1.Seeing as how the game is set in a remote forested region how sparsely populated will the game be, will there be wildlife?

2.What will the level of npc interactivity be and how detailed will their behavior be?

Shenmue set a new bar with the detail it put into npc behavior but had it's share of bugs as well (characters disappearing, getting stuck in awkward positions,etc). I hope this new game will rectify some of those issues and set an even higher benchmark in regards to npc a.i

and lastly,
3.What will the pacing of the game be like? Will it continue the slow pace of the Guilin chapter, or have a faster pace like Kowloon, or will it be a mixture of both?

--- UPDATE 6/27/15 ---
Guys, I've been working feverishly today to get this site up. It's collaboration between me and my wife. She does the design, I do the coding. I think we make a good team. So, as you tweet and share about $30 on the 3rd please direct people to this website that will explain the campaign to people who may not understand:

http://www.30onthe3rd.com/


--- UPDATE 6/25/15 ---
I'm beyond excited about the response this campaign is getting! Thank you everyone!

As we're quickly approaching the 3rd of July we need to all step up our efforts to promote "$30 on the 3rd."

We need to focus on a different social media every day. Let's say days with an odd number focus on Facebook and even days focus on Twitter. If you see a $30 on the 3rd post share it. And every time you check the Kickstarter page for whatever reason leave a comment with $30 on the 3rd. I'm sure they get buried pretty quickly so the more often the more chance new people have to see it.

We REALLY need to get in touch with Yu and Awesome Japan and get them to promote the push. No one is going to have the audience they do. Can someone see if Aizen can tell Yu about the campaign and see if he can tweet it?

Also, don't dwell on the chance that this may not move the needle much. If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time! Focus on $10 million! I know Yu is.



--- UPDATE 6/20/15 ---
So Yu Suzuki needs $10 million. This is NOT unreachable. It's actually VERY reachable. If they open donations to PayPal as they've suggested it will become the avenue to Yu's goal. If we continue with the monthly thunderbolt and focus our efforts on donating $30 on the 3rd of each month we WILL hit that number. I anticipate the Kickstarter will end up earning between $6 millon and $8 million because at the end everyone who hasn't donated will scramble to get their rewards and those who have extra cash to throw at it will do that. Even if it only makes $5 million that's fine.

PayPal is the ticket after July 17! If they keep PayPal open indefinitely we can continue to give month after month. And that's where the "$30 on the 3rd" makes BIG strides for the campaign.

$30 is nothing to most people. If you are struggling to make ends meet, please take care of yourself and your family first. But for those of us who are stable enough financially we can make a HUGE impact for Shenmue. $30 each month adds up, fast!

Mods, please sticky this. I really feel like this is the best route to take. We also need to get the Shenmue Kickstarter/advertising team, Twitter, Facebook groups, the Dojo homepage and any other non-English speaking Shenmue fansites involved to promote this idea.

Stay sweaty!

-- END UPDATE --

We need to form our own campaign booster to get people who have donated to add $25-$50 to their donation. No shaming for people who may not have donated very much, we're just trying to ice the cake. Instead of the monthly tweetathon on July 3rd let's do a "$30 on the 3rd" and everyone donate an extra $30(or more).

At the current count if everyone who've already donated added $30 it would add $1.24 million to the pot!

I'll donate another $30. That's three trips to the fast food restaurant or four trips to Starbucks. Who will join me?

My twitter is pathetic, so whoever organized the tweetathon feel free to take over in boosting this effort on Twitter and Facebook. And mods, move this post around if you want to use it in the News section.

http://i.imgur.com/ecLqB1X.png

http://i.imgur.com/KlfJwR6.png

http://i57.tinypic.com/2442qdf.jpg

However the budget works out I am sure that Yu will deliver an experience that he will be proud to put his trademark on.

A fellow Dojo member was looking for someone to translate the full text of the recent Famitsu article interview with Yu Suzuki - so here's a rough translation of the interview text + picture captions.

Link to original article (Japanese): http://imgur.com/a/tSsnL
Link to summary of the main points in English that was made by Varion on NeoGAF: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=168899118&postcount=6043

Interview Text (F=Famitsu, YS=Yu Suzuki)

F: The title "Shenmue 3" is one that has a huge impact, and it was a real surprise when it was announced. So first of all, with 14 years having passed since the previous game Shenmue 2, please tell us why and how the decision to make Shemue 3 came about.
YS: Bringing the sequel to reality isn’t something that was just started recently. Even more than 10 years since Shenmue 2, there are still many passionate fans and whenever I attend events or autograph sessions overseas I’m always asked about when Shenmue 3 will be coming. For example, at my autograph sessions in France, 80% of the fans are Shenmue fans. Of the rest, 10% are Virtua Fighter fans, and the remaining 10% are fans of Hang-On etc. Even now, firm fans run and manage communities. For some reason, every year around March and April, I have been hearing rumors about Shenmue 3 being released (laughs).

