Then they should go after Sony, not Yu Suzuki and Shenmue 3. They know how much the fans have wanted it. They can fuck right off.

Sony wanted to make it seem like they were backing it more than they actually were because they wanted to look good. They wanted the PR and later, while they were doing damage control, that's exactly what they said.

The reason they won't disclose how much they're contributing is because is so little that it would make them look bad (or less impressive than they want to look in any case).

All those comments from Corsi about "absolutely making this a reality" were in no context at all with $70 million or whatever bloated figures are going around for the original Shenmue budget. Corsi let his mouth run off in order to make himself and his company look good.

That's how it looks to me, anyways. That's WAY more plausible to me than the idea that Sony is throwing tens of millions of dollars at Shenmue after doing "market research" with the Kickstarter, I mean what? :roll:

Yeah yu allowing fans to get closely involved is a big mistake. Most shenmue fans I wonder how they manage to function during their daily lives.

Posted in another thread but will repeat here: have posted that Escapist article to reddit, please upvote so more people see it!:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/ ... shenmue_3/

Chinese martial arts mythos and origin stories are just superb. There are a couple of real gems amongst the different Baji Quan schools, but my very favourite origin story is still the Shaolin one, it doesn't get much more bat shit crazy than that hahaha. I recommend giving it a goosey if you have the time.

shredingskin wrote: DO someone know what's Suzuki religion ?

Ferrari

This is an interview with Yu Suzuki from the japanese site 4gamer.net published 2015-06-19.
Here translated by me.

Original article: http://www.4gamer.net/games/305/G030593/20150618126/

Among other things it brings up interesting new information about the 5 million dollar stretch goal; the character perspective system.

There is also a slight spoiler of a character that might appear, so those of you who want to play the game totally spoiler free should maybe avoid reading this.

here we go.

-- Thanks for being here.
YS: Thanks for having me. before jumping into questions I just want to make clear that Shenmue is a Kickstarter project and the scope and contents depend on the stretch goals.

-- Yeah, looking at the Kickstarter stretch goals there are the rapport system and skill tree and other added.
YS: We add more stretch goals so as more people pledge the scope of the game will get bigger. So as of now I can’t talk in detail about the mechanics of the game. What I’m able to accomplish will very much depend on the funds we can gather. I want to avoid telling too much and end up betraying those who have paid.

-- Under those circumstances, what do you want to do with Shenmue III?
YS: I want to show the relationship between Ryo and Shenhua in more detail. Even further than previous games.

-- It’s kind of hard to imagine how that would work.
YS: Maybe so. I want to to challenge myself, but new things are hard to get people to understand and therefore harder to gain support for. That’s one of the reasons we have prepared stretch goals like larger map and mini games.

-- So you made easy to understand stretch goals first.
YS: As more money comes in, the world of Shenmue III gets larger, and the game becomes more complete. But if it becomes a question of what game has the largest world, the game with the largest budget has a sure advantage. When it comes to Shenmue III, I want to ensure that there are other parts to enjoy besides just the open world aspects.

-- Can you give us any examples?
YS: At 3.2 million dollars there is the rapport system stretch goal. Actions and conversations will affect the relation between Ryo and Shenhua in subtle ways. The way Shenhua speaks and cooperate etc. will change.

-- It seems like the story could change depending on the relationship.
YS: Let’s just say that it depends on the budget. Making statements like that is just asking for trouble (laugh).

-- I get it (laugh). Could you explain the 5 million dollar stretch goal; the character perspective system?
YS: That is where the player will take control of characters like Shenhua and Ren instead of Ryo.

-- At a certain point in the game will we be able to change characters freely?
YS: I can’t talk about details yet, so I will just say that it’s not necessarily like we are letting you control the other characters exactly like Ryo.

-- So it’s not like you can just change characters at will.
YS: The personality of Ren and Shenhua is different from Ryo, so even if they see the same thing the reactions would be different. When you played as Ryo it was his decisions, but playing as Ren and Shenhua would make it very interesting.

-- Hearing that makes me even more interested (laugh).
YS: I’m unable to describe it any more until the 5 million dollar stretch goal is reached, so I’ll stop here for today.

-- By the way, will the story end with this part.
YS: To tell the truth, the original story is too long to end here. So I decided against trying to fit it all in to Shenmue III.

-- Which means that after the Shenmue III project has been finished we have to wait for the the next part.
YS: First we have to do our best to make Shenmue III a solid game.

