Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for November 2024

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"Project Berkley Bonus Disc: Dengeki Dreamcast Magazine (January 2000)"

January 2000 Dengeki Dreamcast Magazine cover

Japan's Dengeki Dreamcast magazine contained a huge 50-page Shenmue feature in its January 28 edition. Within this feature was a reflection on the intriguing Project Berkley bonus disc that had been released a year prior, that even today can be considered to hold an abundance of hints and glimpses as to how Shenmue's plot might once have been (and even could still be) going to unfold. 

Why "Project Berkley"?

In the late 1990s, SEGA's AM2 division, led by Yu Suzuki, embarked on an ambitious venture known internally as Project Guppy. Initially conceived with the title of Virtua Fighter RPG for the SEGA Saturn, the project subsequently transitioned to the SEGA Dreamcast and was renamed Shenmue, with the associated code name changing to Project Berkley. Code names were used to maintain confidentiality during development, adding an aura of mystery to the undertaking.

At his GDC 2014 post-mortem talk, Yu Suzuki reveals how the code name changed during development together with the game's title.

In recent years, Yu Suzuki has revealed the inspiration for the name "Project Berkley":

Q: At the beginning the game was given the codename “Project Berkley”, is there any special meaning behind this name?

YS: It’s actually like this [laughs]: because we realized at the start that this would be a completely different game to anything else on the market at the time, and its scale was unprecedented, we wanted to keep the project very confidential. Because of this we wanted to give it a very cool sounding name, like something from a spy movie. In Japan there’s this phrase bakkureru (ばっくれる) meaning to “pretend not to know” or “feign ignorance”, and by coincidence that there is a place in America with a similar sounding name, so we chose this “Project Berkley” codename.

A special feature of approximately 30 minutes, with the same name of Project Berkley, was included with the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 3tb, released on Dreamcast in November 1998. Containing  a CGI trailer, an extended interview with Yu Suzuki and various concept art, it provided gamers with an early glimpse into the project's innovative vision, highlighting its potential to revolutionize gaming.

The Virtua Fighter 3tb release included a bonus disc

The bonus disc: "Project Berkley"

Summary of "Project Berkley" Disc Contents

CGI Movie

The feature starts with a CGI movie that lasts a few minutes, showing clips of characters and scenes  - some recognizable today as events from the first few games, and others not - accompanied by an orchestral score that includes the Shenmue theme. The movie finishes with a title of "Shenmue" in Japanese against a mirror design.

A scene from the CGI movie

Introduction and Vision

Yu Suzuki discusses the balance between advanced technology and game sense, which defines his creative style. He emphasizes providing players with a sense of freedom and realism, contrasting with the exaggerated mechanics of other games at the time (e.g., exploding vehicles upon collision).

Development Inspiration

Suzuki's early arcade game concepts explored realistic simulations, such as dogfights in fighter planes and immersive driving experiences (inspired by the movie Cannonball Run and Ferrari road trips). These ideas prioritized enjoyment over strict realism.

The transition to more narrative-driven games came from Suzuki's desire to create a title where story and characters take precedence over overly challenging mechanics.

Breaking Genre Norms

Suzuki was inspired by RPGs like Wizardry and Ultima but wanted to evolve the genre into something more accessible and universally appealing. He coined the term "FREE" (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment) to describe Shenmue, focusing on interactivity and freedom within a believable world.

The game aimed to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers with universal themes like love, courage, family, and friendship.

Character and World Design

Extensive care was taken in designing characters, starting with rough sketches and evolving through clay and plaster models to achieve lifelike realism.

The game world was designed to be expansive, historically deep, and rich with diverse characters. Around 500 unique 3D models were planned for NPCs alone.

Concept art featured in the Project Berkley movie

Music-Driven Creativity

Suzuki introduced an innovative development process where the game's music was created first to inspire scenario writers and designers. This approach ensured a cohesive emotional tone throughout the project.

Philosophy and Legacy

The interview clearly conveys Suzuki’s ambition to create a game that goes beyond entertainment, embedding meaningful messages and immersive storytelling.

He envisioned Shenmue as a medium to connect people globally, emphasizing the value of friendship and shared human experiences.

The end of the Project Berkley documentary

Dengeki Dreamcast Magazine Article

We will be translating an article in the Dengeki Dreamcast magazine that highlighted several pieces of concept art and CGI scenes that had featured on the Project Berkley disc and speculated about what might be to come in the story. This should make for interesting reading as it was written just after the release of the first game. Have any of these questions yet been answered? 

Magazine page images kindly provided by SkillJim.

Coming soon to the blog!

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[Final Part] Shenmue Anecdotes from Composer Osamu Murata

This is the third and final part in our series of anecdotes from Shenmue composer Osamu Murata. For previous parts, see Part One and Part Two. 

