All they had to do was make a teaser showing environments. If the locations are as far along as Peter and LanDC say all they had to do was make a one minute trailer of the environments like the Monaco vid of Shenhua's house. Show the Chinese countryside, show the wind blowing in the Shenmue tree, show Bailu village, and details of the interior buildings, show one of the big buildings of Baisha and don't show a single character, all while beautiful music is playing. Until the end when the camera pans and we see Ryo and Shenhua. Fade out. Shenmue III, coming 2017.

That's all they had to do and we already know they have the capability of doing this when every video so far is literally something like this.

There really is no excuse for showing jack shit for well over a year and I do not blame a single person for rescinding their pledge.

All they had to do was make a teaser showing environments. If the locations are as far along as Peter and LanDC say all they had to do was make a one minute trailer of the environments like the Monaco vid of Shenhua's house. Show the Chinese countryside, show the wind blowing in the Shenmue tree, show Bailu village, and details of the interior buildings, show one of the big buildings of Baisha and don't show a single character, all while beautiful music is playing. Until the end when the camera pans and we see Ryo and Shenhua. Fade out. Shenmue III, coming 2017.

That's all they had to do and we already know they have the capability of doing this when every video so far is literally something like this.

There really is no excuse for showing jack shit for well over a year and I do not blame a single person for rescinding their pledge.

I agree they should do this, but I don't think it would have been showable in the PSX keynote of today, where all other trailers were much more advanced and mature than that.

But it could be a monthly Kickstarter update or something like that...

The fact they have not done something like this even now is frustrating as fuck and I'm not buying the "Yu is a perfectionist" rhetoric. This the most basic kind of trailer you can do. I am now blaming this on sheer incompetence at this point.

There was this promise in the beginning that backers would have an unprecedented level of involvement with the development of the game, and they've done such a lousy job fulfilling it.
Thank God for that. I was never too keen on that idea. I don't want backers interfering on the game's development. I'm not paying to have a game made by us, but by Yu Suzuki and his team.

Personally, as a backer myself (who spent almost €200 on this project), the only thing I think Yu and co. owe me is a great game which lives up to the Shenmue name. In fact, I quite dislike something that is very common in the videogame industry and that is the fact that games are announced way before their release dates. I understand that they need to hype them, for marketing reasons, but, as a gamer, I just want the game and I want it to be good, not to spend 2 or 3 years getting screenshots and videos. Obviously, since this was a Kickstarter project, it had to be announced at a very early stage, so, as someone else mentioned already, it is only natural that it seems to be taking longer than usual for them to come up with something substantial to shoe to the public. Fine by me. After all, I'm a Shenmue fan. I know how to be patient. And I assume everyone else here knows too (or should know). And I'm fine with these Kickstarter "non-updates" we've been having too. Just let them focus on making the game. All I'm interested in is the final product.

And if this means that, when they finally do show some video which is more representative of what the actual game will look like, they're going to show us a proper trailer, with gameplay, cutscenes bits, different characters and whatnot, then great.
Because fuck teasers videos! They just... well, tease. Either show us something proper, or nothing at all. So I'd rather have nothing now and later have a proper trailer which will blow me away and give me an actual idea of what the game will be like, than having a teaser that shows nothing and just teases.

Anyway, this game won't come out for a very long time (we'll be lucky if we get it in 2018), so there's plenty of time to hype it and market it. No need to worry (yet) about the possibility of development being a mess which will result in a shitty game. It simply wasn't shown at PSX. Big deal. No one said it would.


Here here. That's my thoughts exactly. We will get a game eventually. Quit your whining. All this "woe is me, how dare they." 2 years ago I'd have given my left nut to have this game in production. Now it is. And no, I don't want backers telling yu what to do. I don't even want your names and likeness in the game. I want shenmue 3 not a Kickstarter project.

Yes, let's keep it absolutely positive. It's worked out so well this far! There's zero reason at all to critique! Let's just fanthing it up!

