Saturn Accelerator Cart anyone ?

AM2

The inclusion of video footage from Shenmue Saturn Version as a bonus with Shenmue II on the Dreamcast was a surprise because nobody even knew that such a thing existed, proving that Sega does indeed have a lot of secrets locked away in its vaults. However, why did AM2 bother releasing clips from a game when they knew very well that its existence was not a problem - why not release footage of Saturn VF3 or Sonic The Fighters instead? Since that Shenmue (even though it was still known as Virtua Fighter RPG/Akira's Quest/Project Berkeley back then) footage appeared, it's been widely considered that more than the first two chapters of the saga were completed on the Saturn, hence AM2's reluctance to show any more from the game. However, it's also obvious now that Sega is afraid to risk the cost of developing further sequels in a series that has not done too well in a commercial sense. Surely now is the time to unleash Shenmue as the Saturn technical showcase it would have been in 1998? As for Saturn VF3, maybe we'll get lucky and AM2 will throw in the completed second revision as a bonus disc? We don't know exactly how much of Shenmue was finished on the Saturn, but having at least the first three chapters (as seen on the clip with Dreamcast Shenmue II - remember that the second "chapter" is the unseen transition from Japan to Hong Kong) would be great... and maybe they even finished enough for the series to have a conclusion without further installments? If only developers weren't so tight with security around their games, even if we probably won't ever get to see half of them!

 

Re: Saturn VF3 + Upgrade Cart

This is another of those thing that probably never the experimental stage or is the result of a misunderstanding combined with fanboy hype. Burning Rangers works at least partially in Satourne and it does not emulate the audio DSP yet. BR does use the SCU DSP, and it's not the first time the two have been mixed. Furthermore, having looked a bit closer at the SCSP DSP in my opinion it would be extremely difficult to use it for anything but the task it was designed for.

Or the shots are from the workstations used for modelling and animation (compare with the "evolution of" video included in the DC version.

 

In that Saturn release list, right below Virtua Fighter 3 is Sonic the Fighter. Isn't it interesting that 3 high-profile, completed Saturn projects never seen daylight (Shenmue, VF3, and Sonic the Fighter), and all 3 are by AM2.

This could also explains why DC VF3tb is ported by Genki, not AM2, because AM2 was hard at work to finish the Saturn version (which is due 2 months before the release of the DC).

AM2 should release this lost treasures on Saturn. Even if they charge $100 a piece, I'm sure people will still buy them, and they can use this extra money to release Shenmue III.

P.S. I remember downloading a clip of what people believed to be Saturn VF3 from Yakumo's FTP site.

 

Hell yeah, in the extremely improbable (HHGTTG anyone? ) case they would do that I would instantly shell out for them :smt040