The editor of the ricedigital article made a comment clarifying a few points:

http://s21.postimg.cc/c8lo99y53/rice_dojo.png

British website Rice Digital is reporting that, according to "a trusted source close to Atlus USA," HD remasters of Shenmue 1 and 2 will be released this year, with it being "safe to assume a PC/Steam release."

You can read more analysis of the report here and forum discussion here .

This Friday, March 3rd, the monthly #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon continues the campaign for Sega to make a formal commitment to releasing such remasters ahead of Shenmue III.

I still stand by my opinion that, this year, no monthly updates are a good thing.

YSNet are extremely busy and freeing up any resources right now to throw out a small monthly update would only hurt development.
But you're seemingly ignoring the fact that YSNet doesn't post the updates, Awesome Japan does.



Yet you are ignoring the fact that AwesomeJapan get their updates/material from YSNet. That would require a resource from YSNet being "freed up" from development to get it to them. If AJ doesn't have anything, they can't post anything.
I don't understand the big deal here with regards to monthly updates. They held their promise solidly for over a year and now that development has hit full speed, updates were always going to be far and few between. They shouldn't need to tell you that, it should be common sense really. Personally, as I said, I'd rather they just focused on development right now. Don't we all want the best game here?

I will promise that I will be updating you about the progress of the development at least once a month. This is what we have for now.

From the Yu Q&A in August 2015. But it doesn't matter.

Updating monthly is absolutely a much more intensive schedule than many other high profile Kickstarters keep, and they've done a good job sticking to this promise solidly for a year and a half. It was never realistically going to last, although some notice would have been nice.

On the other hand, we're all rational, logical people (mostly...), and if an update doesn't drop two months in a row it's pretty obvious that the update schedule has changed. Notice of a change at this point would be closing the door after the horse has bolted, so don't be surprised if it's never addressed.

As for Awesome Japan filling the content gaps; without knowing the exact detail of their contract with YSnet we shouldn't assume this. They may not be hired to do that, and are simply there to act as administrators on the KS and PayPal.

Let's hope Yu has been drinking his milk.

I've completed an English translation of the recent Famitsu interview with co-producer of Shenmue III, Cédric Biscay.

The interview covers Cédric's background and reasons for starting his company Shibuya Productions, and he talks about some of the guests and goals of the MAGIC event.

And of particular interest for Shenmue fans, at the end of the interview Cédric is asked about Shenmue III and the current development progress. Here's the relevant section:

http://i.imgur.com/NlwmD3M.jpg

If you have a few minutes the whole interview is worth a read too. Link:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/03/interview-with-cedric-biscay-at-magic.html

We have been getting a lot of great feedback from our latest teaser, and a lot of positive comments in regards to our Kickstarter idea. In case you haven't seen it here is the episode that aired a few weeks ago ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0c6GguHCyo ). Its the support from the community that keeps us going so for that would like to thank each and every one of you for following us on this crazy journey.

You might notice that there is 1 less bearded man on this episode as Randall was not able to join us (the local hotdog vendor saw him getting into a suspicious black car)

Adam joins Ireland's biggest Shenmue fan Peter Campbell via Skype as the recant their stories from Japan, specifically the Shenmue Pilgrimage. If you are a Shenmue fan and you find yourself in Japan you owe it to yourself give it a try.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB1EAsLa51A

Greetings backers!
The time is upon us again to bring you a new update and this time we thought we’d announce the new format that Shenmue III will take and show you a few sneak peeks.

We want Shenmue III to reach as many people as possible and after minutes of market research, we realised that people no longer enjoy full-on console experiences. It is obvious that gamers today prefer casual experiences and it is for this reason we have decided to reimagine Shenmue III for phones and tablets.

So ladies and gentlemen, we present to you, the new Shenmue III:
https://i.gyazo.com/9e7bdd912305ca2a7d975acd2f7b724a.png

Here is the main screen. It shows the character you currently have selected and their current action. At the end of the timer, the character will be able to perform another action. Over the course of an action, the character will send you push notifications about their journey, continuing the story of Shenmue. If you are the impatient type, you can buy a booster using the ingame currency ‘Shenmoola’ in order to complete the journey faster.

