To, me this basically really sounds like: "You know, there will be a physical copy, but we want you guys to give us extra cash for it, two and a half years from now."

Watch the wording. It says, there are no plans for a physical copy REWARD. No one ever said there was not gonna be a physical copy at all.

Fair enough solution if you ask me. I'd be more than happy to go to the shop and buy my own copy of S3 on PS4 \:D/ .

Whilst criticisms of Sega may be warrented, at the end of the day they could have told Yu no to producing and distributing another Shenmue game. It would have been another Castlevania type situation....

But they didn't. Plus they are going to give Yu anything he needs for Shenmue III to be a success. So for that, they have my eternal thanks. And for equally being responsible for making Shenmue be a reality in the first place.

Locked.....
























Just kidding. We are awesome. Let's party!

What resolution and maximum file size do you need? Oh and what scene would you prefer?
Library or at the harbor or wich one?

Like this? It's about 7 MB so it takes some time to load.
If it's too traffic intense I can reduce the framerate.

I couldn't help but play through part of Disc 4 last night, despite only being on the first disc of Shenmue I of my first post-announcement play of the game.

I'm always astounded that within 5 minutes, it feels like a drastically different game than the previous Hong Kong and Kowloon portions. And then, thinking way back to Yokosuka, and you truly are in a totally different world.

Shenhua's long, long awaited introduction was also an epic moment - I loved the shots of her running down the river, although the whole saving her from drowning bit came off a tad cliche. But, it makes more sense to have that dramatic element than to just bump into her in the woods. And saving a deer from drowning, you soon realize, is such a Shenhua thing to do.

You immediately start to see where Suzuki is taking this game when you first start interacting with Shenhua. The choices are limited, for now, but what's really amazing is seeing Ryo actually communicate. I swear he opens up more to Shenhua in the first five minutes of meeting her than he does to anyone else in the entire game thus far.

The "Deep Green Way" segment is also magical. The faster-paced Shenmue theme remix and those soothing QTE sounds were such a nice touch. I can vaguely remember playing through this for the first time and realizing how special this area of the game was going to be.

The scene with the hawk outside the crag is one of my favorites of the entire game.

Admittedly, day two of your trek drags a bit here and there but it's still littered with some great scenes. Ryo almost having a meltdown when Shenhua leans in for a friendly kiss is classic, if you manage to trigger it.

The fact so many scenes and conversations are optional is also pretty remarkable. The game rewards the player for taking their time and keeps them coming back for more. The scene with the dandelions - along with the Shenmue tree and the final scenes in the cave - is a pivotal moment, and also completely missable! I'm grateful that my first time playing, I chose the left path and got to witness this (literal) magic - Ryo's reaction and the conversation that follows was such a genius, and subtle, way to introduce Shenhua's powers.

And then, of course - the Shenmue tree. I remember a rising feeling in my gut as I saw Ryo following Shenhua up the path with the giant tree in sight - I think I felt the power of the Shenmue tree, because I knew something special was about to happen. And then to hear Shenhua utter the word "Shenmue"... well, my jaw dropped even more than when Lan Di appeared on the helicopter. The thing that really gets me is that - up to this point, I never really wondered what "Shenmue" meant nor why the game was titled Shenmue. I just don't think it ever really hit me to ask why. And hear we are, at least a quarter or a third of the way through Ryo's tale, and we get that bomb dropped on us.

From there on out, every last second of the game is pure perfection. Exploring Shenhua's house and getting all those hints for future games is such a tease! The Cloud Bird Trail portion is also so well done - the music, and the scene in which Shenhua realizes the birds are gone and that something awful has happened - talk about intense. And then, the camera shifts to first person for a few moments as Ryo and Shenhua run the rest of the way - something about that is really memorable to me, too - up until this point, there weren't any scenes quite like that but it felt so fitting for this moment.

And then the mouth of the cave, the Stone Pit itself, the music, the sword, the mirror, the ropes and fire, the giant mirrors, and the way Ryo and Shenhua look at each other and realize this is so much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined...it's hard to find the words.

It was awesome experiencing this for the first time actually knowing for certain that I'll get to see what happens next..what a feeling!

It bothered me to death to not sign up way back in '06, but I was adamant to wait until III was announced (I thought it would happen A LOT sooner lol). While I did lurk the Shenmue section to death, the real bonding and good stuff on ANY message board, are in the OT/Social sections and that I never even thought to glance at, when I was lurking here.

Just doing a bit of posting and looking at old threads in this section, this community is bomb AF. Kicking myself every day lol

I've been wanting to do this for a while now. The results are better than I ever had expected, so I'd like to share with everyone.

A big discussion when talking about Shenmue and current technology is how to properly display the image. Some connect via VGA to a monitor which is the easiest solution and looks great. Most want to play on their TV's however, which as time goes on gets a little more tricky. I've done various methods including VGA on monitor, VGA to component on a CRT 4:3 HDTV, VGA pixel for pixel on an XBR-3, VGA to HDMI through a HD third party scaler (the one Adam used) and finally now this method which I can confirm absolutely demolishes every other way I've ever viewed this game.

So the first thing to know is you'll need to properly upscale the image, otherwise it'll look horrible. To properly upscale into HD (while retaining the correct aspect ratio) a third party scaler is required, which are niche and quite expensive. They get the job done, though obviously don't push the envelope any. The image quality is better than displaying pixel for pixel.

4K UHD is the same principal, though thanks to new technology becomes a bit easier (just more expensive, but is an investment). The two best scalers on the market as of today are the X-Reality PRO by Sony and the Revelation by SHARP. I won't go into major detail, but both are comparable and take different steps to achieving the same end goal.

Because the X-Reality PRO is an internal scaler, we're actually going to want to convert the VGA signal to HDMI raw without upscaling. From there the X-Reality PRO will do the rest and by the rest, I mean this . Do take a glance as it'll show the amount of tech the engine uses to upscale an image, something a third party scaler simply isn't capable of.

The end result is this and I don't think much more could be expected of a game developed from the late 90's onward, especially with a rendering resolution of 640x480. The X900B in general hides jaggies particularly well, but what stands out to me the most is the color range and depth. Granted this is a testament as to how far technology has come, but it also says a lot about the production value of Shenmue. It truly was ahead of it's time.

Here is the game (both Passport and Disc 1) running:

http://i.imgur.com/uqGJMtq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ffIGSOB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ANExBvJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jZ5Flfc.jpg

The equipment (though the most important tech such as the scaler is internal):

http://i.imgur.com/7NvZMHC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nXpDlyT.jpg

I'm most excited by the new locations we'll get to explore, so I've collected images and descriptions of what we already know...

Baisha
http://i.imgur.com/10ILtKL.jpg

Concept art and photos: http://imgur.com/a/Urtpj

Yu Suzuki said: Baisha will show off what Shenmue is all about. Live out a siege game reminiscent of the Warring kingdoms. See what strategist will come out on top.

May possibly feature an 'infiltration mission' into the Chi You Men's Guilin branch. The buildings shown in the concept art are called Tulous. They are between three and five stories high, can house up to 80 families and are easily defensible.


Choubu
http://i.imgur.com/LyT4LHu.jpg

Concept art and photos: http://imgur.com/a/eU3uV

Yu Suzuki said: Choubu is a riverside village with lots of shops, souvenir stores, hotels and temples. The quests in this village should be very enjoyable, I think.

And: Amidst the mystical scenery of the Li River, Choubu lies in a water colour painting come to life. The port of call will be filled with souvenir shops and hotels, shrines and village dwellings. Expect to meet a sage master of Nanquan there .

This area may feature the 'Magic Maze' technique of generating building interiors. It could also feature a part time job of some sort.

Bailu
http://i.imgur.com/BZXPVTi.jpg

Concept art and photos: http://imgur.com/a/YBRqA

Yu Suzuki said: Bailu is the village where Shenhua was raised and also a place that Ryo's father, Iwao, had visited when he was younger. Here as well the quests will play an important role as Ryo and Shenhua start their journey.

And: Shenmue 2 ends at Shenhua's house in the outskirts of Bailu village. Bailu village is waiting to be explored for real.

Have I missed any information?

Here you go.

The Dojo's channel has you covered.

While you're at it, check out this video by YumYumYoghurt.

Pretty much my reaction right now.

$12M stretch goal - fire Awesome Japan. We'd hit it in a day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZm-HzCVzL4

For those who missed the Twitch stream, I made a very rough transcript while listening to the interview.
Here we go:

"We have lots of very important things to get to so let's start right away!"

*They all pause to drink some Fanta*

Q: "One more time, explain Sony's role in Shenmue 3."

A: "Sony's providing us comprehensive support in terms of publishing and marketing, as well as funding of the project partially."

*Stream goes down due to technical issues*

Q: Once again they ask about Sony's role

A:"Sony is providing us comprehensive support in marketing, promotion, and funding. They are one of the most important partners of this project. But as we said before in our statement ... they are not receiving one cent from the Kickstarter... the funds collected in the KIckstarter project will be all used for development except for the fees used for the Kickstarter and for providing the Kickstarter rewards. Not a single cent will go to Sony from the Kickstarter funds."

Q: PS4 physical reward ?

A: "It's one of the most requested rewards and I personally want to prepare for it as a reward. We are now considering how we can provide the reward in such a way that satisfies the backers. Please be patient."

Q: Before you were talking about how the funds will be spent. Can you explain more?

A: "We have a pie chart for how the funds from Kickstarter will be spent. KS
Fees: 8 - 10 % Game development: 65 to 72% Backer rewards: 20 - 25% Most of the kickstarter funds are going to the game development. Everything excluding necessary fees and the reward fulfilment.. everything's gonna be used for development."

Q: "Will the real Ryo please stand up?"

A: "We're still improving the qualities of Ryo's face. Not satisfied with the face Ryo has right now. Today we have the latest version, a new pic or Ryo's face. (They show a pic) This new pic we're not satisfied with. Ryo still looks kind of 'frowny.' So I want to continue the improvement. I want to enhance Ryo's attactiveness and personality through not only the models but through the facial expressions and actions he does to make Ryo even better. So we are going to see an improved Ryo in the future. He'll be much better through the process of development."

Q: "Another big issue. Voice actors coming back to reprise their roles. Specifically Ryo. Will we be seeing them again?"

A: "So, I think that the original voice actors will be the best match for Ryo's voice. So I want them to come back as his real voice in shenmue 3 as well. I'm now in negotiation with them. Please wait. We'll have more details about that."

Q: "Will PayPal be an option to help fund Shenmue 3?"

A: "No definite answer, but we're looking into it."

Q: "Is Shenmue 3 going to be DRM free on PC?"

A: "We are now looking into it, but it's not something I alone can decide on. I'm talking to other parties to decide if that's possible... we're looking into it."

Q: "Shenmue 1/Shenmue II HD remaster: are we gonna see it?"

A: "I personally want to see them so that the fans can enjoy Shenmue 3 more. However the property rights belong to SEGA, so I'm not in a position to comment on it. But I want it, so I will talk to SEGA if that's possible."

Q: "More rewards?"

A: "Today we will have additional rewards. First of all we have the grab bags. A lot of surprises in different prize tears, starting from 1,000 dollars to 500 dollars. It contains Shenmue merchandise, and it is random, so you have fun in opening the bag. And also we'll have one more reward, that is the replica of Ryo's watch. There is only one. This will be in the 5,000 reward tier. *They show the watch*

Q: "What are the other rewards going to be like?"

A: "The grab bags will include for example special figures of Ryo. There are also Shenmue watches. (Not the one just shown.) They also include autographed art work. Check out the page later. The rewards will be up. Check it out! For today we have grab bags and watches but in the future we'll have more additional rewards so please stay tuned to the kickstarter page!"

Q: "Stretch goals... stretch goals... stretch goals. Can we get a little bit of explanation please, about the stretch goals."

A: "The budget we have right now, it's Shenmue with story elements. It will be Shenmue 3 up until the duel against the four big bosses. But with additional stretch goals, more areas are going to be added and expanded.

The Rapport system is the system that governs the changes in characters' attitudes toward you, depending upon actions you take in conversations. It will provide a new twist to Shenmue.

In Shenmue 3 there'll be a lot of occasions when you can obtain technique scrolls through special events, jobs, missions, etc. They can be used in battle right away as a QTE. However the advanced skill scrolls and arcane skill scrolls are managed in a tree diagram. Completing that tree will be another side of fun, and it links to the actual martial art learning.

Q: "More on stretch goals"

A: "With the area Baisha, we want to include new fun not included in Shenmue 2. Traditional tactics such as seige and infiltration that we see in warring kingdoms in traditional China are also added. But I want to make it Shenmue-like, easy to grasp, easy to play, and provide more fun.

There's an opportunity for the players to play as different characters. In that event you'll see different choices that different personalities offer, different from Ryo and other characters. That will provide more fun and more personality to the characters.

