Playstation Experience - December 2016

[FlagshipFighter]

It's understandable that people are upset. Cedric Biscay himself recommended us as Shenmue fans to watch the PSX livestream... The least he could have done is go on Twitter saying "We're sorry, but please don't expect to see S3 on PSX tomorrow, plans have changed"

But nope. Nothing.

I'm still butthurt from last night

Well, let's hope we see it in the Christmas update, and not another round of "Look at how much fun these privileged Shenmue 3 backers are having with Suzuki, you won't BELIEVE what they saw on his laptop!"

[FlagshipFighter]

I'm not talking about refunds now. Read what I wrote earlier. If there is nothing of real meat for this game released before or during the kickstarter's two year anniversary, expect non-fans - particularly the game press - to throw this game under the bus Mighty No. 9 style. It's very predictable and given the teams penchant for showing nothing this entire year except 5 measly screenshots and video footage only to people who paid 10k dollars, things are not boding well for them having anything ready for reveal for E3. If they do not have a reveal of this game before June 2017, this game is fucked. I can feel it.

I mean, you did mention non-fans rescinding their donations, but okay.

What you're saying ignores exactly where MN9 went wrong, though. Showing stuff too early was one of the many sticks (rightfully or wrongfully) used to beat the game with, with many comparisons being drawn to the much more aesthetically pleasing concept art and early UE3 test footage, and later when the early versions of the levels looked too simple.

MN9 was bad for a lot of reasons that I don't think could ever apply to Shenmue III (see the difference between stretch goal structures for one), but without a doubt the early footage for that game was used against it, and I think YSnet have done well in terms of the bigger picture resisting the urge to fire their load too early. In the short term, it sucks. Long term? Probably going to work in their favour.

Let's not deal in "what ifs" when it comes to showing or not showing something by such and such date either. Have you heard of the term confirmation bias? If you permanently put yourself in a mindset that if we don't see anything by an arbritary date the game is categorically busted, then you're going to be seeing "evidence" to that effect with little to no basis on logical reality. Again, see the guy who thinks Yu spent the money on wine. He's an extreme example, but you get what I mean.

Likewise, we shouldn't start getting into extremes like saying they've shown nothing this year. I've just gone back and watched the Keiji Okayasu and August Dev Room videos and will periodically refresh myself on the text updates from last year through May. Why? Because together in the bigger picture they provide a fuller context of the game's development rather than as bitesize updates. I'd recommend anybody feeling a bit worried to go back and look at these updates, actually.

I know the next week on here is going to be particularly sore, but we cannot lose our heads. Shenmue fans are possibly the best organised and tightly knit fans in the whole of video games, falling apart when we have a new platform to promote the series (Twitch) and a new game for the first time in 15 years is like tripping at the final hurdle.

[Himuro]

I'm not talking about refunds now. Read what I wrote earlier. If there is nothing of real meat for this game released before or during the kickstarter's two year anniversary, expect non-fans - particularly the game press - to throw this game under the bus Mighty No. 9 style. It's very predictable and given the teams penchant for showing nothing this entire year except 5 measly screenshots and video footage only to people who paid 10k dollars, things are not boding well for them having anything ready for reveal for E3. If they do not have a reveal of this game before June 2017, this game is fucked. I can feel it.

I mean, you did mention non-fans rescinding their donations, but okay.

What you're saying ignores exactly where MN9 went wrong, though. Showing stuff too early was one of the many sticks (rightfully or wrongfully) used to beat the game with, with many comparisons being drawn to the much more aesthetically pleasing concept art and early UE3 test footage, and later when the early versions of the levels looked too simple.

MN9 was bad for a lot of reasons that I don't think could ever apply to Shenmue III (see the difference between stretch goal structures for one), but without a doubt the early footage for that game was used against it, and I think YSnet have done well in terms of the bigger picture resisting the urge to fire their load too early. In the short term, it sucks. Long term? Probably going to work in their favour.

Let's not deal in "what ifs" when it comes to showing or not showing something by such and such date either. Have you heard of the term confirmation bias? If you permanently put yourself in a mindset that if we don't see anything by an arbritary date the game is categorically busted, then you're going to be seeing "evidence" to that effect with little to no basis on logical reality. Again, see the guy who thinks Yu spent the money on wine. He's an extreme example, but you get what I mean.

Likewise, we shouldn't start getting into extremes like saying they've shown nothing this year. I've just gone back and watched the Keiji Okayasu and August Dev Room videos and will periodically refresh myself on the text updates from last year through May. Why? Because together in the bigger picture they provide a fuller context of the game's development rather than as bitesize updates. I'd recommend anybody feeling a bit worried to go back and look at these updates, actually.

