If you have any interest in the future of games, you'll have heard of something called Shenmue. This peculiar word is usually followed by "incredible", "incroyable" or "unglaublich", depending on where you are in the world.
Andy Ashwin

So what is Shenmue?
It's a game about a boy and his growth in China after his father's death.

Ungh?
That's how the legendary Yu Suzuki describes his magnum opus. You might have heard of him - he created some of the greatest arcade games of all time, such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, Afterburner and so on. More recently he's been responsible for the Virtua Fighter series and the dead fancy Ferrari F355 Challenge.

Interesting. But how would you describe it?
Well, fortunately we just got our hands on the demo version, entitled What's Shenmue, and we've given it a thorough seeing to. To say that it's an action RPG doesn't do it justice. It's one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken; indeed, it's been in development for nigh on five years already (previously known as Project Berkeley), at a cost of around $20 million!

Lords of muesli! It must be pretty special.
Oh yes. It's definitely 'fill your pants' stuff. Suzuki-san has placed the emphasis firmly on story, atmosphere and character development in an attempt to create a whole new genre. You could say that it's the first true interactive movie.