Speaking of Shenmoola, we’re happy to confirm the return of Tomato Mart as the ingame store! Here you can spend your Shenmoola on boosters, arcade credits, extra playable characters and other perks:
https://i.gyazo.com/96a5aed87baa65cabb354eaa337aaf90.png

Let’s take a closer look!
https://i.gyazo.com/a30e5cc35b4e01c78b0dfe2bf8266532.png
As you can see, you can spend 100 Shenmoola on a can of Jet Cola in order to complete a journey twice as fast.

Shenmoola can be earned as a reward for completing quests, or it can be bought with real money. The choice is up to you!

That’s about all we have for now, but we hope you’re as excited as we are for this new stage in Shenmue history. Shenmue III will be launching on the App Store and Google Play Store this December.

Thank you for reading
- The Awesome Japan Team


Once again, happy April, Dojo!

Yu Suzuki said Shenmue III will cover chapter 5 and 6. Which one will be 6 from the 11 scenarios illustrations from Shenmue postmortem GDC 2014?

http://cdn.escapistmagazine.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/698/698943.jpg

I believe 6 would be the 4th illustration. I really hope the Free Battle system is really good and not some QTE hybrid, since it seems to be a very martial arts heavy chapter.

Only 8 months until release and we still have not seen ryos final face or any new version of his face after e3 ( not counting the photshoped face on a few screenshots). I am 100 % sure the game we be delayed! I think by the end of 2018.

We should hope they will release the game in first place instead of hoping it will be released in 8 months. Thats my only concern.
I don't get the focus on Ryo's face as a barometer for when the game might launch.

Shenmue III hasn't been at a big press event since the Kickstarter, so there's been no real need to rush the assets to near final for the sake of looking pretty. YSnet have clearly been working on it, and are likely going through a process of tweaking and reviewing that you don't see with other games thanks to the smoke and mirrors approach to announcements and reveals.

They'll show it when they're ready.

June 2017 update: RESULTS

The poll results are out now with Shenmue II ranking 6th and Shenmue ranking 2nd! Read the write-up here with bonus messages of thanks from the voice talent for Nozomi & Ryo from the Japanese dub, as well as Yu Suzuki.

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/06/results-of-famitsu-poll-action.html


Original post:

Help give the Shenmue series some extra publicity in this new poll being run by Famitsu in Japan for best Action-Adventure game.

http://i.imgur.com/xCSxZv5l.jpg

It's very straight-forward and will only take a minute - just a matter of giving up to 3 game titles.

[Poll link now expired]

The only one I feel some level of confidence about is Shenmue III appearing - and that's specifically because of what happened with PSX.

If PSX was something they were certain about when they spoke with the 10K Japan dinner backers - and subsequently got cold feet over - then maybe with an extra 6+ months in the oven the game will meet Yu Suzuki's standards for exhibition.

I was talking about it with Adam earlier today, and that's what we were told. Black and white. Plans had changed obviously, but either way, it shouldn't hinder being excited about any opportunity where Shenmue 3 could potentially be shown in some capacity.

If people want to use PSX as an example of why we shouldn't get excited about anything then what would you propose? Sit under a rain cloud and moan about all aspects of Shenmue? I don't think so, go find another platform to encourage that type of mentality. 15 years waiting on Shenmue 3 and I will embellish every E3 and every event until the game is released because from the announcement in 2015 until the day the game is released, we are in a very privelidged and special time of our life's to revel in every question surrounding what this game could be. One day we will all blast through it and.... then what?

I am going to enjoy everyday of May as I normally do, reading tidbits that become more frequent as the event draws closer. As a gamer, it's the best time of the year, and with Shenmue in the mix, it only makes it better. We are going to put thought and planning into Twitch broadcast special episodes, and fully embrace E3 2017. If anyone doesn't want to be part of that and wants to cast doom and gloom over the part of the year which celebrates videogames as a whole, then politely go find other outlets that suit your outlook. Any Shenmue fan with his/her salt knows the trials and disappointment experienced every year since 2003 and regardless of an appearance or no show at a huge event like PSX or E3, unless Shenmue 3 is suddenly cancelled, these are always the best moments of the year.