I know the next week on here is going to be particularly sore, but we cannot lose our heads. Shenmue fans are possibly the best organised and tightly knit fans in the whole of video games, falling apart when we have a new platform to promote the series (Twitch) and a new game for the first time in 15 years is like tripping at the final hurdle.

Well reasoned. Not surprising coming from you. You're right. We need to stay steadfast but I'm getting impatient.

It's understandable that people are upset. Cedric Biscay himself recommended us as Shenmue fans to watch the PSX livestream... The least he could have done is go on Twitter saying "We're sorry, but please don't expect to see S3 on PSX tomorrow, plans have changed"

But nope. Nothing.

I'm still butthurt from last night

Well, let's hope we see it in the Christmas update, and not another round of "Look at how much fun these privileged Shenmue 3 backers are having with Suzuki, you won't BELIEVE what they saw on his laptop!"

Agreed. Fuck this "look at what THESE fans are watching, that we aren't ever going to reveal!" thing.

[Kiske]

I am as disappointed as you guys. I genuinely was expecting a trailer.




But look at the bright side... no Shenmue 3 spoiler whatsoever so far!

[FlagshipFighter]

But look at the bright side... no Shenmue 3 spoiler whatsoever so far!

Plus, Shenmue 3 stays in the oven a little longer before we can see it.

[iyapol]

YSnet staff, including YS himself, are sleeping at the office to get as much progress on the game done as possible. They're currently hiring cutscene artists, searching for a director (for cutscene motion capture or voice work is unknown), and have had Keiji Okayasu in as the game director for about half a year now. They're not sitting on their asses doing nothing. They are under an immense burden of pressure and do not want to disappoint. The radio silence sucks, but at least they're not wasting time developing a vertical slice that takes two months progress out of completing the final game.

Spaghetti.

I respect your posts. You are one of the more reasoned voices on the Dojo. But the quoted paragraph isn't fact - it's hope.

You've taken information we were told months ago and presumed, as we've had no tangible update for some time, that everything is fine and dandy; all hunky-dory. And if this is how you've read the situation, then you're entitled to your opinion.

If the team feel they have nothing worthwhile to show, I'm happy with that - that's fine. But what I'm not happy with, though, is the piss poor communication from everyone involved in the game's development and, as someone that has helped fund the development, the least I expect is a half-decent monthly update as promised, even if the update is there is no update.

Unfortunately, Yu was happy to collect people's hard earned money but it appears he doesn't fully understand the unwritten rules of a fundraising project.

It's about time someone is made accountable for this mess.

[Monkei]

There was this promise in the beginning that backers would have an unprecedented level of involvement with the development of the game, and they've done such a lousy job fulfilling it.

Thank God for that. I was never too keen on that idea. I don't want backers interfering on the game's development. I'm not paying to have a game made by us, but by Yu Suzuki and his team.

Personally, as a backer myself (who spent almost €200 on this project), the only thing I think Yu and co. owe me is a great game which lives up to the Shenmue name. In fact, I quite dislike something that is very common in the videogame industry and that is the fact that games are announced way before their release dates. I understand that they need to hype them, for marketing reasons, but, as a gamer, I just want the game and I want it to be good, not to spend 2 or 3 years getting screenshots and videos. Obviously, since this was a Kickstarter project, it had to be announced at a very early stage, so, as someone else mentioned already, it is only natural that it seems to be taking longer than usual for them to come up with something substantial to show to the public. Fine by me. After all, I'm a Shenmue fan. I know how to be patient. And I assume everyone else here knows too (or should know). And I'm fine with these Kickstarter "non-updates" we've been having too. Just let them focus on making the game. All I'm interested in is the final product.

And if this means that, when they finally do show some video which is more representative of what the actual game will look like, they're going to show us a proper trailer, with gameplay, cutscenes bits, different characters and whatnot, then great.
Because fuck teasers videos! They just... well, tease. Either show us something proper, or nothing at all. So I'd rather have nothing now and later have a proper trailer which will blow me away and give me an actual idea of what the game will be like, than having a teaser that shows nothing and just teases.

Anyway, this game won't come out for a very long time (we'll be lucky if we get it in 2018), so there's plenty of time to hype it and market it. No need to worry (yet) about the possibility of development being a mess which will result in a shitty game. It simply wasn't shown at PSX. Big deal. No one said it would.

