Wanderin' wrote: 10 million's the target, boys and girls.

Have to push this kickstarter into overdrive.

I'm upping my initial backing to $500 next week.

10 million's the target, boys and girls.

Thought I'd compile all the reddit Q&A in an initial post so it's easy to read for those who don't want to go through 10 pages. I'll edit my initial post as it goes on.

How accurately will Shenmue III be compared to your original vision of the game or will there be major compromises?

YS: There are a total of 11 chapters that make up the whole story. Over the past 14 years I originally planned for there to 4 or five games to the series. If at all possible, I would still like to realize the full story of 11 chapters.

Will Shenmue III enable PayPal or a means to donate to the project when the Kickstarter ends? Projects like Star Citizen gained tens of millions in donations by allowing this.

YS: I am still thinking about it, but have not decided yet.

Shenmue is a Peach Blossom tree correct? Could you tell us what type of tree exactly?
I would like to plant one.

YS: It is more like a cherry blossom tree, that blooms its flowers in the springtime. It is actually a tree I made up for the story.

Hello Suzuku-san! Will a day-to-night cycle and weather system return to Shenmue 3? They added so much to the atmosphere of previous games. Thank you Suzuki-san!

YS: Of course!

Will you reassure us that Ryo's face will be changed back to the Ryo we all know and love when Shenmue 3 releases, and not this impostor wearing Ryo's jacket that you have on Kickstarter? That is NOT our Ryo!

YS: I am not happy with Ryo's face. It will be the face I have in my mind in the end.

Will the gameplay in Shenmue III be more contemporary or will it be more in line with past Shenmue iterations?

YS: As for III, I would like to make a less stressful user interface, that will feature more usability. From now on, I will make that a focus.

Yu are my hero!
Shenmue is credited with introducing the QTE. Given the significant advances in gaming systems and technology over the last decade, are you confident that you can show the gaming world something we have not seen before?

YS: Thank you very much.

Will we see any capsule toys based on Ape Escape or any of the Sony franchise in Shenmue 3?

YS: I have not decided the capsule toys, so please keep your ideas coming.

Have you ever consider telling the rest of the tale for Shenmue in a book if the opportunity to make Shenmue III never came up?

YS: Yes, I have but if I did do that, it would give away the end of the story, and I thought that would be a big minus.

What was your inspiration for the story behind the first two Shenmue games?

YS: When I was making Virtua Fighter, I went location hunting in China. I was very inspired by Chinese martial arts. That very well may have been the beginning.

Will practicing moves make a return in Shenmue 3 along with the FREE battle system? A lot of fans feel not being able to practice moves was big piece missing in Shenmue 2, and I also personally loved being able to practice and make the moves stronger. It really makes you feel as if you are learning marital arts and then performing them in a skill-based actual battle feels very satisfying.

YS: I want to do it yes!

Will players have access to both the Japanese and English voice overs for the game?
And I wanted to say thank you so much for Shenmue and Shenmue II, it brought a tear to my eye seeing those games at E3 during the Shenmue III announcement, I cannot wait. Those two games are what made me curious about Japan as a child, and I am now trying to work as a Japanese translator!

YS: I am thinking about that, yes. However it is not for sure.
It is because of fans like you, I wanted to make a sequel. Thank you very much.

Will the band-aid ever come off?

YS: I am considering a special option where it could be removed.

Will we see Ryo's Journal return? Would be cool to be able to flip the pages using the PS4's touchpad.

YS: I would like to bring back the Journal. That is an interesting idea, I will look into it. Thank you.

What do you think of the current state of Japanese game development?

YS: I see the share of mobile games increasing, the budgets of games decreasing. It will be harder to express a game's vision.
I would hope the console and PC markets gain more popularity.

Any possibility of a bicycle finally being added to Shenmue 3? Thank you so much again, Yu!

YS: There is a 60 horsepower bike in Shenmue 1. For Shenmue, 3 I was thinking about something with 1 horsepower.

Will character polls compromise your artistic vision?

YS: I really want to get everyone's opinion on the characters. I have something in mind that won't break the world immersion.

In Suzuki-san’s opinion, what is the essence of arcade games? Are those influences in Shenmue?

YS: With an arcade game, you are restricted to a 3 minute window to express what the game is. That is how I made games for the longest time. I wanted to create a game that could be played at a more leisurely pace, so I created what ended up being Shenmue.

