SEGAbits Forums
Gaming => General Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: George on June 19, 2015, 02:43:00 am
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Now that Yu Suzuki is all over the press due to the announcement of Shenmue 3 and right now he is hard at working delivering his promised announcement; but when he is finally done what do you want to see him do? Continue expanding the Shenmue franchise? Make a new IP? Who should he work with? Get Sony to publish the next game? Have him work with SEGA to do a new entry to an old IP?
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If Shenmue 3 turns out actually good, then obviously Shenmue 4 (to end the franchise).
If not, then a new IP (non-mobile, of course).
Action-Adventure would be my preferred genre, but I'll take a Suzuki racing game as well.
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From Polygon
One is a 3-D Space Harrier concept for smart phones. He describes a player sitting in an office chair holding a phone in front of them to simulate an arcade cockpit and using the gyro in the phone to control the game. He starts rotating in his chair to show how it would work. "If you don't have a chair that spins around, you can't really play the game, but it's a fun idea," he says.
Next he loads up a prototype of a massively multiplayer role-playing game called "Pure Breed," in which each player travels around as a human with an animal companion. Suzuki says he noticed a trend in Japan of dog owners who started to dress and look like their pets, and he thought it could be interesting to explore a pet/owner relationship where the two have similar tastes. The game's concept art features a Western, surrealist style with a taxi shaped like an alligator and a house floating in midair. Suzuki says he started on these ideas while working full time at Sega, but they ended up being too expensive. "I'd need to cut down the budget to make it happen," he says.
Next Suzuki pulls up one of his favorite concepts for a simplified touch-screen fighting game called "Psy-Phi." Unlike "Pure Breed," Sega promoted this one quite a bit before deciding not to release it because of a safety issue — the game's touch-screen technology produced too much heat and became hot on players' fingers.
Suzuki pulls up concept art of early arcade cabinet ideas for Psy-Phi, showing that it originally went by the name "Psychic Duel." The art shows giant touch screens, clear screens, even a curved screen. "I wanted to create the next Virtua Fighter, basically," he says. "But I feel like the idea was probably ahead of its time back then. It might be a perfect concept for games now, actually."
While running Ys Net, for the past three years Suzuki has also worked with developer Premium Agency as an advisor, and one of the concepts he's developed there was to turn Psy-Phi from a touch screen arcade game into a Kinect fighting game. He says the team at Premium Agency liked the idea, but because the company has investors, it can't decide what to develop on its own; the idea stalled before becoming much more than a concept.
As Suzuki scrolls through his files, other titles appear — a concept called "E V E"; another called "Extreme Gunners" — and it becomes clear that Suzuki has dozens of these. He even points to art on the wall of one idea based on a character his daughter drew.
Anyone think his ideas are appealing?
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Shenmue 4, the other concepts sound okay... Nothing I am too excited about. Except maybe Psy-Phi.
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Looks like he has been planning touch gaming for a long time.
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Looks like he has been planning touch gaming for a long time.
Sega had touch screen in arcade games since 2003, so it's not new.
The curved screens sounds super cool tough...
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Next he loads up a prototype of a massively multiplayer role-playing game called "Pure Breed," in which each player travels around as a human with an animal companion. Suzuki says he noticed a trend in Japan of dog owners who started to dress and look like their pets, and he thought it could be interesting to explore a pet/owner relationship where the two have similar tastes. The game's concept art features a Western, surrealist style with a taxi shaped like an alligator and a house floating in midair. Suzuki says he started on these ideas while working full time at Sega, but they ended up being too expensive. "I'd need to cut down the budget to make it happen," he says.
This one sounds really fun actually. I don't like MMOs, but turn it into a Dark Souls/Dragon's Dogma/Monster Hunter kind of thing it would be awesome.
I'd like to see him maybe make something smaller in between Shenmue 3 & 4 if that's the plan. Maybe a digital only game, akin to his old arcade games.
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Next he loads up a prototype of a massively multiplayer role-playing game called "Pure Breed," in which each player travels around as a human with an animal companion. Suzuki says he noticed a trend in Japan of dog owners who started to dress and look like their pets, and he thought it could be interesting to explore a pet/owner relationship where the two have similar tastes. The game's concept art features a Western, surrealist style with a taxi shaped like an alligator and a house floating in midair. Suzuki says he started on these ideas while working full time at Sega, but they ended up being too expensive. "I'd need to cut down the budget to make it happen," he says.
This sounds amazing.
Gah, he was 10 years too early, I'm sure after the success of Phantasy Star Online 2 SEGA would have been happy with him to make this.
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This sounds amazing.
Gah, he was 10 years too early, I'm sure after the success of Phantasy Star Online 2 SEGA would have been happy with him to make this.
It sounds like it would be really cool to travel to different areas and see what pets people have created or pet/armour combos etc that they've come up with.
Western Surrealist style just sounds all kinds of amazing as well. I'm trying to think of a close equivalent. Maybe Panzer Dragoon or Pretty Deadly (comic)?
