Shenmue 1 & 2 Full beta movie

In light of PhantasyStar's Shenme video post I thought I'd share something very special with you. Over the net there are piss poor quality videos of parts of the Shenmue beta many of which were ripped off me by Shenmue Dojo without credit such as the Ryo riding the bike clip. Anyway, now for the first time on the net is the FULL 28 odd minutes video. Below you can see pictures of just some of the stuff featured in this video.

Shenmue 1 - Afterburner in the You Game Center? I think not.


Shenmue 1 - Ryo never once played a slot machine in the first Shenmue game however it seems that he was originally going to.


Shenmue 1 - Check out this early version of the 40 man battle near the end of Shenmue 1. The compass is really odd.


Shenmue 1 - Mark getting a beating from Ryo however he's Ryo's friend in the final game.


Shenmue 1 - This guy doesn't even feature in the first game, he's in part II as a partner to that woman who kicks the crap out of people for a living.


Shenmue 1 - Ryo could ride a bike in the beta version of Shenmue.


Shenmue 1 - All the drinks in the Coke machines (Japanese version only) used 1999 can designs. They were all changed for the 1984 designs in the final game since that's when the game was set. Also in the beta Ryo can take a look at the drink he just bought.


Shenmue 1 - Cool shot of the docks not used in the final game. THere's loads of panning footage like this in the video.


All the above images are from Shenmue 1 however the video also shows shenmue 2 footage. This was a good 8 or 9 months before the first game even hit the shelves !!

Video link - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8987657692287404884&q=shenmue+1+&+2&pr=goog-sl

Yakumo

 

wow thanks, looks like it`s gonna be some very interesting video. It`s a shame now with the technology so right for the original concept the production of the sequels hasnt resumed :-(

 

How awesome, thanks for sharing these pictures, Yakumo! I just beat the game again about 20 minutes ago, and this was definitely a suprise to see.

"Shenmue 1 - Ryo never once played a slot machine in the first Shenmue game however it seems that he was originally going to."

You can play slot machines at that Slot House right next to the Heart Beats bar, across from the Motorcycle shop

 

wow, excellent stuff, thanks for that.

 

And if you press the right button you can "pass" the buttons and use the lever, just like the picture:icon_bigg

Thanks for the footage ^^

 

I think I've played through the game 3-4 times and never once saw that. :/

 

Video now uploaded to Google video. In the future I'll add a high resolution version to my site but for the time being the Google video one is in DVD resolution (Google quality). The link is at the bottom of my first post.

Yakumo

Really? Never knew that. The slot machine shown in the video though is in the You Arcade. In the final game there's a jukebox there.

Yakumo

 

Thanks for uploading the video, it is very interesting viewing, I was totally immersed in shenmue when I got it days after release in the Uk, Never before had i seen such detail and variety in a game and revelled in the fact i could do everyday shit in a game. The adventure was so authentic, the little touches (the gashapon and various other collectibles) were truly the icing on the cake. This video has definitely shown me it`s time to break out I & II.

 

I know what you mean. After watching that video again I feel like going through the entire game again. Also did you know that that PAL version of Shenmue 2 is censored !! Nobody even mentioned this over at Shenmue Dojo (Probably because they can't play the Japanese version), in the JPN version Yuan is a gay while in the PAL version it's a woman. He/she also smokes in the Japanese version. Also I remember the PAL version having some other bits changed or missing. I'll have to play through the Japanese version again to make sure since the last few times I played Shenmue II was the PAL version due to the text being in English. I'll never play the PAL Shenmue 1 though. The bloody dubbing is horrid :nod:

Yakumo

 

This is widely known at Shenmue Dojo. There are a few people who regularly visit the official Shenmue BBS over there as well. (Kiyuu, in particular.) There are other changes, such as Cool J being renamed to Cool Z.

 

Awesome. Could he also ride the bike on the Saturn Version? I believe they did animation testing for such a thing.

I'm not asking you directly! Crap. I mean that AM2 must have done all kinds of animation for models doing seldom things and riding a bike was one of them. And that they probably shared that work with the dev team responsible for the saturn evaluation copies.

