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Shenmue 3 Is Going To Be One Of The Biggest Games Ever
Shenmue III, the long awaited continuation of the Shenmue video game series, has a massive file size requirement. Released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast system, the original Shenmue started the saga of Ryo Hazuki - a Japanese teenager and martial artist, who seeks to avenge the violent death of his father - and Ling Shenhua, a mysterious Chinese girl whom Ryo has seen before in his dreams.
The Shenmue series earned fantastic reviews upon its initial release, developed a strong cult following, and continues to top lists of the greatest video games of all time nearly two decades later, due in part to an immersive, fully-interactive, and highly-detailed open-world mechanic. Despite this, the first two games were financial flops for Sega, who was reluctant to develop a sequel for many years, before finally licensing Shenmue to series' creator Yu Suzuki. His attempts to crowdfund Shenmue III on Kickstarter resulted in the game's $2 million goal being met in just nine hours and it remains the highest-funded video game project in Kickstarter's history.
The hefty system requirements were announced on the Kickstarter page for Shenmue III. While it was expected that the finished game would require a top-of-the-line system, given the advancements in technology over the past two decades and Suzuki's desire to update the graphics accordingly while presenting an equally detailed world, 100 GB of hard drive space is still an unprecedented amount of space for any game.
To offer some perspective, consider the space required by other popular open-world adventure games. The high-definition special-edition of Skyrim released in October 2016 requires 12 GB of space - double the 6 GB required by the original 2011 edition of the game. The upcoming Fallout 76 will require 50 GB of hard drive space, an amount comparable to Grand Theft Auto V.
While this requirement is a startling one for PC gamers, it could well be a deal-breaker for fans of the franchise who want to play Shenmue III on the PlayStation 4, though it stands to reason that the console version may not be as large. However, requiring that much space be devoted to the hard drive of a console is unheard of, with a standard PS4 having a 500 GB hard drive. It will also make downloading the game all but impossible for those gamers with slower or erratic Internet connections.
The one bright side to these improbable requirements is that they seemingly confirm Yu Suzuki's commitment to building the biggest and most realistic open-world adventure game ever. It is also possible that the final requirements may change as Shenmue III nears completion. Either way, fans of the franchise are sure to be awaiting further announcements with baited breath.
Shenmue 3 will release on PC and PS4.