Yu, are you really going to be signing your autograph on the illustration for the $300 kickstarter signed collectors edition? So far there is almost 2000 backers, that is a lot of illustrations to sign!

YS: Of course I will write them all myself!

Will Shenmue 3 have any sort of multiplayer component? Perhaps Co-op or a versus mode?

YS: I am thinking about something that would resemble that.

Do you have any more details to share about the stretch goals? It's not clear to me what a "Rapport System" or "Character Perspective System" entails.

YS: They are new systems, so naturally they need new names. The Rapport System will govern changes in Shenhua's actions depending on your conversations with or actions towards her. The "Character Perspective System" will highlight different characters personalities as they go through the story.

What will Ryo do to earn money in Shenmue 3?
As great and engrossing as the story and gameplay were in Shenmue 1 and 2, I (and many others) really really liked the forklift driving. It was like I could learn a new (video game) skill, get good at it, and putter around the docks like a badass.

YS: There will be part time jobs that will be indicative of those you would find in China. In the Stretch goals there will also be the old favorites.

Do you have any dogs or cats?

YS: 3 yorkshire terriers and a turtle.

Love your work! You are a pioneer in this industry! As for my question:
How much game elements/features will we be missing in the game if the campaign doesn't reach the $5 million mark?

YS: I will say this: if we reach the $5 mil mark, one of the things I really want to do with Shenmue 3 will become a reality.
At $10 million, it will truly have the features of an open world.

Who would win a fight between Ryo and Akira?

YS: Akira! Akira is up to 5 now, and Ryo is still on 3.

Can we expect more duck racing in Shenmue III? That was the best easter egg I've ever seen in a video game.

YS: I would love it.

How was it working with mega64?

YS: It was really fun. I would love to do it again.
I hope they pitch in for the replica Ryo jacktet!

Will there be forklift gameplay in Shenmue III?

YS: Look for it in the Stretch Goals!

Given Shenmue 2's ending and previous items found within the series; will swordplay enter gameplay at all? What about the story, can we expect Ryo to use a sword at some point?

YS: I can't answer that.

Do you have a favorite game that you've developed other than Shenmue?

YS: I had fun making all the games I worked on, and can't say one was better than another. Boring answer I know, but it really is true.

I only have one statement. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that Shenmue is one of the greatest game series of all time. And one quick question, what can we expect for surprises in the 3rd installment without spoiling the storyline at all?

YS: How could I do that? Sorry, gotta pass. Thank you very much though!

I've always wondered, why did you set the game in the 1980s rather than present day?

YS: I wanted put forward the differences in culture and values between the two periods.

(Suzuki-san, thank you for coming today! Shenmue is the reason I came to Japan. Those living towns and people you showed in your games were so natural and real, that I wanted to see it for myself. So, now I am in my fourth year of living in Japan.
What I'd like to ask is, if you had billions of yen, what would your dream Shenmue be?
Also, were there any features or gameplay you liked that didn't make it into Shenmue 1 or 2?)

YS: One where the player could live in that world. A second life.

I have two important questions for you:
Do you know where I can find some sailors?
Would you like to try a game of Lucky Hit?

YS: Yes, but not right now.
Uh, ok.

I love the music from Shenmue, if anything kept me thinking about Shenmue from time to time during these 10+ years it was the music. Was is your favorite piece from the soundtrack? Thank you for bringing Shenmue to our lives, I can't thank you enough.

YS: Of course I love both the Shenmue and Shenhua themes, and all of them really, but the one that really sticks with me is the Tomato Mart.

Will there be more funding tiers added to the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, specifically between the $500 and $3000 tier?

YS: Yes.

Shenmue 3 is just the start. How successful does the game need to be for us to get Shenmue 4 and so on until the saga is complete?

YS: If the fans are not happy with 3 there will not be a 4. So I please hope we can together make this game the best it can be.

What Sega console is your favourite and why?

YS: The Dreamcast. It has really good balance. I was involved with the hardware as well, so it had a lot of meaning for me.

Suzuki-San...welcome to the fantasy zone! It's finally happening. Any plans on more arcade games within Shenmue III?

YS: I plan on making plans.

Why do you create?

YS: Why does one climb the mountain?
The shark cannot breath when it does not swim.