There was nothing official to go off right? I understand it's disappointing but at least it's still happening. Pitch forks away everyone. I understand everyone has thoughts that have been building up as the months go by but just remember the game you have been waiting around 15 years for is going to be ours within a couple of years.


There is no excuse. They have taken the money over 70k people and have gained nearly 7 million dollars. Not showing Jack shit for over a year is inexcusable. If the project is having trouble communicate that. While Cedric is telling us December 2017, we still haven't seen anything of note. Zero screens since Ferbruary. No updated model. No direct feed video of Shenhua's house. They think it's okay to release videos made in August of this year with absolutely zero updates on how this game is doing in development. A lot of us gave this game 100 dollars or more. Some gave a fortune. I was fully prepared to give 300 extra dollars to the PayPal if they showed a trailer at PSX. Nope. Pitchforks out.

They showed some stuff let's not be apocLyptical.


They've shown a few screen shots, and a game test walk through available only to people who attended magic Monaco or paid 10k dollars in the past year.

There was this promise in the beginning that backers would have an unprecedented level of involvement with the development of the game, and they've done such a lousy job fulfilling it.
Thank God for that. I was never too keen on that idea. I don't want backers interfering on the game's development. I'm not paying to have a game made by us, but by Yu Suzuki and his team.

Personally, as a backer myself (who spent almost €200 on this project), the only thing I think Yu and co. owe me is a great game which lives up to the Shenmue name. In fact, I quite dislike something that is very common in the videogame industry and that is the fact that games are announced way before their release dates. I understand that they need to hype them, for marketing reasons, but, as a gamer, I just want the game and I want it to be good, not to spend 2 or 3 years getting screenshots and videos. Obviously, since this was a Kickstarter project, it had to be announced at a very early stage, so, as someone else mentioned already, it is only natural that it seems to be taking longer than usual for them to come up with something substantial to shoe to the public. Fine by me. After all, I'm a Shenmue fan. I know how to be patient. And I assume everyone else here knows too (or should know). And I'm fine with these Kickstarter "non-updates" we've been having too. Just let them focus on making the game. All I'm interested in is the final product.

And if this means that, when they finally do show some video which is more representative of what the actual game will look like, they're going to show us a proper trailer, with gameplay, cutscenes bits, different characters and whatnot, then great.
Because fuck teasers videos! They just... well, tease. Either show us something proper, or nothing at all. So I'd rather have nothing now and later have a proper trailer which will blow me away and give me an actual idea of what the game will be like, than having a teaser that shows nothing and just teases.

Anyway, this game won't come out for a very long time (we'll be lucky if we get it in 2018), so there's plenty of time to hype it and market it. No need to worry (yet) about the possibility of development being a mess which will result in a shitty game. It simply wasn't shown at PSX. Big deal. No one said it would.


Here here. That's my thoughts exactly. We will get a game eventually. Quit your whining. All this "woe is me, how dare they." 2 years ago I'd have given my left nut to have this game in production. Now it is. And no, I don't want backers telling yu what to do. I don't even want your names and likeness in the game. I want shenmue 3 not a Kickstarter project.

Yes, let's keep it absolutely positive. It's worked out so well this far! There's zero reason at all to critique! Let's just fanthing it up!


It's not about blind positivism but about understanding that this game is a massive undertaking. I never wanted to "help develope it" and be super involved. I gave Yu money to make the game. He is. He can't show much at this point it seems. What do you get out of your stress and anger? Do you want him to apologize and show you assets? The guy knows what fans expect. He has passion for it and is doing all he can. All he owes you is a game. As far as we know , he is working on it. Stop acting like a teenager. Praising the man a week ago and now crying and complaining. Temper yourself.

Yu isn't making this game alone. Who said anything about complaining about Yu? I said Ys Net, not Yu Suzuki. Stop acting like Yu Suzuki is making this game alone. Complaining and whining? Get over yourself. These criticisms are justified and are hardly aimed at one person.

