| Shenmue City | |
|---|---|
 Official Game logo | |
| Developer(s) | Ys Net |
| Publisher(s) | Ys Net |
| Director(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Series | Shenmue |
| Platform(s) | Mobile phones,Mobage |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Socialrole-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Shenmue City (シェンムー街,Shenmū Machi) is asocial game released formobile phones in Japan. It was conceived as a way of relaunching theShenmue franchise by its creator,Yu Suzuki. 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.
Players control one of the residents ofYokosuka, Japan, which was the setting for the originalShenmue (1999). There were also plans to let players travel to otherShenmue locations, such as Hong Kong, in content updates.[2]
The main character is a follower of Ryo Hazuki and is guided by him to explore, attempt quests, and grow strong through battle.[3] Characters from otherShenmue games make appearances, and much of the originalShenmue plot is retold.[3]
Shenmue City was conceived whenYu Suzuki noted the popularity ofMafia Wars, a social game designed for mobile phones.[4] Suzuki formed a plan that if the game was a success, its popularity could be used to make a game to conclude theShenmue series.[4] Suzuki stated in an interview withFamitsu that he wanted to explore the series without very expensive graphics or sound elements like the original game.[5] The games beta began on September 21, 2010 on the Yahoo! Japan and Japanese phone carrier DeNA's Yahoo! Mobage network.[6] 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.[7][8] The game shut down on December 26, 2011.[9]
