The Project Berkley Bonus Disc | Dengeki Dreamcast Magazine (January 2000)

A mysterious scene from the CG movie on the Project Berkley bonus disc

Japan's Dengeki Dreamcast magazine contained a huge 50-page Shenmue feature in its January 28 edition. Within this feature was a reflection on the intriguing Project Berkley bonus disc that had been released a year prior and even today can be considered to hold an abundance of hints and glimpses as to how Shenmue's plot might once have been (and even could still be) going to unfold.

Magazine page images kindly provided by SkillJim.

Why "Project Berkley"?

In the late 1990s, SEGA's AM2 division, led by Yu Suzuki, embarked on an ambitious venture known internally as Project Guppy. Initially conceived with the title of Virtua Fighter RPG for the SEGA Saturn, the project subsequently transitioned to the SEGA Dreamcast and was renamed Shenmue and the associated code name changed to Project Berkley. Code names were used to maintain confidentiality during development, adding an aura of mystery to the undertaking.

At his GDC 2014 post-mortem talk, Yu Suzuki reveals how the code name changed during development together with the game's title.

In recent years, Yu Suzuki has revealed the inspiration for the name "Project Berkley":

Q: At the beginning the game was given the codename “Project Berkley”, is there any special meaning behind this name?

YS: It’s actually like this [laughs]: because we realized at the start that this would be a completely different game to anything else on the market at the time, and its scale was unprecedented, we wanted to keep the project very confidential. Because of this we wanted to give it a very cool sounding name, like something from a spy movie. In Japan there’s this phrase bakkureru (ばっくれる) meaning to “pretend not to know” or “feign ignorance”, and by coincidence that there is a place in America with a similar sounding name, so we chose this “Project Berkley” codename.

A special feature of approximately 30 minutes, with the same name of Project Berkley, was included with the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 3tb, released on Dreamcast in November 1998. Containing a CGI trailer, an extended interview with Yu Suzuki and various concept art, it provided gamers with an early glimpse into the project's innovative vision, highlighting its potential to revolutionize gaming.

The Virtua Fighter 3tb release included a bonus disc

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Sega's Precautions with Phone Numbers in Shenmue

On its initial release in Japan in December 1999, Shenmue impressed players with its realistic settings and attention to detail.

One such detail was the accuracy with which phone calls were reproduced in order to check the weather forecast, speak with Nozomi or gain access to Warehouse No. 8. Local phone numbers even had the correct area code for Yokosuka city (0468). 

This proved to be a slight headache for Sega, as some of the eager players tried actually calling the numbers. While the numbers used in the game were said to have been reserved beforehand by Sega to prevent nuisance calls, nonetheless a warning was issued in the February 2000 edition of the Weekly AM2 online magazine (which we recently translated) asking players to refrain from trying to call the numbers.

"Attention: Regarding the phone numbers used in Shenmue

The phone numbers used in the game Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka are intentionally designed not to allow actual calls. Recently, there has been an increase in attempted calls, leading to nuisances such as wrong numbers.

We kindly request your cooperation to refrain from making actual calls. Thank you for your understanding".

More on this topic was revealed in an interview with Shenmue game director Eigo Kasahara in Adam Sipione's Shenmue Documentary, "A Gamers Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue" 

Eigo Kasahara: Yu-san wanted to display the proper area codes in the game. The problem we raised was that players would try to call them. And we couldn't just make something up. In which case, Yu-san proposed we get hold of those phone numbers. We wondered how many we should get. We ended up getting about five.

When he gave us that instruction, the first thing we did was to check whether there was anyone at Sega who lived in Yokosuka and in fact there was one person who did. So we approached that person and explained that we wanted to obtain five phone lines, with any costs of course being covered by Sega. His house already had a telephone connection, although it didn't have an actual telephone. So we were able to obtain four, I think it was, real phone numbers.

At that time, there was someone who actually tried calling the number for Master Chen. Apparently, when he heard a proper ringing tone, he got spooked and hung up! However, the phone numbers were all ones where definitely nobody would answer.

In truth, I had been thinking of having them connect in the future to something like "Shenmue Fun Facts", although that part didn't get implemented.

Those numbers were actually held for several years afterwards. Then the Sega employee who had let us obtain the numbers informed us that he would be retiring, and asked us to do something about those phone lines. So we actually went along and arranged the infrastructure work needed to deregister the phone numbers.