Osamu Murata (profile photo from Twitter / X)

Shenmue III

Jun 16, 2015: S3 Festival Begins

スタジオから帰宅！と思ったらお金集まってる！S3祭りはまだまだ続く！お祭りなので、初出しシェンムーお宝。「巌の手紙」に藤岡さんのサイン。1999だって。すげー生きてきたなー、自分。

Translation:  

"Home from the studio! And found out money is being raised! The S3 festival continues! Since it's a festival, here's a Shenmue treasure for the first time. A 'Iwao's letter' signed by Mr. Fujioka. It's from 1999. What an amazing life I've lived!"

Unfortunately, the image associated with this 2015 tweet is no longer available but we can imagine a physical reproduction of the in-game letter left for Ryo by his father. Murata's letter was even signed by the actor for the character of Iwao Hazuki in the Japanese version, Hiroshi Fujioka.

The letter left for Ryo by Iwao Hazuki in Shenmue.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for October 2024

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"Character profile comparison: Shiro the dog English vs Japanese versions differ!"

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but recently an exception has been discovered.

In the English profile for the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, we are told that she is to be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita.

Bio for the white dog (screenshot from the Suka Pass app)

However this profile raises a couple of small but puzzling points. One is that the background graphic for the dog in the Shenmue Passport shows New Yokosuka Harbor, despite her location being described as Dobuita. The second is that, in the game itself, this white dog can indeed be found wandering around the docks at the harbor.

Some light can be shed on this by inspecting the equivalent profile description for the Japanese version - it is in fact completely different from the English description, and gives Shiro's home as being at the harbor in Amihama.

In this post we will be translating the information presented in Shiro's Japanese profile, for comparison with the English version.

Coming soon to the blog!

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[Part Eleven] The Secret of Miao Village: Working Cut Scene & Team Battle Event Discovered!

It is time to add to our Miao Village series with the announcement of an exciting discovery of a working section of cut game play, making this the first time we have ever experienced Miao Village cut content in a playable form!

This incredible finding was discovered by Brian Park, who runs the Shenmue Park account on X/Twitter, after intense efforts. On a recent Shenmue Dojo stream, Brian commented that he had "checked through thousands of entry points" (referring to the debug menu available on certain prototypes of the game) over the last few months before finding it.

The part of the story relates to Ryo's meeting with Zhang regarding the whereabouts of Yuanda Zhu, and Brian has made a video that captures everything. Not only does it contain a brand-new cut scene and QTE event, but (depending on the outcome of the event) it can even develop into a team battle with Ryo and Zhang taking on a gang of thugs!

The dialogue in the ending cut scene matches exactly with the Zhang meeting subtitle text for the Miao Village storyline that we examined previously. However we now see additional interactions between the two prior to this discussion - and it also reveals that their meeting place was not the Dou Jiang Diner, as had been assumed, but Lotus Park in South Carmain Quarter.

Video

Watch the incredible footage of the full cut scene from the Game Jam prototype, from Brian Park, which includes the QTE success & fail scenarios as well as other variations of the scene found on Disc 2 and in the unreleased US Shenmue prototype:

You'll note that the voices are not those of the official voice actors for the release. Due to the scene being still under development at this point, stand-in voices were used (for example, those of staff or developers) as placeholders until the scenes were finalized.

Credit for screen shots in this post to Brian Park (taken from his video).

Cut Scene, QTE and Team Battle: Synopsis & Dialogue Translation

Here is a synopsis of the interactions that occur in this extended cut scene, which also includes a QTE interaction and - depending on whether you succeed or fail at this - a team battle together with Zhang against the loan sharks!

Ryo enters Lotus Park, which appears to be empty, and looks around as if searching for someone.

A few seconds later, a man in a brown suit walks out from behind a tree, and bows. It is Zhang.

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[Part Two] Shenmue Anecdotes from Composer Osamu Murata

Welcome to the second part in our series of anecdotes from Shenmue composer Osamu Murata, continuing on from Part One, giving us fascinating insights into his experience. 

Osamu Murata (profile photo from Twitter / X)

Sound Effects in Shenmue

Jan 22, 2024: How Shenmue's Sound Effects Were Crafted

The sound effects in Shenmue are subtle but contribute immensely to the atmosphere of the gameplay. Murata explains that most of these sound effects were created internally by the team, simulating real-world sounds with a large amount of custom data.

シェンムーの効果音はほとんど全てを内作で作っていた。しかも関わっていたサウンドクリエイターは皆効果音制作を体験していたと思う。実際フォーリーとか、ない音はみんなであーでもないこーでもないと作ってた。世の中の音をシミュレーションしたのがシェンムーだからね。そのデータは膨大。

Translation:   

"Most of the sound effects for Shenmue were created in-house. I believe that all the sound creators involved in the project experienced making sound effects. We actually made Foley effects* and sounds that didn't exist, by experimenting together to get them right. Shenmue simulates the sounds of the world, so it needed a vast amount of data".

*Foley effects: custom sound effects created to match specific actions in a film, video, or game, like footsteps, rustling clothes, or clinking objects.

Jan 22, 2024: Adapting Sound to Player Movement in Shenmue

Murata points out the dynamic sound system in Shenmue that allows sound effects to change based on player movement.