So there's a lot more stretch goals we published, but there will be a large amount of explanations and a large amount of fun still to come, so we'll leave it to other occasions to explain the other stretch goals.

Your cooperation is what makes this Kickstarter progress, so please support us!

Q: "How will Shenmue 3 at its current funding level be different from Shenmue 3 at the 10 million dollar level?"

A: "The current funding level - about 3.6 million - will have story oriented Shenmue. More focus on story. Exceeding 5 million will allow the development to include more things that are new, such as we explained about Baisha. Exceeding 10 million will allow for the players to enjoy a more open world like Shenmue."

Q: "When is Shenmue 3 going to be released?"

A: "It's expected to be released by the end of 2017. We're confident."

Q: "Is this the end of the story?"

A: "The initial storyline contained 11 chapters. With 1 & 2 it advanced to only a little bit of the 11 chapters. I considered doing the final game to include all the remaining chapters, but in the final consideration it would be skipping all the big arcs, and the completeness of the game would be less enjoyable. So this Shenmue 3 will have more storylines, but this structure will not finish the storyline with Shenmue 3."

Q: "When can we play the trial version?"

A: "It requires many of the basic systems to be developed. The release date of the demo version will be the latter half of the development stage. It might be after the new year of 2017. Until then it requires more development for the basics."

(Inaudible)

Please keep sending us your questions. We want to make Shenmue 3 the best we can. Please share the project. Get the word out. Let everybody know that Shenmue 3 is happening, and we need everybody to support and make sure that we make this Shenmue 3 spectacular."

Q: "Final thoughts?"

A: "I always want to do new things. I hope to achieve all the things I want to do in the new Shenmue, matching with what the Shenmue the fans want, to meet the ten million dollar goal. We ask your continued support, and that you spread the word around to make Shenmue a real thing! Thank-you very much!"

"Let's make this happen! Everybody has been so great the past fourteen years. Making it happen. It's happening now. #SaveShenmue! Let's do this! Thank-you!"

^I feel like the Guilin section of Shenmue is going to the equivalent of the training montage from Rocky. All we need to do is find Shenhua a bike and we're golden.

I always thought that if Ryo had wanted Landi to come down and fight him on the roof, all he had to do was reach into his jacket, grab the phoenix mirror and raise it above his head for Landi to see.
Ryo would have gotten killed right then and there, though.

Hey y'all - I think it's time for some perspective for how successful this kickstarter has been, all things considered.

1) First off, against all odds we are finally getting Shenmue III! Holy shit, we've been waiting for this for 14 years! We've remained rabid fans for this entire time and many of you have been going nuts getting the word out, getting a social media presence, bombarding anyone you can to share your love of the game. This is easily the craziest gaming community (and I mean that in a good way, of course :-P). We were the fastest game to reach $1M and $2M!

2) The success of the kickstarter is even more impressive when you consider Shenmue III is only on two platforms. Mighty No. 9 is on ten platforms, and Bloodstained is on seven. That pretty significantly limits the amount of potential pledges you can get. If there was going to be an Xbone version of Shenmue III, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that pledges could be up around an extra 15-20% (meaning, we'd currently be at around $4.5M funding and 55K backers). Considering this, it's still very possible we end up getting more funding than Bloodstained to become the most funded kickstarter game ever. That's pretty fucking awesome!

3) The number of backers != total number of pre-orders or sales. The average gamer is not like "us". There are a bunch of people who are skeptical about kickstarter and really don't see the point of putting in $30 for a game two and a half years before release. I have a few friends who are Shenmue fans who were super pumped for the announcement but haven't yet backed the project, and probably won't, but they'll buy the game at release.

For me personally, this is the first game I backed on kickstarter. I'm a big Tim Schafer/Double Fine fan, but I didn't back their kickstarter and ended up buying Broken Age upon release. I didn't back Bloodstained or Mighty No. 9, but will probably get those when they come out, too. This will probably be the only game I back on kickstarter as well (unless Shenmue IV gets a kickstarter!).

4) I would argue that while the kickstarter announcement at E3 helped the overall numbers, it also made us reach a saturation point much sooner. I believe without the on stage announcement we would have overall similar numbers to what we have now (maybe slightly less, but not significantly), but the numbers would have increased more steadily. Remember, people are still able to remove their pledges, so even if they pledge during the super duper E3 hype, they're still able to view the project from a distance once the hype dies down, so they're not a victim of an impulse buy.