-- Let’s leave the appearance of Shenmue III and talk about the backend. Can you tell us why you chose to use Unreal Engine 4?
YS: It’s because it’s easy to use and fits with how I imagine Shenmue to look. There are like rendering tendencies for the different engines, and the base colors of Unreal Engine 4 added with “dampness and scent” makes it Shenmue.

-- Are the colors you imagine the same as with the first two parts?
YS: Of course. Shenmue had that air humidity feeling well presented and it had a smell too. That’s what I aim for with Shenmue III.

-- So you’re saying that if you take a scenery out of the game and look at it you’d be able to say “That’s Shenmue!”?
YS: Yeah, That’s what I want to do. But the promotional video we made for Kickstarter felt dry. Kind of ended up like the Californian humidity level (laugh).

-- Your idea of the exact colors or the “scent” of the graphics, is it hard to convey that to the developers?
YS: It it very very hard to explain it. It’s like trying to explain what a melon is to someone who only has seen watermelons and mandarins. Well, you can say the size is about in the middle, but trying to explain the taste is very hard.

-- With that said, do you have members from the former parts working on Shenmue III?
YS: Yes. So we have the original members that kind of know what Shenmue is about.

-- After fifteen years, it’s quite the thing to bring everyone together again.
YS: I think so. Everyone has gone independent or changed their positions, but even at this stage when the scope of the production isn’t set in stone they have gladly offered to join. That’s really heartwarming.

-- It feels like the relationship is deeper than what you could expect from work colleges.
YS: That’s because Shenmue was a project that was more than just work. Ten years after the development of Shenmue II we had this get-together and more than 100 people came.

-- That’s amazing. I’m not sure if I would call that just a get-together.

-- The level of creativity in the games you have created is often very high. Is there any secret to this?
YS: No. I never play games outside work, so I don’t get that influenced by other games. Maybe that’s the reason.

-- I had this idea that you researched other games thorough and tried to make something different, but I guess that’s not true then.
YS: Yeah. it easier to just make something from zero (laugh).

-- So maybe If someone from the media like me hear an explanation for a game and say “Is it like the mechanics from that other game?” you might not be able to get it?
YS: I’m sorry, but I guess that’s true. Well, maybe I have to study the trends in the most popular games.

-- By the way, this is the first in a long time that you get to work on a game this big.
YS: Yeah. It feels like it was a long time ago I got this invested in a game.

-- It’s not like you totally left the game industry, but what do you think of the game industry in Japan looking from a bit afar.
YS: The game engine Unity came out and made it easy for just one person to make his own game, which is a good thing. It wouldn’t be healthy if only big budget games were able to survive. It’s good that the market has expanded with more alternatives. But it’s kind of sad that a majority of games that make money are small like games for smartphones.

-- Do you feel like more effort should be made in making titles for the consoles?
YS: Yeah. Before, Japan was said to be number one in game making. It’s sad that the knowledge that had amassed during that time wasn’t used better.

-- Many of the people during that time went over to make games for smartphones.
YS: It’s not like games for smartphones are necessarily bad, but what’s characteristic of smartphone game making is that the development cycles from start to finished tend to be fast. It might be good for business, but I’m not really satisfied with that. If you compare to cars there’s the really popular cars that sell well. They make a lot of money for the company, but if they don’t develop their flagship model their technical advancement will suffer.

-- In USA there is still a lot of money spent in games for game consoles and PC.
YS: Yeah. That kind of rich content helps activate the whole industry. I hope the industry in Japan gets back on track like before...

-- Oh, the interview got very negative suddenly. Could you maybe give a word of encouragement to the young developers of today or people thinking about making games?
YS: Today is different from before. It’s possible for anyone to make games now. Before it was impossible to make games if you didn’t know how to program, but now there are tools for that. It’s also possible to study game development, and it’s easy to learn from the internet. Living in this age you shouldn't think too hard and just try for fun, go in the direction that feels best for you. Begin with having fun creating.

Comments:
The character perspective system means taking control of characters other than Ryo. He literally says “レンやシェンファ” which means characters “like Shenhua and Ren” so it could be for other characters too. (Edit: Or it could be just an example of characters. Like Thief said: "It could mean that characters like Shenhua and Ren (as in main supporting cast characters) are playable. Ren could have merely been used as an example." Thanks Thief! )
But it’s pretty much as close of a confirmation that we can get that Ren will show up in Shenmue III in one way or another. There is a concept art image of him riding a horse so it’s maybe not that unexpected, but we can be fairly sure he will show up in part 3 and not 4 or even later. Horses were also pretty much confirmed in Yu Suzuki's Reddit AMA so the concept art could very well be of an event happening in Shenmue III.

