Latest news with #YuSuzuki
The Drive
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
This Ferrari F355 Simulator for Sale Is Peak Retro Sim Racing
The latest car news, reviews, and features. These days, a racing driver who wants to hone their craft off the track can cobble together PC parts and build a low-spec system that can run a variety of simulators well enough. The video game industry pretty much passed the threshold for photorealism a decade ago; any further advancements, like raytracing, are just icing on the cake now for uber-nerds, like the one writing this story. But 25 years ago, if, say, Rubens Barrichello wanted a relatively accurate, engaging, and convincing digital facsimile of driving a Ferrari sports car, he couldn't just find it anywhere. He had to enlist the help of Ferrari's friends at once-juggernaut Sega, and get himself a Ferrari F355 Challenge arcade cabinet—like one that's listed for sale right now at Bring a Trailer. Right off the bat, I'll say that if I had a garage, I'd be fighting the top bidders for this machine. Either way, I love that we've reached a point where these are getting the respect and attention they deserve on sites like Bring a Trailer, alongside actual F355s. For those who don't know the story, F355 Challenge only happened because legendary game designer Yu Suzuki, responsible for 1986's Out Run , wanted a realistic simulation of driving his personal F355. He and his AM2 development studio made it happen, and the game released to arcades in 1999, before home conversions on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Bring a Trailer F355 Challenge was pretty advanced for its time, a title laser-focused on replicating the dynamics of Ferrari's sports car alone, on many of the courses that the customer racing series of the same name used to visit. The original run of deluxe cabinets was fitted with clutch pedals and six-speed shifters, as well as paddles, which were novel back then. It all sounds quaint by today's standards, but you didn't see a true, three-pedal manual transmission in the arcade outside of early 3D sims like Hard Drivin' , and that game was generations out of date by the time F355 arrived. The deluxe cabs also had triple-screen setups, foreshadowing the chosen rigs of many future sim racing enthusiasts. Sega stuffed four of its NAOMI arcade boards to power these things: One for each display, and another as a master, to sync them all together. I had an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a deluxe machine a few years ago, and although the decades were not kind to its inputs or force-feedback steering system, I still had a blast. By the way, you may notice a screed on the seatbacks. It's a message, written by Yu Suzuki, and it's so earnest and of the era that I adore it: 'In 1985, there was Hang On , followed by Out Run in 1986. Over the years, I've made many driving games, and it has always been my aim to produce a driving game in which pro drivers would be able to beat game enthusiasts. After ten years, I have finally been able to achieve this goal. With the assistance of Ferrari and many pro drivers, I have created a machine that is more like an actual racing simulator than a game, and I hope that this game will evoke the same level of feeling and passion as that of an actual Ferrari. I now present this game for the enjoyment of all motor sports fans around the world.' I doubt anyone would call F355 Challenge truly faithful to driving the real artifact today, but it is fun, and it does still reward precision and finesse in the way modern racing sims do. Suzuki once said that Barrichello was interested in buying such a machine, though I can't find any word that he ultimately did. Somebody should ask him next time they see him. Unfortunately, the cabinet for sale today on BaT is a dual, two-player unit, which lacks the six-speed shifter and clutch pedal. That wouldn't stop me, though, and it shouldn't stop you. The unit is located in Connecticut and is being auctioned with no reserve, though the bidding has already reached $4,500 as of this writing, with two days left to go. With three 29-inch CRT monitors, the deluxe unit must've weighed as much as a small planet. It could even print out telemetry of your driving! Sega via Sega Retro Got tips? Send 'em to tips@
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The BAFTAs declares Shenmue and a game that came out 2 months ago more influential than Tetris and expects us to all just go along with that
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A couple of months back, the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs, more or less the British Oscars) got bored of figuring out which things were good by itself. Instead, it decided to ask you, the humble gaming public, to divine the most influential game of all time. And boy, you've really made a hash of that. In results announced today, the BAFTAs declared, with an entirely straight face, that Yu Suzuki's 1999 Dreamcast opus is the most influential videogame ever made, according to the results of its poll. The academy calls Shemue "a pioneer for open-world gameplay and laid a roadmap that others continued on in the years that followed," and credits/blames it for popularising "the use of Quick Time Events (QTEs)" in games that came after. None of which, I suppose, is necessarily untrue, but the game bringing up the rear in second place is literally Doom, and even if you're absolutely bonzo-dog doo-dah nuts for forklift simulators and characters who say things like "Years ago I was Chinese", I still don't think you can credit Shenmue with greater and longer-lasting influence than the game that codified the FPS as a genre. It only gets loopier as the list goes on. Third place belongs, sensibly enough, to Super Mario Bros. Fourth goes to Half-Life, which is reasonable. Fifth and sixth? Ocarina of Time and Minecraft, which can both hold their own in the history books. And then, well, apparently the seventh most-influential game of all time is Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which released two months ago. They're not even done patching it yet. This is, I think, possibly even more absurd than calling Shenmue the medium-defining benchmark for videogames as a whole. I love KCD2, don't get me wrong: I gave it 90% in our KCD2 review, but it has literally not existed on this Earth for long enough to influence much of anything yet. But according to John Q Public, it's easily more influential than Super Mario 64, Half-Life 2, The Sims, and Tetris. Tetris. Tetris! So I think what we have here is a bunch of poll respondents who interpreted 'Which videogame is most influential?' as 'Which videogame do you think is good?' Is this a searing indictment of the democratic process? Yes. But also, it's mostly just funny, and serves as a striking example of how ultimately hollow these attempts to crowdsource plaudits are in the grand scheme of things. Far better to rely on panels of experts, like us at PC Gamer, to do this stuff properly. We'd never make a wild, controversial decision that pursues us for the rest of our days. The BAFTA most influential list in full: Shenmue Doom Super Mario Bros Half-Life The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Minecraft Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Super Mario 64 Half-Life 2 The Sims Tetris Tomb Raider Pong Metal Gear Solid World of Warcraft Baldur's Gate 3 Final Fantasy VII Dark Souls Grand Theft Auto 3 Skyrim Grand Theft Auto 2025 games: This year's upcoming releasesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Jordan Times
