Yikes. Shenmue 2 Xbox $14.99 at EBG already.

[MattKeil]

That must be a record or something for what was obviously meant to be something of a major release. I know Sega pretty much made their profit on that game already with the Japan/Europe DC release and the sale of the publishing rights to Microsoft, but damn. Makes me wonder how AM2 still manages to secure funding for that series.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=224072

~MJK

[Anonymous]

What's even weirder is that they are charging $24.99 for used copies. Hm. Should I pay $24.99 for used, or $14.99 for new. Hard choice!

[Tom Chick]

Wait, I don't understand. You're saying they're only paying you $14.99 to take Shenmue 2? That is outrageous!

Is there at least a conclusion at the end of Shenmue 2? I hated nearly every minute of the first Shenmue, all the way up the boat trip to China that substituted for an ending.

-Tom

[Dave Long]

It's up five dollars from yesterday. It was $9.99 on the website yesterday along with Mark of Kri and Wipeout Fusion for PS2 and a number of other Xbox titles.

Like most Sega Xbox titles, the game sold very poorly. I wouldn't expect nearly the amount of Xbox support in 2003 that they had in 2002.

--Dave

[Jim Preston]

Sega has not had a great year overall. Their sports titles suffered, Shinobi was not a hit, I believe, on the PS2, the Xbox offerings did poorly and some of the Gamecube games did well while others, like Beach Spikers, can be had at Best Buy for $9.99.

As for Shenmue II, MS sent me a copy and I have kept it safely in the protective plastic wrapping where its miserable design decisions cannot contaminate the fun of the games that surround it.

[Gunmetal]

the Xbox offerings did poorly and some of the Gamecube games did well while others, like Beach Spikers, can be had at Best Buy for $9.99.
Which is a damned shame since Beach Spikers is a really great multiplayer game. It's far from perfect, as the camera is almost as bad as DOA:XVB, but for $9.99 it's a deal.
And the poor sales of JSRF are inexcusable! That game was one of the most memorable of last year

[Dave Long]

Shinobi did ok actually...

PS2 SHINOBI Nov-02 SEGA OF AMERICA 12,704 188,219

188,219 was the total at the end of January. The February spreadsheet should show up any day now.

By comparison, Sega's Xbox lineup in its entirety at the end of January 2003...


XBX NFL 2K3 191,856
XBX NBA 2K3 138,659
XBX WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 110,794
XBX NBA 2K2 101,230
XBX JET SET RADIO FUTURE 88,071
XBX NFL 2K2 85,922
XBX CRAZY TAXI 3 74,574
XBX GUNVALKYRIE 65,681
XBX HOUSE OF THE DEAD III 62,073
XBX SEGA GT 2002 61,957
XBX PANZER DRAGOON ORTA 59,076
XBX NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 54,662
XBX NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 48,831
XBX TOEJAM & EARL III 47,931
XBX NHL 2K3 41,639
XBX SOCCER SLAM 9,980

Ugly... and Shenmue II was even published by Microsoft, not Sega...

XBX SHENMUE 2 MICROSOFT 6,631 88,193

Sega's overall performance on Gamecube was similar but with at least one major hit and a couple reasonable titles along with the clear reason why they dropped sports altogether...


GCN SONIC ADVENTURE 2 562,942
GCN SUPER MONKEY BALL 271,344
GCN SONIC MEGA COLLECTION 193,802
GCN SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 185,616
GCN PHANTASY STAR I & II 100,316
GCN NBA 2K2 65,924
GCN NFL 2K3 44,878
GCN HOME RUN KING 37,289
GCN BEACH SPIKERS 35,460
GCN SOCCER SLAM 35,146
GCN NBA 2K3 26,218
GCN SKIES OF ARCADIA LGND 19,693
GCN NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 10,665
GCN VIRTUA STRIKER 2002 5,595
GCN NHL 2K3 4,761
GCN NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 4,188

Finally...for completeness... PS2


PS2 VIRTUA FIGHTER 4 522,327
PS2 NBA 2K2 435,762
PS2 NFL 2K3 383,979
PS2 NFL 2K2 350,341
PS2 NBA 2K3 304,414
PS2 SHINOBI 188,219
PS2 NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 106,027
PS2 TENNIS 2K2 69,141
PS2 NHL 2K3 60,236
PS2 NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 57,904
PS2 BASS FISHING DUEL 25,828
PS2 GUNGRAVE 24,157
PS2 REZ 16,981
PS2 FERRARI F355 CHLLNG 12,382
PS2 SOCCER SLAM 7,873

Playstation 2 is king. Poor Rez... :-(

--Dave

[Anonymous]

Weird that Soccer Slam did four times as well on Gamecube as on XBox, and five times as well as it did on PS2. Gamecube fans must have a thang for the footie.

[Dave Long]

No...it was exclusive to the GC for about 8 months or so... Sega ported it later and the ports aren't that hot from what I've read.

--Dave

[Gordon Cameron]

Wait, I don't understand. You're saying they're only paying you $14.99 to take Shenmue 2? That is outrageous!