It's called "perspective system", so more than "controlling" other characters will be how they react to certain events that you can see from first person perspective (literal, not gameplay). For example you can see ryo doing his bullshit revenge act, then see xiuying sad about him, then the cat just wanting some milk. Like some "inside info" about other characters state of mind.

It's a really interesting idea.

Like many I read the chatter before the event including Suzuki's forklift twitter posting but after so many years and so many disappointments I deliberately told myself not to expect anything.

When Last Guardian opened the event, I raised my hopes thinking this could be it. Nothing. Then the FF7 remake announcement came and I thought there was no way Shenmue III will now appear.

The moment I saw Kickstarter logo something changed and when that music and introduction came in I was ecstatic. M girlfriend came into the room who is a non-gamer so I resisted the urge to scream and shout but inside I was jumping inside when Suzuki came out. Immediately grabbed my wallet and pledged $300. First time I've ever contributed to a KS campaign.

Oh god, im stupid or there is no japanese audio with subtitles? How can they take interview with the VOICE of Ryo and make english voice over, or japanese without subtitles???????

I'm so incredibly happy that he hasn't decided to end the series with Shenmue 3. Even if Shenmue 3 does horribly (which I doubt) and we're left on another cliffhanger, that's still preferable to me than a rushed product just so I "know what happens". I don't play Shenmue merely because i'm curious about the story. I play Shenmue because its story is presented brilliantly and I want nothing to compromise that in further games.

All these hypothetical situations in which Shenmue 3 is bad --- blah. As if it could be. Only bad thing about Shenmue 3 is that I can't play it right now.

http://i.imgur.com/R9dPCjn.jpg

Dear Members,

As many of you know, last week was a week that will go down in history for our community. After 14 years of waiting and hoping, it was revealed by Yu Suzuki himself that he is finally in a position to move forward with the creation of Shenmue 3, albeit with a bit of a caveat. Through the announcement of a Kickstarter campaign , Suzuki-San as asked us the fans to help bring his dream, as well as ours, to life by backing and supporting a campaign to help fund the development of the project. While there are various entities supporting this project, Suzuki-san himself has stated that that the fate of Shenmue 3 now rests in our hands and that our actions as a community will dictate the capabilities his team will have in creating the game and to ideally meet its full creative potential.

If you have not already done so, please visit the campaign website and take some time to consider the extent to which you would be willing and able to support this project; note that there are a range of pledge levels with corresponding reward tiers for every single level of backing. As the campaign progresses, there will also be added levels of support to coincide with stretch funding goals as they are introduced. All of the funds that are pledged will be allocated to and utilized SOLELY by YSNET to develop the game.

Contrary to a lot of the dubiously sourced misinformation that has been circulating in recent days, Sony will NOT be funding the entire budget for the game nor will they subsidizing the development costs for YSNET. While Sony will provide various technical investments in conjunction with marketing and promotional support, this project will remain firmly in the directorial hands of Yu Suzuki and his staff. While it is true that there are a number of backers for Shenmue 3, we at this time do not know the scope of how these other entities are involved with the project. All that we can establish for now is that we as a community are in fact the primary patrons for the development of the game and that the responsibility of making Shenmue 3 the strongest game it can be ultimately resides with us.

Over the next few weeks leading up to the conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign, we will be introducing two specific social-media based initiatives to promote the backing of the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter and the series as a whole. The first initiative, #30onthe3rd , is a continuation of our monthly tweetathon #SaveShenmue but with a twist. On 7/3/2015, we encourage everyone to who is able to increase their pledge amount by $30 and post a corresponding tweet as a sign of solidarity within the community. The 2nd initiative, #10MillionToShenmue3 , is a hashtag campaign to be disseminated across all social media platforms to highlight the need for additional funding for Shenmue 3 in order have it be the project that Yu Suzuki has dreamed of creating. In a recent interview, Suzuki-san stated that at a $10 million funding level Shenmue 3 would feature a truly open world that would follow in the lineage of the previous installments.

The time has finally come for us in the Shenmue community to support the series that has given us so much over years. We are now in a position where we can directly impact and influence the creation of Shenmue 3 and give Suzuki-san our direct input While the task at hand may seem daunting, if we come together and collaborate our efforts we will attain the game that we have wanted and deserved for so long. Thank you all very much for your support and we would not be in the position we are in now if it was not for your perseverance and dedication for the series against all odds. We have truly made it.

