No English Shen Mue until fall 2000

[10.07.99] » Localization delays keep the children of the 21st century waiting for another year.

   Following the recent news of Shen Mue's delay in Japan, the game's North American release date came into question. A Sega of America representative recently told videogames.com that Chapter 1: Yokosuka wouldn't be released until the third quarter of 2000 at the earliest. (Chapter 1 is currently scheduled to be released in Japan next spring.)

   Why the delay? Numerous graphical retouches are needed; as all of the Japanese signs needed to be converted into English and so on. Similar restraints also apply to the What's Shenmue demo disc -- the demo features Sega of Japan manager Eiichi Yukawa in a prominent role; while Yukawa is a household name amongst Japanese Dreamcast owners, his appearance would make little sense to most North American players. And since Sega doesn't want to confuse consumers by releasing a demo long before the game itself is available, don't expect to see What's Shenmue in any English form for quite a while.