Shenmue

Shenmue (シェンムー 一章 横須賀, Shenmū Isshō: Yokosuka, lit. "Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka") is an open-world action-adventure video game developed by Sega AM2, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki, and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in December 1999 in Japan and late 2000 in other territories. It is the first game in the Shenmue series, a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema", which Suzuki plans to span at least four games.

Shenmue consists of open-world 3D environments interspersed with brawler battles and quick time events. It features a level of detail considered unprecedented at the time, including a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules, and various minigames. The story follows the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he sets out in revenge for the murder of his father in 1980s Yokosuka, Japan.

After developing several successful Sega arcade games, including Hang-On (1985), Out Run (1986) and Virtua Fighter (1993), Suzuki wanted to create a longer game experience. AM2 began work on an RPG for the Sega Saturn set in the Virtua Fighter world. In 1997, development moved to the Dreamcast, the game was named Shenmue and the Virtua Fighter connection was dropped. It became the most expensive video game ever developed at the time, with an estimated production and marketing cost of $47 to $70 million USD, though some of the development also covered Shenmue II (2001).

The Movie

"The Movie" is the 54th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It is the 14th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on January 6, 1993.

Plot

The episode begins with Jerry ranting in a stand-up comedy monologue about age gaps in employment:

A night filled with miscommunication begins when Jerry has two stand-up acts scheduled for the same night. At first, the Improv manager, Kernis (played by actor Tom La Grua), tells Jerry that the show has been delayed. Jerry is upset that he must lose his on-stage slot; he is more upset when, after telling Kernis, "You don't understand. I got this all timed out. I got another spot across town at 9:50, I'm not gonna be able to make it!" - he then learns, when he shows up at the other comedy stage later, that his spot was for 9:15, not 9:50.

Adding to Jerry's distress is the fact that a hopeful comedian, Buckles (Barry Diamond), "hangs around hoping that somebody drops out." Buckles always bores and pesters Jerry.

Jerry tells Kernis that he'll agree to lose his moment at the microphone, saying, "I'm supposed to meet my friends to see this [fictional] movie, CheckMate, at 10:30."

Shenmue III

Shenmue III (シェンムー3) is an upcoming action-adventure open-world video game directed by Yu Suzuki and developed by his company Ys Net. It is scheduled for release in December 2017 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The third game in the main Shenmue series, Shenmue III follows teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki in his quest to find his father's killer in 1980s China.

The previous two Shenmue games were directed by Suzuki, developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999 and 2001 respectively. The original Shenmue was the most expensive video game ever developed at the time, with an estimated production and marketing cost of over $47 million USD, though this also covered some of Shenmue II and groundwork for future Shenmue games. Despite attracting positive reviews and a cult following, the games were commercial failures and Shenmue III spent over a decade in development hell.

At the June 2015 E3 conference, Suzuki announced that Sega had licensed the Shenmue rights to his development company Ys Net, and launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund Shenmue III. The campaign met its initial target of $2 million USD in under eight hours, making it the fastest Kickstarter campaign to reach that amount. It ended in July having raised over $6 million, making it the highest-funded video game and the sixth highest-funded campaign in Kickstarter history. On September 17, 2015, crowdfunding for Shenmue III resumed using the online payment system PayPal.

Dreamcast

The Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト, Hepburn: Dorīmukyasuto) is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998 in Japan, September 9, 1999 in North America, and October 14, 1999 in Europe. It was the first in the sixth generation of video game consoles, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast is Sega's final home console, marking the end of the company's 18 years in the console market.

In contrast to the expensive hardware of the unsuccessful Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast was designed to reduce costs with "off-the-shelf" components, including a Hitachi SH-4 CPU and an NEC PowerVR2 GPU. Released in Japan to a subdued reception, the Dreamcast enjoyed a successful U.S. launch backed by a large marketing campaign, but interest in the system steadily declined as Sony built hype for the upcoming PlayStation 2. Sales did not meet Sega's expectations despite several price cuts, and the company continued to incur significant financial losses. After a change in leadership, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast on March 31, 2001, withdrawing from the console business and restructuring itself as a third-party publisher. 9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide.