And although they are not new releases, in order to enhance the portrayal of Shenmue III I spent time re-watching the Zatoichi movie series by Kurosawa, as well as Hong Kong & Chinese Kung Fu movies and others. Classic! 8)

Personally, I like watching [tennis player] Kei Nishikori and watching table tennis matches [...] Tennis and table tennis mini-games confirmed for Shenmue III? Haha.

2015 was a very significant year for the Shenmue series, and for me. And it was also a year in which I felt the great love for Shenmue.

I will continue on with development to deliver a creation that will shine radiantly in the hearts of everyone who has waited for 14 years . Heartwarming :heart: and exciting!

Thank you very much for the translation, Switch!

Thanks to everyone that donated to improve Shenmue 3. Happy New Year.

Then we have to wonder, is Shenmue III going to be a full $60 retail release or a $30 download? Some number crunching...

500,000 copies sold at $30 each is around $15 million.
1 million copies sold at $60 each is obviously around $60 million.

It's definitely going to be a full on physical release. Cedric confirmed that during a stream and they're offering $60 for a physical PS4 copy on the PayPal page.

Given that there are 30 million PS4 owners right now, and two years to go, I don't think 1 million sales is out of the question. If only a small percentage of PS4 owners are curious enough to buy a copy then that's a million sales. Not to mention how many Steam users there are out there (although that's purely digital and will presumably be cheaper).

You mean if all 70'000 backers spend around 750$ on top of what already spent to support Shenmue3 development?

How much Champagne did you drink during the holidays? :roll: :lol:

I'm hardly rich but I could probably put $750 away over the course of two years if I had to. I'd probably spend that much on coffee on my way to work. Little things add up.

Not that I'm saying any fans should buy 15 copies, we've absolutely done our part. But I'll probably be putting aside money to buy multiple copies when it comes out. Caffeine is supposed to be bad for you anyway.

First and foremost, I think you need an HD Remaster Collection for Shenmue 1 and 2 to be released prior to Shenmue III. The more exposure the better for the series and allowing people who may not have played it before to understand the narrative rather than jumping in at a point and feeling less connected with it.

Well, I admire your dedication to Shenmue and your 2016 good resolution of getting rid of caffeine :mrgreen: but my point is that I really hope Shenmue IV will be released someday because of the commercial success of episode 3 and hopefully remasters of 1 & 2, instead of the hardcore fanbase making miracles again and again.

With the rebirth of the Serie during 2015 E3 and the media exposition since then, I think it's the good time for Shenmue (and Yu Suzuki) to get the recognition he deserves from the "gaming world". If things don't work out this time... then I'm afraid there is a significant possibility we won't see the end of the saga.

That said, I would support every Kickstarter aimed to help development of the forthcoming episodes.

By the way... #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon is round the corner .That's something we fans, can do to help Shenmue's fate.

That's what I don't get. I think 1 million copies sold for Shenmue may be asking a bit much. I hope it's not, but gamers these days are a fickle crowd and we have to remember that many of today's gamers never played the first two games. This is why I personally believe it's crucial for Sega to release an HD remaster of the first two games on PS4/PC. Without getting invested in the first two games, I'm not sure people will be willing to invest in the third. Sure, there will be the "story so far" short movies included but that's not really enough for people to get invested I don't think.

First, I agree that it is important for Sega to either release HD remasters of the first two games or give Ys Net the right to do so. As we all know, many did not play either because of them being too young or not having a Dreamcast when they were on the market. Thus, they have to be acclimated to the series properly.

Second, I do not think one million copies getting sold is impossible. It will depend on how well the PS4 version of it is marketed by Sony in the days and weeks after release. It will also depend on how well the community counters those who clearly have an agenda against it for whatever reason. Because KS was the means of obtaining funds, a lot of those with hostility towards that jumped on the Anti-Shenmue bandwagon quickly.

Also, since the late 2000's, there has been this trend amongst those who consider themselves gamers to directly attack Shenmue with nonsense like, "get over it, it's dead," "weeaboo," etc. So, when news broke of Shenmue III coming out, they got mad and attempted to sabotage the KS. Since its success, their anger has tremendously increased, so I believe they will try to now attempt to sabotage sales with false information. That is why the community has to get ready for that now.

Third, it is coming out in both physical and digital forms, so I am not too worried so far.

As many of you have brought up the need for HD releases of 1 & 2 for sales of 3 to warrant 4 (now there's a sentence), then as Kiske says, don't forget to participate in today's Tweetathon.

YSnet is already working on a next-gen version of Shenmue as they are producing a PC version. Didn't Cédric say that the PC version will be "optimized" compared with the PS4 version ?



As for the PC version, I wouldn't say that'd be the next-gen version as we have no idea what the specs of the next Xbox or Playstation will be and if they'll be anywhere near a current high-end PC, but it would be a great testing ground for the upper limits of what they can do in UE4. I'm expecting a better draw distance, texture filtering, shadows, ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing in the PC version of Shenmue 3, but at the end of the day it'll still not be a generational head and shoulders leap over the PS4 version.

I'm not expecting Shenmue III or the possible Shenmue IV to reach graphic capabilities of what PS4 is capable of. For instance, I highly doubt any Shenmue game (sans Mods for the PC version) will ever look as good as Uncharted 4. Worrying about graphic capabilities of the next gen seems like a moot point to me.


It'd be nice if Yu got to make a new game between Shenmue 3 and 4, but I think he'll likely want to strike while the iron is hot off the release of 3 and maybe close out his career at the same time as the Shenmue series.


I respect Yu Suzuki's work beyond Shenmue, having grown up during his golden age of releases, but I think for Suzuki to work on something beyond completing Shenmue at this time would work against his goal of completing Shenmue. He has said numerous times that Shenmue is his legacy in the gaming industry.
Yeah. Honestly I don't think anybody should be expecting Shenmue 3 or a potential 4's graphics to blow our minds the same way the original did in the 90s, and it shouldn't need to anyway (though it is very easy to get a decent baseline of "good" graphics with UE4). Shenmue is more about detail and making the world look lived-in. Pushing photorealism is folly, and ultimately so expensive these days that it just isn't worth it unless you are making the top tier of video game in terms of Hollywood-style production.

What I am expecting from Shenmue 3 and 4 would be great animation, and I think that's what Yu is aiming for too with his talk about making animation blending an integral part of how the combat systems are going to look and feel.

http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/10/12/sega-europes-marketing-director-on-the-transition-from-sonic-to-smartphones

"Now my biggest challenge as marketing director is to make sure people are aware that Sega isn’t just this heritage brand that made all the Sonic games but we’re making cutting edge adult narratives such as Alien Isolation too. Not a lot of people realise we make Football Manager either – that has to change.”
“We’ve had some great successes on mobile – our Sonic Dash game has over 100 million downloads – but mobile is an overcrowded market and being truly innovative in that space isn’t easy,” he adds. “The strategy at Sega is to focus on producing great content first and then decide which platform it works best on afterwards.”

Admitting that Sega has not done a “great job over the last four years” in communicating its brand values and “Yes, we want to innovate and back smarthphones and virtual reality but our key purpose is to go back to what the brand used to stand for and I think the buzz around Shenmue 3 shows that people love our legacy,” adds Rooke, who says Sega is exploring ways to re-release the original two Shenmue titles.

“Sega was an innovator, the Dreamcast was offering online gaming as early as 1998. But perhaps back then we were pushing boundaries a little too soon. Nowadays we know what we’re good at and the strategy is to be more gradual. Over the next few years, we want to use engaging content and marketing to remind the public why they fell in love with Sega in the first place.”

Neogaf user @Endless posted a screen capture of the actual article from Marketing Week (was able to access it again) and apparently, the line about re-release of Shenmue 1 & 2 is there:

http://anony.ws/i/2015/10/27/marketingweek.jpg

Neogaf thread source --> http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=183082970&postcount=165

Note that the part about the Kickstarter campaign is now correct.

PS. I registered myself and I can confirm the line is there (Did a printscreen too).

Hey guys,

In order to give you a thorough understanding of yesterday discussion I had with Thomas Hobbs, here's the end of our "chat" on Twitter:

@thobbsjourno @segafans Thanks for the answer. Hopefully you read correctly between the lines in the Shenmue related part of your interview!

@KosiCosa I'm confused. Nothing changed. It is a marketing publication so Shenmue info was paraphrased/not 100% quoted. Hope that clarifies?

He sent me another tweet but apparently deleted it in the meantime.
I still have it on my Twitter iPhone app though.
@KosiCosa I'm just as excited they are 'exploring ways' for a HD remake. About bloody time!

@thobbsjourno You're a Shenmue fan too I guess? If so, YES, I understand your excitement! Thanks again for your kind replies! #SaveShenmueHD

He did retweet the message above, so I take it as a YES to my question :D

I know we're reading tea leaves here, but there's no denying they're possibly dropping hints all over the place now:



I mean...come on!

If you're in Paris and want to play some Shenmue, feel free to go to the Paris Games Week. Even the children are playing !

