Great topic and really interesting what everyone has done during the big wait!

Seems to be a coming out connection! Lol. I wonder if the escapism of shenmue connected with people still trying to understand themselves and not feeling like they fit in?

I'm gay myself but I've never really thought about a connection until reading this topic.... It's known that certain mediums have connected with the 'disassociated or minorities'- X Men being a good example as it is known to have a higher proportion of fans from ethnic/sexual minorities- mutants represent them in a fantasy way I guess....


Anyway apart from accepting I was gay I got kicked out of college, went through crappy retail jobs, moved around the UK with my ex, learnt to drive, got a car, got a new partner, got a decent job with a bank, split with that partner last year and then shortly after had the worst time when my mum died suddenly...
I remember trying to explain shenmue to her when I was younger and she knew I was a massive fan so shenmue 3's announcement was bittersweet in that respect as I would've loved to tell her it was finally happening and try explaining kickstarter to her! :')

Great topic

*Edit oh and I'm 30! Profile active since 2003 but I think we all migrated then from a different system didn't we? I'm sure I was on the dojo before then..

stuff i noticed

dudes on top of the crane at harbour (seen before)
beta lan di with low poly pony tail.
a shot with a ton of npcs on screen at once in dobuita (could dreamcast handle that?)
miki appears twice in same shot 1:39 lol
chai on crane at night, not in main game, at least we don't see him there
Iwao character model is different, looks younger
Ryo collects Zhu Yuanda letters from the mail box himself rather than than being given it by ine san. 4.49
beta yamanose
ryo's jacket rides up further and has some kind of crease folding, fabric movement effect
different forklift models
arcade very different, flat table machines. and plants
phone booth much smaller, narrower
locking onto and speaking to a woman on a balcony!
ryo has different stance in free battle, looks weird, leans forward, maybe there was a pose for when he gets tired in battle.
old terry qte chase (seen before)
beating up mark (seen before)
chai doesn't eat ticket!
VIEW MODE -move camera around during cinematics - cut from final game
buoys, nets in water at harbour
snow gathering at the edge of water itself

they probably couldn't use this footage for promotion since so many little things had changed by final release.

These we're awesome, like pure fan service. Why else would they put previously unreleased material on the page to get people to know the games. Man, as if the announcment of Shenmue III wasn't enough already.

I'd say odds are it starts at the beginning of disc 4/arriving in guilin. Mainly because of the following-

a) presenting a remake of a scene from this part in the announcement of shenmue 3 would suggest Yu is atleast considering revisiting that chapter to form the beginning.

b) Yu has already stressed about his focus being on the relationship between characters and specifically Ryo and Shenhua so you have to really start from Ryo arriving in Guilin and meeting Shenhua as the foundation of that relationship

c) disc 4 didn't really feel like a full chapter or the ending of shenmue 2. As Miles has said it felt more like the beginning of S3 anyway (storywise).

I remember feeling the sadness of arriving in Guilin on follow up playthroughs on Dreamcast and Xbox because i knew it was going to end so abruptly with no sequel in sight.... Took a while!

Also keep in mind..Shenmue 1 ended on a boat, Shenmue 2 started on a boat.
Shenmue 3 starting on a boat would just make sense for the sake of continuity.
Shenmue 3 ending on a boat would also fit the trend at that point too.

Nah fuck that, mandatory tank controls for everyone. Casuals can fuck off.

JUST GOT THE MAGAZINE!!!!
Its beautiful!!
They only had one. Going to find more now.
Edit: Found 3 more untouched in plastic wrap!
WOOOOOOT
I have my first official SHENMUE 3 collectors item!

PM me if you're interested in one.

I still remember in December 2001 when I was 15. I imported Shenmue II for DC when I found out all I needed was Gameshark to let my Dreamcast play it. My mother ordered it for my birthday that past October. I was ecstatic and remember how I felt when I saw that massive cliffhanger. Being young and naive, I felt in time I'd get Shenmue III. The older we get, the wiser we get as well. My friends would laugh at me, even to this day, how much I wanted Shenmue III. In its stead, I replaced it with Yazkuza which I do enjoy. In the mean time, I collected anything Shenmue form the strategy guides, to multiple PAL copies of the games and sealed games, to his watch and even that cheap toy from Sonic & Sega All Stars.