Also, the fact that they're working on Saturdays tells me that they're still trying really hard to make December.
This is why I think, for now, December is still possible. I guess the logic at YSnet is that if they continue to haul ass and don't hit any major development problems, then they'll make it on time.

I think this may have been why the game was in prototype for over a year. They did a lot of heavy lifting in terms of demoing mechanics and locking down design goals while they had time on their side. Obviously that doesn't mean they finalised anything, but half the battle of game design seems to be knowing what you want, and knowing how to achieve it. That could be why Yu thinks it's possible to finish the game this year.

I guess an analogy of what I'm saying could be that it takes less time to get from A to B if you plan your journey ahead of time.

Voted!

1- Shenmue (Dreamcast)
2- Shenmue II (Dreamcast)
3- Alice: Madness Returns (Xbox 360)

Thank you Switch!

This doesn't look "anime" to me, personally. Honestly, it looks like Shenmue, brought into an contemporary engine and art direction.

I mean... it's not like Dou Niu, Chai, Ren, or really any major, non simple NPC character in the original Shenmue games, wasn't similarly highly stylized and "cartoonish" (I don't agree with that adjective personally, I would prefer "heightened" or "stylized.") Even major characters like Lan Di, especially in the face, were not exactly what I'd call "realistic." They were all very, very exaggerated. The mixture of lesser characters being "realistic" (though even that's debatable,) and the realism of the world, with those heightened, fantasy elements in more prominent characters is what made Shenmue Shenmue to me, in terms of art design.

This was inevitable, though. By using a new engine to bring to life their concept art, it was bound to be the case (as has been the case with literally every contemporary rebirth of an old beloved franchise from before modern graphical tech emerged that I've played - *Looks at the $#|+storm surrounding Dreamfall Chapters' Zoe model*) that many would be disappointed with the approach to the character models.

It's never going to look like Shenmue I & II. It's just not. And yes, granted, I know what people are going to say already: "But we didn't want it to look exactly like Shenmue, but just for it to have the same basic aesthetic direction as the originals, but using new technology." And yes, some of this is not down to the engine or how models are created, and more down to art direction - I get that.

But it's also true that as much as we love and are accustomed to the art direction in the first two games... it's a simple fact of reality that all art is a product of the time and place where it is made , and that hindsight is 20/20, and that looking back, most artists exposed to newer ideas, techniques, and technologies, would probably have done things differently if they did them today, vs 15 years ago . And the environment, time, and even the minds in which this new Shenmue are being created, are necessarily and inevitably different than they were back then.

Strict adherence to what was, may not be the goal here. For all sorts of reasons. But then... to ME... this actually looks like a character that would have fit in well in Shenmue 2 as a boss or some such so... I'll just have to agree to disagree with those who feel he doesn't look like he belongs in Shenmue. On the contrary, every single example people have posted here to demonstrate "realism" in the previous entries, looks "cartoony" (exaggerated and heightened,) to me. *Shrugs* Opinions. Whatchagonna do?

So, I'm fine with this personally, but to each their own. I'm not telling people they're wrong to dislike anything or to desire a different direction. I'm just saying I'm okay with it myself.

I love this design direction, precisely BECAUSE it demonstrates they've found a way to make characters that are similarly stylized to the first two games (rather than "realistic,") in my eyes, in the new engine. But I foresee there will be a large contingent that hates the final game's art direction, and that's their prerogative. No desire to debate it, as always. I don't do internet debates. :p

(If people think the uproar about this is bad, wait until they reveal the final Ryo model. I can already predict I'll probably be fine with it, and many people will be outright enraged.)

Such is life.

My quick thoughts...

1. We have seen how the revealed Shenmue III environments reflect that of the originals.

2. Do you think YS Net will really place a plastic, cartoony model in these environments?

3. They're still in the process of refining the characters towards Shenmue I + II's more realistic, human models.

Patience is a virtue.

