E3 2016 & Shenmue 3

[Spaghetti]

It's to do with licensing tech from companies that have gone bust and it's not clear who they'd need to pay licensing fees to, etc.

Nah. That's an urban myth that started on GAF and was never substantiated by anybody other than one poster.

The Ask SEGA video outright states the licencing issue is with the real-world products and brands included in both games, and that they want to preserve the games' atmosphere as close to their Dreamcast originals as possible. "We would love to release them tomorrow", "We would love to do it", and "We are currently investigating how to make [Shenmue HD] them a reality" means they effectively have control over releasing the game, but if there were an engine licencing issue it would prohibit them completely until solved, and we wouldn't get any comments on a potential Shenmue HD until cleared up.

Yeah, I've heard that joke too. It's obviously a joke, since no serious game company would make such a stupid statement.

Look, I always tried not to get mad at Sega, yet that "investigating statement" was the boiling point for me. Like... they do what??? INVESTIGATE on how to make a GAME??? WHAT??? Is there nobody left at Sega who knows how to do what this compaty did for over three decades? Only managers?

That statement was an insult. Much worse than "No plans for Shenmue right now".

It's no joke, and it's actually quite a logical statement. The licencing issue with products does need investigating if they want to ensure a re-release is as close to the Dreamcast originals as possible. The most likely Plan B is retexturing the branding, but I think it's really admirable they're making an effort at preserving the original games as they released.

SEGA's comments actively state they are enthusiastic about making Shenmue HD happen, and they're taking proactive steps towards making it happen. They've never made a statement like this before on the matter.

[Batosai]

I think we should wait till E3 before worrying or taking action on Shenmue HD. For all we know it could be the sequel to the Youtube teary videos if it gets announced lol (I cried on Shenmue 3 announcement too....). But in all seriousness I do think we have more time before this game not existing is problematic (between now and Shenmue 3) and if it has any sort of link up such as continued save function than all the better. Lets remain positive!

[alexh86]

Does anyone else think the indefinite extension of the slacker backer funding campaign, coupled with the news that Sega is investigating an HD remaster, is evidence we will get the remaster sooner rather than later? Originally, the slacker backer campaign was to end on December 31, 2015 to give the team a final budget so they would know what they could do and what they couldn't. However, it was decided to extend it for reasons unexplained and the campaign has extended these additional six months without explanation.

Maybe the team had inside information that a remaster was in the works and they wanted to make sure the SB campaign was still live when the news broke or even after the remaster was out.

[Spaghetti]

Does anyone else think the indefinite extension of the slacker backer funding campaign, coupled with the news that Sega is investigating an HD remaster, is evidence we will get the remaster sooner rather than later? Originally, the slacker backer campaign was to end on December 31, 2015 to give the team a final budget so they would know what they could do and what they couldn't. However, it was decided to extend it for reasons unexplained and the campaign has extended these additional six months without explanation.

Maybe the team had inside information that a remaster was in the works and they wanted to make sure the SB campaign was still live when the news broke or even after the remaster was out.

I'm not so sure. If all SEGA has to say about Remasters is "We're investigating" six months after the proposed end of the Slacker Backer campaign, I don't think that was the reason for the extension.

Likely the extension was because they still had promises to fulfill regarding the PC version on the SB site, and generally because it was still pulling in reasonable amounts of money. It can make over $1000 per week fairly regularly, that could probably pay the wages of a new staff member.

[Kiske]

Does anyone else think the indefinite extension of the slacker backer funding campaign, coupled with the news that Sega is investigating an HD remaster, is evidence we will get the remaster sooner rather than later? Originally, the slacker backer campaign was to end on December 31, 2015 to give the team a final budget so they would know what they could do and what they couldn't. However, it was decided to extend it for reasons unexplained and the campaign has extended these additional six months without explanation.

Maybe the team had inside information that a remaster was in the works and they wanted to make sure the SB campaign was still live when the news broke or even after the remaster was out.

Honestly? Yes.

