is a

social game A social game or, less commonly, parlour game, may refer to tabletop game, tabletop, other face-to-face indoor or outdoor games, or video games that allow or require social action, social interaction between players as opposed to games played in sol ...

released for

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s in Japan. It was conceived as a way of relaunching the ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. ''Shenmue II'' was released in 2002 in Western m ...

'' franchise by its creator,

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensi ...

. It was announced in late 2010 for cell phones and PC, but only a cell phone version was released. The game was discontinued in late 2011.

Gameplay

Players control one of the residents of

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

, Japan, which was the setting for the original ''

'' (1999). There were also plans to let players travel to other ''Shenmue'' locations, such as Hong Kong, in content updates.

Plot

The main character is a follower of Ryo Hazuki and is guided by him to explore, attempt quests, and grow strong through battle. Characters from other ''Shenmue'' games make appearances, and much of the original ''Shenmue'' plot is retold.

Development

''Shenmue City'' was conceived when

noted the popularity of ''

Mafia Wars ''Mafia Wars'' is a defunct freemium multiplayer social network game created by Zynga. Players assume the roles of gangsters while building their own Mafia-type organization. The players fight and "rob" other players online - completing jobs, ...

'', a social game designed for mobile phones. Suzuki formed a plan that if the game was a success, its popularity could be used to make a game to conclude the ''Shenmue'' series. Suzuki stated in an interview with ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' that he wanted to explore the series without very expensive graphics or sound elements like the original game. The games beta began on September 21, 2010 on the Yahoo! Japan and Japanese phone carrier DeNA's Yahoo! Mobage network. On October 7, 2010, ''Shenmue City'' was also announced for the PC as a browser-based game with a winter 2010 release date, but was never released. The game shut down on December 26, 2011.

References

External links

Official ''Shenmue series'' website Facebook page
{{Shenmue 2010 video games Free-to-play video games Japan-exclusive video games Mobile games Multiplayer video games Shenmue Video games designed by Yu Suzuki Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Kanagawa Prefecture