Hello everyone ! :)

Here is a rapid translation of the latest interview from Cedric Biscay on the French TV channel "NoLife" :

http://noco.tv/emission/25671/nolife/101-pur-100/cedric-biscay-producteur-de-shenmue-iii Shenmue 3 part
Stream will go down on 02/18/2016
starts at : 6:50

Davy Mourier (presenter) : You have another project that you are working on right now, it is Shenmue 3. It is a Sega game so how did you get the license for that ?

Cedric Biscay : I’m a great fan of Shenmue since the beginning, I played 1 and 2 and like all the other fans, I asked why don’t we get a third installement ?

DM : You asked that question for quite a long time right ? (laughs)
CB : I always wondered why nobody was doing it… It sounded like the issue was ecenomical as the Dreamcast failed to sell well enough.
Knowing Yu Suzuki via my professional network in Japan, we discussed it and Sega wouldn’t let the licence go to whoever asked for it.
But they let it go after Shibuya Production made a serious offer to them. We succeed where a lots of major actors of the industry failed.
Those actors wanted it not only for business but mainly for the aura, the image that it represents, it is a very anticipated game and ever since we’ve announced it, it remains as one of the 100 most anticipated game.

GUEST : There was a kickstarter on it ?

DM : Kickstarter gather 6 millions

GUEST : Did you launched it ?

CB : Yes, with Japanese staff and we broke 2 world records with it…

GUEST : Wich records ?

CB : Fastest kickstarted game, we had the first million in 45 minutes and 8 hours for the second.

GUEST : Damn, wait for me, I have something to do (laughs)

CB : We also broke Kickstarter for a moment, We got a twitter notification to say the campaign was too popular and flooded the platform.

DM : You broke records, it is a huge amount of money… You launched another kickstarter on paypal this time, why ?

CB : No, it was not a second kickstarter, it is another crowdfunding operation asked by the japan staff. They got a lots of people asking to maintain the donation availability as Shenmue fans would like to continue donating to Shenmue 3.
This is another concept, the community is extremly active and want to keep the donation… I think you know this kind of thing with donation right ? (adress to GUEST)

GUEST : I was here to ask this question and I apologize in advance but this is not a kickstarter right, it is not as serious and strict as a kickstarter campaign so you can maybe understand that some people are not confident on this move, this has not the same guarantee…

CB : I can understand that people are not welcoming this second donation campaign but as far as it is a community request, we are pretty confident in it.
Fans want to participate more so we provide them with a way to do it, we are not in the press debates or anything…

GUEST : I can understand that but, the real question is and I do not wish that to happen at all : if Shemue 3 would not be made in the end, Kickstarter money will go back to the backers…

GUEST : You think that the money will go back to the backers ?

GUEST : Yes, this is a Kickstarter rules…

*Kickstarter bullshit debate…*

CB : No, I think that no one can have his money back if the goal is reached on KS. The only way is if the project didn’t met his goal.
Everyone know that on KS, there is not much of a guarantee about seeing the project be launched than on any other crowdfunding platform.

DM : People get a copy of the game ? or their name in the credits ?

CB : It depends on what you pay for, lots of people wanted the game in early acces…

DM : They pay for a game that ship in 4 years ?

CB : No i twill ship on Christmas of 2017 and we will keep the deadline. People backed for a lots of different things like name in the credits, having its own NPC ingame…

DM : We can be in the background of Shenmue 3 ??

CB : Yes

DM : OK

CB : And as a player, It would really got my interest ! (laughs)

DM : In 2013, you organize the Monaco Anime game show with the staff of the toulouse game show and since a year, you continue solo on the Monaco Anime Game International Conference (Magic)

*Joke on Davy that forgot the « Game » in MAGIC*

DM : So What is the Magic ?

CB : We wanted a free and very qualitative event on the exchange between authors of Video games and Animes.

DM : Free ? at Monaco ?? Didn’t they tried to kill you ?

GUEST : You have the 15€ Sandwich (laughs)

CB : That’s not true, we have good agreement and it is cheaper than most of the time… Even autographs are free…

DM : Americans are accepting that ??

CB : Yes yes, I think americans would accept lots of thing if their interest are met…

DM : Who are the guests ?

CB : Terasawa Buichi, Cobra creator… Yu Suzuki, Shenmue creator.

Pardon my english again and enjoy :)

I saw the complete tv show and the mood was totally friendly (it even ended by a Nerf guns battle). The bearded guest is a cool guy actually (co-creator of Dofus) and I found the other guest very polite about the explanation of his doubts.
I think Cédric appreciates this kind of frank questions because he's here specially for counter misinformation and even joked about Michel Drucker a French tv presenter famous for being the king of hypocrisy with his guests.