5) We're not even at the midway point of the Kickstarter. We still have the $30 on the 3rd campaign and are awaiting more reward tiers. Maybe we get a PS4 physical release and a Paypal option. It's fine if we don't hit $10M - they'll figure something out. The success of this campaign could help ease investor risk, so it's possible the money is covered elsewhere (a post KS paypal option probably covers the rest, honestly). I don't think, in the grand scheme of things, an expertly run kickstarter campaign makes a huge difference (and let's not turn this into a topic about "that"). Let's continue to do our best spread the word. Remember that Bloodstained received $1.5M in pledges the last two days, so don't be too discouraged that things have died down a bit (also see point #4 again!)

So considering all these points, I would argue that in the end I'll consider this to be the most successful video game kickstarter - even if we fall just short of Bloodstained (though I'm still optimistic we'll hit around $6M).

Positive vibes - let's get sweaty!

2 words - Yu Suzuki.

That's who's hands this project is in. With the original members of the Shenmue series to date. This will look like a Shenmue game. Feel like a Shenmue game. Sound like a Shenmue game. Have environments like a Shenmue game.

I don't give a shit what the final amount is, the money will come from somewhere. The litmus test of the Kickstarter has been successful, with all sorts of records set once again by the franchise. We are all gonna set Shenmue 3, with boxes of Shenmue goodies delivered to our door to boot. Id day it's a safe assumption that Sega will want to grab the easy money and release Shenmue and Shenmue HD in 2016. I'd hazard a guess it's already been green lit. Why wouldn't it?? Sega have money there waiting to be given to them!

It's a fucking fantastic time to be a Shenmue fan, the best time ever! From Kikizo articles, to darkness. From "we'll see" and "I think Sega will let me make it". From photos of Suzuki looking tired and dejected, to photos of forklifts and him walking onto the Sony stage to the fanfare of Sedge Tree. Fuck "we only made 8.5k", and "ooohhh well Bloodstained....". Fuck some goober acting a pillock on camera for an hour!

Sorry for the language but rant over!

It's Shenmue 3!!!!!

7heavens wrote: The Phoenix mirror was probably not in his jacket but rather in his bag which he left back at his room

Except he shows it to Zhu when they get back to Ren's hideout (pulling out of his pocket if I remember rightly), so no

as much as I would like Corey Marshall back for VO, if only one dub (Japanese) meant more story, more features, more Shenmue I'd take that over having an English dub. I'd remove all the other languages as well and just make the subtitle files in the game modifiable and let the fan community sort out the translations. That would free up almost half a million for other more important stretch goals.

Just leave the entire English dub to Corey Marshall, including Shenhua and every NPC.

I'm not sure if Wong, Joy and Xiuying being in Online is proof the characters will return. I mean, the thing seemed to be a Best of Shenmue II anyways. Even going so far as to repeat entire mini games and story retreads (Delin stuff) that were in II.
Exactly, I'm not sure why people think any of the Online stuff is even remotely canonical. It clearly wasn't meant to be a continuation of the story. That trailer, with Joy being kidnapped on the roof and with Lan Di etc, in my opinion, has absolutely no storyline bearing and was probably just made of the sole intention of looking cool and giving the game a 'hook' for existing fans. Some of the magic powers may show up in the series further down the line, sure, but I'm confident to say that for the most part, Online can be pretty much ignored.

at the end of the shenmue story, i really want ryo to be sent to back in time somehow. how cool would it be if ryo got a second chance to to save his father in an epic fight with lan di.

Hi! I am totally new to Shenmue but I loved everything I have read about it so far. I recently supported Shenmue III and I can't wait to play it!

I am wondering how I in the best/easiest way can get the backstory information I need to be able to enjoy Shenmue III fully? Should I watch all the cut scenes from the first game on YouTube (does it exists for Shenmue II as well?), or what should I do to get to know all the story of the game I need up to Shenmue III?

I have never really jumped into a game without being there from the start, so I am not really sure how to do it the best/easiest way and would like some help.

Sorry if this isn't the right sub-forum for my question.

Independent Development ≠ low quality, poor, and bad. There are a number of indie games that are superb, and there are a number of AAA games that are bad. Just because a game is being developed by an independent studio does not mean the game will lack the quality a game like Shenmue should probably have.