Since then, I've gone to four different colleges. Got kicked out of my first university twice, then once from the community college. I gave up on college and worked at GameStop for the longest time until after 5 years I quit because I needed to change my life around. Lost weight, gained confidence, traveled the world and country, made friends, became heavily involved with the gym, and started dating more often. Ended up working for AT&T and through their tuition program, I gave college another try. I realized I enjoyed it, learned so much, and eventually got a Certificate which led to an Associate in Arts. That led to entering another university which I finally complete this August for my Bachelor of Arts. I've left AT&T since, bought a house and apartment overseas, am debating on law school, have a horrible student loan debt lol, have a beautiful girlfriend I love very much that I will become engaged to in the next year hopefully who continuously busts my balls for my love in video games and Shenmue, and now finally Shenmue III is coming. I don't buy games on release anymore, I wait for deals and am in no rush to jump in the front of the line anymore. I've been enjoying my back catalog.

I was on my couch playing Yakuza 4, skipping the Sony conference since the others felt lackluster, when my phone blew up. I check my texts and my friends are saying Shenmue III announced. I laugh thinking it's a joke. I eventually got to my computer and BOOM. Without hesitation I went and donated. I ran around my house like a kid who just got Sega Dreamcast for his birthday. My family looked at me weird, my friends laugh, and my GF thought I was a child who needed to grow up. I'm now 28, I'll be 30 when this game releases. I cannot wait and am so excited.

Thought I'd compile all the reddit Q&A in an initial post so it's easy to read for those who don't want to go through 10 pages. I'll edit my initial post as it goes on.

How accurately will Shenmue III be compared to your original vision of the game or will there be major compromises?

YS: There are a total of 11 chapters that make up the whole story. Over the past 14 years I originally planned for there to 4 or five games to the series. If at all possible, I would still like to realize the full story of 11 chapters.

Will Shenmue III enable PayPal or a means to donate to the project when the Kickstarter ends? Projects like Star Citizen gained tens of millions in donations by allowing this.

YS: I am still thinking about it, but have not decided yet.

Shenmue is a Peach Blossom tree correct? Could you tell us what type of tree exactly?
I would like to plant one.

YS: It is more like a cherry blossom tree, that blooms its flowers in the springtime. It is actually a tree I made up for the story.

Hello Suzuku-san! Will a day-to-night cycle and weather system return to Shenmue 3? They added so much to the atmosphere of previous games. Thank you Suzuki-san!

YS: Of course!

Will you reassure us that Ryo's face will be changed back to the Ryo we all know and love when Shenmue 3 releases, and not this impostor wearing Ryo's jacket that you have on Kickstarter? That is NOT our Ryo!

YS: I am not happy with Ryo's face. It will be the face I have in my mind in the end.

Will the gameplay in Shenmue III be more contemporary or will it be more in line with past Shenmue iterations?

YS: As for III, I would like to make a less stressful user interface, that will feature more usability. From now on, I will make that a focus.

Yu are my hero!
Shenmue is credited with introducing the QTE. Given the significant advances in gaming systems and technology over the last decade, are you confident that you can show the gaming world something we have not seen before?

YS: Thank you very much.

Will we see any capsule toys based on Ape Escape or any of the Sony franchise in Shenmue 3?

YS: I have not decided the capsule toys, so please keep your ideas coming.

Have you ever consider telling the rest of the tale for Shenmue in a book if the opportunity to make Shenmue III never came up?

YS: Yes, I have but if I did do that, it would give away the end of the story, and I thought that would be a big minus.

What was your inspiration for the story behind the first two Shenmue games?

YS: When I was making Virtua Fighter, I went location hunting in China. I was very inspired by Chinese martial arts. That very well may have been the beginning.

Will practicing moves make a return in Shenmue 3 along with the FREE battle system? A lot of fans feel not being able to practice moves was big piece missing in Shenmue 2, and I also personally loved being able to practice and make the moves stronger. It really makes you feel as if you are learning marital arts and then performing them in a skill-based actual battle feels very satisfying.