As for the game being a massive undertaking, sure. It is. No one said it wasn't. But it'd be helpful if we had any idea how far along it is. It'd be helpful to see at least a basic environmental video that I described earlier. It'd be helpful if they actually released footage that they keep showing to people who pains fortune rather than discuss that you use tense music during tense moments in a video game.

Not to mention that Bloodstained was shown at only 10 percent completion and said so and people loved it.


Yup. The fact that people say "Yu is a perfectionist" as an excuse is telling. When it comes to a Kickstarter game progress matters more than perfection in the overall progress of the game.

YSnet staff, including YS himself, are sleeping at the office to get as much progress on the game done as possible. They're currently hiring cutscene artists, searching for a director (for cutscene motion capture or voice work is unknown), and have had Keiji Okayasu in as the game director for about half a year now. They're not sitting on their asses doing nothing. They are under an immense burden of pressure and do not want to disappoint. The radio silence sucks, but at least they're not wasting time developing a vertical slice that takes two months progress out of completing the final game.

Spaghetti.

I respect your posts. You are one of the more reasoned voices on the Dojo. But the quoted paragraph isn't fact - it's hope.

You've taken information we were told months ago and presumed, as we've had no tangible update for some time, that everything is fine and dandy; all hunky-dory. And if this is how you've read the situation, then you're entitled to your opinion.

If the team feel they have nothing worthwhile to show, I'm happy with that - that's fine. But what I'm not happy with, though, is the piss poor communication from everyone involved in the game's development and, as someone that has helped fund the development, the least I expect is a half-decent monthly update as promised, even if the update is there is no update.

Unfortunately, Yu was happy to collect people's hard earned money but it appears he doesn't fully understand the unwritten rules of a fundraising project.

It's about time someone is made accountable for this mess.

Let's see them defend there being no substantial December update if it comes to pass.
I thought it was E3 '17 you were willing to wait until? Or was it March '17? I guess it's December now?

Look, you're just setting yourself up for outrage by putting an arbitrary date on when you expect something we have no way of knowing is coming. You're accelerating that date already too. Do you remember what I said the other day about confirmation bias?

Nope. You just think it's my deadline. My deadline is still E3 2017. I'm just mentioning the December update because I can predict that when nothing happens you all will defend it.

to the lack of actual game updates
You keep saying this even though it isn't true.

True. But it depends on what you mean by game update. We've seen Oyasu has joined as Co-director again. We've seen of qte's in wire mode.

Other times, people have had to point out and zoom in on three second clips. People are that desperate for something new from the game.

You're right. We've seen some stuff. We've seen that one video of Shenhua and Ryo at the spring and I really liked that. We saw the video of the house with Ine in it and I REALLY liked that. I've liked all the pics they've shown us too. But in the past year I think they could have done better. In 2016 we mostly see them working on the game. Yeah, that's fine. But it'd be nice if they showed a new npc model every now and then. It'd be nice if upon completion of a building in Baisha, they'd show it to us in one of the updates. You think I'm asking for the world but I'm not asking for much at all, really. You think I want the game completed immediately or whatever but it's not true. I just think there's so much more they could be doing so that we don't have to zoom in on a 1 second clip in some 2 minute video of Yu and the team talking to get a sneak peak at the next Shenmue.

I think they could be doing much better in a lot of ways communicating the games progress beyond "we're working on it." Like the Halloween update. Wouldn't it be nice if they gave us a new screenshot of the pumpkins in Bailu with a more current version of the game? That's all I ask. Just something , anything to chew on.

Hell, I'd settle for a direct feed video of the Monaco video giving us a tour of the walkthrough with a voice over explaining the area even if it's nearly year old footage. At least it'd be something more than "we are working on the game." It's like the updates are done only for Shenmue fans rather than communicating anything about the game to newcomers. It's like, why should anyone besides Shenmue fans buy the game? According to the updates I'm not seeing any reason at all. I find it all piss poor, being honest.