F: Expressions of hope for a sequel soon become rumors, don’t they (laughs).
YS: Right. But as time went on the voice of the fans began to weigh on me more and more: “Please publish the rest of the story, even if it’s just as a novel”, “We want to see a new Shenmue published, even just in manga format” and so on. So, to try to answer the feelings of the users in some small way, I decided to myself: “Even if it turns out not to be possible to create the game with all extra features, I'll do what I can to bring about the sequel”.
F: What is the reason you chose Kickstarter as the method?
YS: About 3 years ago, a fan who had used Kickstarter suggested I try it. That’s when I first heard about Kickstarter, and I investigated it further. I couldn’t immediately promise we would use Kickstarter because I wanted to be sure we would be able to use it to produce something that will live up to the expectations of the fans. I looked at other methods of making Shenmue 3, such as finding a partner company, but I wasn’t able to find one that suited my criteria. After consideration, I concluded that Kickstarter was the best approach, and finally now in 2015 I have been able to make the announcement.
F: You have often mentioned in the past that you’d like to make the sequel, but it really took a long period of preparation.
YS: Yes. The tremendous response to the Shenmue panel at GDC 2014 served as a boost to bring us to where we are now. Sega Games has gladly provided the license, and SCE has also expressed their encouragement for the creation of this Shenmue. It’s quite unusual to announce a Kickstarter project at SCE’s conference, but I am truly happy at everyone’s support for Shenmue.
F: The title of the sequel is simply “Shenmue 3”, isn’t it.
YS: No other title really came to mind. Shenmue 3 is the next part of the series leading from Shenmue 1 and 2. It’s not a spin-off. The hardware it will run on is PS4 as well as PC.
F: As the highly-anticipated legitimate sequel, I’m sure the fans will be delighted. By the way, what is the target amount for the Kickstarter campaign?
YS: 200 million yen (approx $2m) is the initial target.
F: Given that this is Shenmue, the amount of 200 million yen will surely be reached readily.
YS: Having said that, 200 million yen is the minimum amount for the game to come into existence. At that level, the content would be focused on the story. The collection of additional funding would allow me to bring into reality what I would really like to include. I would like to do new things.
F: Your outlook of “wanting to make new things” is something that you have always held to, isn’t it.
YS: Yes. I will be trying my best to achieve this with the new Shenmue sequel also.
F: Please give us more details later on. By the way, what kind of rewards do you have planned for your Kickstarter backers?
YS: As much as possible, I would like to include people’s input in the development process. For example, if there are two possible story directions for a character (say A and B), we could hold a poll to ask everyone which they prefer. I would like to give as a reward the right to participate in this kind of vote. And I also intend to allow players to experience part of Shenmue 3 while it is under development.
F: In other words, creating Shenmue 3 together with the fans.
YS: Since I expect the core of the backers will be individuals, I would like to make each one of them happy. Please have a look at the details of the rewards are listed on the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page.

F: Next, I would like to ask about the key content of Shenmue 3. What kind of story developments can be expected in Shenmue 3?
YS: At the end of Shenmue 2 Ryo visits Guilin, said to be the most beautiful region in China. The area is famous for landscape paintings, and it has a river called the Li river. Shen Hua’s house is located on a tributary of the river. The story of Shenmue 2 ends at the point where Ryo reaches Shen Hua’s house, and the story of Shemue 3 continues right from there.
F: So, Ryo and Shen Hua will make an appearance, continuing from the previous part.
YS: For people who have played the Shenmue series, those familiar characters will appear as they were.
F: Will the setting be Guilin?
YS: Yes. For example, visiting a town(s) in the Guilin area, or going back to the mountains. Also infiltrating the Guilin chapter of an underground organization, the Chi You Men.
F: It could be said that Shenmue is the originator of open world gameplay, and has influenced many games since, but for Shenmue 3 what direction do you plan to take the open world model?
YS: When I created Shenmue 1, I was aiming to create exactly what is now called an “open world”. Being able to stop freely at any location you wish, advancing if you wish to move the story forward, or just standing still if you prefer. Back then, we called the system “FREE”, but in time it came to be referred to as open world. In Shenmue 2, with advances and technology and techniques, the open world was expanded even further.
F: In Shenmue 2, it was possible to walk through many towns over a wide area of Hong Kong, wasn’t it.
YS: Actually, at that time, I had decided that for Shenmue 3 I would delve in more deeply.
F: More deeply?
YS: Yes. People might expect that the open world would be made even broader, but in contrast to that, I will focus on depth. For example, for the case of 100 characters, splitting the development budget among them would limit the elements that could be incorporated into each character.
F: That’s true, it would make it harder to create each with detail.
YS: However, if we reduce the number to 10 characters, a lot of possibilities are opened up. The amount of conversation could be increased 10 times, or detailed A.I. provided for each character. As a result, conversations could be much richer. As an example, in Shenmue 3 the person that Ryo will speak with most is Shen Hua, so I want to portray her with depth. I envisage an approach where, by settings parameters for Shen Hua, on-going conversations with her will influence events such as changing her attitude, or changing the way that quests relating to her unfold.
F: I see. I think a lot of support for Shenmue comes not from just the realistic towns, but from the realism of the people inhabiting it. From what you have described, this realism will be further increased, and the world will feel even more “human”.
YS: Yes. In Shenmue this time I will be focusing particularly on digging down further on such internal aspects.
F: This is your vision for the new Shenmue, isn’t it.
YS: Of course, that’s not to say it will not be open world. Stretch goals will allow the town(s) to be expanded. However, what I would like to try first is to develop something that everyone has not anticipated; a deep Shenmue world.