YS: I want to do it yes!

Will players have access to both the Japanese and English voice overs for the game?
And I wanted to say thank you so much for Shenmue and Shenmue II, it brought a tear to my eye seeing those games at E3 during the Shenmue III announcement, I cannot wait. Those two games are what made me curious about Japan as a child, and I am now trying to work as a Japanese translator!

YS: I am thinking about that, yes. However it is not for sure.
It is because of fans like you, I wanted to make a sequel. Thank you very much.

Will the band-aid ever come off?

YS: I am considering a special option where it could be removed.

Will we see Ryo's Journal return? Would be cool to be able to flip the pages using the PS4's touchpad.

YS: I would like to bring back the Journal. That is an interesting idea, I will look into it. Thank you.

What do you think of the current state of Japanese game development?

YS: I see the share of mobile games increasing, the budgets of games decreasing. It will be harder to express a game's vision.
I would hope the console and PC markets gain more popularity.

Any possibility of a bicycle finally being added to Shenmue 3? Thank you so much again, Yu!

YS: There is a 60 horsepower bike in Shenmue 1. For Shenmue, 3 I was thinking about something with 1 horsepower.

Will character polls compromise your artistic vision?

YS: I really want to get everyone's opinion on the characters. I have something in mind that won't break the world immersion.

In Suzuki-san’s opinion, what is the essence of arcade games? Are those influences in Shenmue?

YS: With an arcade game, you are restricted to a 3 minute window to express what the game is. That is how I made games for the longest time. I wanted to create a game that could be played at a more leisurely pace, so I created what ended up being Shenmue.

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!

YS: Of course I will write them all myself!

Will Shenmue 3 have any sort of multiplayer component? Perhaps Co-op or a versus mode?

YS: I am thinking about something that would resemble that.

Do you have any more details to share about the stretch goals? It's not clear to me what a "Rapport System" or "Character Perspective System" entails.

YS: They are new systems, so naturally they need new names. The Rapport System will govern changes in Shenhua's actions depending on your conversations with or actions towards her. The "Character Perspective System" will highlight different characters personalities as they go through the story.

What will Ryo do to earn money in Shenmue 3?
As great and engrossing as the story and gameplay were in Shenmue 1 and 2, I (and many others) really really liked the forklift driving. It was like I could learn a new (video game) skill, get good at it, and putter around the docks like a badass.

YS: There will be part time jobs that will be indicative of those you would find in China. In the Stretch goals there will also be the old favorites.

Do you have any dogs or cats?

YS: 3 yorkshire terriers and a turtle.

Love your work! You are a pioneer in this industry! As for my question:
How much game elements/features will we be missing in the game if the campaign doesn't reach the $5 million mark?

YS: I will say this: if we reach the $5 mil mark, one of the things I really want to do with Shenmue 3 will become a reality.
At $10 million, it will truly have the features of an open world.

Who would win a fight between Ryo and Akira?

YS: Akira! Akira is up to 5 now, and Ryo is still on 3.

Can we expect more duck racing in Shenmue III? That was the best easter egg I've ever seen in a video game.

YS: I would love it.

How was it working with mega64?

YS: It was really fun. I would love to do it again.
I hope they pitch in for the replica Ryo jacktet!

Will there be forklift gameplay in Shenmue III?

YS: Look for it in the Stretch Goals!

Given Shenmue 2's ending and previous items found within the series; will swordplay enter gameplay at all? What about the story, can we expect Ryo to use a sword at some point?

YS: I can't answer that.

Do you have a favorite game that you've developed other than Shenmue?

YS: I had fun making all the games I worked on, and can't say one was better than another. Boring answer I know, but it really is true.

I only have one statement. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that Shenmue is one of the greatest game series of all time. And one quick question, what can we expect for surprises in the 3rd installment without spoiling the storyline at all?

YS: How could I do that? Sorry, gotta pass. Thank you very much though!

I've always wondered, why did you set the game in the 1980s rather than present day?

YS: I wanted put forward the differences in culture and values between the two periods.

