Is Shenmue on XBLA/PSN possible?

[Grant360]

Would it work? I know this has been discussed a million times but Shenmue was on 3 GDROMS. Sonic Adventure has just come out and that was 1 GD rom. Upscaled to 720p it came to 1.5GB. I would guess that not having to repeat code that was duplicated across all 3 GD's could keep it smaller but you are looking at 3GB minimum alienating all Xbox CORE, Arcade and 4GB users. PSN it wouldn't be an issue. Given the disasterous reviews of Sonic Adventure (which missed the point IMO.

[George]

Yeah, shouldn't be an issue with PSN. But XBLA on the other hand....

They are not getting that Oddworld enhanced port due to limitations via XBLA.

[Barry the Nomad]

Jesus! This topic got me excited! I thought it had been announced!

Well, I'd love to see it on both, however I think the 360 should definitly get on it considering it already had Shenmue IIx

[Sharky]

Changed the topic title slightly so people don't get the impression it has been announced.

[CosmicCastaway]

It would help reignite people's interest in the series aside from the main fan base, so I think it would be a great idea.

[Sega Uranus]

I know for a fact they are looking into doing this, but here is what I think they should do:

Release it all in episodes. Instead of having a release of Shenmue I and Shenmue II or whatever, have a similar output to how the series was supposed to go. Since Shenmue is so massive, I think it is entirely acceptable to release half of the first game for about 400 Microsoft points and then have the other half as Episode II. Since Shenmue II takes pretty much right after the end of the first, it would be easy to make the first part of that as Shenmue: Episode III.

This way the game can still potentially get updated into "Shenmue III" with nowhere as much strain as a retail game would need as a massive graphical upgrade would not be necessary at all. If they are worried about losing money, they can just make a new episode shorter than another.

They are not getting that Oddworld enhanced port due to limitations via XBLA.

I was really surprised they did not make it a disc release as a lot of it is actually remade from the ground up. Really strange as the game looked fantastic to begin with.

Microsoft is going to change their limit again soon anyways. The biggest reason it is still fairly small is because the majority of owners have 20-60gb HDDs.

[cube_b3]

Not bad Cory. Not bad at all.

[George]

Epsodies? Nah, its bad enough SEGA nickels and dimes via their digital releases or overprices stuff.

[Barry the Nomad]

Imagines Shenmue 1 chopped into episodes...

Episode 1: Name the kitten
Episode 2: Meet Tom
Episode 3: Soccer ball QTE
Episode 4: Funny Bear Burgers  

Naw, I think the full game would do just fine.

[CosmicCastaway]

Imagines Shenmue 1 chopped into episodes...

Episode 1: Name the kitten
Episode 2: Meet Tom
Episode 3: Soccer ball QTE
Episode 4: Funny Bear Burgers  

Naw, I think the full game would do just fine.

I agree, and most people would complain if it wasn't the full game.

[George]

Bad enough SEGA never finished the Shenmue Saga, imagine if they never finish releasing the episodes on XBLA/PSN?

FFF.

[Sega Uranus]

Then we would just go back to the original releases?

I do not see the issue. If each game was only split into 2 or 3 sections at a reasonable price more people would be willing to give it a shot too I think, and it is acceptable to even the most greedy people as the games are really long. People throw out 400 points at pretty dumb stuff without thinking all of the time. 400 points for a 10 or so hour experience of a game you never played that lots of people think was one of the best ever does not seem like a way to "Nickel and dime" people.

I think this is way easier to do than make a full new retail release with completely updated graphics and everything. This way we could just have it as it always was, even in the parts of the story we never got to play.

[max_cady]

Shenmue XBLA for 800 MSP would be a killer bargain. You can't possibly find anything cheaper than that on Ebay.

Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi are a bargain. But I might not be practical and overly costly.

Since the original Shenmue was not released elsewhere save on Dreamcast, they would have to go through the trouble of working out the entire source code to include some things like 720p support and maybe widescreen option.

Shenmue 2 on the other hand, they can just pick up the Xbox source code, do a little tweaking and presto, best 800 MSP evah.

I've said before and I'll say it again, it's unlikely that we'll see Shenmue on digital distribution channels, at least in the forseable future.

Unless Microsoft changes it's policy on downloadable content, things look dicey at the moment.

[crackdude]

Shenmue II should already be in the Games on Demand service.

[max_cady]

When Microsoft originally created the Xbox Originals service, it would've been an excellent idea to release Shenmue 2x on there.