Sunday, August 12, 2012

The End Of An Era



3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. That's how many days straight I've been doing this, and today is the last. The last in that run, that is, because I still plan on keeping this blog going, just on more of an intermittent level. Such as when I make videos for Team Yu/Shenmue500k, and whenever I fucking feel like it, really, haha. Just not every day. Too much of a pain in the ass. Ya know, I haven't even eaten, defecated, showered, or slept every day for the last 3 years, but you know what I have done each day? THIS. Why? I wanted to lead by example, but I might as well have just bungee jumped into a live volcano in my birthday suit for all the good it's done, hahaha.

So what will the future bring? Probably no more Haiku/Senryu, as it got old a long time ago. For me, anyway. My first month or so of Shenmue Staring, I wrote short little articles of sorts. I then realized that I'd run out of shit to rant about real quick, so I started filling in with Haiku, or "Pseudo Haiku" for all the snobfappers out there. Easy enough and all that. I even utilized punctuation in them, which apparently is frowned upon amongst hardcore Haiku enthusiasts. AND THAT'S PRECISELY WHY I DID IT. Over time that spread out to different genres of Haiku, such as the Hajime Satomi and Unforgettable sub genres.







Speaking of Hajime Satomi, here's a video of him at a banquet. He seems a bit out of place, being one of the only suits not grinning like a tool. You get a slight impression of what he must be like, and how he's attained the success he's got. He kinda sounds like a bad motherfucker, if you ask me. Like the Japanese godfather. Samurai godfather. I'd like to think that if he saw my poorly made photoshops of his noggin, he'd laugh his ass off, but not just any old laugh, more like this is the only way he is able to kind of laugh. It's not easy being Satomi san.

Haiku? Senryu? Pseudo Haiku? Syllables? Moras? Whatever you wanna call 'em, I never really gave much of a shit. I went by 575 formula. Straight and simple. I even tried a format of my own where I would do 17 lines instead of syllables, each line having syllables to match its number. Starting at 1, I'd go to 9, then back down to 1. The 9th line, being the heart of it, stated its purpose. These were actually a lot of fun to write! Try it out! I've also done what I call hat-trick Haiku, which is just three Haiku together. These were pretty fun, too. I was gonna make a 17 Haiku long piece about Shenmue, I just remembered it now, actually, haha. I'll probably finish it at some point. For the most part, though, poetry just goes right over my head. I just needed some structure to help things along.

Will I make more videos? For sure. Except now I won't have any time constraints, so I can concentrate more on quality than quantity. I have some crazy stuff planned, so in time, I guess we'll just see how it goes. Videos are always fun to make, there's just something about altering space and time that's so uplifting!

So it's been fun, this blog has kept me...sharper? Considering I was drunk half the time, I did alright. I adhered to my own standard, and really worked my ass off on this blog. Sometimes I would sit there for hours trying to force something I liked, and then last minute, boom. How much can one say about one game, ya know? A few days there I had to keep running to the bathroom to pee out of my butthole, while it took me hours to do a simple photoshop. So all in all, a nice creative exercise, haha! I kinda feel like I'm getting released from incarceration. And yes, I do know what that feels like, unfortunately. 3 years gone. Time fuckin' flies.

I was planning on telling an unrelated story about me, kinda seemed like the right thing to do at this point, but I'm all out of time. Maybe tomorrow. HaHaha.


Here's a Shenmue slot machine game, suddenly at the end. YAP.






13 comments:

  1. Hell of a run, man (salute). I've never actually seen Satomi speak before, I have to agree. I am now certain this man has sat in a robe, surrounded by loyal mooks, watching someone slice their little finger off for him. Probably more than once.

    I don't blame you for hanging it up now. I actually believed Shenmue 3 was an inevitability (in some form) up until just this year. In 2010 it was "Oh, Shenmue Gai is coming to the West, maybe that will do well enough to ...." nope. Then in 2011 it was "Oh, Yu is dropping all these hints and there's rumors about Shenmue 1+2 HD ..." and also nope. I feel like that was pretty much it, whatever small window there still was in the last couple of years is gone now. Yu will probably end up giving us the conclusion to the story in a blog post or an interview or something :(

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    1. Thanks, man. I still think Shenmue 3 is inevitable, at the same time, I will continue to campaign for it, just not on a daily basis. We haven't heard anything in a while, but a trusty source has said HD versions are coming soon enough and I believe them, so that's something, haha, maybe.

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  2. Sega's Satomi
    Now we know Yakuza was
    his biography

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  3. Just want to say you're a god among Shenmue fans. Sad to see it end, but I completely understand why. Thanks for your dedication, truly. Your work was wonderful, interesting, and above all else, inspiring. Really, not to overload the sappy shit, but thanks, I really enjoyed it.

    At the very least this blog has become a place containing more cherished memories involving my favorite gaming experience of all.

    Thanks again,

    Just another Shenmue Fan.

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  4. Hey, I can't believe I skimmed over this post and missed the end. I understand that it can fatigue-inducing to post & wait over the years, but when we finally do get Shenmue 3...it'll be that much sweeter. Much sweeter than a new Call of Duty, a new Halo, a new Zelda, etc. so don't give up just yet, buddy.

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    1. I haven't given up, brother, just not doing the daily chugalug anymore. I'll be around, here and there.

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  5. Wow, everyday for all this time,what a legend you are. It seemed you learnt a lot about Haiku's in the process, which is good.

    I hope you keep campaigning whenever you can! And I'll no doubt see you on the third of the month, along with the rest of the tweetathoners!

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  6. Thanks! Does it really look like I learned a lot about Haiku? Haha, I never thought I had much of a grasp on it, but thanks! I will certainly keep campaigning, especially on the third of every month. See ya around!

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  7. I'm sad to hear this. I appreciate all your work for Shenmue.

    If there is one last reason for a Shenmue 3, 3 years, 3 months and 3 days of haikus would be it.

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  8. Hey!

    You might remember me as the dude who asked you to make a Shenmue/Batman mashup poster for my best friend for Christmas 2011. Just dropping by to say what's up, and I'm sad to see the haikus go! Even though I never actually finished the series (stopped halfway through 1), I still remember how Shenmue introduced me to an insanely immersive experience at a time when the only game I played on the Dreamcast was Power Stone 2.

    Good luck on whatever new thing you decide to devote your time to! I'll be dropping by once in a while to check if you've posted anything here.

    Kudos!

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