(Suzuki-san, thank you for coming today! Shenmue is the reason I came to Japan. Those living towns and people you showed in your games were so natural and real, that I wanted to see it for myself. So, now I am in my fourth year of living in Japan.
What I'd like to ask is, if you had billions of yen, what would your dream Shenmue be?
Also, were there any features or gameplay you liked that didn't make it into Shenmue 1 or 2?)

YS: One where the player could live in that world. A second life.

I have two important questions for you:
Do you know where I can find some sailors?
Would you like to try a game of Lucky Hit?

YS: Yes, but not right now.
Uh, ok.

I love the music from Shenmue, if anything kept me thinking about Shenmue from time to time during these 10+ years it was the music. Was is your favorite piece from the soundtrack? Thank you for bringing Shenmue to our lives, I can't thank you enough.

YS: Of course I love both the Shenmue and Shenhua themes, and all of them really, but the one that really sticks with me is the Tomato Mart.

Will there be more funding tiers added to the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, specifically between the $500 and $3000 tier?

YS: Yes.

Shenmue 3 is just the start. How successful does the game need to be for us to get Shenmue 4 and so on until the saga is complete?

YS: If the fans are not happy with 3 there will not be a 4. So I please hope we can together make this game the best it can be.

What Sega console is your favourite and why?

YS: The Dreamcast. It has really good balance. I was involved with the hardware as well, so it had a lot of meaning for me.

Suzuki-San...welcome to the fantasy zone! It's finally happening. Any plans on more arcade games within Shenmue III?

YS: I plan on making plans.

Why do you create?

YS: Why does one climb the mountain?
The shark cannot breath when it does not swim.

Any info on the stretch goals for Choubu and Bailu village?

YS: Choubu is a riverside village with lots of shops, souvenir stores, hotels and temples. The quests in this village should be very enjoyable, I think.
Bailu is the village where Shenhua was raised and also a place that Ryo's father, Iwao, had visited when he was younger. Here as well the quests will play an important role as Ryo and Shenhua start their journey.

Are all the towns listed in the Kickstarter stretch goals in the game already, or are the stretch goals only there as a means to help give them more features and spice?

YS: They are there, but with more powered up through the stretch goals.

Will Ryo ever go back to Japan?

YS: Not in 3.

Who is your favorite Shenmue character?

YS: It has always been Shenhua.

Are you still involved in any programming activities?

YS: I still write algorithms, logic verification, and make simple prototypes.

Do you play airsoft, paintball, or anything similar?

YS: I think it was Afterburner that I really got into airsoft. The office floor was covered with plastic BBs. Yeah, the Berretta 93R rocks. I put a real hunting scope on that one.

Are you at all a fan of Anime? If so, what are your favourites?

YS: Sure, but its all pretty old stuff.

Will the game take advantage of the virtual reality goggles on PS4 and PC?

YS: Right now, there are no plans for a vr system compatibility, but I love the idea of using it to peer into the world of Shenmue.

When creating Shenmue 3, will you use any assets at all from 1 & 2? Or do you have to start all over from scratch because SEGA still owns the first two games?

YS: The assets from 1 & 2 will get a lot of use.

https://web.archive.org/web/20010517015240fw_/http://shenmue.gamersuplink.com/

What a long, strange trip it's been. Working on this site was my life back then. I fell away from it all, but it's amazing that a dedicated group of fans kept on rallying. And here we are--14 years later--with a new game finally on the horizon. It's beautiful. You guys are awesome.

Bonus links:

Ryo's Place forums https://web.archive.org/web/20010408003827/http://shenmue.gamersuplink.com/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi

Staff page reminding me that I had a Netzero email address
https://web.archive.org/web/20010410031655fw_/http://shenmue.gamersuplink.com/staff.html

If it's a placeholder, I'm not sure why they're using it when "other" Ryo images look like this...

http://i61.tinypic.com/291fczt.jpg

http://www.gamespark.jp/article/img/2015/06/17/57874/107658.html

Ryo looks a lot more Ryo-like in these, so the question is, if they exist why use the placeholder? Perhaps it's not a different model at all. We are mostly basing our judgements on one image - the main Kickstarter pic which is very harshly lit. Even in the trailer he looks different.

