I can remember a time when everything Yu Suzuki produced was a major hit, but following Shenmue everything has changed. Actually, he doesn't seem to have been responsible for ANYTHING worth mentioning after Shenmue despite there being great potential. Now the majority of gamers see poor old Suzuki as something of a has-been, with any new project unfairly made to compare with past glories such as Virtua Fighter or Shenmue. Where he was once free to break moulds and be hailed as the leader of Sega's Saturn-era innovative streak, he's now expected to stick to a formula I'm sure he'd rather not be forced to continue for a lifetime. If given the choice of sacrificing a new Virtua Fighter in return for something fresh and different, I'd rather keep the series we know and love today, at the same time watching as Yu reveals his latest idea to bring the gaming world forward. Unfortunately, now all most people want from him is closure to Shenmue... and yes I'm aware this message could be interpreted as being a little hypocritical in that respect, especially as I'd love nothing more! Yu Suzuki has given us a wealth of groundbreaking software, so maybe we should all just cut him some slack for not being quite as prolific these days. As for Itagaki, I'm becoming more and more convinced he'll be snapped up to lead a studio under Microsoft - after all, this would clearly fit in with the company's masterplan to sign up Asian talent as a way of raising its own profile there. P.S. Can you imagine the former Team Ninja leader teaming up with Platinum Games, the studio including ex-Capcom producers Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya? This would be great news for their new publishers at Sega, and I'm sure between the three of them they could put together some great concepts for a gothic, leather-filled action title!
They wouldn't run a IP into the ground on purpose. They are in the business of making money. Anything that goes against making money is a no-no.
They won't run it into the ground on purpose, but without Itagaki they aren't going to be getting the same level of quality out of those titles. Say what you will about the man, but he has some really good ideas.
No way, Virtua Fighter has been unplayable since VF3. I'd sooner play Toshinden 1 than VF4/5, the damn learning curve is so high yet completely unrewarding in every sense. Really that's what's best about DOA, a simple, clean, stylized system coupled with polished aesthetics.
I don't really want to change the subject for too long, but I've got to agree that the Virtua Fighter series has been lacking as of late. In fact, this ties in with my earlier suggestion that Yu Suzuki hasn't produced anything worthwhile since VF3 and Shenmue. With those two particular games you can tell he clearly felt AM2's output was pushing the envelope, but when both failed to set the gaming world alight he was forced to scrap further installments of one while the other resorted to every new release being a slightly better-looking update of previous editions. VF fans had witnessed revolutionary new features being added with every new edition, but after the disappointment of VF3tb we instead had to endure the removal of elements, such as the undulating terrain, dodge button and even a character (who has now finally been restored, I should add). I'd be lying if I said that VF4 and its various revisions weren't impressive, though in terms of progression they always seemed more like detailed upgrades to VF2 with the kind of gameplay refinements only the most hardcore enthusiast could fully appreciate. I presume the reason we never got a "true" follow-up to VF3 was because Yu Suzuki was either burned out from the way Sega treated his long-promised Saturn conversion or - more likely - due to the lack of support for Shenmue, even though his superiors clearly didn't mind investing record breaking amounts into the development process. Although much of this is just based on my personal thoughts, I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that Battle Arena Toshinden is comparable with Virtua Fighter 5... even if the now-Suzuki-less AM2 seems content to recycle so-called new VF sequels using VF4 as its template and higher resolution graphics as the only notable improvement. Online play? If this was so crucial to the world of VF then why didn't Suzuki himself find a way of getting it working back on the Dreamcast using its broadband adapter? Seriously, has the average connection speed increased by THAT much in the last few years? Probably not, which may help to explain why Suzuki instead chose to focus so much of his time into Shenmue and making sure that VF3 would have been one last incredible showcase on the Saturn. When interviewed at the time he suggested the Dreamcast could handle Model 3 conversions with plenty of power to spare, so how come Genki couldn't do the same in his absence? I can imagine the likes of Yu Suzuki doing better while asleep, but thanks to fools within management who obviously didn't believe his abilities we fans are now deprived not only of a potential late 32-bit classic but also a game that may have helped to change the balance of power with Sony in its native country's competitive market (and that's without adding his work on Shenmue to the equation). After all, if a slightly flawed Saturn treatment of VF2 could shatter sales records in Japan can you imagine what its much more popular sequel could have done? As with the history of Sega in so many respects, hindsight can be a... P.S. I'm sorry for going so WAY off-topic here, but it's probably best someone doesn't open threads dedicated to Virtua Fighter in the event they are hijacked (by yours truly, of course)!
Isn't it more to the point, however, that Yu Suzuki was "demoted" in Sega after the expense and middling financial success of Shenmue II? Prior to that he was director and producer on all his titles, while after that, he was "producer" (in name only?) I remember reading a biography of Suzuki mentioning his new window seat role at Sega... (in other words, making Suzuki's handling of several series not easily comparable to Itagaki's.)
