Of all of the platforms that Shenmue 3 was rumoured to be in development on, the Nintendo DS is one that never really came up. However, I spoke to my Sega source and he has informed me that Shenmue 3 was indeed in development on the DS, and it actually got pretty far into the development process before it morphed into a different game. What is that game? Read on to find out!
You know you want it. Oh, you want it bad...First things first, my source explains why the Nintendo DS was chosen:
Sega: We were looking at a couple of different platforms at that point, and we weren't really sure which direction that we wanted to head in, but then the DS was announced and we knew instantly that this would be the one. The touch screen allowed for a whole new level of interaction, and of course, Shenmue is a series that is all about the interaction. We also had a budget for this game of only 500 million dollars, so we had to go with a platform that would allow for cheaper development than the home consoles.So the game was up and running on the DS, but you might be surprised who the developer was:
Sega: Actually, this one was in development internally at Nintendo. They were so strict with their development kits on the DS pre-launch, but we really wanted to get this one out right away, so we offered it to Nintendo themselves to develop. Of course Nintendo was ecstatic to work with such an esteemed Sega property, and agreed right away.Nintendo was behind the game, but something happened along the way:
Sega: Shenmue 3 was pretty far along into development, in fact it was essentially a finished game. However, Miyamoto-san, who had no connection to this project, just happened to be walking by when one of the developers at Nintendo was showing off a part where Ryo Hazuki is petting a dog. Miyamoto is a big fan of dogs, so... well, you can guess what happened next. He upended the tea table on us! *laughs*And there you have it. Shenmue 3 was turned into Nintendogs.
We got the better game, in the end. Right?With the recent news that
Shenmue 3 may get another shot through crowdfunding, one can only wonder if the axed DS version might get a chance to shine again. Perhaps a 3DS version is in the cards?
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