Eigo Kasahara was also in charge of the Shenmue I & II re-releases, and he explained that he took the opportunity to avoid potential problems by shortening the phone numbers used in the game by omitting the last digit:

Eigo Kasahara: These days, we don't know where they connect to, and registering phone numbers was out of the question at this late stage, so for the remake we abandoned that idea and dropped a digit instead. 

Wishing everyone a Happy Shenmue Day!

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Shenmue Chapter Concept Art Released in High Resolution! (Tiles 1-7)

At the 2014 Game Developers Conference (GDC 2014), Yu Suzuki gave a special talk of approximately an hour in which he talked about the development of Shenmue. It covered the early days from its conception as Virtua Fighter RPG, when the protagonist was to have been Akira Yuki.

During the talk, Suzuki revealed a slide entitled "Chapter Concept Art" which showed 11 full-color illustrations that represented the plans for each chapter of Virtua Fighter RPG. These were drawn following Suzuki's trip to China in 1994.

Although various changes and rearrangements are known to have taken place since then, many of the elements observed in these chapter tiles are instantly recognizable including several of the characters appearing in the Shenmue games released to date, and for this reason obtaining high-resolution images of these tiles to study further has been something Shenmue fans have been desiring ever since they were revealed.

The 11 tiles of the Chapter Concept Art revealed at the GDC 2014 conference

The chapter tile illustrations were glimpsed again in footage for Adam Sipione's Shenmue Documentary ("A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue") - which, incidentally is shipping imminently on BluRay - as the filming crew had privileged access to concept art shared by Suzuki during their time with him.

And now, thanks to Adam, the first seven of the tiles are available in high resolution for all fans to enjoy! There were released recently on a Shenmue Dojo forum post containing updates about the Shenmue Documentary.

Each tile is packed with details, and release of these high-resolution versions has already sparked renewed discussion and exchange of theories among fans on the forums and elsewhere.

The superb chapter tiles are displayed below!

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Shenmue Documentary: New Trailer at the Golden Joystick Awards

A fantastic new trailer for the Shenmue documentary "A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue" has been released at the recent Golden Joystick Awards.

Interview clips in this trailer from representative figures who have been involved with the game in various ways including Peter Moore (former president at Sega of America), video game producer / director Ryan Payton, former and current Shenmue developers, YouTube personalities and of course Yu Suzuki himself.

Interleaved with the interview slips is footage of real-life locations, arcade game cabinets created by Yu Suzuki, game events with special significance, and even a visit to the YS Net development studio.

• Related link: Shenmue Documentary Filming in Yokosuka | Photo Report

View the latest trailer:

Regarding the release date, documentary creator Adam Sipione commented as follows on the Shenmue 500K Facebook that a fixed release date has not yet been set:

"Right now we are fine tuning the edit, plus we have to shoot some more b roll segments, create the motion graphics, titles, audio mix, etc. Still some work to be done but as you can tell we have come a long way and the end is in sight."

It sounds like great progress has been made, and we will post further updates regarding the documentary as they are made available.

Link to the official Kickstarter Update

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Shenmue Documentary Updates: B-Roll Filming & Insert Booklet

The Shenmue Documentary crew has been hard at work on crafting the documentary, and has recently released some new updates on what is currently in progress.

The discovery of some classic Yu Suzuki arcade machines at the local bowling alley provided the perfect opportunity to capture some "b-roll" footage for the documentary, to be interspersed among the interviews.

The character from whom Ryo Hazuki evolved: Akira Yuki in Virtua Fighter

And in the most recent update, project creator Adam Sipione shared some prototype images of the insert booklet that will accompany the Bluray version of the documentary. Inspired by Ryo's notebook in the game, it will contain a mix of photos and journal entries from their trip to Japan at the end of last year.

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Shenmue Documentary Update: Interview Translations Completed

Work continues on the Shenmue Documentary, and last week Adam Sipione, the project's originator, released a Kickstarter Update to keep everyone informed on the current state.

• Currently work is continuing on editing the story, following which it will undergo refinement.
• Translations of the Japanese video interviews which were held during the team's visit to Tokyo at the end of last year, have now been completed - and in fact these are what I have been working on in recent months. (Thanks to Adam for the shout-out to PRS!)
• Planning has been carried out for integrating some highly-stylized and cinematic pieces into the documentary to help set the mood: reference was made to the documentary's Kickstarter video teaser that can be viewed on the campaign page as an example of the kind of pieces we can look forward to.
• Backers are also reminded to submit your photos and videos for your rewards tiers.

