game on the slots is in order as I?m only 800 Coins away from the elusive Mitsuka Certificate!
This is when I, a gamer in a ?real? world of my own realise that this game had taken control of me far more than I would say is healthy. I was spending hours at virtual slots, torturing myself with virtual reels after virtual reels in order to attain a virtual certificate with which I could do virtually nothing with.
This is Shenmue!
Please allow me to explain how this obsession with a virtual Yokosuka, a town on the outskirts of Yokohama, Japan began.
As I sat watching the demise of my virtual father in this the opening sequence of one of my very first Japanese import games, all the way back in January 2000. I knew I was experiencing one of the most groundbreaking, culturally significant forms of digital entertainment ever created.
I had been made aware of Shenmue through the official Dreamcast magazine, reading its propaganda and claiming that this this Yu Suzuki project "Project Berkley", would be something very special indeed.
Like many gamers at the time, I was sceptical of how Yu Suzuki's vision would be realised. After all, I was reading about it in the same magazine that gave Sonic Adventure a very generous review score of 9! However, I was still engulfed by the hype and waited feverishly in anticipation for Project Berkley.
The stumbling block at the time was that the PAL release was what seemed like a lifetime away and my Japanese ability stood between ?Sushi? and **** for brains, I didn?t have a clue how I was going to even be able to enjoy it, but that?s where part of the romanticism was unintentionally induced.
Just watching the introduction itself was enough to tell me this game graphically on was on another level in comparison to any game that had preceded it. The way the characters spoke, moved and acted convinced me that this was the future of entertainment but in fact it was now, and I was experiencing it before most people were even aware of it. Even if due to my lack of knowledge of the language I couldn?t understand why this man Ran-tei had just killed my virtual father, the performance and emotions of these digital characters left no doubt in my mind that I would probably be finding out.
The sheer amount of detail in this game was unbelievable at the time. Almost every item in sight seemed to be examinable, touchable and rotated in real-time. For the most part doing so had absolutely no bearing on the game, but the simple fact that I had the choice to interact with my environment in this way, gave me an incredible feeling of immersion. Just as in our lives, not every decision or action needs to result in a significant meaning, and Shenmue captured this beautifully.
While most RPGS at that time relied on a fantasy setting to hide their bland plot, Shenmue opened itself for all kinds of criticisms by placing itself in a real world. The world of 1980?s Japan, a place where many people would have expectations and experiences of what should be and this must have been the challenge that spurred Sega into making such a masterpiece.
So anyway, after leaving the impressive looking Hazuki abode I took a stroll through the neighbouring areas not having much of an idea what I was specifically looking for, and came across seemingly hundreds of locals, all moving around not especially interested in my actions at all. These characters all seemed to have a life of their own, Megumi-Chan is attending to her orphan kitten, Liu Gong-san is taking a break in the park watching the young children >.< and of course Hattori-san is once again telling anyone who will listen, soccer is the sport of the devil and responsible for the collapse in interest of his beloved sport; Baseball!
Day and night arrive and departed insignificantly in a way that isn?t so different to our own. But it?s the inhabitants themselves that held the significance. In the morning I had every chance of seeing a salary man heading to work straight tied; come the late evening that same office worker could be spotted leaving a hostess club a few sakes worse off. This character doesn?t have any influence in the game; he can?t tell you anything of use at all and doesn?t even add anything to your notebook. But once again this mirrors the reality of that, not every one in the ?real world? can or wants to be of any help to you.
The setting itself was completely alien to me, the clothes stores, bento stalls, game centres and alike where not what I would expect to see down a typical urban street, and thus Shenmue was allowing me an experience of travelling to a place that I had no way off getting to at that particular moment in my life.
I also didn't particularly care much for this country ?Japan?. As far as I was concerned it was a crazy place where incomprehensible games and really bad TV shows came from. This blinkered view changed literally within minutes of placing the GD rom in my Dreamcast. The subtleties and differences that this once alien culture had to offer were being beautifully and clearly illustrated through a computer game.
Shenmue not only introduced me to Japan before I had ever been there, but it also allowed me the opportunity of walking through Japans narrow, beautifully clean streets. I was afforded the experience of being able to talk to Oba-san?s; whiney little Japanese kids who wanted to wrestle, and School girls who couldn?t pluck a polite sentence out of their backside if they tried.
So through my daily adventures I eventually found myself being able to memorise simple but effective Japanese.
聞きたいことあるんですが
Kikitai koto arun desuga
I have something I want to ask you
これをください。
Kore wo kudasai
Could I have this?
じゃまた
Jya mata
See you later.
I was acquiring this knowledge not through hours of monotonous repetition, over polite BBC styled educational programmes or internet sites created by geeks who want to understand their latest hentai anime, but by processing the information and putting into enjoyable and practical use in my virtual Japan, something five years of German lessons never did manage.
I really think this perfectly highlights the advantages that gaming can offer over other types of digital entertainment. Unlike movies, TV and music; gaming and more particularly Shenmue allowed me the opportunity to appreciate and experience the people, location and the story in a time in my own living room and at a time frame that suited me. I was afforded the ability to react with the characters, I was given some sort of influence in the inhabitants ?lives? or I could spend my days trying to win that virtual certificate in that virtual. Or if I was feeling particularly generous I was able to purchase cans of soda for poor Chinese delivery man, guide old biddies to there desired destination, or if I was feeling really adventurous I could search around seedy nightclubs for sailors!
This is one of the many reasons I love Shenmue, there are so many other things I could tell you about this wonderful game but this isn?t a review or a F&Q; I?m not a writer and I haven?t tried to be in this piece, I?ve just tried to as clearly as my limited vocabulary would allow, share the passion which I experienced from this ?code?, a passion the people who obviously worked so hard on it hoped I would feel.
Shenmue taught me more than by mixing a red and blue herb; I could cure a poison wound. It had helped me develop a skill; a language for heaven's sake - an appreciation for a whole different culture that previously I had little interest in, and much more significantly a new focus and a new chapter in my life.
Finally five years and 4 months on, I now find myself living in a town similar to that of Doubita, Sakuragoaka and Yamanose. I am able to speak reasonable Japanese; I even have a boss who looks like the foreman from the Yokosuka docks! I can see women like Kondo and Sumiya san stood chatting on street corners, children like Megumi and Rika playing and skipping and I even see old ladies like Mishima-san religiously sweeping their front porch every morning! Although I?ve yet to meet a Japanese speaking, all singing all dancing American hot dog seller as of yet though.
So if you?ve never picked up a copy of Shenmue, or even worse did and detested it and traded it in for a copy of Burnout; I hope this article gave you slightest interest in the series or even better made you consider giving it a go. Because I believe everybody should at least,for one time in their life experience this great adventure for themselves!
And no, I never did manager to get that bloody Mitsuka Certificate?..
*
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