What I AM hoping is that they'll make Shenhua look less like a white Cosplayer and more like she did in Shenmue II...

I think that he was referring to using the touchpad to flip the pages. Not the journal in itself being an interesting idea.

It's good to know that 10 million number. But I'm also slightly worried due to how the Kickstarter campaign is going. Articles like the one from Forbes at the least created extra confusion which was really not needed at this point.

Regarding horses, Besides Shenhua we also had this :
http://www.shenmuedojo.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/REN_03.JPG

Bought a wired 360 controller a few months ago to game with on my laptop and was wondering if I could use it for Shenmue III or if I'd have to use a Dual Shock 4 even for the PC version, when it hit me...

No more A, B, X, Y for QTEs.

We'll be seeing Square, Circle, Triangle and X in Shenmue.

What a mind trip. Never thought that would happen back in 2000.

What has been said here already and pretty much countless times. Save everywhere, skip time, selection wich language you want.

The QTEs could be changed to be more like they are in Shenmue II, where the button you need to press leads to an action that corresponds to what the button would perform in a fight. Also some new QTEs and Command QTEs where they fit, like when Ryo knocks out the two guys at Asia Travel Co.

I'd also like so see the inclusion of being able to select your question like in Shenmue II.

Basically bring Shenmue up to Shenmue II's feature set and make the game world a bit bigger with more of everything. Oh and Ryo should be able to eat the snacks he buys.

Yokosuka Martian wrote: Welcome back everyone! Feels good!

Indeed...It's weird, I'm back to constantly refreshing the dojo like back in the day.

I love you Locke. I miss iden tho and may others. If my original avatar existed still would use it. Was Iwao inverted and small,iwao the member I think made it. Heck if I could change back to Bluecast. 20 years old when I joined. 5 years old as a mod and 32 years old now. Seems so long ago but remember it well. I loved Shenmue Harbour. Ryo's Place was special. A few times SD went down for a long time and an admin had to bring the Icon boards out of retirement for a bit. droporkchop was a mod and me him and whiteShadow argued with Jeff lol. Sonikku and I were flying the flag USS or something I forget the name of the gangs. Love to talk to some of the OG members more on Facebook or PSN or something.

Bunch of images I dug up. Can't believe I still have some of these. Yukio will know a few. I did not post everything he made for me because that would break imgur and this is bad enough. Sonikku and Peter might see something as well. Plus more oh and Jeff called it lol.
http://i.imgur.com/492A9Vj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fQOYa8k.gif
http://i.imgur.com/VthJVkw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hlZ5Sya.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hPUjsjR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vXdtvXL.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RRAXE4U.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QBTBW4b.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/J2qWlXG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/w0Sjldo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ye0OVkA.gif
http://i.imgur.com/Qr0q66j.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bBE9Dlr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gAWH0PB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uP0RnfU.png
http://i.imgur.com/fsu6g4i.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jX3ZPt8.jpg

It's nice to see you guys too. Think I'll be back a lot more often now. I'd given up hope the past couple of years!

The prologue text which is at the beginning of the manual, in the passport and in the closing scene of Shenmue 1 already suggests that some mystical aspects will come into the story sooner or later.

He shall appear from a far eastern land across the sea.
A young man who has yet to know his full potential.
This potential is a power that can either
destroy him or realize his will.
His courage shall determine his fate.
The path he must traverse, fraught with adversity.
I await whilst praying,
For this destiny predetermined since ancient times.
Awaiting in anticipation.
A dragon emerges from the earth
as ominous clouds fill the sky.
A phoenix descends from the heavens
trailing purple from its wings.
The pitch-black night unfolds
with the morning star as its only light.
And thus, the saga begins.

That said, the ending of S2 is surprising indeed. :)

Ok guys, this is full throttle now.No excuses. All my time is going into finishing this! I am currently finishing off typing up the Kowloon segment of the game (exact type point - P155, Looking for Yuan).

I am aiming to have this fully completed and uploaded within the next 7 days.