Note: in case you missed the message in February's update, the release date for the documentary has been adjusted to be after Shenmue III comes out (exact date to be confirmed).

Go here to read the official update on Kickstarter

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Shenmue Documentary: Japan Visit Production Stills

Last week the team behind the Shenmue Documentary (officially title: "A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue") posted a Kickstarter update displaying some production stills from footage and interviews captured during their December visit to Japan which really conjure up a taste of how the documentary will feel.

This first image shows Eigo Kasahara, who was planning director on the original Shenmue games, being interviewed at the SEGA head office. Kasahara also worked on the Japan localisation of the re-released Shenmue I & II, and has participated in several Shenmue related events including last month's Shenmue fan meeting that was held in Yokosuka.

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Shenmue Documentary Filming in Yokosuka | Photo Report

The documentary project "A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue" was successfully funded on Kickstarter in August, and its creators have spent the past week in Japan, carrying out numerous interviews and filming footage for the documentary.

Switch recently accompanied the project originator, Adam Sipione, and his crew on a filming trip down in Yokosuka. This post is a photo report of the day.

Travelling Down to Yokosuka

It was a cool early-December morning when I joined the documentary crew in boarding a southbound limited-express train down to Ryo Hazuki's hometown of Yokosuka. The purpose of the visit was to gather "b-roll" (supplemental) footage of the area, capturing on film snippets of Shenmue's vibe that can still be felt there today.

Just under an hour later we stepped out onto the platform at Yokosuka-chuo station and, passing through the ticket gates, made a bee-line for the tourist information center conveniently located in the building opposite. Pleasingly, there was a large Shenmue I & II poster* displayed prominently at the front of the information desk.

* Currently there is a Shenmue promotion running whereby a minimum purchase made at participating shops around Dobuita qualifies for one of several Shenmue-themed coasters. Details: Shenmue Coaster Collectibles & Dec 24th Fan Meeting in Yokosuka | Shenmue Sacred Spot Campaign

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Shenmue Documentary Pitch Video "Making Of"

A Gamers Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue, which is currently running a Kickstarter campaign (see our recent introductory post) has made tremendous progress, now passing 500 backers.

As a thanks they have released a behind-the-scenes video on the making of the "antique shop" scene at the start of their campaign pitch trailer, which is a recreation of Ryo Hazuki's visit to the antique shop in Dobuita to retrieve an item left to him by his father.

Read the update on the project Kickstarter.

If you are interested in supporting the documentary on Kickstarter, click here to visit the main campaign page..

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Shenmue Documentary Kickstarter Launched!

"A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue has launched a Kickstarter campaign, and support is pouring in from fans after only the first day! Phantom River Stone gives an overview of the project and campaign.

A definitive documentary on the history of the Shenmue franchise is in the making! And now with the launch of its Kickstarter campaign, as fans we have the opportunity to make sure it can achieve everything it set out to do.

Background

A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue was first conceived back in 2014, and over the course of the next several months the project originator and Shenmue fan, Adam Sipione, spent his own time and money planning, networking with people, and travelling to far-away cities to capture interviews with fans and community members. At that time, there was no official indication that Shenmue III was soon to be born...

Then things changed dramatically in 2015 with the stunning announcement of Shenmue III, immediately influencing the documentary's scope and direction. As a result, rework and refilming of interviews to date was needed, as the project could now include the celebratory story of the franchise's continuation thanks to the passion and heartfelt persistence of the fans.

Adam teamed up with Fauxpop Media and Definitive Films, who are experienced at making definitive documentaries for other franchises. Past film creations have included "Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Power of Greyskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe".

Furthermore, Adam and team also received whole-hearted support and approval for the project from Yu Suzuki and YS Net.

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Shenmue Documentary Update Video | Chasing Shenmue: EP03

The third episode has been released of "Chasing Shenmue", a podcast series keeping the community up to date with the in-progress Shenmue documentary "A Gamer's Journey: the Definitive History of Shenmue". The episodes are fronted by Adam Sipione, the project originator and hardcore Shenmue fan, and executive producer Randall Lobb from Fauxpop Media, the company working with Adam to make the documentary.

This post is a brief overview of what Episode 3 brings, with the full video at the end of the post. This episode also includes a short bonus teaser of new video material!

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