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Jordan Times
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
Shenmue's protagonist Ryo Hazuki practices martial arts (Photo of SEGA) LONDON — The 1999 action game "Shenmue" was on Thursday named the most influential video game of all time following a survey organised by BAFTA, the British association that honours films, television and video games. The series, created by Japanese designer Yu Suzuki, stars a young Ryo Hazuki as he seeks to avenge the death of his father, killed by a mysterious martial arts specialist. The game is split into three instalments (Shenmue I, II, and III) and was, at the time of the first instalment's release, the most expensive game in history to produce. While the third instalment was available on PlayStation 4 and PC, the first two defined the brief history of the Dreamcast console, the first so-called sixth-generation console, released by Japanese manufacturer Sega in 1998. Having become a cult classic among many gamers, "Shenmue" is known as a pioneer in open-world gaming and for popularising the "quick time event," a moment in which the player is asked to perform a specific action within a given time limit. "Games are an immensely innovative force and it's brilliant to recognise those titles which have truly shaped the course of our medium," said Luke Hebblethwaite, head of the BAFTA video games division. Yu Suzuki said he was "deeply honoured and grateful" to see "Shenmue" come out on the top in the poll and thanked the "fans around the world who have continued to love and support" the game. "Doom", the series that helped popularise first-person shooters and enjoyed immense commercial success, came second in the survey of thousands of players. Developed by id Software for PC and released in 1993, the game puts players in the role of a soldier facing demons in a universe blending science fiction and horror. In third place was "Super Mario Bros", the famous platform game developed by Nintendo in 1985, in which the red-suited plumber Mario navigates various levels to save Princess Peach. Unanimously acclaimed upon its release, it remains one of the best-selling games of all time, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide. Also included in the top 10 are "Half-Life" (1998), "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" (1998), "Minecraft" (2011), "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2" (2025), and "Super Mario 64" (1996). The annual Bafta Game Awards will take place at a ceremony in London on April 8.
South China Morning Post
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
A video game more influential than Doom, Super Mario Bros? 1999 Japanese title tops vote
The 1999 action game Shenmue has been named the most influential video game of all time following a survey organised by Bafta, the British association that honours films, television, and video games. Advertisement The series, created by Japanese designer Yu Suzuki, stars a young Ryo Hazuki as he seeks to avenge the death of his father, killed by a mysterious martial arts specialist. The game is split into three instalments (Shenmue I, II, and III) and was, at the time of the first instalment's release, the most expensive game in history to produce. While the third instalment was available on PlayStation 4 and PC, the first two defined the brief history of the Dreamcast console, the first so-called sixth-generation console, released by Japanese manufacturer Sega in 1998. Having become a cult classic among many gamers, Shenmue is known as a pioneer in open-world gaming and for popularising the 'quick time event', a moment in which the player is asked to perform a specific action within a given time limit. Advertisement 'Games are an immensely innovative force and it's brilliant to recognise those titles which have truly shaped the course of our medium,' said Luke Hebblethwaite, head of the Bafta video games division.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
The 1999 action game "Shenmue" was on Thursday named the most influential video game of all time following a survey organised by BAFTA, the British association that honours films, television, and video games. The series, created by Japanese designer Yu Suzuki, stars a young Ryo Hazuki as he seeks to avenge the death of his father, killed by a mysterious martial arts specialist. The game is split into three instalments (Shenmue I, II, and III) and was, at the time of the first instalment's release, the most expensive game in history to produce. While the third instalment was available on PlayStation 4 and PC, the first two defined the brief history of the Dreamcast console, the first so-called sixth-generation console, released by Japanese manufacturer Sega in 1998. Having become a cult classic among many gamers, "Shenmue" is known as a pioneer in open-world gaming and for popularising the "quick time event," a moment in which the player is asked to perform a specific action within a given time limit. "Games are an immensely innovative force and it's brilliant to recognise those titles which have truly shaped the course of our medium," said Luke Hebblethwaite, head of the BAFTA video games division. Yu Suzuki said he was "deeply honoured and grateful" to see "Shenmue" come out on the top in the poll and thanked the "fans around the world who have continued to love and support" the game. "Doom", the series that helped popularise first-person shooters and enjoyed immense commercial success, came second in the survey of thousands of players. Developed by id Software for PC and released in 1993, the game puts players in the role of a soldier facing demons in a universe blending science fiction and horror. In third place was "Super Mario Bros", the famous platform game developed by Nintendo in 1985, in which the red-suited plumber Mario navigates various levels to save Princess Peach. Unanimously acclaimed upon its release, it remains one of the best-selling games of all time, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide. Also included in the top 10 are "Half-Life" (1998), "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" (1998), "Minecraft" (2011), "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2" (2025), and "Super Mario 64" (1996). The annual Bafta Game Awards will take place at a ceremony in London on April 8. jwp/jkb/yad