In case anyone's confused (as one or two posts suggest), dialog is still going to be recorded in both English and Japanese. The only question is whether both will be made available on the same version of the game. Corey Marshall's pointed this out also.

You're all missing the most important thing:

This will be the first E3 where we won't have to suffer any dreadful SHENMUE III IS REAL rumors.

Praise be to Yu.

Shenmue is what it is. Let's not be afraid of putting it out there and letting it live or die on its own merits. To in any way hope that remasters aren't released in case they discourage people from buying Shenmue 3 would be to overlook the whole point of reviving the series in the first place. We've come this far because we have faith in this franchise and believe it should be enjoyed by more people. Now's not the time to blink.

it didn't sell well for a reason...

It was one of the few games on Dreamcast to sell over a million copies. It's not that it "didn't sell well," it's that it didn't - and mathematically couldn't - sell enough to recoup its exceptionally high development costs.

If it had been exclusive to any of the other three platforms of that generation and sold to the same percentage of its installed user base, it would have turned a profit. And I'm sure I don't need to point out how PlayStation 4 hardware sales compare with the Dreamcast's.

Shenmue isn't for everybody, then or now, but it's for a lot more people than it's often given credit for.

it didn't sell well for a reason...

It was one of the few games on Dreamcast to sell over a million copies. It's not that it "didn't sell well," it's that it didn't - and mathematically couldn't - sell enough to recoup its exceptionally high development costs.

If it had been exclusive to any of the other three platforms of that generation and sold to the same percentage of its installed user base, it would have turned a profit. And I'm sure I don't need to point out how PlayStation 4 hardware sales compare with the Dreamcast's.

Shenmue isn't for everybody, then or now, but it's for a lot more people than it's often given credit for.
The data I see shows Shenmue 1 sold 1.2 million copies with 9.1 million Dreamcasts sold, meaning about 13% of Dreamcast owners bought the game - which is rather successful.

There currently (a full 18 months before release of Shenmue 3) are 40 million Playstation 4 units sold. Shenmue 3 needs to reach just 3% of that install base to sell 1.2 million copies, and that doesn't even include the PC platform and future PS4 sales. Should Shenmue 3 manage to get the adoption rate the first game had, an incredibly lofty expectation, it would sell between 5 and 6 million copies. In the end both games will be successful in their own rights.

The HD's must be announced at coming E3 in order to support Shenmue 3. If they're not, it'll be too late.
A Shenmue 1&2 HD are worthless in terms of supporting Shenmue 3 if they come after S3. It may not be important for die-hard Shenmue fans, but it is for newcomers. Without newcomers S3 will not be financial success. And without financial success ther's not gonna be S4. (don't tell me about another kickstarter campaign)

A 6-12 months gap between releases is the best option. I think.

- If those are going to be separate games, then S1 must be announced now and released before 2017. S2 must be released not later than summer 2017. Or else it will be too late before, or even later than S3 release.
- If S1 and S2 are planned to be released together, then they still have to be announced at coming E3 and released not later than summer 2017.

Time for sega to finish the great investigation and start to do useful things.

I know some people really dislike kotaku after what happened with the Place Holder Shenmue III box art (mainly because that writer was a dickbag) but here is a really great article from Steve Bowling.

"Shenmue III is a game many thought would never see the light of day; a costly casualty of Sega’s exit from the console business. At E3 2015, Yu Suzuki blew our minds by announcing the game we’d been waiting for. Kickstarter records were shattered, and the rest is history. That’s all good, but why should you care?

This post contains spoilers for Shenmue I and II.

Whether you loved or hated the original Shenmue games, it’s hard to deny their significance. Shenmue is essentially the granddaddy of all the open-world games you’ve loved over the years; it was one of the first games to feature realistic weather cycles, which were actually patterned off those present in Yokosuka, Japan during the time period in which it takes place. It was also among the first games to have a truly open world you could explore, filled with diversions and a level of realism that up to that point had not yet been seen in games.

Shenmue’s influence can be found in games like GTA and Yakuza, to name just a couple. God of War made use of QTEs more than most of us probably would have liked, too. It’s doubtful that Shenmue III will innovate in the same way the original did, but for all the mechanics and systems those games introduced, the main reason that Shenmue matters, especially to its fans, is the story.

If you played Shenmue I and II, you’re probably both excited and frustrated. At the beginning of the original Shenmue, Lan Di shows up at the Hazuki dojo and murders Iwao, Ryo’s father. Over the course of the game, Ryo investigates the circumstances surrounding his father’s death in his hometown of Yokosuka, only to find Iwao’s murderer has fled to Hong Kong. The game ends with Ryo on a boat to continue his chase.

