[James]

Has Shenmue influenced your life in some capacity, or affected your personality in ways that you can identify? Share with the rest of us any impact that this game series had on you after setting down the controller.


Tempting though it is, let's try and steer clear of sarcastic replies about sailors, etc!

[Guppy]

I always wanted go china, still do, Shenmue also got me intrested in the chinese culture, etc food, martial arts, and music. Every kung fu film i watch reminds me Shenmue, also just recently ive been listening to Gaming soundtracks, Halo, Gears , mgs etc but Shenmue is always the last i listen too. Save the best till last.

[RobLMor]

I had never thought about if it had affected my personality, but the way I think and act about things changed after Shenmue so it must have. I think it was lessons more than anything. Iwao teaching Ryo how to be better person, the 4 wude etc instantly stuck with me. It was almost like as Ryo learned, I learned. And I agree about the culture etc. I have a ridiculously high interest in Asian lifestyle and culture that I never had prior to Shenmue.


I also carry a notebook everywhere haha. I don't write every detail in it like Ryo did, but I just feel more comfortable with it. It just feels more right than putting notes in my mobile or on an ipad. There's a personal touch that handwritten notes have that electronic just doesn't

[James Reiner]

Yes it has... at a very fundamental level.

Here is my video on this very topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QvNsWx2_fg&list=UUoCoDkRPXrbq5SAXXFKpDiQ

[jameswalker85]

Shenmue never really affected my life in regards to how I live it... but I certainly did carry away some important lessons. Iwao's dying words will always stay with me.


I also know that living for revenge is futile, as it will only end with you being trapped in a cave for over a decade.

[Larry Lomas]

Since I first played Shenmue, aged 10 (or thereabouts), I've taken the lessons learned in the game very seriously. I already had some interest in asian culture and the martial arts, but both my interest and my understanding has grown thanks to this series.

It's rare that I don't quote Shenmue in day to day life. I still feel compelled to do the "ah, good" thing when I drink a can of coke, as silly as that is.

Being involved in the arts myself, I'm greatly inspired by the series. I think it deserves more recognition from everyone and not just gamers. There are so many things people rave about that don't deserve half the respect Shenmue deserves for all its depth.

Let's not forget that if it wasn't for our love of Shenmue, we wouldn't all be a part of this amazing community.

[xiuying hong is brill]

I have no idea whether this was some subconscious thing or whether it was pure coincidence (probably a bit of both).  But I ended up studying two martial arts featured fairly prominently in the series: Baji Quan (practiced by Xuiying Hong) and Chen style Tai ji (practiced by Jianmin et el). Of course I didn't realize this until I was already deep into them, so it kind of blew my mind when I discovered and re-remembered that Shenmue featured these.  Chen Tai Ji now is an extremely important part of my life, and so I do feel like I owe something to Shenmue for that.

And more generally, the games obviously encouraged my interest in China and Japan as it has for most people.

But what about you James? You can't  start a thread like this without sharing your story!

[Guppy]

Since I first played Shenmue, aged 10 (or thereabouts), I've taken the lessons learned in the game very seriously. I already had some interest in asian culture and the martial arts, but both my interest and my understanding has grown thanks to this series.

It's rare that I don't quote Shenmue in day to day life. I still feel compelled to do the "ah, good" thing when I drink a can of coke, as silly as that is. And Tweeting every month too love it.

Being involved in the arts myself, I'm greatly inspired by the series. I think it deserves more recognition from everyone and not just gamers. There are so many things people rave about that don't deserve half the respect Shenmue deserves for all its depth.

Let's not forget that if it wasn't for our love of Shenmue, we wouldn't all be a part of this amazing community.

[Guppy]

Ooops mm my quote went funny there. Sorry larry.
"and tweeting every month too love it"
Its somewhere there.

Yes me and my mate also do this with a can "ah good"
Haha.

[James]

But what about you James? You can't start a thread like this without sharing your story!

Well if it wasn't for Shenmue I might have had something vaguely resembling a life for the past two and a half years, but aside from that I owe a great deal to it for highlighting the versatility of the words "I see." I'm not even joking, I love this delicately non-committal phrase because it lets you acknowledge what someone's saying without appearing to approve or endorse it with an "OK," "yes," or "right." You're simply saying you understand the words spewing forth from the other person's lips, and no more. It's tremendously useful. And while it wasn't exactly coined by Ryo Hazuki, the game's penchant for repeating this line to economize on storage helped illustrate its flexibility, and so without Shenmue I would be stuck inadvertently misleading nonsense-talkers into thinking I agree with them.

(Someone to reply with "I see" in 3... 2... 1... )

[xiuying hong is brill]

Is that so.

But don't forget, Shenmue is so nuanced it includes three different variations of "I see". There's  "I see (intonation up)", "I see (monotone)" and "I see, Thank you (intonation down)".


As viewable on the second page of this : http://www.realmofdarkness.net/pc/sb/vg/shenmue/ryo