Is there at least a conclusion at the end of Shenmue 2? I hated nearly every minute of the first Shenmue, all the way up the boat trip to China that substituted for an ending.

-Tom

I enjoyed the Moot and Geeza levels...

Actually, Shenmue impressed me just with the sheer production design. I spent so much time ogling the graphics that it constituted a kind of gameplay (same thing happened with Unreal).

How the forklift simulation made it in, though, I will never know. I hear Shenmue 3 will have this great sequence where you have to fill out an income tax form...

Tom, you once called Shenmue a "dilly-dallying simulation" and that was right on. It pushed the boundaries of in-game procrastination. Darts, arcade games, pachinko, soda machines, petting a kitty, etc. Those are the best ways to kill time within a game since Arcomage.

I hope future games will incorporate these exciting and sophisticated loitering features. For instance, in Freelancer you could install an arcade console for your ship, and play that while you hurtle through a trade lane. Imagine the excitement of hearing "Trade Lane Disrupted" and being forced to deal with encroaching Corsairs, just when you were about to crack your best score for Super Hang-On...

[dwinn]

So did the main character ever find those sailors?

[Anonymous]

Which is a damned shame since Beach Spikers is a really great multiplayer game. It's far from perfect, as the camera is almost as bad as DOA:XVB
Interestingly no one ever complained about the camera on our multiplayer sessions (talking about people here who usually never touch games). Takes a bit more time to get used to the controls than let's say Virtua Tennis, but after people got used to it they love it. Now if Sega only ported Virtua Tennis 2 (or the next installment), the GC would be the perfect party system.


Weird that Soccer Slam did four times as well on Gamecube as on XBox, and five times as well as it did on PS2. Gamecube fans must have a thang for the footie.
As Dave noted, the US GC version came months out earlier. It would be interesting to see the sales of the PAL versions as PS2/XB/GC versions came out on the same day there. Another advantage the GC (and the Xbox) has over PS2: four gamepad ports. As far as I know the multiplayer adapter for PS2 doesn't sell incredibly well.

[Tom Chick]

It's far from perfect, as the camera is almost as bad as DOA:XVB, but for $9.99 it's a deal.

Actually, Gunmetal, I find the camera in Beach Spikers to be pretty useful. For one thing, when it's following the ball, you can pretty easily set yourself up using the little overhead radar at the bottom of the screen.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when someone's coming up for a spike, aren't you supposed to use the camera as a rough guideline for where the ball will go? I think it starts swinging around to line up in the direction of the shot. This is supposed to give you an idea of where you need to be to receive it.

I love Beach Spikers, maybe even more than Virtua Tennis, where the camera always screws one of the players by sticking him in the background. Beach Spikers is much more, umm, democratic.

-Tom

[Jim Preston]

I didn't have any problem with the camera in beach spikers except for trying to set up blocks. While the camera was busy twirling I had trouble lining myself up with the income shot. The CPU would just blast it by me, and human opponents would see where I was and dink it in the opposite direction. I stopped using the block function as I found it almost useless with that camera.

It's a pity about Rez, though. Jesus Christ, outsold by Bass Fishing Duel?!? Good for Virtua Fighter 4; that's a great game.

[Dave Long]

OH! Word was flying 'round the GA boards yesterday that a sequel to Shinobi is in the works, but that it will be a different game from the first PS2 iteration. The main guy at Overworks confirmed that they're working on it.

Side-scrolling with full 3D models Contra:SS style? We can only hope...

--Dave

[Moore]

I'm hoping for a castlevania in the style of that ps2 contra.

Also, as far as 'poor rez' it is a GREAT game, but iirc they didn't actually manufacture very many. I *think* I read that it got one run of 20,000 or something.


And Gunvalkyrie is super awesome hard-ass old school scifi fun. It's like, the new Section Z or something.

[Dave Long]

A new 3D Castlevania is in the works for PS2. It's confirmed. How it will play is anyone's guess right now, but side scrolling would be welcome, yes.

--Dave

[Gunmetal]

I didn't like that when the other side has the ball, you often have to resort to looking at the court overlay to figure out where you are. It's nowhere near as bad as DOA:XVB, where you don't even have the overlay, and the camera won't swap sides until the ball's already been spiked into the sand at your feet.

I got used to the Beach Spikers camera anyway (after a three hour multiplayer marathon :D ), but I think if the game made more effort to always have all four characters on screen, it would make the game more accessible to new players.

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Shinobi did ok actually...

PS2 SHINOBI Nov-02 SEGA OF AMERICA 12,704 188,219

188,219 was the total at the end of January. The February spreadsheet should show up any day now.

By comparison, Sega's Xbox lineup in its entirety at the end of January 2003...


XBX NFL 2K3 191,856
XBX NBA 2K3 138,659
XBX WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 110,794
XBX NBA 2K2 101,230
XBX JET SET RADIO FUTURE 88,071
XBX NFL 2K2 85,922
XBX CRAZY TAXI 3 74,574
XBX GUNVALKYRIE 65,681
XBX HOUSE OF THE DEAD III 62,073
XBX SEGA GT 2002 61,957
XBX PANZER DRAGOON ORTA 59,076
XBX NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 54,662
XBX NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 48,831
XBX TOEJAM & EARL III 47,931
XBX NHL 2K3 41,639
XBX SOCCER SLAM 9,980

Ugly... and Shenmue II was even published by Microsoft, not Sega...

