No Shenmue 3
One of the most innovative games ever released was never finished. A trilogy cut down before its final blast is like having Star Wars without Ewoks or Alien without the Resurrection... Erm... Or better examples.
Shenmue was critically acclaimed for its real world style shenanigans, it’s pointless wandering and it’s hilarious dialogue. It was simply something entirely different, looked amazing for it’s time and pushed the boat out for interactive media as a whole. Lines such as "I think I can practise here! Let’s get sweaty!" and "Excuse me, I’m looking for Sailors" would go down in history as some of the campest/silliest quotes ever to be spouted by a protagonist.
"Every year that E3 doesn’t drop the Shenmue 3 bombshell is a gaming disappointment"
- BobSyko
It’s starting to look like it’ll never be finished. With every day past a rumour will flare up and burn away, while people constantly hang on to their hopes that they’ll get to finish the story at last. All we know is, it’s not going to happen any time soon.
Games Will Make You Kill Your Family
(AKA Daily Mail Headlines)
Gaming is currently, and has been for a while, the media’s scapegoat when it comes to excusing lazy parenting or psychotic adults. Games are no longer innocent child-like toys, they’re slowly becoming an interactive adult force, games displaying the big red "18" certificate litter the shelves, but it simply doesn’t put some parents off buying them for their six year old.
Anyone whose worked in retail will have heard the excuses: "Oh, he’s heard swearing before, it’ll be alright", "He’s played these games before, I’m sure it’ll be fine", "He regularly stabs me in the face, this game won’t make a difference". It’s when the child then thinks it’s a good idea to kneecap his Uncle that it all becomes a problem. "I bet it was that new Ratchet and Clank game" they’ll bleat "There’s loads of kneecapping in that".
Then the newspaper will see red, showering us with classic headlines such as "The Games That Kill" and "Boy Killed By Gameboy", both actual headlines as ridiculous as each other.
Not only do we have idiot media telling your Mam and Dad what to think, you’ve got people like Jack Thompson, carrying the word of God on their sleeves as they march into court and die for our sins. Rockstar have had it the hardest, often seen as baiting controversy for the sake of sales, they’ve had Jack Thomspon skittering away at their front door since the dawn of time.
Yet it’s all based on loose facts and nanny-state excuse mongering. Just like second hand smoking, MP’s will willingly throw themselves at the newspapers with quotes against gaming without any true evidence backing up their claims. In fact, there have been more studies that have pointed towards the benefits of gaming than there have been negative results. Stories sell headlines however, and the constant word on the street is: "Games Make You Stabzorz!". Watch your backs.
"My biggest disappointment is Jack Thompson and his pitiful career of blaming Games for everything"
- Kyrune
"There’s no rational explanation for Jack Thompson, except possibly that he played too many videogames as a kid. Those things mess you up"
- Porky
That’s your lot for this edition. Next time we’ll be looking at Haze, Perfect Dark 2 and the dreaded Red Ring of Death (amongst others).
Want to get involved with the next episode? Join the forum and get chatting! Thanks to all of you who voted toward this episode and apologies to those with awesome quotes I just didn’t have space for. Till next time!
And here it is in all it’s sexy glory: www.gamingverdict.com/articlenav-213-page-1.html