Perfect timing for all of those who really want to play Shenmue 2 in depth, just in time for Shenmue 3!

When i first fire it up and get the black loading screen, im gonna pray to baby Jesus i dont have a heeart attack right there and then.

I'm really hoping they keep the same menu music from the first two games

We are playing thru Shenmue 3 for the first time, and we encounter the game's first QTE fight against 2 or 3 goons when this song starts up...




I'm totally gonna lose my shit! And it's really gonna drive home the fact that I'm actually playing this game.

Why yes I have. Here are some pictures I took.

https://goo.gl/photos/D18ALLuVqLk2A7Ks6

Progress is slow now. The issue is marketing and visibility. I guarantee there are Shenmue fans that still have no idea this is even happening. Those who didn't watch E3 on a stream, check gaming news regularly, etc. This Kickstarter needs to get as much publicity to the mainstream as possible.

Dojo staff are currently working on this. There are many former members of the Dojo who have not even logged in. We will be updating said members who hopefully still use the same email addresses they signed up with. Yama and Sean are currently organising this.

James brown! sonikku! Jeff! what's goooood

too soon lol

TwiceFriedRice wrote: Where the fuck is Silas???

This! It's wrecking me knowing the big guy hasn't stopped by. Me, him and Rome were what I remember most from 2004.

I've been observing from a far, it would have been rude to not come back.

oh shit miles! you too!

I prefer the in game version as well. Before i got the soundtracks, and back when they were available for download on FilePlanet, I always wanted to get this track. Love it.

http://i.imgur.com/R9dPCjn.jpg

Dear Members,

As many of you know, last week was a week that will go down in history for our community. After 14 years of waiting and hoping, it was revealed by Yu Suzuki himself that he is finally in a position to move forward with the creation of Shenmue 3, albeit with a bit of a caveat. Through the announcement of a Kickstarter campaign , Suzuki-San as asked us the fans to help bring his dream, as well as ours, to life by backing and supporting a campaign to help fund the development of the project. While there are various entities supporting this project, Suzuki-san himself has stated that that the fate of Shenmue 3 now rests in our hands and that our actions as a community will dictate the capabilities his team will have in creating the game and to ideally meet its full creative potential.

If you have not already done so, please visit the campaign website and take some time to consider the extent to which you would be willing and able to support this project; note that there are a range of pledge levels with corresponding reward tiers for every single level of backing. As the campaign progresses, there will also be added levels of support to coincide with stretch funding goals as they are introduced. All of the funds that are pledged will be allocated to and utilized SOLELY by YSNET to develop the game.

Contrary to a lot of the dubiously sourced misinformation that has been circulating in recent days, Sony will NOT be funding the entire budget for the game nor will they subsidizing the development costs for YSNET. While Sony will provide various technical investments in conjunction with marketing and promotional support, this project will remain firmly in the directorial hands of Yu Suzuki and his staff. While it is true that there are a number of backers for Shenmue 3, we at this time do not know the scope of how these other entities are involved with the project. All that we can establish for now is that we as a community are in fact the primary patrons for the development of the game and that the responsibility of making Shenmue 3 the strongest game it can be ultimately resides with us.

Over the next few weeks leading up to the conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign, we will be introducing two specific social-media based initiatives to promote the backing of the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter and the series as a whole. The first initiative, #30onthe3rd , is a continuation of our monthly tweetathon #SaveShenmue but with a twist. On 7/3/2015, we encourage everyone to who is able to increase their pledge amount by $30 and post a corresponding tweet as a sign of solidarity within the community. The 2nd initiative, #10MillionToShenmue3 , is a hashtag campaign to be disseminated across all social media platforms to highlight the need for additional funding for Shenmue 3 in order have it be the project that Yu Suzuki has dreamed of creating. In a recent interview, Suzuki-san stated that at a $10 million funding level Shenmue 3 would feature a truly open world that would follow in the lineage of the previous installments.

The time has finally come for us in the Shenmue community to support the series that has given us so much over years. We are now in a position where we can directly impact and influence the creation of Shenmue 3 and give Suzuki-san our direct input While the task at hand may seem daunting, if we come together and collaborate our efforts we will attain the game that we have wanted and deserved for so long. Thank you all very much for your support and we would not be in the position we are in now if it was not for your perseverance and dedication for the series against all odds. We have truly made it.