When you get information from Yu and the producer himself about Shenmue related content appearing at a gaming event, and it turns out not to happen, you learn the hard way not to take anyone's word about when or where footage of this game will appear. Plans change, and it can be upsetting. Frustrating even. At the end of the day everyone is entitled to their opinion. But at the same time, everyone should realise this is going to come out at some stage, and that will be a glorious time, so until then, all i can ask is to try and see positives whenever you can, and also try to remain patient. This is a long process, and none of us are going anywhere.

As for the video, i just shrugged my shoulders. It is what it is, and there are positives there. As the person said, they were testing for polygon dents and movements. Thats what i want from them. Thorough testing of all movement variations. He wont be doing jumping jacks in the game for gods sake. I thought it was great, watching the characters various muscle elements flex and expand with the relevant movements. Theres going to be fighting in this after all. As for the look, hes just a made up skeleton with a prototype shell essentially. There will be lots more detail added so im not concerned about that. His clothes looked cool too, as Switch pointed out in his update.

One thing to think/hope for is that since a delay announcement is inevitable now, they will need to counter that announcement with something to give us some positivity along with it, so a trailer may be included then. Perhaps Gio told them that was a better plan, or perhaps he wanted Shenmue at E3 and YSNET said no. Either way, im over E3 now, and looking forward to what the summer has in store overall for Shenmue.
As i always resort back to... one day we will finish Shenmue 3, and be praying to go back to the exciting times of monthly updates when we didnt have a clue what was coming. Its hard in life to stop and take stock of the now, but try to with the Shenmue 3 development process, because, one day in the blink of an eye, it will all be over and life will be very different.

I'd have to be dead before I don't play this game.

I've said it so many times, but when real footage of this game emerges and trailers are made public, true fans of Shenmue are going to be completely blown away by how amazing this game is on a "Shenmue" level.

It really will be a true successor to the previous two games.

Spaghetti wrote: Short answer: Nah.

Long answer: Nah...

If they announce the demo for September, which of the 3 villages would you like it to be? Baisha, Choubo or Bailu Village. It's a hard pick for me because I don't want to be spoiled too much. Choubo for me then
Based on their level of effort to avoid spoilers by basically not showing video of anything besides Bailu so far, I'm guessing the backer trial is just going to be the beginning of the game. (Bailu)

Because the trial is only going to those who paid $100 or more, it's likely that most of us who paid that much are already familiar with the series and don't need a demo to introduce it. If they were looking to introduce Shenmue to people who weren't familiar with the series Choubu would be be a better choice. Actually, they must account for the fact that people are going to share gameplay of the trial, so maybe Choubu would be in their best interest but if they're thinking primarily of core fans then I think the beginning makes the most sense so they don't need to create content specifically for the trial. Throwing you directly into the middle of the game would require them to actually develop content specifically for that trial to know what's going on, and I don't think they're going to waste funds and time doing that.

The dream of a big update may as well be dead right now.

Not in a bad way mind you, but it's getting to the point where we're going to have skipped seeing most of the nuts and bolts development process.

What we'll be seeing instead will be much closer to the final version - by which point they may as well just showcase that on a wider stage if at all possible.

We'll probably end up seeing a fuller picture of the game being developed after it comes out, via Adam Sipione's Shenmue documentary (if it releases after the game), and whatever YSnet decide to release posthumously (a "Making of Shenmue III" GDC panel in 2019 would be neat).

This is a fantastic update filled with awesome news! :heart:

From the gratitude of the team for the fans reactions about the "delay" of Shenmue 3 to the new logo, new characters and above all, Gamescom 2017 presence, I'm on heaven!!!

Thank Yu and "in your face" to those doubting about your dedication to this Series and your loyalty towards your fans! :king:

PS. Now I'm sensing strong Shenmue HD waves... [-o<

So who's in? Who's going to be there? We have the potential for the biggest meet up, so it would be awesome to see a lot of you there!

I never attend any game show but do you know if they have a conference on Gamescom?
If we're talking about Sony, then yes - when they've attended they've had a livestreamed conference similar to E3.

I'm not sure if Sony have confirmed they'll be there this year, but they definitely have hinted at it. I think it's safe to say they'll be there, and Shenmue III will have their showing at their conference.

The_Intruder wrote:Is that new character Mai Mai that Kenji talked about in his video?