Any info on the stretch goals for Choubu and Bailu village?

YS: 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.
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.

Are all the towns listed in the Kickstarter stretch goals in the game already, or are the stretch goals only there as a means to help give them more features and spice?

YS: They are there, but with more powered up through the stretch goals.

Will Ryo ever go back to Japan?

YS: Not in 3.

Who is your favorite Shenmue character?

YS: It has always been Shenhua.

Are you still involved in any programming activities?

YS: I still write algorithms, logic verification, and make simple prototypes.

Do you play airsoft, paintball, or anything similar?

YS: I think it was Afterburner that I really got into airsoft. The office floor was covered with plastic BBs. Yeah, the Berretta 93R rocks. I put a real hunting scope on that one.

Are you at all a fan of Anime? If so, what are your favourites?

YS: Sure, but its all pretty old stuff.

Will the game take advantage of the virtual reality goggles on PS4 and PC?

YS: Right now, there are no plans for a vr system compatibility, but I love the idea of using it to peer into the world of Shenmue.

When creating Shenmue 3, will you use any assets at all from 1 & 2? Or do you have to start all over from scratch because SEGA still owns the first two games?

YS: The assets from 1 & 2 will get a lot of use.

Dragon Light wrote: How can a legend of a game Shenmue be doing this poorly?

Yeah beating a world record, making kickstarter go down and doing better than any other video game kickstarter out there so far really is a shit result.

Some people on Neogaf i swear.... before it was "uh, the game is being funded by Sony they don't need my money", now it's "Uh, Sony is not funding it? the game will be crap then, i've lost interest".

At least the Shenmue guys there are doing an excellent job, there almost always 2-3 threads in the first page.

This is not necessarily related to Shenmue 3 itself, but more the campaign and everything surrounding it.

Understandably, many people are excited and passionate for the game, and of course, many people have their worries or their criticisms about the marketing in regards to the Kickstarter campaign, and Sony's involvement, among other things. I just want to remind everyone to keep a clear, rational head about all of this. Remember that we all want the same thing; for Shenmue 3 to be good as it possibly can be given the odds. Bickering over trivialities and trying to be the right one in an argument can be counterproductive to the campaign itself if we're not concentrated on pushing this current Kickstarter campaign as strongly as we can. I am not saying we are not allowed to have disagreements, but don't let them get to the extent of becoming distractions from the goal. We have plenty of time to get this ball rolling, so lets not panic; keep it cool.

In the end, we're all on the same side. This goes for the forum, Twitter, Youtube, Kickstarter comments, and any other context in which we have to interact with one another. Let's try to make some history here.

...you could elaborate on what is so "shit" about the marketing and what you would like to be done? I personally thought that announcing it at E3 was a great way to promote the Kickstarter and get things going. Surely marketing and promotion costs money? And surely they have little money and hence why the Kickstarter is so important?

Sorry mate, I was being a knob. I totally agree, I think announcing it at E3 was fantastic, and I'm delighted that Sony will be covering the marketing of Shenmue III.

However, the current Kickstarter campaign being run by Awesome Japan is shit . Off the top of my head, I can think of a few ways to immediately improve it massively:

1) Mark all current videos and images of Shenmue III clearly with "concept art/images" a la Bloodstained did.

2) Immediately tidy up the main Kickstarter page: clearly show the stretch goals at the top of the page, have relevant links to Shenmue history for new people to see what all the fuss is about, link the update videos on the main Kickstarter page so they're there for all to see clearly - I've been following the campaign religiously since the announcement, and I've only just stumbled upon the Shenmue III theme that was released a couple days ago by watching AdamKoralik's video. People are missing this stuff because the campaign is so badly laid out.

3) Put a huge, huge fucking header clearly stating that $10M is required to make the full Shenmue III that Yu Suzuki has envisioned. Make that abundantly clear to absolutely everyone, right away.

This is not to mention some of the cooler things like maybe ripping off the Bloodstained campaign even further, and adding "social media achievements" to it, unlocking new stretch goals for a certain amount of tweets, likes, views or whatever.

Sorry mate, I was being a knob. I totally agree, I think announcing it at E3 was fantastic, and I'm delighted that Sony will be covering the marketing of Shenmue III.