I honestly think that Shenmue 3 will Not sell very well. Not because the game being shitty ( as we all know it isn't) but because of the poor "marketing" or presence. I am also disappointed that there has not been shown too much of the game till now.

Not to us Fans , but more to the public. The no show at psx was a huge waste of opportunity, it's not only about us fans but Shenmue 3 HAS to be somekind of present in the media, and following the kickstarter and everything else think they pretty much failed to achieve that and I seriously think it out just because of the lack of competence or interest in selling their product well.

As we know, sales are important for the future of the series and if they continue to fail in marketing like they do (IMHO) then that cannot be a good thing.

If I were in charge of marketing, I would release 5 to 10 Beta-pictures of the game just to catch some eyes of non shenmue fans.

One or two trailers are definitely not enough... they definitely shoul have done more in that regard.


But they didn't.

That's why so few people don't even know what shenmue is.
It was not only because of dreamcast poor sales. I'm completely with Himuro here.

And then when Cedric talks about missing PSX he talks about from the perspective of a fan. It's like everyone involved is doing amateur hour. It's indefensible. It's like they want this game to fail after all the effort it took to get to this point. Other fans will defend but I'm not.

Fact of the matter is that just last week Spaghetti said people have completely forgotten Shenmue III exists and yet here we are.

People have forgotten about it because the team haven't given anyone a reason to give a shit. You can cite that it takes other games ages to make headway in development and that's true but they still give people a reason to give a shit. They don't just sit there all quiet saying "we're working on it" which is bloody obvious. People mention FFVII wasn't at PSX this year but we've seen FFVIIR gameplay just last year. It was like a minute long but it got people hyped. Shenmue needs that to stay relevant. But somehow pointing this fact out - yes, fact - means we're complaining when this game and this series@ future depends on it.

If it were on this games marketing team I would have made an environment trailer and showed it at PSX. People say that's not enough, but meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption 2's reveal trailer was nothing but atmospheric stuff like dogs barking and a dude climbing a horse and riding into the sunset. That's all they really need to remind people that "hey, we're still here." But then some goofballs say to delay the game so it doesn't fight with other games like RDR2. All while ignoring that Shenmue III literally has no presence at all in the media and will bomb, RDR 2 or not.

But hey, we're just complaining.

And when pressed, Cedric has no idea what's going on as much as anybody else but somehow we're supposed to trust him as a producer when it should be their priority to make this a success. Cedric seems too concerned with being a fan (being hands off with Suzuki for example) than a producer who wants a return in his investment.

You guys haven't learned your lesson. Don't discuss anything about what Peter or LanDC saw that might personally put them on a position that may have to put a load of expectations for any of us. For pages you told me to wait. Then bloody wait and leave them alone. It shocks me that despite the crushing disappointment of this past weekend you are all getting ready to this dance again. Just let dogs lie and wait instead of engaging in meaningless blabber that might put LanDC and Peter in a bad position. Peter was already half blamed for the PSX no show and I'll be damned if LanDC is blamed if we get a vapid December update.

On a side note I just got FFXIV in the mail and wanted to read the manual while on the toilet and there's a small leaflet. I remember XI's manual to be thick as Glasses' specs. I know other games do that now but doing this for a meaty mmo? Blasphemy. Oh well, we saved the forest at least but still.

Wow, so much hate here.

Lets just wait and see. I surely will push this thread up in 2023 with no Shenmue 4 confirmation in sight but instead having some hardcore fanboys opening Shenmue 4 petitions with approx 25 signings on it, and we all are going to know why this will happen :D

And now lets guess who that hardcore fanboys will be in particular

At this point, I'm guessing that if you criticize Shenmue III upon release you might even be banned. How dare you criticize our lord and savior!

I'm very curious to see the animations and mocap. Especially during fights.

What? Oh...right. Screenshots.

At this point, I only care about the game getting maximum exposure and being as commercially successful as it possibly can. If that means a global public release of the trailer, I'm all for it.