Keep friends,

The Shenmue Dojo Staff

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-im-excited-about-shenmue-3/

What a great article. It's simple, but raises a lot of reasons why Shenmue was so special and could be again if we help it reach its potential. I still listen to "Battle 1" every day on the way to work.

If we're going to be negative, can we at least report actual facts? This type of thread lowers morale.

I agree with everything described in the above post, though. The fact they haven't even changed the layout of the main page is really annoying.

http://s12.postimg.org/88qwlziv1/Untitled.png

If we compare the Bloodstained Kickstarter to Shenmue 3's one side by side, Shenmue 3 already hit its lowest point with $31,704 early in the campaign period while Bloodstained hit $36,589 as its lowest around the half point period. One point to note though is that Bloodstained had from the very beginning a bigger "drawing power" to its name as it's at the same time a brand new IP and a familiar series, so it was easier to market to both old and new gamers.

But even having said that, there's no reason to be ENTIRELY negative about the current situation. If you look at the initial pledging days, you can see why Shenmue 3 broke all records. We are still in early stages of the campaign and Shenmue 3 managed to gather $3,591,739 within 9 days compared to $2,429,094 from Bloodstained in the same period. That's over a million! I attribute this to the fact we got to know Shenmue 3's ideal target ($10 Mil) and the relentless work done by all of us to help generate hype and gather funds, without the help from even the people behind the campaign (thanks Awesome Japan)! And we got YouTube celebrities like HappyConsoleGamer and Adam Koralik behind us too!

So if we keep this up, things will certainly turn around. Awesome Japan is already starting to listen to us, as they have implemented new stretch goals, reward tiers and finally built an official twitter page. It's still not the ideal, but we are certainly getting there. The Gods of Lucky Hit are with us!

I'm open to another donation in 2016.

Playing through Shenmue 1 again, and it seems like every other day this dude is trying to bum a free soda off of me. I'm getting really sick of having to shell out 100 Yen so this dude can line his stomach with acid. Dude says he's thirsty...then get some fucking tap water or something. Either that, or Tao-san needs to pay his employees better. What makes it worse is that every time he does it, he acts like he doesn't even remember me doing it for him the day before. If you ask me, I say that it's just a scheme to try and get a free winning can. Asshole.

I'm so thirsty.....

Yea? Spend your Ajijici wages you tight arsed flea!

We're only at that figure because it's been poorly handled. I feel that Suzuki's played his hand far too early, and it all comes across as a rush job. Also, I say about being willing to wait a few more years for the game to ensure it's of a high quality, yet that makes me impatient? Sound logic there pal!

We've spent the last 14 years waiting, waiting, waiting and being disappointed over and over. Until this month, some people would've probably accepted a Shenmue III book. I mean, 14 years for a chronological sequel? What are the chances???

And yet Shenmue III is now officially happening ; it's by Yu Suzuki, involves key members of the original team, it's raised $3.6M, broke Kickstarter records, has 3 weeks to go, and has Sony's and others' financial backing. It's a ****ing miracle whichever way you look at it (in your case: gift horse, straight in the mouth)

The bottom line is, EVEN if we don't hit $10M, we can easily reach that in 2 years with Paypal. They'll offer it, why? Because they want money and we want to give it, and people like taking money. That's why.

I know the weather's shit in Manchester but Jesus, lighten up and let other people be positive.

Alright then, if you want me to assume the mantle of Captain Obvious...

- YSNet should've spent more time on creating a short demo, not just Shenhua's poor attempt at a Blue Steel and jumping over a stream. Also, setting it in the cave would've been a bit more poignant. Give non-Shenmue fans a reason to pledge their hard-earned money, don't just expect them to.

I can understand why they didn't set the video in the cave, since they wanted Shenmue 3 to look lush and the environments to look visually appealing to possible non-fans. Seriously though, they could have done a montage of them enjoying the outdoors and then being stuck in the frigging cave for 14 years with Ryo slowly looking more and more dishevelled as fuck as the years go by, eventually looking horrific, complete with a dirty, ripped shirt crawling out of the cave, pleading, "Pleaaaase, save us, AAAAAAARGH!" and Shenhua looking lifeless and coughing every 5 seconds.