But of course, I have absolutely NO evidence of that but faith and deadly optimism

[delvec19]

Can't believe it's been almost a year since we found out that Shenmue 3 was real! But sadly, it's still a long wait until we can get our hands on it. Does anyone believe we'll actually get it in December '17? Or you think definitely it's delayed until sometime in 18? Funny that everything in my life seems to be moving in fast motion now that I'm 30....except for the release of this game. Also don't give me that we've been waiting 15 years for this so you can wait another 1.5-2 more because I gave up the dream of this game ever being made probably around 2004 or so .

[alexh86]

Can't believe it's been almost a year since we found out that Shenmue 3 was real! But sadly, it's still a long wait until we can get our hands on it. Does anyone believe we'll actually get it in December '17? Or you think definitely it's delayed until sometime in 18? Funny that everything in my life seems to be moving in fast motion now that I'm 30....except for the release of this game. Also don't give me that we've been waiting 15 years for this so you can wait another 1.5-2 more because I gave up the dream of this game ever being made probably around 2004 or so .

I think it will miss its ship date but only because these Kickstarter projects seem to always do this. Even with all the resources of old Sega, Shenmue missed its first ship date in Japan.

[Snakiest]

Pretty sure it is going to be in March 2018.

I'd love to be wrong. It is not in their best interests to prolong the development, but I hope they don't push it out of the door just to meet the deadline.

[Peter]

Just got caught up in the hype of the past 24 hours and asked Cedric if we can expect a tease on the anniversary of Shenmue 3 being announced, or E3.

He has said there were no plans in the past, but you can't deny what we have gotten in the past week or 2 does get you excited. From Sony visiting YSNET, to a new update, and now Cedric tweeting some very exciting tidbits.

It's a good time to be a Shenmue fan!

[Kiske]

Just got caught up in the hype of the past 24 hours and asked Cedric if we can expect a tease on the anniversary of Shenmue 3 being announced, or E3.

He has said there were no plans in the past, but you can't deny what we have gotten in the past week or 2 does get you excited. From Sony visiting YSNET, to a new update, and now Cedric tweeting some very exciting tidbits.

It's a good time to be a Shenmue fan!

My keyboard is shaking because of your positive vibes

[Peter]

Yea man. Today was the first day since Monaco I've really felt some serious excitement. There's just this feeling, which reminds me of the feelings I had last year with the forklift tweet etc. It is also an excitement mixed with the nostalgia from last year. Even went outside work to where I stood last year and watched the Huber video about 70 times throughout the day.

Sun is shining today, 12 days to E3, Shenmue 3 related tweets and updates.

Fucking Shenmue 3 is real!

[Kiske]

Yea man. Today was the first day since Monaco I've really felt some serious excitement. There's just this feeling, which reminds me of the feelings I had last year with the forklift tweet etc. It is also an excitement mixed with the nostalgia from last year. Even went outside work to where I stood last year and watched the Huber video about 70 times throughout the day.

Sun is shining today, 12 days to E3, Shenmue 3 related tweets and updates.

Fucking Shenmue 3 is real!

It's real indeed and I've never been so excited about videogames since my childhood

(Found this on Youtube. Thanks for using "my" fonts )

phpBB [video]

[Yokosuka]

First time Cédric was not 100% affirmative about the lack of SIII stuff at E3 in Twitter. Perhaps this 9-page thread based on nothing makes sense after all...

[Spaghetti]

First time Cédric was not 100% affirmative about the lack of SIII stuff at E3 in Twitter. Perhaps this 9-page thread based on nothing makes sense after all...

I dunno, he was quite conclusive about not showing gameplay any time soon, and we know none of the cutscenes have been done yet, so a story trailer is out of the question. Sony wouldn't show the type of videos we saw at MAGIC on an E3 stage either. So what's left?

I think we have to take the fact he said "no" at face value. It's around 3am BST on June 2nd, Sony's conference is in exactly two weeks from now. Even if they could pull out all the stops for something to show, there's no guarantee Sony could make room for it.

I think we just have to pin our hopes on a special anniversary Kickstarter update.

[Yokosuka]

The playable demo is there. No public showing but a little private session can allow some journalists to share their thoughts. I suppose that's the most realistic situation we can hope now.