Anthony817 wrote: Wow people are downvoting my Shenmue Saturn comment. What Shenmue fan wouldn't want to play the Saturn version? It literally pushed the system further than any other 3D game I have seen.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3 ... ng/cscn6fe

Have an upvote

Q: 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! 2.) Will you please keep the japanese audio for Shenmue III? A lot of fan loves the Japanese voice overs over the US voice overs.

A: Of course I will write them all myself! Dude is a badass. One of the longest AMA's I've seen too.

Yeah but that doesn't mean shenmue 3 will since you know different budgets etc. They may go the Yakuza route where only important Characters are voiced. It's really too early to jump to conclusions like that.

I would never imagine myself playing Shenmue 3 and have interactions with mute npcs. So you want a downgraded version of the game?
Did you fall on your head as a child? I never said that's what I wanted I said that very well might be what we have to deal with considering that the budget for this game probably won't be as considerable compared to the first 2 games. No one gives a damn about if you can imagine yourself playing shenmue with mute NPCs. If they don't have the money to voice them all then they don't have the money. Why are you comparing the budget to the first two games? You realize they don't have to make the Shenmue graphics engine (does that have a name???) this time right? They don't have to start from scratch. Different times my friend.

I played 2 without npc's voice because cd-r is only 700mb. It was ok.
Yeah it didn't bother me either. It's not like they had anything interesting to say anyway.

Yeah but that doesn't mean shenmue 3 will since you know different budgets etc. They may go the Yakuza route where only important Characters are voiced. It's really too early to jump to conclusions like that.

I would never imagine myself playing Shenmue 3 and have interactions with mute npcs. So you want a downgraded version of the game?
Did you fall on your head as a child? I never said that's what I wanted I said that very well might be what we have to deal with considering that the budget for this game probably won't be as considerable compared to the first 2 games. No one gives a damn about if you can imagine yourself playing shenmue with mute NPCs. If they don't have the money to voice them all then they don't have the money. Why are you comparing the budget to the first two games? You realize they don't have to make the Shenmue graphics engine (does that have a name???) this time right? They don't have to start from scratch. Different times my friend.
Because the fact that they are using Unreal is proof enough that they are saving costs while in the first 2 games they had near unlimited funding from SEGA which allowed them to polish them as much as they needed. They didn't have to create the engine for the second game either yet it still cost in excess of 20 million to make. How is that proof? The reason they built the engine in the first place is because no 3D engine was in place to create the immersion they wanted. Now, with modern game advancements, obviously many games and engines have this ability. Many AAA games (not saying Shenmue will be AAA), use Unreal on smaller budgets than the original Shenmue.

There is absolutely no reason for them build their own engine when they have Unreal right in front of them. Yu has already stated that Unreal allows him to get close to the look he wants for Shenmue.

I played 2 without npc's voice because cd-r is only 700mb. It was ok.
Yeah it didn't bother me either. It's not like they had anything interesting to say anyway.

Yeah but that doesn't mean shenmue 3 will since you know different budgets etc. They may go the Yakuza route where only important Characters are voiced. It's really too early to jump to conclusions like that.

I would never imagine myself playing Shenmue 3 and have interactions with mute npcs. So you want a downgraded version of the game?
Did you fall on your head as a child? I never said that's what I wanted I said that very well might be what we have to deal with considering that the budget for this game probably won't be as considerable compared to the first 2 games. No one gives a damn about if you can imagine yourself playing shenmue with mute NPCs. If they don't have the money to voice them all then they don't have the money. Why are you comparing the budget to the first two games? You realize they don't have to make the Shenmue graphics engine (does that have a name???) this time right? They don't have to start from scratch. Different times my friend.
Because the fact that they are using Unreal is proof enough that they are saving costs while in the first 2 games they had near unlimited funding from SEGA which allowed them to polish them as much as they needed. They didn't have to create the engine for the second game either yet it still cost in excess of 20 million to make. How is that proof? The reason they built the engine in the first place is because no 3D engine was in place to create the immersion they wanted. Now, with modern game advancements, obviously many games and engines have this ability. Many AAA games (not saying Shenmue will be AAA), use Unreal on smaller budgets than the original Shenmue.

There is absolutely no reason for them build their own engine when they have Unreal right in front of them. Yu has already stated that Unreal allows him to get close to the look he wants for Shenmue.
Because unreal isn't designed specifically for this type of game and creating their own engine would allow them to create a much more polished product in the end. I can link you to multiple game design forums where people discuss it if you don't believe me.