So to ask this is a bit irrelevant considering Shenmue III is actually happening and members of the core team have managed to gather together and get the community, fans, Kickstarter backers, Sony, and Shibuya Productions to support them.

The game is being developed independently, which mean Yu Suzuki and co. can pursue their ideas within reason with less pressure from executives that may have little interest in the development process and the game itself. Yu Suzuki has seemingly managed to negotiate logical publishing deals with Sony Third Party Production & Developer Relations and Shibuya productions. This saves on costs. So if anything, a game like Shenmue has the opportunity to thrive as a game/series continued by indie developers who have experience and respect in the industry.

This is a good thing.

Kinda makes me think that Suzuki-san should have a cameo somewhere in Shenmue 3, in the same way that Hitchcock did in his films.

I really don't think Shenmue 1 & 2 HD are crucial to the success of Shenmue 3, because not a lot happened in those games. Ryo is searching for his father's killer and his search led him to China. The murder had something to do with some precious stone mirrors. Lan Di is part of a bad guy organization known as the Chi You Men.

That's it. That's literally all you need to know. There is no necessary information that can't be illustrated in a simple flashback. Everything else was foreshadowing and duck racing.

Given that logic, there shouldn't be a lot happening in 3 either...perhaps we should just skip that one and go for pt.4? ;-)

Thanks for the kind words! Can I just ask your patience for a little while longer? It's currently now with GameFAQ awaiting approval. As soon as they give it the go ahead everything will be updated. Hoping it will be a matter of hours.

Well here it is, at 6:47 she mentions it. Always amazing how much of this obscure dialogue is in the game.

Is about to start in....

5

4

3

2

1

!!!

www.twitch.tv/shenmuedojo

We are going to start up with Shenmue 1 this morning, and continue our game in II later this afternoon.

I won't be happy until It's on a website with a money counter and stretch goal page for me to spend stupid amounts of time watching.

He's involving fans to a point, such as an enviromental NPC etc - stuff you saw as reward tiers on the KS.

The story won't be affected in any way, I'm sure his vision will be as strong as ever.

Patience.

Shenmue 1 and 2 both demand patience.

In 1, there is no wait feature, unlike Animal Crossing or even Shenmue II. This forces the player to do something they don't have to do in any other game: wait, and to learn to love waiting. It's a thing that literally makes you wait. In II, you have to catch leaves and air out books daily. On replays, those two things are no big deal, but the first time they're a big challenge and bring out similar emotions. When you're searching for info on Zhu Yuanda in II and get the tapes from Huang, you actually listen to the ENTIRE TAPE to get your information. Shenmue challenges the player out of their comfort zone, not only for the sake of the game, but also for the sake of considering new ideas and pushing them into a position of waiting. Both Shenmue games, in the hands of the right player, should make the player a better person because unlike other games, whose only demands are that of game challenge, it actually forces them to consider things, wait, and be patient. Shenmue demands more out of the player than any other game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7lg_Ip6Og

http://i.imgur.com/cmhn5Zv.png

On June 16th 2015, Sony's E3 conference was overwhelmed by the announcement of a colossal fan favorite.

A Kickstarter was launched on stage (by none other than ex-Sega developer Yu Suzuki) to determine just how far fan interest would stretch.
Shenmue 3 amassed it's entire funding goal of $2,000,000 in an incredible 9 hours, setting a new world record.

Over the course of the following month, community events (such as #30onthe3rd, #TheFinalPush & QTE Event) saw the Kickstarter roar upwards of $4,000,000. In the final days, hours and minutes, fans pulled out all the stops and smashed through a further six stretch goals.

As a community, we went above and beyond to see a series we hold so dear become the Number One record holder for most funded video game in Kickstarter history, gaining an astounding $6,333,295 in crowd funding and over 69,000 in backers.

Various journalists and gaming websites tried to have many believe that Shenmue was lost forever, a franchise the world was never going to see resurrected, something which was better left forgotten.
But we - the fans - the ones who truly mattered, never gave up hope.

Over the past month, culminating in the last 48 hours - with a combined passion for one dedicated goal - we have shown the world how much this series is valued. Despite how gloomy the future had looked many times over the past 14 years, hope was never lost and that is what ultimately counts today.

As Shenmue fans, we never backed down; our passion, persistence and commitment gave us the continuation we have being craving.

Today we saved our franchise.

To everyone who pledged and made history - thank you.

