Weekly AM2 Vol. 1: The Launch of Weekly AM2

In this new series, we will be translating content from the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 team back in the day. Content about the Shenmue series was published regularly over the next couple of years until the release of Shenmue II in 2001.

This is the very first edition of the Weekly AM2 web magazine, launched on 14th December 1999, with the release of Shenmue in Japan imminent. A link to the Weekly AM2 thereafter became a regular feature of the Shenmue.com website.

Although this first entry is really just an announcement of the planned series, it has short messages from Yu Suzuki as well as Makoto Osaki (the deputy director of AM2 under Suzuki, whose other projects include the Virtua Fighter series and Daytona USA).

The three concept keywords around which Shenmue was built - "Leisurely, Fully, Gently" - are mentioned again here. Yu Suzuki referred to them in his GDC 2014 retrospective, and Takumi Hagiwara also brought them up in his 1999 pre-release interview we translated last week.

-Switch

Vol.1:1999.12.14

Nice to meet you all.

I'm Takuan, and I'll be running Weekly AM2.

I'm looking forward to bringing you lots of great information on a weekly basis going forward.

We asked Yu-san to talk about Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka, which is about to be released.

The year 2000 is only a few days away, and the weather has been getting colder recently, but I hope everyone is doing well.

We are only a few weeks away from the release date of "Shenmue: Chapter 1 - Yokosuka".

I'm very happy to hear that many of you pre-ordered the game as soon as it was released on Dreamcast Direct.

I'm really sorry for the inconvenience caused by the repeated postponements of the release.

We've done our best to make up for the wait, so please give it a try.

Shenmue is based on the concept of "Leisurely, Fully, Gently".

The new genre of games, called "FREE", may be a bit confusing at first, but I hope that you will be able to take your time playing it in any way you like, without being bound by the traditional ways of playing games.

Based on your opinions and other feedback, I'm planning to make the next game even more impressive.

I'm already looking forward to the day when I can see everyone's happy faces.

Yu Suzuki
Director, Software R&D Department No. 2

December 14, 1999

Yu Suzuki, 1999 [image added by Switch]

AM2's deputy director, Osaki-san, sends a greeting message for the start of AM2 Weekly.

Hello (or should I say good evening?) to everyone viewing the AM2 website and the Shenmue Official Website.

I'm Osaki from Software R&D Department No. 2.

From December 14th, the Weekly AM2 will get underway, introducing various news about AM2.

Of course, you will also be able to read about Yu Suzuki here.

I'm sure he'll have some interesting behind-the-scenes and inside stories to tell.

Please look forward to it.

We'll work hard to make this a proper weekly publication.

And very soon, "Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka" will be released.

Be sure to check out the Shenmue Official Website as well as the game.

Makoto Osaki
Deputy Director, Software R&D Department No. 2
December 14, 1999