The advice of Inafune about the crowdfunding of Shenmue 3

[Axm]

«It's true that I shared dinner last night with Suzuki-san, and we talked about the issue of crowdfunding. The thing I said to Suzuki-san is that with the crowdfunding ... Of course you have to think of the players when creating a game, even if you belong to a big company, but for the collective funding you have to think even more for the players, since the connection between the players and you is much stronger, so you have to carefully understand what players want and explain 'this is a game that you want, please fund it'. "That kind of attitude is very important."»

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Source: http://www.gamereactor.es/noticias/1023 ... +Shenmue+3

[ShenSun]

i guess this proves the hiphop gamer theory wrong.

[Peter]

As if it ever could have been true.

Another worthless tweet from someone I've never heard of, offering no new insight into anything of the future of Shenmue.

Surely to be followed by posts below about how it's a "good sign", and also, a garuntee'd post of the usual, "this is definitely newsworthy, this means Suzuki is really looking into crowd funding!"


Which it doesn't.

[Giorgio]

Another worthless tweet from someone I've never heard of, offering no new insight into anything of the future of Shenmue.

Sorry, mate. Let's put some things in order. This is not a new tweet! It's an article from Game Reactor of Spain (a gaming site) and the quote is an excerpt from that.

It's surprising you do not know Keiji Inafune, the cretor of the Mega Man series and many many other games.

So Keiji Inafune was interviewed by Gamer Reactor during the Gamelab 2014 conference and asked if he had a dinner with Yu Suzuki and if they exchange ideas about a possible crowdfunding for Shenmue III. The rest of the story is in that quote.

Keiji Inafune is also the creator of Mighty No. 9 (currently in development, by his independent studio COMCEPT USA). He survived an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign with Mighty No. 9, acquiring $3,845,170 via Kickstarter and $186,380 via PayPal (with a minimum pledge of $900,000, as can be seen here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mi ... ighty-no-9).

Therefore, Inafune has all the backgrounds to talk to anyone and give advise about a possible Kickstarter campaign, with the experience he had with Mighty No. 9.

A good sign it is, but not as it proves that Shenmue III is going to happen any time soon. It is a good sign, because it shows that Yu Suzuki lately is trying to find a way to make Shenmue III, more actively than any other time before, and also that other ways exists to fund the game, beyond from SEGA itself or from a possible console manufacturer et cetera funding the game.

ALSO! Yu Suzuki himself confirmed that he indeed talked with Keiji Inafune about the possibilities of crowdfunding Shenmue III, as can be seen in this video:

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P.S.: Updated the first post with the video interview of Inafune where he talks about the subject matter.

[MiTT3NZ]

@Peter: Be less miserable.
@Giorgio: Be less boring.

This place used to be fun...

[Axm]

Im glad we have stuff like this coming out to us. Way better then the last 12 years.
Well, all we can do is keep doing what we are doing unless Yu Suzuki has any special advise for us fans. Which is a question id ask him if I had the chance.. "What can Shenmue fans do to help the future of the series."

[BlueMue]

Well hearing that Yu Suzuki talked with someone who really knows how well crowdfunding a game with Kickstarter can go surely doesn't mean that something is gonna happen now. But at least it makes clear that Yu is really thinking about it.

I happily take all this talk about Shenmue and media coverage of Yu Suzuki. Keeping up the interested is better then dead silence, isn't it?

[Peter]

Apologies.

I didnt know who he was and just was being a dick. Been acting a dick in general on here and also in general life. Will try to keep it off the boards.

Hopefully the crowd funding research can cone of something.

[darksniper]

You guys are still in here talking about Shenmue III? Ya'll stuck in the past son..




Dat Shenmue 4 is where it's at

[mrandyk]

Just organize a Kickstarter already Yu! I would expect it to be the most successful one ever for a video game.

[elfshadowreaper]

You guys are still in here talking about Shenmue III? Ya'll stuck in the past son..

We're stuck in a cave. With a floating sword.

[OL]

Even if Suzuki saw it as a possibility, you have to keep in mind that Shenmue still belongs to Sega; it would be up to them whether or not to do anything about it. And big Japanese companies don't seem to be in the habit of crowdfunding their games. That method is more of an indie route.

[AnimeGamer183]

and while segas at it, they can start a kick starter to help get funding to bring Yakuza 5 west... *dreams on*

Yeah, I would say Yu doesnt even have control on whether or not a kick starter is made, sega absolutely holds the reigns for something like that. While we are on the topic, even if a kick starter was made, it seems like it would be difficult for sega to form a "goal", how much would Shenmue 3 actually cost? What would be realistic? I mean think about much it cost to make the first 2 games? Some how I doubt it would cost that much, unless Yu has something completely ground breaking and revolutionary in mind yet again, keep in mind its been some 15 years since he started working on the first game and there so much more that is possible now.

Its not like im against the idea of a kickstarter for this, it would really show sega that the fans want it (as if they dont already know), but more importantly, take off some of the financial burden. I think sega is still most paranoid about how many units and ultimately how much profit they could make off of it. Even selling a million copies wasnt enough to make the first game return what they had put in. Its such a difficult situation because so much money was thrown at that project in the beginning. It really leaves you at your wits end this day and age trying to figure out how to get the game made and not break their bank accounts.

[ThyDarkAngel]

This makes one thing even more clear: Yu is trying, talking, contacting people, considering all options, pulling an effort.
He is fighting for Shenmue III.
That's the way.