In Shenmue II, however, things take a hard left turn. Ryo doesn’t get to confront Lan Di, but instead watches him flee in a helicopter after fighting his way through Hong Kong’s underworld of seedy gangsters and underground fighting rings. It looks like the game is set to end there, but instead Ryo gets a lead on Lan Di’s location and follows it to a remote village in China. There, he meets a girl named Shenhua who guides him to her home and you play through a series of mundane tasks with her. Shenhua’s father disappears, and that’s where Shenmue II’s true ending begins.

Ryo and Shenhua travel to the mine her father works at, and discover it has been abandoned. After doing some exploring they find, of all things, a sword hanging out in there. Things escalate, and Ryo is read a prophecy about traveling across the seas to find this sword, which is now hovering in mid-air. Up to this point, everything in Shenmue has been at least somewhat grounded in reality; no super powers, no fanciful weapons. Directly after this, the screen fades to black and the words “The story continues....” appear.

That was 15 years ago.

In the final minutes of Shenmue II, Yu Suzuki and company changed all the established rules of the game’s universe and left us on a cliffhanger. It’s the ultimate kind of torture, and for the fans like yours truly, the opportunity to find out what happens next is almost better now than it was 15 years ago. The resurrection of Shenmue is almost a damn miracle. A long-dead franchise from a nearly irrelevant company coming back with its original creator at the helm is the kind of stuff that just doesn’t happen, or at least it didn’t happen until last year.

When Yu Suzuki took the stage at E3, I screamed, hollered and cheered. I’m not ashamed to admit it: I cried. Like many fans, I had been waiting on the continuation of Ryo’s journey for 15 long years. I had given up any hope of finding out what would happen years ago. To find out it was actually happening was enough to push me over the edge. E3 could have ended on that note and I would have been happy.

As soon as Sony’s E3 press conference ended, fellow TAYer Jose ‘Nach’ Acosta and I rushed out and I threw as much money as I could reasonably afford at Shenmue III’s Kickstarter. I gave them 300 dollars, and was hoping to shake more out of my empty coffers. Many of my Shenmue-loving friends did the same that day. Some of my friends that didn’t even care much for the franchise sent a few dollars out knowing how much it meant to me that the game be funded. We all know how that played out: Kickstarter records were broken, the game was funded and all was right in the world.

Perhaps that’s the reason Shenmue III matters. It sent a loud, clear message to developers and publishers: never lose faith in your games. People do love them, and even if you’ve given up on them, the fans haven’t. And to the players, never give up hope. After years upon years of waiting, hoping, pleading and begging, mail-in campaigns, tweetathons and offers to crowdfund, the message got across.

It took 15 long years, but without fan outcry, it might have never come to pass. Shenmue III owes its existence to the fans that never stopped supporting it. When I wrote my first public request for Shenmue III a little over five years ago, I never thought I’d be writing an article proclaiming our success, but here we are.

Publishers, take heed. If you support your games, your fans will support you."

http://tay.kinja.com/why-shenmue-iii-matters-1775817750

Amir..... That's just a tease man. 44 days :lol:

Did anyone notice the camera pan out at 4.15??

http://imgur.com/r0CNXUN.png

Look over the top of his cubicle, is that the size of the dev team?!?! That's on Shenmue 1 scale (not 200 staff mind) but that's a lot bigger than we have been led to believe they even had working on the game. That's a lot of rows of cubicles!! :shock:

Am I the only one worried that they are hiring a subdirector at this point?

The project has been underway for a long time now to be hiring for such a top level position as this...
Not really, considering we now know they only began prototyping in earnest in January.

It's likely a signifying milestone that they're exiting the prototyping phase and going into full production, or at least expect to in the coming months.

Besides, Yu had said something about his responsibilities on the project being rather expansive and potentially overwhelming. Hiring his right hand man from the original games is a smart way to delegate tasks and let Yu focus on where he's needed, and on the overall bigger picture.

On PS4, with a Dreamcast decal...

I just bought my new TV yesterday, partly in anticipation of seeing Shenmue III with the best color possible. I won't be able to pick it up till Sunday as BestBuy had to order it in for me but I ended up getting the Vizio P-50 after a couple weeks of intensive research. I'm going from a 32" maybe 1080p HDTV to a 50" 4K UHD TV.

The Vizio P-50 includes the following:
4K UHD Resolution
HDR - both HDR10 and Dolby HDR capable
WCG within the HDR
19.1ms lag in gaming mode (one of the best I could find)
A really good scaler (for when I play Shenmue 1 & 2 on my Dreamcast)

http://www.gadgetar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Vizio-P-Series-2016-4K-HDR-Ultra-HD-TV-715x578.jpg

I'm pumped. Normally a $1000 TV but BestBuy had a sale and I saved $100 which I put towards the 5 year warranty (I have young kids). It only took 10 years for my wife to agree to let me get a top of the line TV. :D

Replaying Shenmue will be glorious!