Links & Hashtags: #SaveShenmue #Shenmue3
Shenmue 3 Kickstarter | News Archive

Hello.
I am a new member to the dojo, pleased to meet you all. I finally decided to create an account given the recent events (shenmue 3 existing). Although i never registered i have been visiting the dojo over the years in order to remind myself that i wasn't alone in loving this game.
Like many others, i had given up hope of ever playing any new shenmue game, but you guys kept the hope alive and maintained your commitment to it.
Thank you, it's because of you that the kickstarter exists, it's because of you that the story can continue.

May the dojo live forever.


Sorry if the texts has any mistakes in spelling or grammar, being portuguese, english is my second language.

Tomato Convenience Store wrote:

James Brown wrote:Tomato Convenience Store

Shibiryo wrote: Tomato Convenience Store

Amir wrote: Tomato Convenience Store

*POOF*

I have been summoned and decree that I shall appear in Shenmue III!

Especially since we bought merchandise.

I was just pondering this a bit, and I thought it might be fun to look at all the borderline-miraculous circumstances that coalesced to bring us the success we just had on Kickstarter and the resurrection of this franchise from seeming oblivion. In all seriousness, some pretty remarkable things had to happen to get us to this day. And some pretty amazing coincidences as well.

Firstly, and most importantly of all of course, the undying passion that the fans have kept alight for far longer than most would have for any other IP. I mean when you really look at it: 14 years. That's the difference between being 16 years old and 30 years old. That's the difference between high school and being a 30-something adult with children. How many people hold on to the love of something that long? Especially something that wasn't exactly a raving mainstream success?

It's not like it's a mainstream, popular thing to be a Shenmue fan in 2015 (well... it might become one now of course!) It's not like we're constantly reminded of it or get it reinforced by the media or our peers (except in communities like this one.) No, it has been entirely up to us to grit our teeth and slog through the years, carrying a seemingly futile torch for this video game. That we did that is remarkable!

Secondly, the length of time itself. How many other examples are there of ANYTHING this old in entertainment years (entertainment properties age fast) that get resurrected? I can think of only a rare handful, all of which were far more popular than Shenmue. Star Trek. Star Wars. X-Files. And those all had corporate backing. They weren't independent affairs, and they had massive media exposure and vast audiences. That people are even still TALKING about Shenmue, let alone planning to bring it back today is just astounding.

Thirdly, the many, many times Yu tried to get the game - or something Shenmue related (Shenmue Online, Shenmue City, etc.) - made, but couldn't get things off the ground. Normally when a creative force of his caliber and renown tries so many times to do something and they can't, they go on to something else. They don't doggedly hold onto a single-minded determination to get that one thing made for over a decade. Granted he did some mobile stuff, but by and large, his focus has been Shenmue. That he finally succeeded is miraculous in its own right.

Fourthly, fans petitioning Sony at just the right time. Sony's "building the list" initiative led to people speaking up and seizing the opportunity to try to get Shenmue noticed by a big company again, in some way, shape, or form. That in and of itself isn't that surprising. But what's amazing is that Yu had been considering Kickstarter for a few years, and seriously investigating the possibility of getting the game done that way. He said repeatedly that the game needed "the right opportunity" for it to work out. It was the timing of fans petitioning Sony, Sony reaching out to him, and E3 allowing him a soap box, that FINALLY provided that "right opportunity" and the rallying cry that could finally give the game a real chance of securing the funding it needed.

Fifthly, Sega allowing Yu the right to make Shenmue 3. They didn't have to do this. There are other examples of companies asking IP holders to let them do something like this, and them saying no, and sitting on said IPs and doing nothing with them. Sega has been pretty lax about letting people at least try, though. Sega's not perfect and hasn't exactly ingratiated themselves to gamers in recent years, but this one aspect of their behavior is really cool and should be applauded. Especially since, other than any potential good PR or future Shenmue related releases they can use this as a springboard for, they have no financial stake in doing it that we know if.

Sixthly, the PS4 physical copies through Kickstarter. Another example of a big company doing something they didn't have to do. Sony isn't going to see a dime for those physical copies, and we know they're the ones handling publishing (presumably PS4 porting) so in short, they're throwing money away with each of those physical copies. Just to help the Kickstarter out. Again, yes, admittedly, this gives them good PR, and the more successful the game is the more money they theoretically stand to make once its released on PS4, but it's still a risk and something they didn't have to do. It's pretty respectable.

