Friday, August 3, 2018

Shenmue I & II Japan-Exclusive Limited Edition: Details & How To Order

The official website for Shenmue I & II in Japan
The Shenmue I & II release date in Japan has been announced - together with a special edition! Phantom River Stone summarizes the key information.
What a fitting announcement for Shenmue Day (on the 3rd of every month) - SEGA knows Shenmue fans will be paying close attention.

The release date for Shenmue I & II in Japan for the PS4 has been announced today on SEGA Japan's Shenmue I & II website as Thursday 22nd November, and together with this they have announced a special Limited Edition! Read on for details.

While the Japan domestic release date is three months from the August 21st date of most other regions, there is good reason for the extra preparation time: there will be a Limited Edition produced, and the cover art looks amazing (note: subject to change):
Shenmue I & II Limited Edition package
Shenmue I & II Limited Edition package
This Limited Edition will contain an extensive 40-track "Shenmue I & II Sound Collection" double CD:

Shenmue I & II Sound Collection

All 40 proposed titles in the tracklist have been posted on Sega's site:
Title list
Title list (Japanese)
We've translated the track names below, trying to stay as close to the original meaning as possible. There may be slight variations compared with existing online translations (for example: "A Predestined Encounter" can be found occasionally as "Encounter with Destiny").

Title list (English; our translation)
Title list (English; our translation)
Not only that, a two-sided poster will come with the physical versions (Standard and Limited Editions). The poster size is 295 mm x 385 mm.


Pricing

The price for the Standard edition will be 3,990 yen + tax (= 4,309 yen), and for the Limited Edition 5,990 yen + tax (= 6,469 yen).

Note: YouTuber Adam Koralik has revealed that the Limited Edition is a Japan exclusive (tweet source).

How to Pre-Order via Amazon Japan

Amazon Japan has listings up for the Standard and Limited Editions, priced the same in physical or digital format, for the PS4, with pre-orders open. Any subsequent price drops will be honored.

We have received confirmation from @Jcgamer60 that pre-ordering on Amazon Jp from overseas (with international shipping) is supported. Thank you @Jcgamer60 for the information!

Steps to pre-order on Amazon Japan (note, Amazon has set a limit of 2 per customer).
  • Change to an English UI on Amazon JP using this link: Shop In English
  • Create a new account with Amazon Japan if you do not already have one.
  • Pre-order listing for the Limited Edition of Shenmue I & II on Amazon Japanhttps://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07G4Q9XRF
    (This link has an Amazon-only wallpaper bonus described below)
  • Pre-order listing for the Limited Edition without the wallpaper bonus, offered at a cheaper price:
    https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07G4MNPXP

As an Amazon-only bonus, wallpaper art for PC and smartphone will also be included (note that the listed price differs depending on whether you choose to include the wallpaper):

Update: Other Retailers


  • The Shenmue I & II Collections are now available on PlayAsia.com.
  • In Japan, they are also now being advertised at other sellers such as Yodobashi Camera. The price of the Limited Edition there, for example, is a slightly lower 5,820 yen (including tax). Plus you get the usual 10% points back on the purchase, so it looks like there will be various options for people living in Japan.


Electronic chain Yodobashi Camera has the Limited Edition listed for 5,820 yen.
Electronic chain Yodobashi Camera has the Limited Edition listed for 5,820 yen.

New Trailer


A new trailer has been released on the Japan site, with a mention of the Limited Edition at the end.


Update: Information about Language Support


In a interview with 4Gamer at the 2018 Tokyo Game Show on September 22nd, localization director for the Japanese version of Shenmue I & II, Hiroshi Noguchi, stated that the Japanese release will contain Japanese audio and Japanese subtitles only.
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20 comments:

  1. I pre-ordered two of them from this page https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07G4Q9XRF/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1533279979&sr=1-1&keywords=%E3%82%B7%E3%82%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BC%2B%E3%82%BB%E3%82%AC%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B9

    I hope it's the physical version :P

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    Replies
    1. Awesome! Yes, looks fine & includes the digital wallpaper download from Amazon.

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  2. Just placed my order, thanks Switch

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    Replies
    1. That's great Scribe, I've got mine in as well :)

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  3. Replies
    1. Excellent, the packaging is a thing of beauty, and I'm really glad they are giving the soundtrack the attention it deserves.

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  4. Hey Switch, do you know how limited is the LE? Will they stop selling after a while?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I don't know whether how limited the numbers are... it is probably in Sega's best interests not to let on, to increase the hype. :)

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  5. Thanks for the info, this looks awesome!

    Hopefully I can see it's available elsewhere too cause as much as I love Shenmue I was not going to buy from Amazon - they're horrible unethical and I wish more people would support other retailers instead.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks dst. Yes, there are other options other than Amazon Jp.

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  6. Switch, legend for the soundtrack translations! Sooooo excited for this box set :) will have played through 1 & 2 many times from August 21st and then when this is released will be excited again haha!

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    Replies
    1. Let the Shenmue hype maintain momentum through to 2019 and Shenmue III! Thanks for your feedback on the soundtrack translations!

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  7. Ah... so no Waves of Morning Haze on here?

    Such a shame, that's my fave Shenmue tune! :'(

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    Replies
    1. That's an amazing tune, it really builds up to an epic feeling. More CDs are needed! I wonder if Yu Suzuki himself had a hand in the selection for this collection.

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  8. Do you know if this limited edition will include other languages than Japanese?

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    Replies
    1. At this point there hasn't been any official confirmation from SEGA on language options / support for the Japanese version.

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  9. Can someone confirm if the game will have different subtitle besides Japanese ?

    I am pre-ordering either way...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At the moment I don't think there has been official word on the language options & subtitles for the Japanese versions. I expect this information will be added to the official Japan website (https://shenmue1-2.sega.jp/index.html) in the future.

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    2. I received mine, the Audio CD disk 2 (track 17 as the guilin soudtrack) :D
      by the way.. NO ENGLISH sub or DUB.
      The game file system is the same as the NTSC-U but they removed the english sub/dub making it only 8GB.

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    3. Thanks for the information. The reason behind the decision to drop other language options for the Japan release hasn't been officially explained at this point, as far as I know.

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