Anyway if that's not proof enough then what about the reports saying that kickstarter will represent the bulk of the funding? Games now cost more to make than they did 15 years ago yet assuming that report is true they're making shenmue 3 with a much smaller budget than 2 that if we take in to consideration inflation cost around 30 million dollars in today's money despite not needing to build an engine for it either. I understand. I'm sorry; I have limited knowledge of game design, but thank you for your helpful insight.

And in the late hours of the night, the stakes of this kickstarter just got raised.

Spaghetti wrote: Pinball? Yesssssss.

That's actually kind of a great idea. It's so very... 80s.

New QTE system sounds interesting.

I'm a huge pinball fan, so this is very exciting.

Here's the passage where he speaks about it:


Q: Shenmue and Shenmue II were action adventures that retained the atmosphere of your masterpiece, Virtua Fighter. What kind of genre will Shenmue III be?

YS: This time it won't be Virtua. Shenmue used the Virtua Fighter fighting engine, and Shenmue II the Virtua Fighter II engine for battles. However this time, we aren't using the Virtua engine, but building an original one from scratch. It's hand-made.

Q: What will one of the main characteristics of the series, the fighting element, be like?

YS: I don't think it will be an action game that demands the input of critical commands. At its foundation Shenmue is a thinking-style game, and what's important is not skill at timing commands correctly, but decision making. For some time I have thought that the Virtua engine doesn't really suit it, so we're now in the middle of making a new battle engine.

Q: That will be something to watch for! Approximately when will the new battle engine be complete?

YS: It's hard to say. That depends on how much we enhance it.

Q: It's not something that could be called a new Virtua engine, is it.

YS: No. It will be something of a completely different type. With Shenmue, fighting is no more than one of its elements. It's a tale of adventure that's based around martial arts, so the fighting aspect is bound to appear in it, but it's a matter of how dramatically, and how cinematically it can entertain the player. I want to make it so that even people who aren't good at fighting games can press buttons - without worrying too much about which, to a certain extent - for the story to advance. Ugh. The average casual gamer is not gonna be playing Shenmue 3. We can handle a complex fighting engine.

Looking at this part of the interview:

Q: So for now then, the story won't be completed in Shenmue III?

YS: No, I don't think it will be completed. It just won't be enjoyable if forced to a conclusion.

Of course Shenmue 3 won't be the last game but the way Suzuki says 'I don't think it will' makes me wonder if due to the partnership with Deep Silver whether Shenmue 3 is not only going to expand upon the content they already have but also by including more of the 11 chapters than originally intended? I recall Suzuki saying that Shenmue 3 will pick up from the second half of chapter 5 and continue past chapter 6 without specifying which chapter it will end at. Maybe which chapter Shenmue 3 ends at is still adjustable in view of this latest expansion on the game. Maybe later chapters will be this DLC that's been talked about as well -shudders-. If Shenmue were made today, I could see chapter 2 being DLC.

With the intervention of Deep Silver, I find myself wondering if this will stay open. It hasn't been updated in a long time and I wonder if upgradable tiers will be a thing, still.

Even if they revamped the goals and said "Okay, we only need X amount to fully realize Bailu. We've reached the others via DS." But then clickbaity, cynical journalists/gamers would bitch.

I'd like to go from the $300 to $500 tier this year if possible..upgradable tiers would enable a great source of extra income. Here's a message I received yesterday from YSnet regarding this.

"Hello Staplepuffs27,
Thank you very much for your message.
We were hoping to install a system during this Slacker Backer campaign that would allow Kickstarter backers to do add-ons and upgrades during the Backer Survey.
When more information becomes available, an official announcement will be made on the Kickstarter page at http://bit.ly/saveshenmue, the homepage at https://shenmue.link/… and on Twitter @Shenmue_3
For now we would like to ask that you please hold out a little longer for more news. Thanks again for your support and for Saving Shenmue!
Joel & the Shenmue III Team"

It's always bugged me how Ryo was able to communicate with people once he arrived in China. He couldn't have known Chinese because he admits in the first game that he doesn't understand it. How can we plug this apparent plot hole?