Keep friends,

The Shenmue Dojo Staff

This is also an investment.

My brother and I are 2nd in command at this school and we are getting larger every year. The owner is getting older and we plan to take over the school full time. We would love to design it around Shenmue and have members of the Dojo come teach English and live our their dreams of living in Guilin.

We have many connections here and a degree is not required for our school. Some basic Chinese is required though. You don't need a teaching Visa either. A basic passport is all you need but you have to leave within 90 days.

We are still in the planning stage for how we are going to do this.



hey man - just want to say this is absolutely amazing.
I was in Yangshou last year - If I had known I defo would have popped by!
My wife is a languages teacher who is learning mandarin (Ihowever have been studying japanese!).

Guilin, and the whole area around the Li river, was a beutiful place and would love to go back for more reasons than just Shenmue.

I am really happy that you got the opportunity to meet Suzuki-san and the others - plus that you were able to contribute to the campaign! Well done!

Thank you RF! We are currently back in DC. The summer programs are about to end. Fall programs are coming up and my brother will be out there in August to work on scheduling and curriculum. You are more than welcome to come out or you can wait until next May when I will be back.

If you want to teach you can stay as long as you want but most stay for about 45 days. We can arrange it to where you don't have to pay for lodging. Bobby is our on site manager and he reserves his guest room for special guests.

I hope to be in Yangshuo full time, eventually. It's so beautiful and the people treat you so well. (I'm know you are aware of this). You should come back!

Moments like this are life's purpose.
http://i.imgur.com/7ZFcYch.jpg

Been posting for a while now, again, as I got that Shenmue itch again.

But, anywho, official hellos to everybody. Great to see you guys. Bows, bows.

I'm rewatching season one. Understand it a lot more than the first time around.
I keep meaning to watch the first season again (partly because I simply don't remember how certain characters interacted with one another before everyone split off!), maybe I should do that before Season 6...

Beware Tyrion's hair! :shock:

I'm so incredibly happy that he hasn't decided to end the series with Shenmue 3. Even if Shenmue 3 does horribly (which I doubt) and we're left on another cliffhanger, that's still preferable to me than a rushed product just so I "know what happens". I don't play Shenmue merely because i'm curious about the story. I play Shenmue because its story is presented brilliantly and I want nothing to compromise that in further games.

Not sure what to make of this, at least it shows ambition and direction. Still very early days on Shenmue 3 and he's already thinking of the next instalments.

Full story - http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/23/shenmue-creator-wants-to-make-shenmue-4

Thoughts?

He has to. Shenmue is written like a novel. Shoving everything into one game wouldn't feel right.

The ability to save anywhere in Shenmue I would be nice. And perhaps the option to skip time while waiting for certain events/meetings, like in Shenmue II.

I don't know, if you asked me a week ago I would have agreed with you. Since I've been replaying the original running back to your house to save is part of the nostalgia for me. It's part of what makes Shenmue, Shenmue :heart:

but it would probably make the game more appealing to new fans.

you are dead accurate with this one. im guessing they change it.

Not too much, really.

I'd like Passport to be built into the main menu, or perhaps be able to access it from anywhere, and put most of the content offline (there's no reason the character biographies, for example, had to be online instead of off). Similarly, I'd like to see a Shenmue II Passport, or have Passport itself expanded to encompass II (Hong Kong weather reports, biographies of the new characters, leaderboards, so forth).

Add a few more SEGA games in there. Maybe put an OutRun cabinet in the harbor something.

Make Chapter 2 playable. Does that count? (Edit: Somehow overlooked that someone beat me to it!)

Disc 4 of S2 gives me good hope that he won't kill Lan Di. I hope he won't. It pains me every time I play Shenmue up to Disc 4 for of S2, seeing Ryo gradually turning into the hate-fueled person he despises.

How is the hate-fueled Ryo any better than Lan Di himself?

On Disc 4, luckily, it seems he begins to realize this.