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it...

This update reveals the official logo , new character designs, and plans for Shenmue 3 at Gamescom.

Links: Gamescom | Kickstarter Update #69 | Discussion Topic

I've put up a post on Phantom River Stone about the new update.
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/07/comments-on-kickstarter-update-69.html

As mentioned earlier in the thread, the character of the girl appears to be dressed in the traditional costume of a miko (shrine maiden) at shrines in Japan, down to the decoration in her hair.
http://i.imgur.com/qogfrm7.png

You say that as if Shenmue's concept art hasn't been like that from the start.

The_Intruder wrote:

Hyo Razuki wrote: That's on the Shenmue 2 discs.

From what cutscenes is that song from?

It's unused as in, on the disc but not actually played anywhere in game.

I also think a lot of fans who are going are thinking that when they watch E3 every year, it's a simple case of "getting into the audience" like it's a sports event etc, when that's not the case at all. Usually those are events are for business holders, employees, and even developers of the actual games being shown. Sony audiences are invited individually for example.

Technophilz wrote:It's officially Mighty No. 3 ...

So what method will you be using to dispose of your copy of the game? Burning?

I've posted up a full translation of a Famitsu interview held yesterday with Yu Suzuki at Gamescom.

"Tortoises, ducks and frogs will be making an appearance!"

Link to interview:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/translationinterview-with-yu-suzuki.html

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

https://68.media.tumblr.com/c76cd8e09ccbe5c284a877f39c982a54/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco1_400.jpg

At the Gamescom 2017 event, we were very lucky to have a quick interview with Shenmue 3 director Yu Suzuki. Unfortunately, over the 3 days available with Suzuki-san, it was very hard to secure an interview with the team due to the general media already having pre-booked all of the time slots available with Suzuki-san through their new publishing partner, Koch Media. But thanks to a few people behind the scenes (especially the community's own Shenmue Ambassador Ali Novin!), we were able to be squeezed in for some quick interviews at the end of the final day, and got to experience the Deep Silver media area! (and rub shoulders with other developers in the area. 5 points to who can guess the developer in the chequed shirt.) Possibly a happy accident, but quite hilarious that Shenmue 3 was allocated Wareho...errr room number .08!

https://68.media.tumblr.com/e10f0bec5012af5650278ed6617f3ea1/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco2_500.jpg

For this interview, we are unbelievably thankful, as both Suzuki-san and Harry-san were understandably extremely tired, and in light of that, our time with them was very short. Despite having upwards of 20+ questions prepared, i only had time to ask a very short number so apologies in advance that i did not get an opportunity to ask a lot of gameplay based questions. I didnt get to that stage, and before i was out of the "introductory" questions stage, it was time to wrap up the interview! Either way, its always an honour to be in the company of Suzuki-san, and we are so grateful for his time at Gamescom. Enjoy :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SD. So hello Suzuki-san. Welcome to Germany! Have you been to Germany before? Have you been to Gamescom before?

YS. It’s my first Gamescom, but however, for Germany, I don’t remember… 2 or 3… around 3 times. I have a feeling the number grows with each interview (laughs)! It’s around 5 times… I think. Although, just before when you asked the question, I said twice! But I think 5 times is the right number.

SD. So we know you are in Cologne for Shenmue, but I know you have a love for art and architecture. Do you have any plans to do any sight-seeing whilst you are here?

YS. On the day we arrived, or maybe the day after, I went to see the Dom (Cathedral). It’s splendid! I also walked around the Old Town. Yes, it was amazing. It was more impressive than the Tokyo Tower (laughs). I am joking! But it was amazing. I could say amazing over and over.


https://68.media.tumblr.com/d9b32515d8c7f5ffadb78bf509d9ff0c/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco3_500.jpg

SD. We are at Gamescom for Shenmue 3. But I have to ask, why Gamescom? We just had E3, and Gamescom is a little bit after, so did it just feel right?

YS. The reason for the timing was that I wanted to make the announcement in conjunction with the forming of the contract with Deep Silver. The agreement, to put it simply, was not ready in time for E3.