F: I can’t wait to see this new Shenmue. Speaking of Shenmue, apart from its open world, its QTEs and minigames made it special, didn’t they.
YS: QTEs were originally included so that even people who were poor at battles could enjoy them. I’m happy that various games have included QTEs since then.
F: QTEs also had their origin in Shenmue, didn’t they.
YS: This time, I would like to show new QTEs; ones which can played by anyone, and which have carefully-crafted event sequences. In addition, I’d like to change the nature of free battles. (I will think of a different name, as I don’t want to call them free battles). I’d like to make a battle that is won by making the correct decision, rather than by correct timing of pushing buttons.
F: I believe Shenmue was made with the concept of being a game that can be enjoyed by any player, and this new system feels to be in keeping with that.
YS: Also this time I am planning a “technique scrolls” system. Ah.... maybe I have said too much (laughs).
F: Not at all, we’d like to hear more! (laughs)
YS: For example, with the free battle it is tough to practice and input the various commands required, so simply by obtaining a technique scroll you can apply the technique to help you win a battle. In the case of a QTE, the new technique could be unleashed during the QTE. I would like to make it so that a technique can be used to your advantage in battle just by obtaining a technique scroll. Furthermore, I’d like to make that technique scroll connect with various elements within the game.
F: Could you explain a bit more with respect to “connecting with elements”?
YS: Shenmue has had a number of ways you could play around, such as mini-games and gambling spots, but I have always been thinking about how to connect these together in some way. Of course, they are connected in the sense that you can take a part-time job to earn money, then increase that amount by gambling, then buy weapons... but not that kind of connection, something much closer. If the stretch goals can be reached and more detailed elements incorporated into the open world, this will allow technique scrolls to serve as the pivot for connecting together the various side games. That’s the kind of direction I would like to take it.
F: I see. So various elements of the open world will be connected together in a more natural way. Apart from that, are there any other elements that you are keen to include in Shenmue 3?
YS: One particular part of Shenmue that fans seem to have fallen in love with is the forklift part-time job, which is extremely popular. So I really want to include it in Shenmue 3 too, but how can you operate a forklift deep in the mountains of Guilin (laughs). I haven’t stopped thinking about how to find some way to include a forklift (laughs).

F: Please tell us about the development set-up for Shenmue 3.
YS: This time, the main development company is Neilo. The representative for Neilo, Takeshi Hirai, worked as the chief programmer for Shenmue and has a good understanding of Shenmue.
F: Since Shenmue is an open world game, I had thought that working with an overseas development company that is experienced in open world games would have been an option.
YS: Yes, that may have been an option. However, the main distinguishing characteristic of Shenmue is its culture. I believe that users overseas also have taken interest in the culture and customs of Asia. People have said they appreciate it when Ryo says “Thank you” for the smallest thing, for example. Someone who has worked all along on creating Shenmue understands that kind of culture and values.
F: So this time, development will be using Unreal Engine 4, won’t it.
YS: I have been looking at various engines for Shenmue 3 for the past 3 years, but the colors of Unreal Engine 4 are closest to those I envisage for the world of Shenmue. Although that’s a pretty broad statement, given that it’s a technical topic. The feeling of slight dampness in the air, the skin colors, the feel of materials etc were closest to my ideal.
F: Apart from the Neilo staff, are there others participating who have worked with Shenmue before?
YS: Yes, of course. I wanted to build up the team with past members as I believe that gives the fans some reassurance. Among others are scenario writer Masahiro Yoshimoto, and Kenji Miyawaki who is in charge of the character designs.
F: Given that this project is coming to life 14 years after the previous release of Shenmue, everyone must be very surprised.
YS: Mr Yoshimoto has been active in the world of television, and reacted with surprise saying “With television, producing something new with a theme that is 14 years old is unheard of”. But Mr Yoshimoto told me that he made many discoveries through his experience with Shenmue. Later on, I plan to release a video with comments from Mr Yoshimoto and the rest of the staff, so please watch out for it.
F: We are looking forward to seeing it. The fans are sure to be happy.
YS: I have gathered together quite a few of the original key members who gave Shenmue that special feel. I’m sure this will bring a feeling of both reassurance and nostalgia.
F: By the way, it may be a bit impatient to ask, but do you already have in mind how things will progress after Shenmue 3?
YS: Of course, I have that in mind. But first and foremost, I’d like to put primary focus on Shenmue 3.
F: When is the planned release date for Shenmue 3?
YS: I’d like to release it by the end of 2017.
F: That’s quite some way off, but we can’t wait. From speaking with you today, I can really appreciate the challenges that you are taking on of producing a new Shenmue. Finally, do you have a message for all the fans who have waited all this time for Shenmue 3?
YS: The fans have told me over the course of 14 years how they wanted part 3 to be made, and I have always told myself that I had to find some way to make it. And now, through the crowd-funding of Kickstarter, at last I have been able to make a start on the Shenmue 3 project. In order to bring about a Shenmue 3 that incorporates a perfect blend of both a Shenmue that everyone desires, as well as a Shenmue with the new challenges I want to take on, everyone’s effort is needed. Thank you so much for your support.

Picture captions:
1) This image shows the figures of Ryo and Shen Hua walking on a mountain path. Note that Ryo has changed clothes from the leather jacket he wears in the first and second parts of the series.
2) Using a telescope, Ryo observes buildings below a cliff. According to Yu Suzuki, before Ryo lies the enemy’s camp, which Ryo is searching for a way to infiltrate.
3) Shen Hua and Ryo, drawn by Kenji Miyawaki who is in charge of character design for the series. Shen Hua, the main heroine, did not appear much in the first and second parts of the series. In Shenmue 3, she will surely take a principle role.
4) Niao Sun, one of the leaders of the underground organisation opposing Ryo, the Chi You Men. Although her existence has previously been revealed, she has not made an in-game appearance until now.

Peter, they have had 14 years to prepare for Shenmue III and this game is nowhere on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. It is coasting on good will of Shenmue fans.

This isn't a "bandwagon of negativity". This is being realistic. The game has been funded, but at the current trajectory, the game may bomb. Emphasis on may. They are doing an awful job here, and your "only positive thoughts" schtick isn't helping. It is not only unrealistic, it comes across as highly naive and boyish.