XBX SHENMUE 2 MICROSOFT 6,631 88,193

Sega's overall performance on Gamecube was similar but with at least one major hit and a couple reasonable titles along with the clear reason why they dropped sports altogether...


GCN SONIC ADVENTURE 2 562,942
GCN SUPER MONKEY BALL 271,344
GCN SONIC MEGA COLLECTION 193,802
GCN SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 185,616
GCN PHANTASY STAR I & II 100,316
GCN NBA 2K2 65,924
GCN NFL 2K3 44,878
GCN HOME RUN KING 37,289
GCN BEACH SPIKERS 35,460
GCN SOCCER SLAM 35,146
GCN NBA 2K3 26,218
GCN SKIES OF ARCADIA LGND 19,693
GCN NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 10,665
GCN VIRTUA STRIKER 2002 5,595
GCN NHL 2K3 4,761
GCN NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 4,188

Finally...for completeness... PS2


PS2 VIRTUA FIGHTER 4 522,327
PS2 NBA 2K2 435,762
PS2 NFL 2K3 383,979
PS2 NFL 2K2 350,341
PS2 NBA 2K3 304,414
PS2 SHINOBI 188,219
PS2 NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 106,027
PS2 TENNIS 2K2 69,141
PS2 NHL 2K3 60,236
PS2 NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3 57,904
PS2 BASS FISHING DUEL 25,828
PS2 GUNGRAVE 24,157
PS2 REZ 16,981
PS2 FERRARI F355 CHLLNG 12,382
PS2 SOCCER SLAM 7,873

Playstation 2 is king. Poor Rez... :-(

--Dave

Anybody know what the break even point was? Also, where did you find this info?

[GMicek]

That must be a record or something for what was obviously meant to be something of a major release. I know Sega pretty much made their profit on that game already with the Japan/Europe DC

Bummer, it went back up to $29.99 earlier this morning. Ahh well.

[Phil_Stein]

Just played the original Virtua Tennis at Dave & Busters tonight - it's a blast. I remember the DC version getting great reviews, unfortunately, I have no DC at home. Anyone know if Tennis 2K2 on PS2 is essentially the next iteration of Virtua Tennis, or is it something different? Worth buying?

[Gordon Cameron]

Tennis 2k2 is indeed the next iteration of Virtua Tennis. It was originally released on the Dreamcast as one of that console's last few games. I haven't played it, though.

[Anonymous]

I took a quick look at the IGN review and it sounds like the PS2 version is every bit as good as the last Dreamcast iteration. However, the DC version would allow four players (a must IMO) right out of the box without buying any extra hardware.

You could probably get a DC, Virtua Tennis and four controllers for about the same price you'd pay for the PS2 version of the game and it'd be far more valuable and playable. I'd get the console it originated on. VT in the arcades is the exact same game as the first DC Virtua Tennis. It's running on NAOMI hardware in the arcades, which is the Dreamcast hardware without CD-ROM and more RAM.

--Dave

[Rob_Merritt]

And Gunvalkyrie is super awesome hard-ass old school scifi fun. It's like, the new Section Z or something.

Section Z wasn't THAT hard. We are talking NES Ghost n Goblins hard...

[Supertanker]

I have both Virtua Tennis and Tennis 2K2 for my Dreamcast. I find myself going back to Virtua Tennis more than 2K2, I think because VT is a more forgiving game. 2K2 plays more like real tennis, requiring more setup and tennis strategy, and starts to lose the simply charm that VT has. VT doesn't get like that until you hit the very difficult opponents.

[wumpus]

I have 2k2 for the PS2 and I don't like it much either. When your character gets pushed to the background (eg the top of the tennis court)the PS2's grainy graphics make it difficult to see exactly what I'm doing.

Anyway, I'm selling it on eBay.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone here played the PC version of Virtua Tennis? How is it?

[Xaroc]

I have, it is exactly the same as the DC version but in higher res.

-- Xaroc

[Anonymous]

Does it support LAN matches?

[Moore]

"Section Z wasn't THAT hard. "


To clarify, I meant the NES section z, which was hard as hell imho. It was pretty different from the other versions.

[Xaroc]

Does it support LAN matches?

I don't think so. From what I remember it is a direct port.

-- Xaroc

[Jason McMaster]

So did the main character ever find those sailors?

Which has to be the most disturbing line in a video game ever

"I'm looking for some sailors"

[MattKeil]

So did the main character ever find those sailors?

Which has to be the most disturbing line in a video game ever

"I'm looking for some sailors"

"When you say 'sailors,' you're not talking about just any sailor, are you?"

That entire section is one of the funniest things in any game, IMO.

~MJK

[Jason McMaster]

Yeah, that's about as far as I made it in Shemue. I knew I had reached the heights that it had to offer.

[Supertanker]

That bit makes me think of Lenny Bruce.

"What the hell do you want Tonto for, anyway?"
"To perform an unnatural act."