Sweet! Got my 4K 40" Samsung this year for my bedroom. So I'm all ready too. Some Netflix shows and tons of youtube content are available and really look incredible.

Telekill wrote:
Yeah, those are my top three games; Shenmue series, Uncharted series, and Resident Evil Remake.

You have good taste

The Telekill's signature got me too one day.

And my other favorite game beside Shenmue I&II is probably Resident Evil Rebirth as well.

Thanks. I think so. My next big game will be Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4) a little less than two weeks from now. Hoping for a good story.
Oh, you're in for a treat! I watched my brother play it last Xmas, very pretty game! I liked the first game, but personally got a bit burned out on that type of genre atm so I still haven't gotten around it. Would rather play uncharted 4 as I enjoy the story/vibes more (although, I don't really enjoy much of the gameplay in 1-3) but I still don't have a ps4 yet. Playing yakuza 4 though atm and loving that, recently finished 3 and over the course of the game loved it! Was really happy about this as I couldn't get into the first one. I have 3, 4 and 5 and if I finish them by the end of the year I may pick up a ps4 sooner (before shenmue 3) for yakuza 0 launch or yakuza 6 (if it comes out). Hopefully we hear more at PSX w/ shenmue!

Message from all: is any of the yakuza spinoffs worth playing? Im new to this series and don't know much about it, but I have seen a zombies one in a store recently... thx!

Shenmue III makes the Guardian's list of the most anticipated video games of 2017:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/04/video-games-2017-guide?CMP=fb_gu


Shenmue 3 (Neilo/Ys Net; PC/PS4)

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f800f61628df018dcd7f17d60ce647b8ccb1133f/80_0_1200_720/master/1200.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=a17ef24c424ab5968e761de2a36d2cd8

Sony almost broke the internet when this long-awaited close to Yu Suzuki’s adventure trilogy was announced at E3 in 2015. Following a total of $6m raised through crowdfunding, the game is hopefully on track for release late this year, following vengeful hero Ryo Hazuki to China where he continues the hunt for his father’s killer, Lan Di. But can it really live up to all that wild expectation?
Release: December

Good stuff!

If they release it in April they will announce it earlier then E3 of course!

That's what we mean. We don't think that the April date is real. Shenmue HD is a MASSIVE deal in terms of a remake. People have been wanting this for a long time, Shenmue 3 has a HUGE buzz around it, to the point where people who previously had no idea about the game are now interested. All this means Free Money to Sega lol.

Sega is only in this for the money, so they want to get as many eyes as possible on the announcement as that will translate into the most sales for them. The only "big" gaming conference that is coming up, which allows the most eyes (and makes the most sense) is E3. It doesn't make sense for them to just release a blog post, and be like... hey guys we are doing Shenmue HD. It will be covered by the media and will get some impressions but the only people who will pay attention will be the Shenmue fans. If they do it at E3 they will get so so so many more eyes and an overall much bigger press presence. The non Shenmue fans will remember it from the Shenmue 3 announcement and might be more interested now that they can actually play the first 2 games. People who don't know Shenmue, will see people losing their shit lol and will be more interested, much like what happened with the Kickstarter.

IMO, this is the only way that it should be done. E3 is the only place that Sega should announce for maximum impact.

Hands down I think this fan box art is one of the best (by Riccardo Favera)

Good analysis, Telekill, but I think you should double the sales objective (or halve the estimated benefit). Not the full $60 of a game goes directly to the developer. I think the platform holder (Sony) takes around $10 of any $60 game. Steam takes 30% of any game sold on its store (I reckon PSN will be similar). Retail takes its cut from any physical sale, etc.

But yeah, if the Shenmue III project sells decently, and with the technical groundwork laid out by it, I think it's quite likely we will see a Shenmue IV to wrap the story.

Yea it's small so this is still Bailu Village. Choubu is far bigger, with a harbour and stuff. Then Baisha will be the biggest area from what I've seen.

So it makes sense the landscapes and layouts are locked in, and it's now time to fill this world with content, like arcade machines, story elements etc. as seen in this video. So before people give off about how they must not have much designed or began work on this, that and the other, then please don't. Have faith. They are just fulfilling their KS pledge to give us updates, but at the same time, not show off the majority of the game.

And just for reference, if anyone's interested, they do seem to be clever with what is on their monitors because despite seeing them in their almost full form with placeholders, they have never once shown Choubu it Baisha in an update.