Let's be honest here, Peter. They are having an AMA on Reddit when most people are busy doing things or are asleep, and you're completely fine with it. They could offer poop in a box as a Tier Reward and you would be fine with it.

There's a difference between "negativity" and objectivity. Any and all criticisms thrown towards this Kickstarter campaign in this thread are all objective and factual.

The gripping tale of Ryo Hazuki’s quest for vengeance captivated Dreamcast audiences when it released to widespread critical acclaim in 2000. Though Yu Suzuki’s masterpiece was beloved by fans, the astounding cost of its first two entries and poor sales of Shenmue II drove Sega to cancel the third game, leaving Suzuki’s saga without resolution.

Though the series was abandoned by Sega and written off as an impossibility for over a decade, the fan base has been unrelenting in its requests for the series to continue. Both Suzuki and Sega have been inundated by fan requests for Shenmue III, with online campaigns comprised of the most die-hard fans continuing to push forward through petitions and social media accounts.

Those fans were vindicated this week, when Shenmue III’s Kickstarter campaign not only grabbed valuable stage time on Sony’s E3 press conference for its reveal, but also went on to attract so much traffic that Kickstarter’s site crashed. With the Kickstarter campaign reaching its goal of $2 million in record time and Sony providing further funding, Shenmue III is finally a reality.

The reserved nature of Yu Suzuki did little to hide his passion and excitement for this project. With each question I asked, the legendary developer spoke quickly, smiled often, and held the composure of a man whose dream was finally coming true. During our conversation, we covered a variety of topics ranging from Sega’s role in Shenmue III to how the franchise remains relevant so long after it was thought lost forever.

Game Informer: It’s been 14 years since the last game. Why is now the right time for Shenmue to return?

Yu Suzuki: To make a game like Shenmue, obviously the question is how to get the funding to make a game like that and you know, it’s been really hard – I just couldn’t find a way to get it together. But three years ago, I learned of Kickstarter and I met some people who have done Kickstarter before and with all their help, we decided to put this Kickstarter together. With what we managed to fund on that site, as well as with the other funding sources my company, Ys Net, has procured, I believe now is the time that we can make Shenmue III.

Is it frustrating to have to wait so long to finally realize this project?

Pretty much everywhere I go, it’s always “Make Shenmue III! Make Shenmue III!” The reaction is so strong from the fans that I’ve always been looking at how I can make Shenmue III. These past years, it was very stressful, because I couldn’t make it. More than that, I couldn’t give the fans what they wanted. That was probably the worst part: I couldn’t answer their calls that they were sending out for me. Now that the project has started – lots of relief there.

Now that the announcement of the game is out there, was there one moment that was the biggest relief of all?

It was probably at the Sony press conference when I was waiting in line for Shenmue III to be announced. Adam [Boyes, VP of publisher and developer relations at PlayStation] was up on stage talking about something, then I saw that the Shenmue III promotion video was on and then all of a sudden there was this big well from the audience and this big noise that came from them. That was the time that I felt most relieved. Before that, it was really big titles like Destiny – everything before that was a big title – and I was kind of worried about how Shenmue III would shape up to these guys, but once the song came on, the rouse came from the audience. I knew it was then.

Were you surprised by how fast the Kickstarter goal was reached?

The thing that really surprised me first about the Kickstarter was the crash that happened. Kickstarter broke – that was a big surprise. I couldn’t believe that! The second one was how fast it went to $1 million. Apparently, it is the fastest game or entertainment project on Kickstarter to reach that number.

The first two Shenmue games were published by Sega. Does Sega have any involvement with Shenmue III?

So, YS Net received the licensing rights from Sega. Of course, the original properties are still licensed with Sega. This time, they’re allowing us to use it and allowing us to use the licensing rights. They also gave us a lot of resources from [Shenmue] I and II to help us with this project. They’ve been very happy to see Shenmue III being made and we have a very good relationship.

A big part of the original Shenmue games were the Sega Easter eggs, such as the capsule toys and playing Sega games in the arcades. Is there any possibility that those will appear in this game even though those licenses belong to Sega?

There are some things I can use and there are some things I can’t use. It’s kind of depending on further talks with Sega. I think there’s going to be a lot of small details that we’re going to have to speak with them on as we go along.

The challenging part, at least in the United States, is that Shenmue came out on Sega Dreamcast, Shenmue II came out on Xbox, and Shenmue III is coming to PlayStation 4 and PC, making it difficult for many fans to experience the first two games since they’re on separate platforms. Are there any plans to bring Shenmue I and Shenmue II to modern platforms?

If you have that question, it’s better that you ask Sega because they hold the rights to those. Those are their properties and I'm not in a position to talk about that, but I’m thinking about asking them!

Shenmue was a very revolutionary and influential game when it was released on Dreamcast. A lot has changed in the games industry since then. How does the team work to make a game just as revolutionary so long after the original?

It’s all about the new challenges with me, and I definitely want to try these new things. Of course, it’s going to come down to the funding and how much we’re going to be able to spend on Shenmue III, but if we get to that point, I believe it will be just as revolutionary as the ones before.

As we emerged from the small room where our conversation took place, a handful of Shenmue fans eagerly greeted Suzuki. Despite spending the majority of his day in that room, fielding questions from members of the media, Suzuki stopped to greet those fans, take pictures, and sign autographs. As we left, I heard the unmistakable sound of pure joy that follows a monumental moment such as what that encounter meant to those fans. It may have been 14 years since Shenmue II launched on the Dreamcast in Japan, and 13 since its release on the Xbox in the U.S., but through the hurdles, struggles, and disappointments taking place over the past decade and a half, the enduring passion of the Shenmue fan base has kept Suzuki’s dream alive.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/06/19/yu-suzuki-shenmue-iii-interview-e3-2015.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I'll try to E-Mail some journalists regarding this matter, but it never worked before. Still, worth a try.