SD. Ok, so I just want to bring it back a bit, to the Kickstarter update where you announced that you had to delay the game. How hard was that decision, and were you worried about disappointing the backers?

YS. Hmmm, yes of course. I was most concerned about the backers. At the time, we had already made progress in our partnership talks with Deep Silver. So for us, being able to aim for something above what had been the plan with the original Kickstarter, it would have been extremely difficult to implement an open world with the initial plan we had at the time of the Kickstarter. So I continued to look for a partner after that. I really wanted to create an open world somehow. So I kept searching, and eventually we were able to form a partnership with Deep Silver which enabled us to upwardly revise the plan.
So at that time, I took into account what we would be able to achieve with Deep Silver. I felt positive we would be able to achieve a “scaled-up” Shenmue 3. If conditions improved after forming a partnership with Deep Silver, we would be able to expand our plans. That would bring along with it more tasks to complete, and I hoped to announce the good news to everyone along with the schedule change. But at that point the contract with Deep Silver hasn’t been finalized, so I wasn’t able to mention it. That was the situation.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/02ed8d4d4c19b506b54b42ccf5da6441/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco4_500.jpg

SD. In the same video, you mentioned “new technologies, possibilities and new expressions” for Shenmue 3. Could you tell us more about those, and have they changed what you originally thought Shenmue 3 would be like?

YS. We have a complete set of basic shaders, although these need to be tuned for Shenmue. But having a full set of basic shaders is one of its (Unreal 4 Engine) advantages. Also it’s an engine designed for games, so there are all sorts of libraries for 3D games. So when you’re at the prototype/building stage, it’s very quick and efficient. That’s another benefit.
With Shenmue 1 and 2, my program forms the base, so I understand all parts of the program. However this time, the innermost working are a “black box” so I can’t obtain a full understanding of every part, and that can sometimes be a problem. From an overall perspective, it’s a really marvellous engine, especially when it’s used by multiple people. For example, we take the case of 30 or 40 people, or more, are developing the game simultaneously. It can handle management and so on, and do things like analysing the workload, rendering load, CPU usage and various others. Product management has also been made easier too, so overall, I think it’s a superb engine.


SD. I’m glad you mentioned shaders because I remember a conversation we once had about how important the colours of Shenmue were important to you. How difficult has it been to achieve the “look” and “colour” of Shenmue with Unreal 4?

YS. The basic attractive colours in Unreal 4 are formed with High Dynamic Range, and there is a wide range of colours from light to dark which can produce images where you can really feel the light and shade. This was the key deciding factor for my selection of the Unreal Engine. For me, the light and the shade are the most important part. For Shenmue, there are 2 things which are necessary to add. The next stage is there has to be a feeling of humidity. Shenmue has to have a slightly “wet” feeling to it. A damp kind of feeling in the air. I don’t mean actual rain, but the air should have a kind of moist feeling to it.
It’s difficult to achieve this with the standard Unreal 4 shaders, so I think we will have to write our own. The Shenmue teaser we have shown has achieved that look of “wetness” I think. We have now reached the second step. We are not yet at the third stage, but that will be images that you can smell. For example, in China they may chop up a pig like this, and then, without storing it in a refrigerator, sell it under the hot sun. It has that kind of raw stink, and that’s something I think we managed to achieve in Shenmue 2. Shenmue 3 will also be going onto this stage next. A “smell shader”, or a “stinky shader”! (laughs).

https://68.media.tumblr.com/9d51b582086d5bd4cb64552253c54f48/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco5_400.jpg

SD. I have a lot of questions to ask, but I know time is very short, so I will ask my final question. With being president of your own company, you have hired new staff members to work on Shenmue 3. How does it feel to pass on all those years of knowledge and experience to young new developers? Have you had any difficulties managing a team like this?

YS. Well not all of our staff are young, there is someone who is 50 years old… all ages really. But management is the most difficult part. They have entered the company going through interviews, and it’s hard to get to know someone properly at the interview stage. So after that process it turns out there are some people who speak extremely little, for example, so yes it can be pretty difficult. Various strategies are needed in order for each person’s performance level to reach 100%, and that’s the part that’s most difficult. I would prefer to lose myself in the creative work, but quite a bit of time is used up on management.