Yep and look really hard at the size of the character models in relation to the size of the area, and buildings. This game will not be a small game. Choubu is bigger than this, and Baisha is bigger than Choubu. Can you imagine walking down from that path on the left, just walking around this little area, listening to the sounds of the environment, interacting with NCPs.

This is fucking Shenmue 3 right there.

This is a really nice update. I'm really excited that this game is truly feeling like Shenmue instead of something half baked. I had doubts after the 15 year wait that they could capture the same magic but it seems with so many from the original two games returning that they have managed to do just that. I can't wait to play the continuation.

I will say that it's a bit disappointing to read in the update that they are "painfully aware" of our anticipation. To me that reads that too many of us have been annoying the dev team far too often; especially after the delay of the latest update. Maybe those contacting the dev team either directly or indirectly should tone it down a bit. At least until after E3.


I was talking to Joel last week and he said there are some "animated" fans but he appreciates the passion behind every email. He passes on every email to the YSNET team, which he is supposed to do, but he says the emails are nothing to what we have to contend with on the front line. Trying to keep all the Shenmue fan sites across the board afloat, in order, and temper expectations at the hardest times, like when there are no updates. Hence, the painful awareness. They want to update us, but they know they are so busy and have to be careful about what they can show. I mean if they are filling Baisha with story elements and scenarios then they can hardly run around with a camera for a Dev Video update if it's within their strategy to show the early levels of the game only in KS Updates.

Full translation (Probably not as accurate as it would be the other way round).

Q: Right now, you are producing Shenmue 3, which is still in development. How did things go with Sega and Sony to finally achieve this?

Cédric Biscay :To be fair, I would say it was possible in the first place thanks to the original author, Yu Suzuki. I know him very well and met him several times. At first, it was impossible to seriously consider a sequel to Shenmue 2, because the Licence owners (SEGA) didn't want to hear about it. Over time, we (Shibuya Productions) and Yu Suzuki wanted to work together on a game. So we launched a project who could not be completed in the end. At the same time, the situation about Shenmue 3 changed and Shibuya Productions decided to produce it. It's also at this time that we chose to work with crowdfunding, in order to check if the Community (fan base) was large enough and if it could help us funding the game.
Ultimately, the decision to make Shenmue 3 comes from Yu Suzuki and Shibuya Productions. Of course, SEGA allows us to use the licence, since they are the owners of the Shenmue franchise. Actually, Sony comes in a second phase, once they saw that everything was secured, that fundings were provided to support the project.
They (Sony) helped us a lot in terms of communication, in particular during E3 (2015) in Los Angeles, when we did the big announcement. And then of course, they will soon participate actively with the game marketing.

Q: So, Shenmue 3 will come out for PC and PS4, right?

Cédric Biscay : That's right, still planned for PC & PS4.

Q: And for Xbox One ? It seems to me they were disagreements on the matter?

Cédric Biscay : Not specifically disagreement, it's more that Microsoft showed late interest in having Shenmue 3 compared to Sony. Obviously, it's easier to want something when everything is easily accessible. We must remember that way before E3 in Los Angeles, everybody was thinking "Well, Shenmue 3 will never come out, it is a bit of a holy grail" or "the first two games didn't sell well enough so nobody will be interested in Shenmue 3". Truth is, from the moment we decided we would bypass/avoid those obstacles, a lot more people showed interest in being part of the adventure.

Q: Since we talk about Shenmue 3, do you have some exclusive news for us? Release date or story elements for example, etc...?

Cédric Biscay : It's not the right time for exclusive news. I'm always surprised that people ask me on a regular basis about the release date because actually, we gave one right from the start and it hasn't changed to this day. It's April 15 right? To this day, Shenmue 3 is still planned for a December 2017 release date. The situation can evolve but there are no contradicting elements at the moment. In any case, we are not running late with development. It doesn't mean we cannot encounter last-minute hitch or whatever. Anyhow, to this day, the development team didn't report any problem to me.

Q: There is also a rumour about HD remasters of the first two Shenmue and apparently, they should come out this year. Do you know if they will really come out this year? Real facts or fiction ?

Cédric Biscay : First of all, ever since the beginning of the project, this is what we would like to happen. Apparently, it’s something SEGA wants too. It’s only my personal opinion but there’s every chance that SEGA has an interest for those remasters, especially considering all the hype surrounding Shenmue 3. So, I cannot officially confirm the remasters, since I don’t work at SEGA, but it seems logical to me that those games come out eventually. What we would really like to see though, is those games released before Shenmue 3 comes out. This would help us a lot with the marketing but would also bring new players to the Series, because to be fair, start a Saga with the third episode isn’t very cool. If people have played the remasters first, it would be much more fun.

