Dobuita street lights

Shenmue created a digital world with every aspect of daily life. Street lights are one of them.

And the lights that illuminate Dobuita's main street stand out with their design for a good reason.

AVGN and Shenmue

The Angry Video Game Nerd and Shenmue don't seem like two things that could ever mix together.

There are good reasons to mention both in one sentence however, as links have been established.

How Shenmue creates reflections

Mirrors play an important role in Shenmue. Not just the mysterious stone kind.

So how do these reflective surfaces work in the enviroments of Shenmue and Shenmue II.

Many Palace Taylor's name origins

The Three Blades Street in the Lucky Charm Qr. has a large selection of Taylors to visit.

They are either interesting for their place in the story or what familiar NPCs they hold.
This one however, is interesting simply for the name it proudly displays on the storefront.

Shenmue I & II Texture Differences

The re-releases are finally here! Time to take a closer look at what has changed in the first Shenmue.
 

This post is not about the big and obvious differences. It's about the more minute texture details.

The unknown product placement

Shenmue originally had Coca Cola, Timex, Case Logic and Sumito Bank as featured brands.

But there is one more brand in the game that doesn't seem to get mentioned anywhere.

Alpha Trading Lockers

The Alpha Trading Office is more than just a place for the secretary to hang out in.

It's also a break room for the foremen and has lockers for them. Which one belongs to who?

Random Object #4 - Virtua Model Car

In the Pine Game Arcade you can spot a rather crudely modeled car on the counter.

This little model of a Formula 1 style race car is no blindly picked thing that got put there.

Randomized Cassette Tapes

In Huang's Room Ryo has to find cassette tapes containing clues about Zhang's whereabouts.

Those tapes in the trashcan have a unique feature that hardly anyone is ever likely to notice.

Random Object #3 - Alpha Trading Cups

In the Alpha Trading Office there is a cupboard with a very easy to miss detail.

You wouldn't even think about it when playing just the first game on its own. So what about it?

The Mystery Of Warehouse No. 4

Have you ever checked all the warehouses around Fortune's Pier in Shenmue II?

If so, have you ever wondered where some of them have gone and why?

Training Efficiency

When you have learned a new move you get the option to keep training for a while.

Is it worth it to do so? Is this kind of training more efficient than Free Practice?

Butcher Battle

In the Green Market Qr. there are these two butchers who are in fierce competition for customers.



Well, it's only natural to be in a deep rivalry when you sell the same thing as the guy next door.

The Real Game Music Tapes

The Tomato Mart has cassette tapes with music from various YS games as prizes in the raffle.

But did you know that these cassettes actually have some real life roots?

The Umbrella Situation

When it rains all the umbrellas look like flowers in bloom. Don't you think the red and yellow umbrella flowers are attractive?

But is a bed of umbrella flowers on every street corner really that likely to be seen in real life?

Random Object #2 - Super Ball

Todays entry to Random Objects is about everyones "favorite" toy capsule: The Super Ball.

The three color variants of them act as a booby prizes in every set. But what are they?

Random Object #1 - UV Sterilizer

This is the start of a new series with short, information packed posts about random objects from the world of Shenmue. The sole nature of these objects is to add realism to the enviroments and while largely unimportant to the plot and easily ignored, they still hold interesting real life roots.

Today's object is this boxy thing with a glass window and handle, indicating that it has a door.

Predictive Explosion's Myth

Predictive Explosion is a technique surrounded by myths an theories unlike most other moves.

Does it really aid you during the Acrobat Style Street Fight? Or is it nothing more than a myth?

The Real Phantom River Stone

Phantom River Stone. The mythical material that the mirrors are made from and also the very name of the site run by Switch, which was the inspiration to make my own blog.

What exactly is this stone material? Where do its real life origins come from?

The Black Car

Even though it's only briefly on screen, the black car is one of the very first things you see in the game and it plays an important role in the early phase of Ryo's investigation.

But what make and model could it be? What would a ruthless criminal from a very powerful orginization from China be driven around in while in Japan?