SD. Suzuki-san, thank you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


...and in the blink of an eye, it was all over! Apologies again that we could not have had more time to ask more questions, but there maybe more inverviews coming out from the Shenmue Online Community in the near future with lots more questions so stay tuned for that! ;-)

But before we left, as always, we had to surprise Suzuki-san with a gift! Thanks to a fantastic idea from 500k owner Aaron Barstow, we decided to try and somehow put Suzuki-san into one of his favourite bands, Van Halen. So working together, we came up with the idea of having an artist design an image of the band members but also insert Yu Suzuki in amongst them! After contacting one of our contributors to the Instagram page, @r_wuying, he understood the concept, and very quickly came though with an awesome piece of work!

https://68.media.tumblr.com/0909930dd8da47c5b51aaf4011880926/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco6_400.jpg

Of course, we couldnt give Suzuki-san an image on a PC, so we had it framed and brought it to Germany to present it to him from all of the Shenmue Community, for which he was extremely surprised and thankful (as always!)

https://68.media.tumblr.com/2e40913861ed15c10f8431df35f79231/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco7_500.jpg

https://68.media.tumblr.com/5d4165cea5becd3cdfd3c367fa97797f/tumblr_ovog4lS9W61vilcqco1_400.jpg

My Gamescom experience was one i will always remember, and i have to say thank you to so many people including David and Kenji from Shenmue Master, Aaron and James from 500K/Team Yu, Silvia from 500k, Chao from the community and of course Ali Novin for all his hard work behind the scenes to make the interview happen. On a personal note, it was fantastic to meet long time Dojo members YS, Snoopbob, B-Ren and Bluemue at the event too!! Its a shame we couldnt have all spent more time together! Also, of course how could I forget (which I did :oops: ) the amazing Switch for being on point with translating duties as always!

But with that, another event has ended, and the long journey continues! See you all again soon :D

https://68.media.tumblr.com/b234f70ac010c1b6abbdc429c3014c6e/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco8_500.jpg

Yu Suzuki interview by Eclypsia.com (French)

Original interview: http://www.eclypsia.com/fr/shenmue/actualites/shenmue-3-interview-de-yu-suzuki-a-la-gamescom-2017-23773

Shenmue 3: Interview with Yu Suzuki at Gamescom 2017

At Gamescom 2017, we were able to talk with Yu Suzuki about Shenmue III.
A few days ago, Yu Suzuki was present in Cologne for the Gamescom 2017. For a few minutes we were able to talk to him and ask him some questions about Shenmue III.

Here is the full report of this exchange.

Eclypsia: Before speaking about Shenmue III, is this your first time in Cologne and / or Europe?

Yu Suzuki: This is actually the second time I've been here in Cologne and as for Europe, I came here 5 to 10 times, I cannot remember exactly. As for the Gamescom itself, I do not have enough time to go for a walk in the public area, being caught by the interviews for the game. I should nevertheless be able to take a few hours to go see what it is, see what happens overall.

E: Let's get to the heart of the matter, are you satisfied so far with the direction of development of the game?

YS: Things are going very well. Recently, and thanks to the signing of our partnership with Deep Silver which will publish Shenmue III, I can devote myself fully to the development process.

E: What have been (and still are) the most complicated challenges in the development of this sequel, so long after the previous episode? Has your vision of the game (Shenmue III) changed during this time or are we going to be entitled to what you had initially in mind?

YS: As for the general concept of the game, it has never changed in my mind and I have kept the same line in mind from the beginning. At the same time, everything related to technology, gameplay as a whole and even my development team has changed. My real challenge has therefore been to adapt myself as much as possible to what had evolved drastically during all those years that separate Shenmue II from Shenmue III.

E: At the level of history itself, you have kept the original idea?

YS: Exactly. With regards to Shenmue, everything works through chapters and from the beginning, I imagined the sequel from a certain angle, which I could not change.

E: Many fans of the Shenmue franchise have been waiting for this game for many years and are probably having high expectations, are you afraid to disappoint this specific part of hardcore fans?