Well... VF4 and VF5 are pretty much just remakes of VF2 with extra characters. :shrug: I guess they're also a bit more convoluted though.
well here's their chance to show it off. He's been money for them for awhile. All they have going for them besides his stuff is rehashing tecmo football on the wii and DS. Maybe throw out a next gen gallop racer..
VF5 yes, a rehash. VF4, while debatable on some levels, has plenty of new stuff to not be. Yeah, the ditched the terrains. Big deal. There's plenty of new elements (sabaki, side attacks) to make it feel new. And sorry, VF.net was pure genius. That's 100% old school Sega innovation... perhaps the last of it we saw.
There is a little-known (and officially unpublished) interview dating from just after the cancellation of Shenmue III that reveals a few secrets about Sega's overnight demoting of Yu Suzuki from resident genius to has-been, losing the support of his colleagues due to a game he believes will never see the light of day in spite of the fact it deserved a release then yet probably wouldn't warrant one now. Of course, you probably know already that AM2 handed over the Dreamcast conversion of VF3 so they could focus on making a late treat for Saturn owners, but did you realise it was the failure of this game to appear - and not the lack of success Shenmue II received - that resulted in Suzuki's ultimate downfall? AM2 wasn't happy in the slightest when management chose to put their money behind Genki's less-than-perfect 128-bit treatment, so it was Suzuki himself that demanded they go back and rework the game to an even higher level. The exact amount has never been disclosed, but Suzuki's group developed new programming techniques and really pushed the Saturn further than any game before, which I'm sure wouldn't have been lost on the average gamer - after all, who outside of the truly hardcore would have complained about its predecessor's console version? While anything but a pixel-perfect conversion, Saturn VF3 was Yu Suzuki's labour of love from the moment he promised that AM2 would take full responsibility for the project, which also just so happened to include a planned RPG spin-off that also made greater use of the Saturn's complicated hardware. Development of what later became Shenmue even took a back seat before switching to the Dreamcast, though really Suzuki's break from that game was a way of allowing him more time on VF3. Early reports from various public appearances weren't great, and whether right or not Suzuki felt his team could produce a better overall game on a significantly weaker platform than VF3tb! Genki's work isn't bad by any means, but AM2 knew gamers demanded absolute perfection from a VF launch title and in this respect the coin seemed to be landing their way. However, at every opportunity management kept shooting down Suzuki's dream of VF3 being a last-minute addition to the Saturn's software catalogue - even if it was a guaranteed smash hit with the remaining (and forgiving) Saturn players who would see similar happen with Tekken 3 on the PlayStation. As his counterparts at other Sega internal departments were given free reign to come up with the likes of Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5 and Rez, it appears that poor old Suzuki was being singled out for replacement long before Shenmue II's bad performance led to the series meeting an untimely death. Where the company had once been proud of his groundbreaking concepts, now the tables turned and Suzuki's only chance at survival was to supervise less-than-ambitious sequels to a once revolutionary VF series and develop more "straight" titles such as F355 Challenge. Contrary to rumours of its abortion due to similarities with a certain terrorist event, the reality is that Propeller Arena was cancelled because Sega felt AM2 could spend its time and money better working on a more obvious title to take full advantage of the Dreamcast's online gaming. In what proved to be his last move of defiance against superiors he was quickly growing a hatred for, Yu Suzuki made the official comment that VF4 wouldn't be possible on Dreamcast without significant graphical compromise, and therefore he wouldn't be dedicating his resources to such a conversion. Sega then had to reluctantly find a new host as they knew fans couldn't wait forever, and behind the scenes AM2 needed to find a new leader. Burned out by the Saturn VF3 and Shenmue III incidents, I'm sure you'll agree that not only has Suzuki been unfairly treated but perhaps Sega has done a great job keeping this rather unpleasant chapter of its history a secret... well, not quite!
Seriously impressive information. Can you start another topic or something and keep talking about the Sega of old? Dunno where you got your info from, but it makes a fascinating read (at least to me).
I guess jiggly boobs as we know them are gone. And dude check his fucking face! he looks like a bowl of corn flakes! That was Heroic you n00b, in Legendary he gets skullfucked Yeah, in fact before DOA2 I thought Tecmo had disappeared. Sonic..........with BOOBS!:lol: You mean from now on the girl's boobies will bounce in even more unrealistic ways? Or their crotches will look more blocky?;-)
Are we really that low? The dude could be a burn victim, had a childhood disease, have a skin condition, have really bad acne scars, etc, but there still scars and the dude can't help it. Regardless, he seems to have turned it upside down with the sunglasses and attitude. So why the fuck do people have to point this out all the time?
people are shallow assholes. We were cracking a few jokes on XBL about it. but, it was just "he looks like oatmeal." I t hink t hey're reallly bad acne scars and feel for teh guy.