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It sounds like it would be really cool to travel to different areas and see what pets people have created or pet/armour combos etc that they've come up with.
It would really be something Japan would eat up too I feel. It could work on console, handheld, mobile or PC easily.
Looking at the success of stuff like Dark Souls (Surreal world) and how big Phantasy Star Online 2 has become for SEGA he really was ahead of his time.
Shenmue 3 is going to be amazing.
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It would really be something Japan would eat up too I feel. It could work on console, handheld, mobile or PC easily.
Looking at the success of stuff like Dark Souls (Surreal world) and how big Phantasy Star Online 2 has become for SEGA he really was ahead of his time.
Shenmue 3 is going to be amazing.
I wonder if he's still interested in following up with these if Shenmue 3 is a hit? Or if he's keen to just retire and take things easy after such a career?
I hope he's still got a little bit left in the tank to make a few more games afterwards, because these ideas sound amazing!
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Gosh man can't wait to participate in the AMA...
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Gosh man can't wait to participate in the AMA...
Try to find out what his advisory role at SEGA is all about is it just a one day consultation he gives out or something?
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Outside of Shenmue 4 to finish the story? smaller digital projects at the very least, maybe with SEGA again.
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It would be interesting if Suzuki became some sort of Masahiro Sakurai-type figure to Sega. Works on the occasional project for them.
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It would be interesting if Suzuki became some sort of Masahiro Sakurai-type figure to Sega. Works on the occasional project for them.
Oh man.
OH MAN.
I'm going to hate you if this doesn't happen.
(Get him working on Fighters Megamix 2.)
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Oh man.
OH MAN.
I'm going to hate you if this doesn't happen.
(Get him working on Fighters Megamix 2.)
Heh, he said that he didn't like the concept of the game in the first place (likes things to be pure)
He is only really attached to projects were he was director (where is credited as YS). Bet people will be dissapointed when people find out that he doesn't have much desire to go back to IP where he was producer...
What I'm saying is he wants to something new. There's a reason why he was hands off on OutRun 2 and Virtua Fighter 4.
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Heh, he said that he didn't like the concept of the game in the first place (likes things to be pure)
He is only really attached to projects were he was director (where is credited as YS). Bet people will be dissapointed when people when people that he doesn't have much desire to go back to IP where he was producer...
What I'm saying is he wants to something new. There's a reason why he was hands off on OutRun 2 and Virtua Fighter 4.
Oh I know, I just would love a crossover fighting game from him.
He gets SEGA more than most developers at SEGA. He'd be perfect for it.
(I'd like if he expanded on Pure Breed)
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Make Shenmue 4 and 5 I guess.
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Even when he was avaible as an advisory and supervisory role he just didn't give much advice unless people ask.
Ah well, there is always the possibility that he doesn't want to be innovative, but simply produce a game that feels fun to play.
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I hope that Shenmue 3 is an incredible success and SEGA see's the true value of their IP and funds Shenmue 4 and possibly 5... Yu Suzuki is worth more than scrimping and saving and fund begging... Although I'm more than happy that he is doing so.
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I hope that Shenmue 3 is an incredible success and SEGA see's the true value of their IP and funds Shenmue 4 and possibly 5... Yu Suzuki is worth more than scrimping and saving and fund begging... Although I'm more than happy that he is doing so.
Ehh, it's like any medium. The most talented people aren't necessarily the most successful. Do you think Michael Bay is the best director in the world? But he still gets the biggest budgets.
If anything this is the best thing for Suzuki, he's got more freedom when it's crowdfunded rather than having a publisher over your shoulder trying to make it more profitable at the expense of your creative vision.
I'd love him to flesh out some more ideas he had, either fueled by success of Shenmue or another Kickstarter fund.
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This has to be a success in my opinion or we might not see 4 and 5. The ball needs to keep rolling as it were.
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Make Shenmue 4 and to make a racer . Both of which will have nothing do with SEGA :(
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In my fanfiction world, Sega would step in promote Shenmue 3 with a Yu Suzuki collection on Ps4/Pc and have interview with all the AM2 staff he worked with back then.
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In my fanfiction world, Sega would step in promote Shenmue 3 with a Yu Suzuki collection on Ps4/Pc and have interview with all the AM2 staff he worked with back then.
God that would be amazing. HD re-release of OutRun, Space Harrier, Virtua Fighter, et;al.
Just make it like the Mega Drive collection and cram as many games as you can onto one disc and it will be awesome.
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As long as Shenmue is finished properly, I'm okay if he wants to retire. Those concepts do sound cool, though.
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As long as Shenmue is finished properly, I'm okay if he wants to retire. Those concepts do sound cool, though.
What I'm wondering is, does he want to retire, or is he the kind of guy that just keeps on wanting to tinker with his ideas forever?
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Probably tinker. He'll likely keep at it for a long time, I imagine. I mean, YS Net has done Shenmue Gai, Virtua Fighter Fever Combo, and now Shenmue III. Before III, they only did two phone games. Bet work has been pretty easy over there...