I think Deep Silver must have been very impressed with what they saw concerning the development of Shenmue 3. They see this as a big investment in their own brand and want to be a part of something as big as Shenmue 3 could be. In order to secure the publishing deal they likely offered to invest more than just publishing the game. This is all speculation of course but everything seems very, very positive for Shenmue 3 and the series as a whole.

Based on other interviews Yu has said...

Chapter 1: Shenmue 1
Chapter 2: Boat to Hong Kong(not in game)
Chapter 3-6: Shenmue 2

I think with Shenmue 2 Yu had to cut a lot from each chapter to get to where he thought that game should end. He said in another interview a couple of years ago it would take 4-5 games to finish the story. So we're looking at Shenmue 5 being the last game. He would have to cut a lot to finish in Shenmue 4.

I want him to make at the most five games. The longer this series stretches the more likely we'll never know how it ends. If he can finish it in four games and tell the story he wants to tell I would be more than happy. In a perfect world he would get five games or even six if he had enough content. But realistically I think four to five games is all we should expect.

I think at this point he's going to make four for sure. He's already talking about production of Shenmue 4 after 3 is finished. They should be able to turn a good profit from 3 because we're the ones funding the majority of it. That should lead comfortably to 4. So if the profit is good for 4 we should be golden. If Shenmue 3 is well received I see Sega pushing its way into the production. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess it would be a good thing so long as they give Yu total control.

However, if Shenmue 3 flops I just hope Yu finds some way to at least tell us the rest of the story. I don't see it coming to that though.

I look at how the studios are coming on board production like Sony and Deep Silver. Granted Sony has been there since the beginning. But whatever Yu has shown must have impressed them.

Have we seen any other franchises that have been revisited after years of being dormant and have companies eager to join production? That wasn't really a question in order to make a point. I'm honestly asking.

I'm keeping my expectations low for Shenmue 3. I honestly don't expect a masterpiece but I don't think it will flop. I think Shenmue 3 is where Yu will gain a foothold with a solid game and a substantial profit which will lead to a much more fully realized Shenmue 4 and 5.

One thing that does concern me is how the gaming media will receive the game. I fully expect the big websites to criticize the game because either 1. They have no history with the franchise or 2. They just enjoy trashing fandoms they are no part of. I wish there was a way we could get out in front of this and let these places know we expect fairness when reviewing Shenmue 3. If it's a bad game, it's a bad game. But if it's a good game after 15+ years of dormancy but it's not the AAA people expect it to be, it's done what the majority of revisited franchises have failed miserably to do.

I think whatever we do it needs to involve toy capsules just like with the third of the month campaign. Not sure what we would do. The goal would need to be creating viral buzz with some public demonstration or display. A forklift made out of toy capsules? Sending capsules to GameStops for display?

This topic needs more activity though, because we live in a viral society and if we can capture the gaming world’s attention that would help our little game immensely.

These are exciting times we live in. I hope their sources are correct.

ahh,well i guess it had been discussed,i thought i might introduce and share some news which was pretty exciting to me.and had never heard of before,i woul;d have liked to include her name(had i actually known it)and included the link if i actually knew how.but i have no inclenation of passing this elitist bar in order to post.and u all wonder why people r so quick to burn shenmue.

Don’t worry about it man. It was buried in another thread. It probably deserved it’s own thread because it was so well hidden. They had to have known what they were doing to include 1/2 if the chiyoumen leaders in the trailer.

I don't know. Shenmue and Shenmue 2 were both technically commercial failures and they might not have wanted to risk it. But sega back then was different and they might've just said "f*** it. Let's just do it." They did make Shenmue 2, after all. That was a risk.

Wasn’t Shenmue only a commercial failure because the Dreamcast was a commercial failure? I saw a figure somewhere about the number of Shenmue copies sold being a pretty high percentage of the number of consoles sold. Had the Dreamcast sold better naturally Shenmue would have also. And the cost to develop the sequels would have been much cheaper than Shenmue 1.

I guess I’m not a real Shenmue fan because I never took the time to follow people and observe their daily routines. But if It’s between all NPCs having routines and full voice acting I’ll choose voice acting.

I hope it stays grounded in reality until the last possible moment. I think about Berserk before the egg thing was used by Griffith. That made such an impact because it was low fantasy until that and then it became high fantasy.

MiTT3NZ wrote: Finally finished HIMYM around the same time. Never felt so heartbroken in my life.

My wife and I hated how HIMYM ended. The saving grace was Barney’s final storyline. As the father of a little girl it made me tear up when he was in the hospital. Ted’s ending suuuuucked.

The question is how long will it be until Shenmue 4 is released?

I know this opinion isn't very popular, but I would like to see the series conclusion with the fourth game. At the very least, have the Ryo vs Lan Di vengeance story arc complete. If they want to branch off into something else, fine, but I want the original main story to be done so that I can have closure after 20 years of waiting.

I came here to say pretty much this. I want some degree of closure in Shenmue 3. Mainly with Lan Di. We all know by now Ryo won’t kill him. I hope 3 settles the score somehow. I don’t think that will happen but I don’t want it to be a Shenmue 2 scenario all over where we wait indefinitely for a sequel. If Shenmue 3 isn’t successful we’ll never get a fourth. Period. The prologue to the first game set up Lan Di as the villain. I want Ryo to defeat that villain in whatever way Yu envisions. In my mind that is the only resolution I care about. Anything else is icing on the cake. I know the story will continue with Tentei but I really only care about Lan Di right now.

Nobody wants to buy a new game and play the old game bundled with it first. That’s the reason ports HD remakes are so important before Shenmue 3 is released. I honestly don’t expect HD remakes. Ports make more sense from a financial standpoint. I can understand a game like Shadow of the Colossus being completely remade but Shenmue is so much more complicated. A remake would be best but I can’t see SEGA ponying up the money for it.

There’s no way Ryo can defeat Lan Di in Shenmue 3. I just feel like there’s way too much story left for the Lan Di arc to end. I imagine this is the outline of what will happen...

Shenmue 3
Ryo will fight muscle man and win
Ryo will fight Niao Sun and win
Ryo will fight Lan Di but lose

Shenmue 4
Ryo will fight the last chiyomen leader and win
Ryo will fight Lan Di and win but he won’t kill Lan Di
Ten Tei will be introduced
Lan Di and Ryo fight Ten Tei, Ren intervenes and dies, Ten Tei is killed by Lan Di or Ryo. Everyone walks off into the sunset

If Shenmue 3 sells really well I could see them stretching the story to Shenmue 5.