Q : About Shenmue 3 gameplay. Is it going to reach a wide audience, that is to say those who already know the franchise and the new comers ?

Cédric Biscay : That’s what we aim for. That’s what we included with Yu Suzuki in the game. Actually, what we really don’t want, is disappoint the fans. This is essential. And we don’t want to cut our self off from the gamers, this is as simple as that. Therefore, we try to balance things for everybody to be happy but not by making the game hard. It’s essential to keep everybody happy in the true sense of the word. We don’t want to diminish aspects to please others. We want everybody to be happy with the game, this is our goal.

I didn't translate the rest of the interview, since it's not Shenmue relevant.

Sorry folks, i couldnt resist...

Let's assume Shenmue 3 doesn't make an appearence at E3 (and backers don't get any "substantial" update by then), it will be more than necessary for YsNet to communicate very quickly after E3 about the game status.
Seriously, I see major shit storm over YsNet's heads and the Kickstarter thing if they don't fix the PR policy right after E3.

But again, that's assuming Shenmue 3 won't appear at E3. I'm still convinced something Shenmue related is going to happen, even if it's only a wishful thinking.

As I've said, why tweet this out when surely this would be one of the top secrets heading into the E3 conference. It's like Shuehi tweeting out a picture of him and Fumito Ueda weeks before the 2015 conference. Or Andy House tweeting out a picture of him and Kojima before last year's conference. It doesn't fill me with confidence.

I agree and disagree.

You saw the retweets and likes count. You are aware of the answers the tweet is getting.
Voluntarily or not, Gio's tweet is fueling hype for a "Shenmue" appearance. Unfortunately it could backfire and if Shenmue 3 isn't going to appear, 2 years after the glorious E3 2015 announcement... well, if I was Gio, I would refrain to post anything related to Shenmue and Suzuki-San so close to E3.

Himuro, please.... please don't take this the wrong way, but remember PSX just 6 months ago. You, among others, were a lot more venomous and toxic after the no show at that event. A lot of which, I took the brunt of. That was hard to take. You also were making threats, to go to the press etc. Again, don't take that the wrong way by today's context, but that's the facts. By all means, look forward to E3, and get yourself uber hyped if you want! Go nuts, but I'm asking you now, keep an open mind and as Jibby said, there could be absolutely NOTHING Shenmue related to come out of the Sony Conference, and the whole of E3. You are really building yourself up here, where everyone else is excited, but also voicing caution. Learn from the past. If there is a Shenmue no show, keep sensible and don't get negatively emotional again. That goes for everyone.

After PSX, lessons were learned, and anyone spouting garbage about going to the press, making claims of stolen money etc we will have a strict zero policy this time round. Temp bans will be issued without reasoning first if we feel it's beyond trying. Himuro, you are an example of that, where at the time you fly off the handle and throw the toys out of the pram, but then after a week or two, you apologise and things calm down once clarity sets in.

So this time, in the event that E3 is another PSX washout, by all means voice an opinion. But do it constructively and respectfully. Remember Yu and his staff are working 24 hours a day, sleeping at the office to get us out a game that's worthy of the Shenmue brand, on a shoestring budget. If they feel that E3 isn't the right time, respect that, and remember your 4 wude.

Shenmue III does have the advantage of having had a lot of pre-production work done prior to its current development period. I'm not sure if it's possible to quantify how much time that counts for in the overall process of bringing forth the completed game, but my impression is that it's a significant amount.

Sony E3 2017: 5 ways PS4 could beat Xbox Scorpio:

http://www.psu.com/feature/33058/sony-e3-2017-ways-ps4-could-beat-xbox-scorpio


Shenmue 1 & 2 HD

Now that Yu Suzuki has made his dream a reality and is chiselling away on Shenmue 3 for PS4, it’s about time SEGA did the obvious and let us revisit the original games in glorious high-definition. Ryu Hazuki’s revenge epic attracted only a niche audience upon its Dreamcast launch, so the chance for a wider circle of gamers to experience the cult classics via a PS4 HD update is an opportunity too good to miss out on. Sony’s press conference would be a great platform to announce the Shenmue HD bundle, given that Suzuki-san previously used E3 2015 as the stage to launch the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter. We know that SEGA has registered a trademark for Shenmue recently, and the latest rumors have suggested the collection is indeed real and being prepped for a launch in late 2017. Hopefully it won’t be long before we’re racing forklift trucks in the harbor and laying the smackdown Hazuki-style upon legions of punks in Hong Kong’s back streets.