I didn't donate to the Kickstarter to get special treatment or perks (though I am excited about the backer rewards I will be getting), but because I waited 15 years for this game. I donated because I wanted to do everything I possibly could to ensure that the game was made, and made to the highest possible standard.

This is the same reason I was annoyed at folks who were opposed to certain Kickstarter rewards being offered during the slacker backer campaign -- shouldn't we want to cast as wide a net as possible to welcome people into the fold? This is particularly true if the saga isn't meant to end after three games. The more exposure and hype that surrounds it, the better chance we would see future installments, and not be left in limbo again.

I'm taking some ideas on how the Awesome Japan team can improve the Kickstarter for those of us who currently find it unsatisfactory. What are some of your ideas?

I really like the idea of having a 5-10 minute video interviewing a notable staff member on their vision for the game, the themes of the game, what they hope will make it stand out from the pack. I'd really like it if Awesome Japan conducted interviews with fans/backers to see why backed Shenmue III. Are they a Shenmue fan? Have they played the games? Why or why not? What are you hoping for in Shenmue III? Stuff like that. I'd like a Backer Spotlight that makes it feel more like a community of people who support this games existence and success.

Some other ideas?

I'm going to pitch these ideas to Awesome Japan. I realize if I want to change things I have to do so in a positive way. :-k

That image is going to be the whole december update.

http://i.imgur.com/7QD2ARD.jpg

We're still getting this in 2017 ??? yea right !!
I like how you circled those out but didn't for the statue on the lower left which is a placeholder item from the Dreamcast games.

Anyway, I'm not sure how you decided a rounded shadow and clipping was definitive proof the game isn't coming out in 2017, especially considering the clipping can be fixed as easily as moving the table next to it a few inches to the right...

New character doesn't look too impressive graphically and I still can't believe we haven't even seen ryo's face. I'm guessing this game is probably two years away from release, which is troubling unless they've been funded with more than Kickstarter funds. I know this is a Shenmue fan forum so a healthy dose of optimism is expected, but there are some pretty laughable posts on here tonight...

Oh God...

Again, I'm fine with this model. But if they make it entirely like a stylized manga like Spaghetti is proposing...

That character model further supports what I've been feeling for a while. Shenmue III needs the support of Sega for this to be the game we want it to be. When you look at the character models for Yakuza, it has that Sega look to it. I remember when Yakuza 1 first came out, it immediately drew comparisons to Shenmue. Without knowing what the game was, you can immediately tell that it was a Sega game and some thought it was Shenmue III.

Anyways, S3 could really benefit from whatever shading and graphics tools they use on the recent Yakuza games. Yakuza imo has an aesthetic look that gives us an idea at what Dreamcast 2 games would look if Sega still made consoles. Even though Shenmue III isn't a "Sega" game per-se, these models are not convincing in the sense that Shenmue will have that classic Sega charm to it. But given the opinions of what some saw of the game last year, I remain optimistic that it will deliver. It's unrealistic of me to make a full judgement until I see actual gameplay footage.

The game could benefit from another 1-2 year delay with Sega stepping in for financial support like they should have done all along. We'll see if they get the picture once that Shenmue I and II HD money starts rolling in. Even though Shenmue III is not being developed in house by Sega, I'm sure they will be receiving their cut on whatever profits are made off of Shenmue III.

Ultimately our Shenmue money is still going to Sega. It would nice if they would act like they gave a damn about the future of their IP.

Who knows really.

YsNet?
Yeah but they'll only reveal what they can/want so we'll never be sure of what they really know. Someone needs to get wikileaks on the case to be quite honest, they have hid their secrets from us for too long now. The people demand the right to know!

I get that they don't want to spoil anything, but they can't just say 'we're not doing any game shows in June' without saying why. They're just asking for trouble.

YS himself said we would see something substantial in early 2017. We're now 6 months into 2017.

I'm not expecting to reach December 2017 now. But I hope we get to see some thing before then. Unfortunate, but I can deal.

