Srsly!

Try as I may I just can't emulate the experience I had on Sega's Dream Arena. X-Box Live should have filled the void Dream Arena left behind but it didnt. I really can't put my finger on it but I just dont get the same kick out of X-Box Live like I did with Dream Arena. When you look at it piece to piece XBL should have grabbed me by the baby-maker and screamed "LOVE ME AND DESPAIR" into my face but it didnt. To me it feels very coporate? I can't really explain it but that word is the only one that comes close, Sega has a way of making anything they did feel like NiGHTS, so maybe the softer touch that Dream Arena had is what keeps me from enjoyinh XBL equally.



First thing I got online with my Dreamcast was Dream Arena like everyone else and Chu Chu Rocket. The time I spent on those seemed abit much there and then, but when Quake III Arena and Phantasy Star Online came, boy did I clock up some mad hours. I looked at my Q3A experience then I look back to my first XBL experience with Wolfenstien. The community, the enjoyment, the lag, the experience, all much greater on Q3A. But the big one that sticks out, the fondest memory I have is PSO. I wouldn't say I lived inside that game as work and a social life always had to rear its non-PSO head, but I managed to log on for atleast 2 hours every night. People are gonna call me crazy, stupid and totally wrong but I still rate PSO as the greatest ever online game. The community, even for all its gamesharkers and Americans was second to none. Not even on XBL or WoW have I had the same feeling of community spirit that PSO had.



Even when the servers started to empty, when I was logging on to see about 900 people online during peak hours I still enjoyed it as much as I did the day I bought the game. Sadly no other online game has ever been able to provide the same feeling. I'm not blaming the games, dont get me wrong, I know its just me lol. The one game that could have gave PSO a run for its money was True Fantasy Live, but for some reason that got cancelled. Ah well, Phantasy Star Universe anyone?

Shenmue III, the third Shenmue, "that game Yu Suzuki is taking his SW33T! damnable time about making!" are all names for the eagerly awaited third installment of Sega's Shenmue series. Yu Suzuki, director and producer of the series, envisioned a titanic adventure that sprawled through 12 titles, each one a chapter in the story he had created. But much like the Titanic it sank short of finishing its journey.



The first title was released on 12/01/2000 and since then we have had 6 chapters. Great! you may be thinking, thats 6 games to get through, good ol' Suzuki has been busy since 2000! Well no, hes been very not busy, 6 chapters have been crammed into 2 games and the third game is said to contain chapters 7-12. Only problem with that is since Shenmue II was released on 03/11/2003 there has been rumour aplenty about the third title but nothing has come to pass at all, its production status is "Unknown" so effectively its in limbo for all we know.



As of late Yu-san has told his legion of fans that Shenmue III is currently not an active project. So effectively he and AM-2 are ignoring these 44,000+ fans and leaving the saga unfinished.

Maybe they'll tie up the story in Shenmue Online? We'll only need to wait 2-3 years for a possible European/American release. I for one would settle for a book that finished the story, because frankly MMO's + storyline = ftl. It would be a tragic end to such an amazing story, but alas it looks like thats the way its heading.