However, the current Kickstarter campaign being run by Awesome Japan is shit . Off the top of my head, I can think of a few ways to immediately improve it massively:

1) Mark all current videos and images of Shenmue III clearly with "concept art/images" a la Bloodstained did.

2) Immediately tidy up the main Kickstarter page: clearly show the stretch goals at the top of the page, have relevant links to Shenmue history for new people to see what all the fuss is about, link the update videos on the main Kickstarter page so they're there for all to see clearly - I've been following the campaign religiously since the announcement, and I've only just stumbled upon the Shenmue III theme that was released a couple days ago by watching AdamKoralik's video. People are missing this stuff because the campaign is so badly laid out.

3) Put a huge, huge fucking header clearly stating that $10M is required to make the full Shenmue III that Yu Suzuki has envisioned. Make that abundantly clear to absolutely everyone, right away.

This is not to mention some of the cooler things like maybe ripping off the Bloodstained campaign even further, and adding "social media achievements" to it, unlocking new stretch goals for a certain amount of tweets, likes, views or whatever.

I appreciate the apology, thanks. Like I said, I'm not here to argue with anyone, so I apologise if my initial comments came across as confrontational. I should have worded it differently.

I can't say I disagree with any of that either. Those are some good ideas. Hopefully, we start to see some of those being implemented in the next few days. We definitely need to see this game reach as close to $10M as it can. If it doesn't, they better allow donations after the Kickstarter ends.

I've contacted Himuro to start using Shenmue Dojo's own Twitch channel. So be sure you all tune in at 7pm Central time.

http://www.twitch.tv/shenmuedojo

Guy is playing Shenmue for the first time http://www.twitch.tv/vashzaron

I don't have any objections whatsoever about Shenmue not taking place in Japan. In fact the prologue to Shenmue hints at that: "He shall appear from a eastern land across the sea." Meaning the hero of the saga will come from abroad and cross the sea westward into China. Shenmue 1 was only the introduction and is meant to give the audience an explanation why a Japanese small town boy embarks on this journey to China.

Remember that Shenmue 1 closes with the words "And thus the saga begins." I think Yu never meant Shenmue to have that much to do with Japan.

I've been to small villages near the city of Guilin in Guangxi Province, China like those Shenmue 3 will probably take place in and I absolutely love those places and the people there. It was one of the best holidays I've ever had and I'm happy to be able to "go back there", this time not as myself but as Ryo Hazuki. :D
You deserve a ban just for using that horrible text colour.

Really enjoying the Dojo stream tonight, good job Himuro!

James Brown wrote: Really enjoying the Dojo stream tonight, good job Himuro!

indeed was good

ALSO: someone who knows how to configure the game on nulldc come into slys stream and see if u can help us with this damn framerate!

I love it. It perfectly punctuates the general tone of the series, and especially which throws it right in your face. Ryo goes through a decaying, decrepit old crime filled city in order to find information on his fathers killer. Kowloon represents Ryo's inner demons as the cracks expose themselves leading to his own perdition. Xiuying tells him as much in the church and many times in Honk Kong. The analogy for Ryo's spiritual journey from Kowloon to Guilin is both figurative and literal in the scope of the games themes. Ryo, having found Zhu Yuanda, travels from a place that eats his soul and forces him to go to extremes to find vengeance that will never sate him, to a place separated from civilization, surrounded by nature in all of its wonders. It is through the nature of spirituality and friendship, which Ryo starts to embrace as seen in the Tai Chi scene at the crag, that will save Ryo and deliver him from becoming the exact person he hates.

The naturalism vs urbanism dynamic in II is a natural part of the evolution of the story, and one that gives it far more emotional weight.

I don't take it as an west vs east debate. I think that pits the story at its most reduced form. After all, Hong Kong is more advanced than Yokosuka which is a small town and many people that live in these places, like Xiuying, are on the straight and narrow. It isn't about west vs east, so much as I feel it is about Ryo's spiritual transformation as he grows from boy to man. He has two options. He thinks he NEEDS revenge, but it consumes him. The secret to his sating heartache is within him all along, and that is his own natural spirit.

The spiritualism is needed.

Further, I think people's take on east vs west debate is exotifying the east and trying to find a way to say the east is better when this is never explicitly said in neither games at all.

Just beautiful words, my friend! These are things that I felt were in Shenmue all along but I couldn't have found such precise words to articulate it. =D>

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.