Penultimately, breaking the record for most funded game precisely when we did. We broke the record just before dawn on the west coast of the U.S., where many major gaming sites and companies have their headquarters. Arguably, this is what gave us a huge final wave of publicity that launched the surge we witnessed throughout the final day. We were always going to exceed what we had made the previous day, but over 900K? That's publicity in my opinion. That it worked out precisely when it did is amazing indeed.

And last but not least... we finished on 6.333 I mean... REALLY? Seriously! Shenmue 3. 3rd of the month #SaveShenmue campaign. 30 on the 3rd. And we finish on 6.333? Tell me that's not the least bit improbable! Lol.

In short... the journey to Shenmue 3's Kickstarter success has been amazing, especially considering all the obstacles it had to overcome. I consider it a literal miracle, and a once in a lifetime event that I will remember forever. Seriously, this is the stuff of legends. Things simply don't ever work out this way in life. That they did for Shenmue 3, is kismet.

To be fair, games like Bethesda's TES series do have NPCs that all have full work, sleep, and leisure schedules. It was one of the most touted features beginning with Oblivion, and continuing in Skyrim.

The difference - and in my opinion advantage - to Shenmue's implementation of this (apart from being the first game to really innovate it) is the smaller, more closed community allows those schedules and behaviors to 1) feel more important, and 2) actually get noticed by the player.

Sometimes in modern sandbox games, there's almost TOO much freedom to really stop and appreciate the more subtle stuff that's going on. But with Shenmue, everything from the camera's closeness to Ryo, to the methodical pace, to the smaller scale of the world all forces those things into the player's attention front and center. And as a result, they feel so much more immersive and REAL to me.

In sandboxes, the journey and the experience is about massive visual vistas and freedom to roam and create your own personal story. In Shenmue, the the journey is Ryo's, and the experience is about intimate, granular minutia and everyday life details. It's almost more like a life sim than an open world game.

That was by far what I loved most about Shenmue.

Sidenote: What was the first game to feature dynamic shadows that change with time of day? Because Shenmue 2 did a fantastic job with that and I remember thinking at the time that it was amazing. Did it innovate that too? Or at least beat others to it?

So Ryo knows karate too? Fuck, now it makes sense why he says to Nozomi just after you first meet Charlie, about going to take a course to study at college that "it will have karate". That part always confused me, since I always thought he only knew Jujitsu. Fuck. This game guys...this game.

Well, Cedric Biscay retweeted me, so...

Cedric Biscay retweeted you
6h: Fans backed Shenmue 3 to see YOUR vision Yu! @yu_suzuki_jp @CedricBiscay

Thank god for Cedric.

This gave me an idea:

We contact Cedric and ask him to suggest to Suzuki a Backer-Poll, the poll would ask something along these lines: "Do you prefer if I shape Shenmue 3's around the fans' ideas and feedback, or would you rather have me go with my original vision for the game?"

Should make Suzuki understand what the fans want from him... We want Suzuki's Shenmue 3.

There's a few areas though where fan input may be helpful, like discussing control scheme options, or maybe gauging interest for a few non-essential mini-games. But for the most part, yes, I think Suzuki-san should stick to his vision.

I've tried it 50 times yesterday. On Demul with save states. No luck and I don't really feel the urge to continue pursuing this as I'm still unsure if I'll ever get anything out of it. The kind of savestate I use for this does work perfectly for winning cans when Ryo buys a drink so don't blame it on that.

Branching, yes. Multiple objectives at once, I'm iffy on for a couple of reasons.

1) The whole reason the time management aspect of the game felt like it mattered, was because we had very clear, specific objectives, but had to wait for them to happen. Which meant trying to fill time in the interim. If that time is instead packed with multiple objectives at once, it could detract from that mechanic.

2) As Yokosuka said, they might feel tempted by multiple objectives to add HUD markers for them. That's something I definitely don't want to see in a Shenmue game. Shenmue is all about methodical analysis of surroundings, exploration, and carefully taking everything in. I don't want to rush toward a beacon of some kind on a HUD. I don't want to be ALLOWED to ignore my surroundings. I want to HAVE to pay attention. That's core to Shenmue for me.

Branching though, yes. That could be a great, cost effective way to add a lot of replay value to what may otherwise be a shorter game than some would like. Combined with the rapport system and character perspective system, branching dialogue and some choice and consequence could go a long way toward creating a meaty feeling game experience.