Shenmue 2 Interview with Yu Suzuki | DoriMaga May 2001

This interview with Yu Suzuki about the upcoming release of Shenmue II for Dreamcast was published in the May 2001 edition of Japan's DoriMaga magazine. It took place following Sega's decision to cease production of the Dreamcast a couple of months earlier in March 2001.

The translation begins below.

DoriMaga: There was a huge turnout at SEGA's recent event, Game Jam*, reaffirming the great anticipation for Shenmue II. What plans are there for the Dreamcast in future, and what is the significance of Shenmue II? Let's hear a message from Yu Suzuki to the readers of the new-look DoriMaga magazine and users of the Dreamcast.

*Note from Switch: Game Jam was a trade event held in Tokyo by SEGA the previous month, in April 2001, and featured preview gameplay of Shenmue II.

Suzuki: Game Jam was fantastic. While we apologize for any inconvenience caused due to the crowded space, we are delighted that so many people attended. Seeing such a large number of attendees makes us very happy. Seeing so many attendees on that day made me think, "It's a shame we're giving up on the Dreamcast..."

DoriMaga: The event featured the first-ever demonstration using actual hardware, but how far along is the development of Shenmue II at this point?

Suzuki: Well, as of the end of March, it's mostly been bug fixes. That means we've essentially locked in the program code, and from there, it's mostly about replacing data and focusing on debugging. Since April, we've been diving into that work, and at the moment, we're at a stage where it's nearing the finalization process. At this stage, if we are able to iron out any critical bugs, we'll be looking at finalization in just a few weeks.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for April 2025

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:

"Recently-discovered Character & Location Renders by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata"

Some of the many newly-found renders

Recently, an astonishing discovery was made: an extensive online archive containing over 120 3D-rendered images from the development of the first two Shenmue games has surfaced. These images were posted on a personal webpage belonging to Hideki Kawabata, a senior graphical artist credited as one of the two "3D Character Main Designers" for the original titles.

The webpage was first archived by the Wayback Machine in February 2022, which suggests that access may have changed from private to public around that time.

The collection includes a wide range of 3D renders featuring main characters, NPCs, and a small number of locations. While many of these designs appear in the first two released games, others do not. This hints that some may have been cut during development - or potentially they may even provide glimpses of content planned for Shenmue IV and beyond.

In this blog post, or more likely a series of posts, we will browse through the collection and take a closer look at some of its most interesting and surprising items.

Coming soon to the blog!

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