 

Yeah, here's the pictures I found online for those who haven't seen the slot house.

Inside picture:

Outside picture:

 

Also, thanks for uploading the video, Yakumo! Some interesting stuff on it. I also noted that the forklifts are different color than the actual game, which is pretty neat.

 

I'm sure that I don't need to point out the amount of leftover data in most games for ideas the developers felt may not work, but owing to its sheer scale Shenmue has plenty more of these finds than most other titles out there. I've never heard of the bike having come from when Shenmue was still in production as a Saturn game, though it's likely there were at least animation tests - has anybody ever managed to figure out just how much of the finished Dreamcast product originates from the 32-bit prototype? Some things, such as the "flying camera" introduction to Kowloon in Shenmue II seems as if it would have been too polygon-intensive for the Saturn, and if anything this section was probably added later - perhaps even as a direct result of the similar Tower Of Babel tech demo produced by AM2 in collaboration with Team Andromeda for the Dreamcast's unveiling at the New Challenge press conference.

Looking at the single video there is of Shenmue in its Saturn phase, it's clear Yu Suzuki was constantly refining his vision for this game, even deciding (for some unknown reason - technical issues?) that the bike wasn't good enough to make the final cut. Also, in the Saturn footage you can see at one point Ryo accessing the basement where he finds a mirror from the garden - this was later changed to a hole within the dojo, but even minor details such as this prove that Shenmue wasn't just ported over to the Dreamcast and given a visual overhaul (although this is undoubtedly true to some extent as well).

Returning back to the subject of the Saturn version and more specifically its graphics, I may have been a little unfair on the console's untapped power and the quality of programming talent AM2 had for this game, since there are a few sequences - certain areas from what later became Shenmue II, for example - that are quite obviously pushing the system to new levels of performance. If the rumours of AM2 finding some way to almost double the Saturn's maximum geometry figure by utilising its sound chip for polygon calculations are true, then "Shenmue" and possibly the still-unseen conversion of Virtua Fighter 3 (which supposedly also took full advantage of the same technique, with the slight advantage of a smoother frame rate - around 30fps as opposed to the 12-15 average seen in Shenmue) may be the absolute highlights for a platform criticised in its own time for being technically inferior to rival hardware.

Who knows the impact Shenmue would have made in the later stages of the 32-bit console war, even if by this point any such killer apps for the Saturn could only have been more a case of damage limitation on Sega's part and a stop-gap to the Dreamcast as opposed to a real chance for catching up with and overtaking the PlayStation. Then again, imagine for a second what could have been if AM2 had been allowed to release a graphically competent Saturn treatment of VF3 with all the benefits of their knowledge in what extras make a stunning home conversion and not having to compromise their work in order to make the already-planned launch of its native platform. After all, wasn't VF2 the biggest selling game for the Saturn in Japan? VF3 was still in Japanese coin operated charts when its successor's debut was imminent, so if even a fraction of that popularity could have been transferred to the Saturn things could have been so much different for Sega's troubled 32-bit system in 1998. On the other hand, maybe the poor reception given to VF3tb on the Dreamcast wasn't due to a rushed port but fans being more interested in waiting for its arcade follow-up? As with so many things relating to Sega, such "alternate reality" discussions could be drawn out forever...

 

I stand corrected :redface: . In the early days of Shenmue 2 this was never talked about. Looks like I need to pay that site a visit again. I stopped going there due to the immature quality of the members to be honest.

Yakumo

 

Excellent video Yakumo, thanks

 

I never knew the PAL version had Yuan as a woman. So gay. (pun intended).

 

Some textures in the first Shenmue such as the fan/air conditioner outside the homes or the handle on the fridge were very pixilated.

Makes me speculated that some of the Saturn textures were probably used.

I was confused at first when I played the pal version, cause looking at yuan it's obvious he's a gay man. However, by adding the female voice it can possibly be an elezbian. Confusing stuff. Yakumo in future do you plan on doing a

 

The things I would do for those betas...

Anyway, thank you very much, Yakumo.

 

plan on doing what?