YS: Totally. I really have a lot of pressure, but at the same time, I attach great importance to it. I can’t necessarily do according to the desires of the players, but my goal is obviously to satisfy everyone, especially the fans of the first hour.

E: Shenmue in his time revolutionized the genre with an utterly realistic and coherent universe. Virtually 20 years later, how have you gone about offering a game of the same caliber again?

YS: I sincerely believe that the work I do is unique. My goal is not necessarily to create something fundamentally new or which is considered new, but I think that by simply following my instinct, I can create something meaningful. Generally speaking, when I share ideas with my development team, we often have big debates about how to approach things, and they sometimes have a hard time understanding my point of view. By continually exchanging our views, we come to find the perfect balance between my way of seeing things and the way they have to apply it. It is surely this complete alchemy that allows us to propose things of this sort.

E: For a few years now, Open-World games have swarmed from everywhere, even being for some, real gold mines at the level of the present characters, possible interactions and global coherence of the game. Did this force you to revise upwards the third episode realization?

YS: In reality, I do not pay much attention to it and hasn’t a lot of impact, simply because I don’t really play a lot of games myself. As you know, Shenmue III is developed on Unreal Engine 4 and if I had to do a research work, the focus was more on that side. Indeed, I gave priority to the technical aspect in order to avoid any weakness from this point of view, rather than watching what was done from the competitors to find where to position myself.

E: Have you planned some kind of system that would allow players who have never played Shenmue I and II to still enjoy the III as it should?

YS: Let's make a quick parallel by using a film saga like Spider Man. If you start watching the saga with the third episode, you will understand the movie, even if you have not watched the previous episodes before. But at the same time, you will appreciate it even more if you have followed the adventure since the beginning of the saga. It was necessary to make sure that the people who would start playing Shenmue with number III would still be able to enjoy the experience at its best. However, you will really enjoy the game to the fullest if you have played previous episodes. Because of that we have incorporated a lot of features that will link to the previous opuses, such as the ability to pass a phone call to Shenmue characters or Shenmue II.

E: Last question about music. How important is this aspect to you in developing the game?

YS: I'm really convinced that the music and the sound atmosphere have an essential role in the development of a game and this is one of my priorities. For me there are three highly important aspects to abide by: Everything that concerns the interactivity within the game, then the graphics and finally the music. These three things are an indissociable whole for me to really make a special universe.

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Shenmue III is planned on Playstation 4 and PC at the end of 2018



Note: I've first google translated the French interview and then proof read the result and made some adjustments to ensure that no questions or answers were distorted.
Please, keep in mind that English isn't my first language and therefore, I cannot guarantee my translation is 100% accurate.
If something sounds odd in the interview, just ask and I'll double check.

https://s26.postimg.cc/q3a11oyw9/500_K-_Dojo.png

The Shenmue 500K group has published its recent interview with Yu Suzuki on its new website.

Among the topics discussed are the effect of the Deep Silver partnership on Kickstarter stretch goals, the Shenmue prototype built for Sega Saturn, a Tomato Convenience Store in Shenmue 3, and Ryo Hazuki in Virtua Fighter.

Shenmue Master uploaded an interview they did with Yu-san at Gamescom - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjwGe3X5uw

No English translation yet.

Yu Suzuki gives some brief comments to Japanese website 4Gamer.net as part of their annual survey of prominent figures in the game industry.


English translation here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/1 ... mance.html

An English translation of the interview is now up at the Phantom River Stone blog.

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2018/0 ... iscay.html

MAGIC 2018 Participation Info
Posted by Ys Net (Creator)
日本語はこちら

Hello Everyone,

As some fans may already know, MAGIC (Monaco Anime Game International Conferences) is coming up to be held on February 24th. We are happy to announce director Yu Suzuki will once again be making an appearance!

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MAGIC is organized by Shibuya Productions who’s CEO, Cédric Biscay, is co-producer of Shenmue III. The event hosts conferences for manga artists and game creators as well as gaming, cosplay and manga contests.

A conference with Yu Suzuki is planned for the day. Once details have been worked out with participating partners, we will have an update to follow up.

Please see the official MAGIC site for more information on the day’s schedule.

Thank you as always for your continued support!