And, wow, that is such a boring and disappointing way to say that Shenmue 3 will not be at E3...

Yeah, they should've had pyjama guy wobble into the office on a unicycle while juggling neon-painted hamsters to the Munsters theme as the words "No E3!!!!!!!" flashed on screen repeatedly.

...no. I was only referring to how it was said. Most of us have been looking forward to E3 because of the strong possibility of Shenmue 3 making an appearance yet E3 was not even mentioned by name. It made what was said sound devoid of emotion and it disappointed me. I was only mentioning that because it was how it made me feel. You mocking me is not constructive.

If they'd said "we will not be at E3" then this thread would be full of debate over whether Sony's pre-E3 press conference technically counts as E3 or if it was clever wording used to throw us off the scent.

And I only mocked your post because of how it made me feel. Lighten up. :)

I don't see why people shouldn't expect passport Ryo... after all just a few months ago they photoshoped Ryo's DC face into a screenshot, implying they were still going for that look.

This doesn't look like shenmue. I wholeheartedly disagree with the people that say that it does. This is what the character of a Jade Empire sequel should look like, not shenmue. This proves my fears that the texture work, with all it's "dirty" and "gritty" details will no be present in the characters. That classic look with the baked in shadows and lighting will be gone.

It looks like it's made out of putty.

This is what they are going for: http://img14.deviantart.net/a055/i/2012/288/2/b/__jade_empire___player_characters_non_posable_by_lezisell-d5hut4u.jpg

Instead of http://shenmue.neoseeker.com/w/i/shenmue/9/91/Jianmin.jpg

For shenmue to look like shenmue, the facial textures have to be handcrafted. You cannot rely on polygonal geometry and lighting for the look. That's why you need to draw it in. They are not doing that. It will not look the same.

It's NOT the same. I will not cry over it. At this point I'm still just glad to be getting the game...though I am very sad that we are loosing the traditional look. Much like the title, it will be shenmue, with a different font.




*Sigh*... Oh well.

As far as the styling is concerned, I'm ok with it. I wanted some style, as it's in keeping with character design. Ryo has always had spiky stylized hair, for example.

Where's all this Shenmue III on DC talk come from all of a sudden? We've always known development never began on III. Yes, even if they made a Niao Sun character model for the premiere, and yes, even if for a long time we all thought the cut content out of the end of II (Miao Village, etc) was really Bailu in III. It never started. The most recent source we have on this is Ryan Payton saying they never really made anything past the ending point of II on a podcast.

YS himself said we would see something substantial in early 2017. We're now 6 months into 2017.
No, he didn't.

Exact quote:
“Development is entering the final stage headed towards full-scale production. Early in the new year, I think we’ll be able to show you things such as new videos .

And we've had new footage of the game, though fleeting.

Don't be so pedantic, Spags. New videos (plural) would be substantial in my eyes.

Well, here it is.gif

After all the tiny information we got in the last two years, no real gameplay and the not finished face of ryo I am not really suprised. I think we should be more realistic about the development of the game in the future and stop dreaming otherwise you will be disappointed over and over again.
As I said before a release in 2017 is absolutely unrealistic - by the end 2018 will be more realistic right now BUT this could also mean that a new Playstation could be announced or even released which could kill the hype of the shenmue 3 :(

Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been.
I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.


Wow. Just wow...Just put your own "fact" and question the user for beeing here....this is not the right way to react to critism or other opinions. He does not want Shenmue be Yakuza. He wants the character style of Yakuza and I do agree.

https://youtu.be/NJXqMPzVvr8?t=171

Can someone translate what the subtitles of shenhua say?
http://i.imgur.com/CX8caIY.jpg
Something like: ""What? Hmmm... Occasionally, there are even times when the mountains along the Li River bring misfortune..."

You can read some discussion about it in this thread:
http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50217

From the speech pattern in the Japanese, the consensus was that these words are actually being spoken by an old man (presumably offscreen) rather than Shenhua herself. Or they may just have been test captions.