I admit it was a bit cheeky and might be against the rules but I just posted on PewDiePie's channel under the 'discussion' tab. I just thought it has the potential to reach a large audience, even if they only check out the kickstarter page it's a start. You have to set it to view recent comments instead of most popular by the way. Keep the suggestions coming! :)

Contacted Jason Schreier from Kotaku, hopefully he will be cooperative.

It's on!

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3 ... uzuki_ama/

Hey all, ive seen a lot of discontent with the quality of the marketing around Shenmue 3 (i'm right there with you all). I'm glad it hasn't kept the game from getting funded, but with a few weeks left in the campaign we know this stuff can make a huge difference in attracting funding beyond the rabid folks that hangout here.

So my question is, are there any video editors in the dojo who want to take a stab at recutting a kickstarter video? Between the original video and the interviews they're posting, i think there is enough footage to do something better than what they came up with, at the very least just cut out the in-depth explanation of technique scrolls.

If i had any video editing ability myself i would give this a shot, but figured it was worth pitching to the group given the nice videos ive seen come out of this community over the years.

Just shooting from the hip, but here what I think the video shouldve been:

1) "14 years ago, Shenmue 1 & 2 told the story of Ryo Hazuki's quest to avenge the murder of his father"

2) Shenmue was reveloutionary at the time for XYZ reasons (clips from interviews with Yu, former Shenmue team members, gaming press, etc)

3) The Shenmue saga was never finished and a passionate community has been clammoring for a sequel since Shenmue 2 shipped

4) Now finally, the creator of Shenmue is ready to finish the story with your help

5) Shenmue 3 will continue Ryos story as he continues his journey with the mysterious Shenhua

6) Help make Shenmue 3 as amazing as the first 2 by funding the crap out of it (imply how expensive this type of game is)

Also, i think they shouldve just shown scenes from the first 2 games instead of weird demo footage with horrible voice acting. Seriously if i didnt already love shenmue and i saw those plastic renderings of Ryo + Shenhua, speaking like robots, and stiffly jumping on stones i would never fund this.

How long will the AMA be, I wonder?

It's been going on for two hours now. Yu needs to be really patted on the back here for being such a trooper. Most AMA's are only a mere hour long but here Yu is still going on like a soldier. It truly shows you how much he loves this fanbase. =D> =D> =D>

Yu is going to blow all of our expectations out of the water.

I like corey marshalls voice as Ryo. But if he returns, the direction of the voice acting absolutely cannot be as stagnant as it was in the first 2 games. The delivery of his lines need to pack at least a little bit more of a punch, we all know Ryo is a bit of a strange guy, and some of these things are just part of his personality but i think there is room to make him seem a little bit more human in terms of his voice acting this time around, and that goes for the rest of the english voice acting cast as well, this series needs a total voice acting revamp in the wake of the poor quality of the first 2 games regarding the english voice acting.

Amir wrote: $5 million is a certainty, but 10... I think we'll end up around 7 or 8, but hope I'm wrong!

If they enable Paypal donations it will get to 10 million.

Q: 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?

A: 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.


That my question! :D Then $10 million it will be!

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.

He dodged the HD ports question. :(

It's SEGA's property.


I already know that but I was expecting him to encourges us to push SEGA to do it. We, the "hardcore" fans know what to do but maybe this way the press will write articles telling SEGA to do it or why is a good thing to have the HD ports, can't be bad.


Then it's your expectations letting you down, not Yu Suzuki.

I want forklifts back no matter what!!

This is why I wanted Japan instead of China...Rural China just seems like we will get crap jobs like in Shenmue 2, I don't want that.

If only he had a genius game designer that could make new exciting mini games that make sense in the world instead rehashing old ones for the sake of nostalgia.

I feel guilty now, Peter...

I feel like I need to explain who I am now.. I'm not a casual Shenmue fan. My brother and I are 35. We are identical twins and we help lead a school just outside Guilin in Yangshou where we teach poor kids English in helping them get scholarships to achieve better education.

This was inspired by Shenmue. My Avatar is of me laying on a raft on the Lijiang river just outside Guilin.

I've been there from the beginning like most of you. This will be a great experience in my life that I will treasure until I die.

EDIT:

You can find us on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerEnglishTeacher?fref=ts

A lot of the pictures are of my brother and I.

Here is me with the kids.
http://i.imgur.com/b8Bc9z0.jpg

Just wanted to let you all know that I run an extremely popular blog on the Tumblr platform and I have just written a long piece about why Shenmue matters. The piece has already gotten about 190 notes and has jumped to the top of the Shenmue, Sony, E3, and PS4 tags on Tumblr. It is also near the top of the Gaming and Video Games tags.

Wanted to set the tone of Shenmue discussion in a positive way.

Thought the folks at the Dojo might enjoy what I wrote...
http://cinemagorgeous.com/post/122099238480/shenmue

I am posting around some FB groups linking the kick starter page and asking for some donations if they can and that our community would really appreciate it. I think every one has to take some kind of part in helping this kick starter succeed, ill try to think of some other places to promote it too.

