- THE NEWS
~*~NEW~*~ 27th July - YSnet announces they will be hosting a meet n' greet session with Yu Suzuki in the entertainment area, and also confirms that an update with the "Latest news about Shenmue III" revealed in the business area will be available via Kickstarter and the Shenmue III website.
13th July - YSnet announces via the KS they will be showing the game in the business area of the event restricted from public entry (please note, the update does specify that backers will be able to get the "latest on-site information" through games media outlets), but are attempting to put together an event for fans attending the show via the public areas. It is also confirmed Yu Suzuki will personally be in attendance.
- THE BASICS
YSnet announced in the June 2017 Kickstarter update that they will be taking Shenmue III this August to Gamescom in Germany, saying "While we are still working out the details with our partners, we plan to show our newest movie clips, share the latest updates and even make some new announcements."
Cedric Biscay has said via Twitter that Shibuya Productions, primary financier and one of Shenmue III's marketing partners, will not be the ones showcasing Shenmue III at the event, and that further details will be available "soon".
Sony, YSnet's other known marketing partner, have not confirmed a Gamescom presence but have recently hinted that a conference may be in the works for the show.
THE SPECULATION
Could YSnet be bringing a trailer to Gamescom? While it's impossible to know the style of the video YSnet will be using to show off the game, I think we can all safely assume Gamescom will end up being the most revealing look at the game we've had.
According to resident translator Switch, the plural "movie clips" in the English version of the update is intentional, as the author would have to check the meaning with whoever wrote the Japanese version; as apparently the language doesn't make a plural distinction. If we are to take it at face value that the English author followed this process, we can assume there will be more than one Shenmue III video coming out of Gamescom.
Shenmue HD has been rumoured for a very long time, but in the last year the anticipation has reached fever pitch with domain registrations, endless "insider" info, and SEGA themselves expressing a desire to make it. SEGA have kept Shenmue III at arm's length since it was announced two years ago, and we have no evidence the dynamic of this relationship has changed, let alone that Shenmue HD truly exists. So... keep expectations in check.
There are plenty of "cleaning house"-style announcements to make in regards to rewards fulfilment, pledge upgrades, and how long the Slacker Backer site will continue to be open for. Will they be part of the announcements made during Gamescom? Possibly. We can at least hope they are addressed in the KS updates following the event.
This thread is for discussion, speculation, and breaking news. HUGE news will warrant its own thread, but in most cases I will just change the title of this topic to reflect the current developments, and add a kind of newsfeed to the OP to keep people up to speed.
Big thanks to Kiske for the banner. Happy posting!