Simple: he speaks English. A small percentage of Japanese people speak some English. I'm assuming that number might go up a little for those who live in Yokosuka, which is somewhat Americanised due to the US navy bases. Ryo would be used to seeing English signs and perhaps speaking with Americans stationed there. Though it is strange that Ryo seems unaware of sailors in Yokosuka, he is able to communicate with them in the game (I'm assuming they're American). It's very possible Nozomi taught him some English since she's from Canada. Also, he is able to communicate with Tom, a New Yorker. It seems clear to me that Ryo has been exposed to the North American culture in Yokosuka his whole life, and it's reasonable to assume that he can speak decent English.

In Hong Kong, 46% of people speak English (I'm not sure what this number was in the 80s). Ryo would be able to do OK if he spoke English to this population. Along the way, I bet Ryo picked up a lot of Chinese. The best way to learn a language is to ingrain yourself in that population. I'll bet Ryo was interested in Chinese ever since he tried to translate the Chinese letter in the first game. So, it's possible he was studying Chinese before he even left for Hong Kong. By the time he gets to Guilin in disc 4, he can probably speak decent Chinese.

What do you think of this theory?

I'm pretty sure I won't have that luxury.

1. I work as a 911 dispatcher and have for the last 10 years.
2. Over the last decade I've learned to hate humanity and often leave work disgusted to be human.
3. Due to the above, I recently finished my bachelor's degree in computers with high honors.
4. No employer gives a shit.

Thus, for the foreseeable future, I'm working my 911 job, doing contract IT work on the side, and working on various certifications to bolster my resume so that I can relearn to enjoy being human again via changing careers and have an improved outlook on humanity in general.

I'm lucky to get 6 hours game time a week.
*thinks about calling Telekill for help*
"No, I'll avenge my father's murder on my own."

What exactly do people want transferred over? I'm guessing item management and scrolls will work differently in Shenmue III.

My hope is that Shenmue II HD takes the best of both the Dreamcast and the Xbox versions. From the Xbox side, I'm hoping that improved textures, improved water, and building shadows are included. From the Dreamcast side, I would love to see the reduced motion blur effect and overall sharper look. Maybe a slightly reduced bloom effect would be OK.

So they have simply banged in a quick port of the Xbox version

It’s a PS Store release dressed up as a proper remaster.

Again let me reiterate: it's ok to discuss these concerns, but when you begin passing this speculation off as fact like the above examples it becomes a problem. Please be mindful of this when discussing further.


Maybe a bit reactionary on my part but I stand by the it’s a PS Store release dressed up as a remaster comment. With the informatoion provided in the video thus far (the one on the web site) it’s a new menu, hd hud, remapped controls and set to run at 1080p. Very threadbare!

Again if this was digital only for £10 each - great! But a full retail release seems very worrying!

I fear this is Sega cashing in - 3rd party studio doing a direct port of a console game from 2 generations ago.

Yakuza Kiwami is a completely redone 1st game that retails for the same amount. Crash bandicoot also got the same treatment with all 3 games and a similar Spyro collection is arriving in September. All of these collections retail for the same price as the “Shenmue I & II” collection. For what they’ve announced it is vastly overpriced compared to their competitors. Do you really want the graphics redone from the ground up? I apologize if that's not what you're implying, but all of the games you mentioned fall in that category. I can just imagine people complaining if D3T radically changed the look of the games. If you change too much, you will upset people.

Plus, we still don't know everything. For all we know, additional texture work could be on the cards. For $30, you're getting two hefty, story-driven games, and there is stuff that's yet to be announced. Just have a little faith. :)

On another note, if the cutscenes are 4:3, is this something that could be modded on PC?

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Welcome Allan. Thank you for all of your hard work. That goes for the whole D3T team. It's also great to see you guys reach out to the community. We all appreciate it!

Has anyone else ever had a Tinder conversation about Shenmue? I'm glad the word is spreading about the remaster. (I'm in blue)

He did a nice job explaining that the assets just weren't there for the cutscene ratio. I don't think it'll be that jarring to be honest.

I had no idea the original game was so intensive and complicated in coding. It sounds like it was a miracle to port it at all...

It still astounds me that after years upon years of pleading, nearly $7 million invested in a sequel they have no involvement with that SEGA would be so afraid a re-release would not yield them a return from passionate fans.

I really, really hope this wakes them up and a proper in-house Shenmue IV comes alive for PS5(let's face it, that's where it'll end up if it comes). So, does anyone else play Xbox One backwards compatible games? With a couple exceptions, like Ninja Gaiden, there's no widescreen support. I've been playing Knights of the Old Republic, and honestly, I didn't even notice the aspect ratio after the first 10 minutes. And Shenmue will have widescreen gameplay. So, I really don't think it'll be a big deal.