I've been looking at this place and Gaf from the backseat but the way you guys are going you won't hit the $10 million. I think we can all agree it should hit around $6 million just based on how it's going. The thing with the Bloodstained Kickstarter was they took control of the community and how they spread the word. Someone has to take charge of everyone and arrange something, set a calendar with what the community as a whole can do each day. One day tweet and the next day do something else. As it stands you have 200 people doing 150 different things. The Team Tu guys, Shenmue 500k, dojo members and Gaf members all have to come together under one roof and have a game plan. Not start a thread saying everyone tweet this hashtag and run off.

This is an interview with Yu Suzuki from the japanese site 4gamer.net published 2015-06-19.
Here translated by me.

Original article: http://www.4gamer.net/games/305/G030593/20150618126/

Among other things it brings up interesting new information about the 5 million dollar stretch goal; the character perspective system.

There is also a slight spoiler of a character that might appear, so those of you who want to play the game totally spoiler free should maybe avoid reading this.

here we go.

-- Thanks for being here.
YS: Thanks for having me. before jumping into questions I just want to make clear that Shenmue is a Kickstarter project and the scope and contents depend on the stretch goals.

-- Yeah, looking at the Kickstarter stretch goals there are the rapport system and skill tree and other added.
YS: We add more stretch goals so as more people pledge the scope of the game will get bigger. So as of now I can’t talk in detail about the mechanics of the game. What I’m able to accomplish will very much depend on the funds we can gather. I want to avoid telling too much and end up betraying those who have paid.

-- Under those circumstances, what do you want to do with Shenmue III?
YS: I want to show the relationship between Ryo and Shenhua in more detail. Even further than previous games.

-- It’s kind of hard to imagine how that would work.
YS: Maybe so. I want to to challenge myself, but new things are hard to get people to understand and therefore harder to gain support for. That’s one of the reasons we have prepared stretch goals like larger map and mini games.

-- So you made easy to understand stretch goals first.
YS: As more money comes in, the world of Shenmue III gets larger, and the game becomes more complete. But if it becomes a question of what game has the largest world, the game with the largest budget has a sure advantage. When it comes to Shenmue III, I want to ensure that there are other parts to enjoy besides just the open world aspects.

-- Can you give us any examples?
YS: At 3.2 million dollars there is the rapport system stretch goal. Actions and conversations will affect the relation between Ryo and Shenhua in subtle ways. The way Shenhua speaks and cooperate etc. will change.

-- It seems like the story could change depending on the relationship.
YS: Let’s just say that it depends on the budget. Making statements like that is just asking for trouble (laugh).

-- I get it (laugh). Could you explain the 5 million dollar stretch goal; the character perspective system?
YS: That is where the player will take control of characters like Shenhua and Ren instead of Ryo.

-- At a certain point in the game will we be able to change characters freely?
YS: I can’t talk about details yet, so I will just say that it’s not necessarily like we are letting you control the other characters exactly like Ryo.

-- So it’s not like you can just change characters at will.
YS: The personality of Ren and Shenhua is different from Ryo, so even if they see the same thing the reactions would be different. When you played as Ryo it was his decisions, but playing as Ren and Shenhua would make it very interesting.

-- Hearing that makes me even more interested (laugh).
YS: I’m unable to describe it any more until the 5 million dollar stretch goal is reached, so I’ll stop here for today.

-- By the way, will the story end with this part.
YS: To tell the truth, the original story is too long to end here. So I decided against trying to fit it all in to Shenmue III.

-- Which means that after the Shenmue III project has been finished we have to wait for the the next part.
YS: First we have to do our best to make Shenmue III a solid game.

-- Let’s leave the appearance of Shenmue III and talk about the backend. Can you tell us why you chose to use Unreal Engine 4?
YS: It’s because it’s easy to use and fits with how I imagine Shenmue to look. There are like rendering tendencies for the different engines, and the base colors of Unreal Engine 4 added with “dampness and scent” makes it Shenmue.

-- Are the colors you imagine the same as with the first two parts?
YS: Of course. Shenmue had that air humidity feeling well presented and it had a smell too. That’s what I aim for with Shenmue III.

-- So you’re saying that if you take a scenery out of the game and look at it you’d be able to say “That’s Shenmue!”?
YS: Yeah, That’s what I want to do. But the promotional video we made for Kickstarter felt dry. Kind of ended up like the Californian humidity level (laugh).

-- Your idea of the exact colors or the “scent” of the graphics, is it hard to convey that to the developers?
YS: It it very very hard to explain it. It’s like trying to explain what a melon is to someone who only has seen watermelons and mandarins. Well, you can say the size is about in the middle, but trying to explain the taste is very hard.

-- With that said, do you have members from the former parts working on Shenmue III?
YS: Yes. So we have the original members that kind of know what Shenmue is about.

-- After fifteen years, it’s quite the thing to bring everyone together again.
YS: I think so. Everyone has gone independent or changed their positions, but even at this stage when the scope of the production isn’t set in stone they have gladly offered to join. That’s really heartwarming.

-- It feels like the relationship is deeper than what you could expect from work colleges.
YS: That’s because Shenmue was a project that was more than just work. Ten years after the development of Shenmue II we had this get-together and more than 100 people came.

-- That’s amazing. I’m not sure if I would call that just a get-together.

-- The level of creativity in the games you have created is often very high. Is there any secret to this?
YS: No. I never play games outside work, so I don’t get that influenced by other games. Maybe that’s the reason.

-- I had this idea that you researched other games thorough and tried to make something different, but I guess that’s not true then.
YS: Yeah. it easier to just make something from zero (laugh).

-- So maybe If someone from the media like me hear an explanation for a game and say “Is it like the mechanics from that other game?” you might not be able to get it?
YS: I’m sorry, but I guess that’s true. Well, maybe I have to study the trends in the most popular games.

