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Playing through Shenmue 1, they did a really good job capturing the vibe of the area. Looking at random points in Yokosuka just feel like Shenmue.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2781594,139.677597,3a,75y,27...




Hasn't changed much since 1986, either. Speaking of Sega games set in Japan, the Yakuza games do a good job at this as well, at least for Kabukicho and Dotonbori. I even knew to get crabs at Kani Doraku because of the games! It's like virtual tourism in some ways...


Also playing through on Steam Deck. Steam QTE problems really haven't hindered my enjoyment at all. Kind of shocking how well it's aged overall and how different it is playing through as an adult.

I am waaay better at driving that forklift 20+ years later. The foreman loves me now.


I replayed Shenmue on my Deck about a year ago and I had the same QTE problems. The solution was to download a custom, community-made control scheme from the Steam workshop.


I too discovered that the forklift was in fact very easy as an adult. That was a shocker.


Looks like a good spot to practice my moves...

If you google "Shenmue locations in real life" there's a lot of cool stuff. They really did do a great job on that and the ERA as well.


A friend of mine through sheer luck happened to be able to take a two month trip to Yokosuka nearly all expenses paid. She spent the first week or so just plotting out the map of Shenmue and the local map to see how much was rearranged.

The town is definitely Different but recognizable in a lot of ways. Lots of small landmarks that were gently adjusted or changed to make it simpler


Is it typical for Japanese towns to have all the electricity wiring above ground? Is it on purpose, maybe related to historical earthquake trauma?


Yes and also there is zero aesthetic thought put into japanese towns which is why they're so ugly, everything is functional


I would say that functionality requires a minimum sense of aesthetics.

Most Japanese towns are not even functional, they are just a chaotic maze of tiny streets and ugly buildings. I know because I live in one.


Looks exactly like Greece!


Athens being its own special hell, looking across the city from Lykovounia and seeing everything in the city at the same ~5 storey level of dark concrete.


> Is it typical for Japanese towns to have all the electricity wiring above ground?

Yes

> Is it on purpose

Yes? Electrical wiring is built deliberately, of course it's on purpose. Where else would you put it, and why? You're implying it's somehow normal to bury it? That sounds like it would be expensive, both to build and to maintain.


> You're implying it's somehow normal to bury it? That sounds like it would be expensive, both to build and to maintain.

It is in my neck of the woods (the Netherlands) too, the only places you see overground electricity is high tension lines outside of towns. Here's a random suburb I just picked randomly, looks like it was built in the 80's: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7DeZiTyKuB4DZKdG8. Or else Amsterdam, which is much older: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FWm6vYgbV5h2CkZu5.

I'd argue (based purely on gut feeling and handwaving) that having it out in the open is more expensive and dangerous; weathering, wind, trees, cars crashing into it, people climbing up into it, birds, etc.

Anyway, your comment sounds like US defaultism, be wary of that.


Hah, on the contrary, I thought what I was replying to was probably US defaultism. "Is it on purpose" indeed.


It depends a lot on the soil, in holland it is extraordinarily easy to bury stuff. Beware of netherlands defaultism ;)


Wait, maybe I got that the wrong way around. We put long-distance cables in the air because the soil is so soft and thus mobile, and underground cables would break. Either one ;P


>Anyway, your comment sounds like US defaultism, be wary of that.

i'm a US citizen that is surrounded in underground electrical networks; i'm not sure there is really a 'US defaultist' stance on whether or not one prefers above or underground wiring.


> You're implying it's somehow normal to bury it? That sounds like it would be expensive, both to build and to maintain.

Yes, it's normal. It's called undergrounding.


You wrote condescendingly without even apparently knowing why


I did, and I'd do it again. The idea that someone might put up electricity cables not on purpose warranted it.


I'm not sure about your location, but around here (Austria) it is indeed much more common to have electrical wiring that runs through the ground than above air. The only place where you see wiring above ground is usually out in the rural areas.


Pretty much all Japanese cities look like that.




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