With a message going "won't you pledge money to this poor, homeless, sick man and his bed ridden tour guide. For just $29 you will provide water, $75 will provide them with meals which will last a week, for $100 a new bed, $500 the Pope will arrive and give them holy wine and bread, $2,000,000 will get them out of the cave with them both back to full health, $10,000,000 will get them out of the cave with High Def visuals and sound.

You know, get the sympathy going and all that.

I don't think this topic is going in a very nice direction, guys (not directing this at anyone in particular). Let's loosen up a bit, alright?

Even Yama was on the brink of giving up and merging the forum with BioHaze.

Ugh, wut? Why in the world would I merge two sites that are series specific yet unrelated? That was never a possibility and makes no sense branding wise. Worked my ass off for years making this place Shenmue centric again and nearly got hung for it, knew it'd be worth it one day.

Mittens was kidding, since when did anyone take him that seriously? LoL

This statement has just settled a sh*t ton of nerves. I had butterflies about it not being a "true" sequel if the $10 million wasn't met.

Thank you Supa and Himuro

Wow. Wasn't expecting that today.

With this, and the Kickstarter poll today / additional rewards in the pipeline, it feels as if the community's input is finally being responded to. Very happy to read this, especially the line about Shenmue 3 being true to its name "even if the stretch goals are not reached".

I wonder how relevant the Stretch Goals even are TBH, and if they were actually included more "because Kickstarters have them" than accurate measures of the game - perhaps that's why some of them are so vague. Hope it raises $5M+ but I know Yu will make good with whatever he gets.

For Christ's sake, could you please wait for the Kickstarter to finish, first? No offence here, but the panicking over here is starting to go over the top. Pour into the KS as much as you can, wait for it to finish. Await Ys Net's statement on it.

If, after July 18 you should still think we have made too little money, I reckon you will be warmly welcome to make your monthly contribution to Ys Net via Paypal.

Polygon headline: SONY BOSS CONFIRMS DIRECT FUNDING OF SHENMUE III

Either Ryo is gay or he isn't -- none of this PC everybody needs to be included crap.

I am still baffled by languages consuming almost a fifth of the budgets finances. How about making the game to the best of its potential BEFORE adding in languages!! A lot of those countries speak English anyways!!

with that attitude we wont. we need to get everyone involved with $30 on the third. please spread the word.

It was a joke ffs. Away and have a Snickers.....

Such an awesome post. I thought of this and can't wait to experience it. I live in a new place, have a new set up and it's crying to be blessed by Shenmue. I am psyched to analyze the hell out of disc 4 once again, knowing the questions will soon be answers. This is the type of post I like seeing around here, I could feel the emotion. I'll share my own after I complete disc 4 as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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!

I think the content on the fourth disc getting released with Shenmue II is actually the reason that this community stayed alive and Shenmue III is currently in production. It would have been easy to end the game on the dramatic high note at the end of disc 3 but lots of games have big, epic fights. As incredible as it is, up to that point, Shenmue is a simple revenge quest that presumably ends with fighting Lan Di.

Meeting Shenhua completely changes the game and takes it to such a deep level that you can't help but shout at your TV the first time you find out where the story leaves the player. It's that disc that gives you the need to know what happens next. I think Shenmue would be remembered fondly by some but you wouldn't have nearly as many gamers clamoring for a conclusion if the fourth disc content were never revealed to the players.

This moment is why I hated the lack of dub in the Dreamcast version. It was an extremely all shot scene, imo, and very atmospheric. I was tryna take the whole thing in, and was barely paying attention to the subtitles. "Yeah, yeah, three blades, heard it all before... There has to be a QTE coming up... Ha! Knew it. Wait... What? Fuck off!"

But yeah, I fell for it.
You lack Dan, be brave and calm to make the right decision.

So, over the years, my sporadic 'Shenmue 3' google search often yielded a hit from metro.co.uk. Their Games Inbox, which I think is posted twice daily, is a collection of reader submissions. Usually anything Shenmue related was rather negative in nature, and it definitely seemed like those who run the blog aren't fans either based on some of their responses and just the mere fact they frequently post about Shenmue and it's usually in a bad light. Anyway, I wrote in a response this morning after reading yet another downer post about Shenmue's kickstarter. Here's the post I responded to:

I don’t know If you’ve been following it day-to-day, but the Kickstarter for Shenmue III basically seems to have stalled. It may have broken records at first, but it’s been hovering around $3.5 million for days now and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Any chance of making it to $10 million seems to be out of the window and it’ll probably struggle to make $5 million.
I know that’s still a lot of money but I do wonder whether the popularity of the game was overstated a bit. It seems to me it’s more a meme and in-joke than anything else. I actually played the first one again recently and it is really pretty bad: awkward controls, terrible dialogue, pointlessly easy combat, and a story that goes nowhere.
That doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I do admire its ambition a lot, but I can’t imagine myself sitting down to actually play the whole thing again. I’m curious to hear from other readers that have also played it recently and what they honestly thought of it. To me it was a niche game back in the day and it’s probably going to be a niche game now too.
Iceman

And here's my response which was put in the evening edition:

Speaking on behalf of Shenmue fans everywhere: We get it it. You guys don’t like Shenmue.
In the past couple of years, typing Shenmue in the little Google searchbox to see if there was any buzz has usually yielded nothing more than an occasional outlandish rumour – or some Metro Games Inbox blurb about how overrated the game is.
Now that the sequel’s been announced, you’d think Metro would back off a little bit and let the game’s fans have their moment, but already I’ve seen a couple snippets about how hard it is to understand that people actually love this game.
Granted, no one’s trolling per se, and all opinions are valid, but still: give it a rest. All Kickstarters stall in the middle. It’ll get a rush at the end, and I’m confident it will reach a solid $5 million – a huge success, by all means. As a fan who has yet to make his pledge but certainly will be before the end of the campaign, I’m perfectly content with how this is panning out, and I look forward to see where it ends up.
The stretch goals are ambitious – but ambition is the first word that comes to mind when you consider Shenmue. Sure, I’d love to see this soar to $11 million, and though unlikely, after last Monday’s announcement I will say this: anything is possible. It’s been 10 days and I’m still basking in the glow of this unexpected announcement – and I haven’t played video games seriously since, well – Shenmue II on Xbox. This series very effectively dulled my appetite for gaming, because to me, it’s just that good.
So let us fans who have stuck this out for 15 years continue to bask – and perhaps Metro can stay quiet about their distaste for Shenmue for a while.
Michael Chenard


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/26/games-inbox-mass-effect-andromeda-hopes-shenmue-debate-and-ghost-recon-wildlands-5268218/#ixzz3eCgXiSvl

I don't think I was too off-the-mark: Definitely seems like there's a disproportionate amount of anti-Shenmue rhetoric on this blog, although I don't really follow it, or gaming news at all, in general. Has anyone else ever noticed this? I do think there's no reason for the negativity when us starving Shenmue fans have a 30 day window for redemption.

Regardless, I encourage you all to send in your praises for Shenmue!

1 word - disaster

"Awesome" Japan.

They made $68,000 from the new rewards alone. 3000 people watched it. We have a dedicated fan base so the mainstream will not effect this kick starter too much. It will more than likely go over $5,000,000 when all is said and done. We're fine, there's no worrying and there's enough happening in the community that will help. At the same time, more rewards will come so this twitch did what it needed to do. He clarified stupid questions morons can't grasp and they made $68000 in an hour.

One shot at Shenmue 3, and the budget is determined by this guy? Really puts a damper on everything when you have to wonder what could have been had a competent firm handled this campaign. It's hard to put into words how discontent I am over this. Shenmue 3 is announced and these guys have found a way to curb my elation. Unacceptable.

Links: Twitter (Retweet it!) | Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Page

Awesome Japan have done a truly terrible job.

Firstly the campaign started at too low of a goal. If it had been, say, a 5m target, then we would have 5m+ raised right now. As soon as it hit 2m on the second day, all the urgency was gone. All the publicity was gone. The target had been reached and Shenmue III will be a reality. Yet a week later we find out that 10m is the real goal to aim towards, but who really cares other than us guys? Shenmue III is funded and the story is done and dusted for all the major press...

I'm not going to go into detail about all of the problems with the actual Kickstarter. We all know the video, poor rewards, lack of communication, lack of promotion, lack of description, lack of clarity regarding Sony's involvement etc. have held the project back massively. I actually had a decent level of optimism when I saw that they were doing a Reddit AMA and later a Twitch stream. 'Hey, they're actually promoting via relevant avenues!' I thought. But the AMA got off to a false start and the Twitch 'interview'...oh God...

And then when you realize that these guys, who are managing one of the biggest Kickstarters we're ever going to see, are taking the weekends off... Well all optimism has gone for the KS to reach a target we want. It is quite alarming how naive and incompetent they have been.

When we're sitting down to play Shenmue III and notice all those stretch goals we missed out on, all we'll be thinking is: "fuck you Awesome Japan."