Unityでいうところの3Dサウンド的なシステムはもちろんドリキャスでも動いていたのだけど、音の変化として面白いのは噴水の音とハトの音。アバディーンにいるハトを追いかけると様々に音が変化する。オブジェクトに近づくと音が変化する、もしくはし続けるというシステムはゲームならでわだね。

Translation:   

"Dreamcast of course ran a 3D sound system, like the one present in Unity*. What's interesting about the changes in sound are the sounds of fountains and pigeons. When you chase pigeons in Aberdeen, the sounds change in various ways. The system where the sound changes, or continues to change, as you move closer to an object, is something that's unique to games".

*Unity, along with Unreal Engine, is one of the most popular software development platforms used to create 2D and 3D games and simulations.

Three-dimensional sound is employed effectively with the pigeons in Aberdeen 

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[Part One] Shenmue Anecdotes from Composer Osamu Murata

The Musical Genius of Osamu Murata

The musical talents of Osamu Murata have left an indelible mark on the Shenmue series, captivating players around the world with his unforgettable compositions.

Osamu Murata (profile photo from Twitter / X)

Fresh out of university, Murata joined the AM2 Sound Section at SEGA in 1997 and quickly immersed himself in a number of arcade projects - more than 10 titles during his time there, including classics like F355 Challenge and Virtua Cop 3.

Murata's exceptional talent as a composer led him to create an estimated 800-1000 songs for the Shenmue project, pouring his heart and soul into crafting the atmospheric pieces that enrich the Shenmue experience. His dedication to his craft was so intense that he once blacked out at the piano during a grueling composing session (as he shared in an interview with Shenmue World magazine, Issue 2).

When Murata first joined the Shenmue project, he was also responsible for recording voice lines for many actors and is officially credited as Voice Recording Chief for US Shenmue.

Among his many compositions are such standouts as Nozomi's Theme, Xiuying's Theme, and Yokosuka Blues (Goro's Theme) which became instant classics, each adding depth and emotion to the Shenmue universe. Additionally, some of his compositions, from the vast pool of unused music from the original project, were selected for inclusion in the latest chapter, Shenmue 3.

In today's post, we share a selection of Murata's tweets from recent years, where he recounts anecdotes and memories from his time working on the Shenmue project as one of the music composers. These tweets offer an insightful look into the creative process behind one of gaming's most beloved series, directly from the perspective of one of the individuals who contributed to its music.

Let's dive into Murata's firsthand experiences and reflections below!

Note: Additional images and videos accompany some of the tweets for additional context.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 2024

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"1999 Interview with Yu Suzuki and Kenji Eno (Famitsu)"

In the October 1999 edition of Famitsu magazine, an extensive interview was published with two great figures in the games development industry: Yu Suzuki (SEGA) and Kenji Eno (Warp Inc.), about their much-awaited upcoming titles that would see release in Japan a few months later in December of that same year.

Yu Suzuki and Kenji Eno

The interview has the following introduction, suggesting a mix of anticipation and frustration from gamers at the time:

Shenmue and D2: two titles that have been included in the Dreamcast's lineup since the console's announcement. However, these two games have continued to be delayed, much to the disappointment of many. While some devoted fans have patiently waited, the number of fans growing frustrated has also risen.

These two epic titles have finally begun to reveal their full scope. The timeline for their release has almost solidified. The more you see and learn about these games, the more you realize that they are not the kind of projects that could be completed in just a year or so. Both of these games possess the characteristic of moving movie-level realistic CG in real-time, interactively. For example, ten years from now, those who attempt to write the history of games as interactive entertainment will surely recognize that these two titles have irreversibly changed the quality and quantity of games as interactive entertainment.

Should we not humbly appreciate the fact that we are witnessing this moment in history? 

We will be translating this extensive 6-page interview, from scans kindly provided by SkillJim.

Coming soon to the blog!

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The Manga 'Kenji' and Shenmue: Insights From a Virtua Fighter Developer | Part 4 (Final)

This is the last part of our 4-part series comparing the 1980s' manga "Kenji" and Shenmue. In this post, we'll translate an interview with one of the developers of the hit arcade game Virtua Fighter, to gain insight into influences in its creation, to understand how the manga may have provided inspiration, and by extension may have helped to shape the game that eventually became Shenmue.

Parts in this Series

• Part One - Unveiling Inspiration: Exploring the Manga 'Kenji' and Shenmue
• Part Two - Character Threads: Themes and Characters in 'Kenji' vs Shenmue
• Part Three - Exploring Parallel Paths: Locations and Scenes in Kenji vs Shenmue
• Part Four (this part) - Insights From a Virtua Fighter Developer

Virtua Fighter, Virtua Fighter RPG and Shenmue

Soon after the release of the first Virtua Fighter in 1993, Yu Suzuki went on a trip to China, primarily to gather materials for the upcoming Virtua Fighter 2 which was released in 1994. 

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