-- By the way, this is the first in a long time that you get to work on a game this big.
YS: Yeah. It feels like it was a long time ago I got this invested in a game.

-- It’s not like you totally left the game industry, but what do you think of the game industry in Japan looking from a bit afar.
YS: The game engine Unity came out and made it easy for just one person to make his own game, which is a good thing. It wouldn’t be healthy if only big budget games were able to survive. It’s good that the market has expanded with more alternatives. But it’s kind of sad that a majority of games that make money are small like games for smartphones.

-- Do you feel like more effort should be made in making titles for the consoles?
YS: Yeah. Before, Japan was said to be number one in game making. It’s sad that the knowledge that had amassed during that time wasn’t used better.

-- Many of the people during that time went over to make games for smartphones.
YS: It’s not like games for smartphones are necessarily bad, but what’s characteristic of smartphone game making is that the development cycles from start to finished tend to be fast. It might be good for business, but I’m not really satisfied with that. If you compare to cars there’s the really popular cars that sell well. They make a lot of money for the company, but if they don’t develop their flagship model their technical advancement will suffer.

-- In USA there is still a lot of money spent in games for game consoles and PC.
YS: Yeah. That kind of rich content helps activate the whole industry. I hope the industry in Japan gets back on track like before...

-- Oh, the interview got very negative suddenly. Could you maybe give a word of encouragement to the young developers of today or people thinking about making games?
YS: Today is different from before. It’s possible for anyone to make games now. Before it was impossible to make games if you didn’t know how to program, but now there are tools for that. It’s also possible to study game development, and it’s easy to learn from the internet. Living in this age you shouldn't think too hard and just try for fun, go in the direction that feels best for you. Begin with having fun creating.

Comments:
The character perspective system means taking control of characters other than Ryo. He literally says “レンやシェンファ” which means characters “like Shenhua and Ren” so it could be for other characters too. (Edit: Or it could be just an example of characters. Like Thief said: "It could mean that characters like Shenhua and Ren (as in main supporting cast characters) are playable. Ren could have merely been used as an example." Thanks Thief! )
But it’s pretty much as close of a confirmation that we can get that Ren will show up in Shenmue III in one way or another. There is a concept art image of him riding a horse so it’s maybe not that unexpected, but we can be fairly sure he will show up in part 3 and not 4 or even later. Horses were also pretty much confirmed in Yu Suzuki's Reddit AMA so the concept art could very well be of an event happening in Shenmue III.

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

Happy Console Gamer and Rerez chat about the Shenmue 3 controversy and it's Kickstarter. Watch it here.

Youtube Channels: Happy Console Gamer | Rerez | Adam Koralik
Links: Shenmue 3 Kickstarter | Kickstarter Videos | News Archive

Nozomi my childhood crush

oh hi

thanks, I really wanted a screen grab of it !

I have paid for another 200k adserves for the duration of the campaign on /vg /vr and /jp

the stats for this separate campaign so far

Code: Select all

41,904 Impressions    153 Clicks    0.37% CTR

Damn.
Not sure I would want them to take the Kickstarter of Shenmue 3, because the co-founder of 8-4 is bitchy when it comes to Shenmue: https://twitter.com/search?q=shenmue%20from%3A%40johntv&src=typd&vertical=default&f=tweets

http://s27.postimg.org/it4xhhl83/bitch.png

I recall a photo of Yu Suzuki with Ryan Payton and the co-founder of 8-4. Ryan Payton (as he has said on video and on Twitter) was the one who introduced the Kickstarter to Yu-san. Probably they were trying to negotiate about it, but 8-4 refused and just wished "good luck" (as they said in their podcast).

Here's the pic: https://twitter.com/johntv/status/323800155046420480

Two years ago, as they said in their podcast.

From an outside point of view, Shenmue looks naturally boring. No fantasy and no transgression ; the two keys of mainstream success are absents. And on the Kickstarter page, neither power nor game design originality are put forward. The Shenmue concept does simply not exist. Even the artworks look awful (although I sincerely love Kenji Miyawaki's style).

Yesterday, I found this excellent video explaining what is Shenmue : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmuc5ia3go

There is also the Yu's old intervew about Project Berkley which is still very interesting and enlightening.

Lan Di: Do you remember this carrot?

Iwao: Carrot?

Lan Di: This is the carrot you used to kill Sun Ming Zhao!

Iwao: It can't be... that carrot!!

Lan Di: Get up, I'm going to stick this carrot where the sun don't shine!

Iwao: Forgive me.. for making you.. eat..

Ryo: Wha.. what are you saying?! Father!

Iwao: Your carrots... keep carrots... those you eat.... away from your bum.

http://www.twitch.tv/puri_puri

Shenmue Speedrun going on right now.

I've heard a lot of people complaining about marketing the Shenmue Kickstarter to a larger audience, and without naming names, I've seen some of those same people complaining about there being an English dub. If you want Shenmue to be appealing to a larger group of people, you're going to need English voice acting. A game with a foreign language and English subtitles isn't the most accessible way to go about things. I respect everyone who does believe that the Japanese VOs are superior to the English dub but I believe that YSnet is making the right move.

I'll admit I'm very excited for this news though. Corey is Ryo to me, I really wanted him to come back.

Here's a post that Ruji Iuchi put up on his blog yesterday which I've translated. It adds some more background to his experiences with Shenmue I and II. Thanks to Ziming for pointing it out.

Shenmue 3
2015/07/02

After around 15 years, I'm honored to once again get involved with the sound for Shenmue 3.

I'd like to talk about some things I didn't have time to mention in the video clip. (Sorry for the long post).

I feel very honored to be able to participate in this project, and be able work to compose pieces together again with Yu-san and all the other wonderful creators.

The impression that sticks with me most from working on the previous Shenmue games was being able to work together with the wonderful music staff - such as Yuzo Koshiro from Ancient Corp, who I greatly respect and who invited me onto the project, and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi from Sega - and to actually meet face-to-face with them at the company.
I believe that my experiences from that time made the foundation for what I am today.
Being able to have the chance to work together with them again is one of my dreams.

I had a lot of discussions and conversations with the sound staff, headed by the sound leaders Miysuyoshi-san and Takagi-san, and even used to sleep overnight at the company.
I remember the nap room, the kiosk and the nearby park well.
I was also able to observe the other sound people working, and I really learned a lot. The way they edited the voices and sound effects seemed like magic to me...

As I spoke about in my interview, Hayato Matsuo's magnificent orchestral arrangement, Iori's beautiful vocals, the timbre of the Chinese fiddle – these left a strong impression on me. (Iori let me join her on stage, at the piano!)
And this will sound like a fanboy, but I was secretly delighted to be able to watch Toshiyuki Watanabe at work on a recording! ^_^

By the way, with Shenhua's theme, initially I asked one of the sound ladies from another department to gently hum it for me, in a way that's "like it's wrapping around you".
For the preliminary version of Wish, I had a lady from the Shenmue sound team sing it.
And Mitusyoshi-san kindly provided the vocals for the final versions of the Tomato Mart and Bob's Pizzeria songs...!!

I realize how lucky I was to be on the same floor as the sound staff from other departments, and to be able to mix with lots of people who had composed the songs that used to be played at the video arcades I visited as a kid.
(We went out a lot for drinks and to play billiards ^_^).

I'm sure that even with a 2-hour program {video} I wouldn't be able to finish expressing my feeling of gratitude with Shenmue 1 and 2 towards everything and all the people who helped me. But I'm afraid I'm no good at speaking in front of people or a camera... ^_^

I'll put in my every effort, poor as that may be, on the music side to produce pieces that everyone will be pleased with and will be able to enjoy for a long time.

Thank you very much.

P.S. I was in two minds as to whether to state this, but – I'm not the composer of the song from the Kickstarter movie although people have been attributing to me... Credit is to the composer of that song.

Ryuji Iuchi

I remind you guys to take Neoshredder's advice and use donotclick so you don't give them ad revenue.

http://www.donotlink.com/fsl5

Crying.... yep. Just like i was when Shenmue 3 was announced.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j290/PeterC2005/Shenmue%203%20dinner_zpsnssnyjmg.png

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j290/PeterC2005/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-07-03-17-11-23_zpsfisfrbbt.png

I'M GOING TO MEET YU SUZUKI IN MONACO!! FUCK!!

I don't get why some of you bother engaging with this...ignorance, they obviously want to cause some controversy and make names for themselves, even with how sleazy it is a way to do so.

From the Russian Demul forum

Demul v0.7 alpha 070715

by many requests we decide to make public build of emulator to show and share current stage of its development.
its an alpha/preview quality product so take it AS IS.
it includes new features and new systems mentioned in this topic, many bugs fixed, as well as several unfinished parts, like new DX11NG render.
enjoy.

Demul v0.7 alpha 080715

quick followup:
- somewhat fixed save/load state for DX11NG
- adjusted sound volume, was too loud, notable in Atomiswave games

Demul v0.7 alpha 090715

another quickfix:
- fixed broken a long time ago SH3 serial port, Cave Medal Mahjong playable again
- minor romset correction

more bugfixes:
- better G2 DMA edge cases handling
- brake in Atomiswave racing games works again
- fix crash in ROM-based SystemSP games
- weird AICA LSA/LEA handling tweaks

Demul v0.7 alpha 190715

- Crackin' DJ 1&2 playable
- Ferrari F355 Deluxe have sound/music
- fix Naomi 2 materials, lights refactor
- foolproof VMU files creation
- remember last path in gdrCHD, gdrImage, etc
- better Xinput deadzone handling
- fix GDI audio in gdrCHD (this plugin is recommended now for usage with GDI images too)
- workarounds for newest ATI bugs in 15.7 drivers
- SH4 MMU fixes & improvements, Shenmue's Afterburner II minigame playable
- several minor tweaks



190715 is the latest

Downoad Link

Thoughts

So, ive played on this release of Demul for around 3 hours and it runs great. ive had one ore 2 minor slowdowns buts is been butter smooth the rest of the time.

They seem to have fixed the audio issues as well.


I have made a video however in regards to my settings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN7mtk6QSDE

Hi! I am totally new to Shenmue but I loved everything I have read about it so far. I recently supported Shenmue III and I can't wait to play it!

I am wondering how I in the best/easiest way can get the backstory information I need to be able to enjoy Shenmue III fully? Should I watch all the cut scenes from the first game on YouTube (does it exists for Shenmue II as well?), or what should I do to get to know all the story of the game I need up to Shenmue III?

I have never really jumped into a game without being there from the start, so I am not really sure how to do it the best/easiest way and would like some help.

Sorry if this isn't the right sub-forum for my question.

shredingskin wrote: Don't have twitter so if someone could ask mine, grateful.

Done.

Ok, here's the plan for handling the translation at the moment.

SquallAdv will be doing a live "as-it-happens" summary translation of the stream into English, and I'll be extending this afterwards as a full transcript to capture the detail.