The optimism in this thread made even me believe despite flat out being told 'no.' Doesn't change anything though, a lot of these things are approved last minute, for instance TLOU2 was NOT on the list either. Still, no surprise here despite some last minute hope, so I'm not heartbroken. Missing last E-3 and this PSX only means the initial reveal will be both polished and impressive, I'm okay with that. I too want the game to get much needed exposure, but if that's the case save it for E-3 2017. We're getting Shenmue III, a game most of us would have taken in the form of a half baked novel at one time or the other. Relax, it's coming.

Glad to see some reasonable thoughts amidst all the panicking and complaining. I've got nothing to add.

[Axm]

Cedric has broken the silence.



It may be a misinterpretation, but is Cedric implying that they tried to get something shown at PSX but Sony wouldn't/couldn't show it?

He's also asked fans to wait for the developer update at the end of the month.

Interesting.

[Anonymous81]

I never expected anything, to be frank, so I wasn't disappointed. I was more worried about people's reactions here and elsewhere, than about what we'd see.

As I've said before, as much as we all want to believe otherwise, I seriously doubt we will see anything before E3 2017, and maybe not even until TGS 2017. I also will not be at all surprised to see the game delayed, possibly by as much as a year or more. This is just something fairly common with Kickstarted games (and games in general these days, the more ambitious, the more likely the delay... and this is SHENMUE 3.)

And yes, I agree with others that the gaming press will eventually rip the campaign to shreds (again) because of this if it happens.

But I also fully expect that once the game is out, we will all end up with a fun game that is spiritually aligned with the Shenmue we remember, with a detailed, rich world, but with some contemporary (read: more accessible) gameplay mechanics. I expect many here and in the rest of the Shenmue community to be angry about some of that... the lack of footage before E3 or TGS, the possible delay, the press reaction to it, and even the contemporary gameplay elements added, because people want a true hardcore Shenmue experience... but, while I could always be wrong, I really do strongly suspect this is the future of Shenmue 3.

And I'm not one bit upset about any of that.

While frustration is only natural, I think we need to just remain steadfast, as we always have, and wait. It's not like Yu Suzuki of all people is going to deliver a terrible game, or cancel the game. It's going to come out. It's going to at least be fun (though I think, given my experience with other Kickstarted games, we should prepare for it to be merely "good" rather than "amazing" just given budget constraints... and we should also prepare for the gaming press to review it very poorly, or at best, as sort of average to good, high 7s basically) and we're all probably going to enjoy it.

I see no reason to doubt that. At all. As I've stated since the start of the KS campaign and its conclusion... yes, communication has been horrible. From the livestream quality during the KS, to things like saying we should tune into events and then nothing happening (likely internal conflicting information, or Sony not feeling the game was ready to show either, imho - remember, Sony is handling distribution for PS4 and like it or not, their brand is linked with Shenmue 3 and its image.) But it's not like people are going out of their way to deceive us. And it's not like the game isn't going to get made. They're not stringing us along because they want to frustrate us. It just is what it is.

I think the worst thing they could do for the game right now, is show us alpha footage or some such, or another insubstantial "test" that will only provide ammunition to the game's critics. They made a huge splash with the KS. It died down (along with all the negative press!) The worst thing they could do right now is revive all that hate, by showing something so easy to criticize. I firmly believe they will show us the game when it is finally in a state that is much harder to assail, and one that actually excites and intrigues, rather than confuses or worries.

I hate to always be the weird juxtaposition between realism and unbridled optimism but... somebody has to be. So that's my two cents. Come on guys, it's not the end of the world. Happy Holidays!

[mjq jazz bar]

Really think it's time to stop reading into Cedric's Tweets. He clearly has very little to do with the game's development and nothing to do with its PR. He's not implying anything; he's flat-out saying he has no control over anything that happens.

[SMDzero]

Sup? Yo, Peter I know why you got on the twitch last night. But you shouldn’t have been there in the first place. You don’t want that Shenmue 3 hype shit to come back to haunt you. I ain’t been up this early in a long time. Turned on the TV this morning. Had this shit on about Playstation Experience. Showed all these games, like The Last of Us 2, Crash Bandicoot remake and all. Started thinking, man. Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s goin’ on with Shenmue 3. They had all this other video game shit. They didn’t have shit on Shenmue 3, man. I ain’t got no Shenmue 3. Got no HD remakes neither. I loved those fool games. I don’t even know how I feel about it neither, man. Shit just goes on and on, you know. Next thing you know somebody might try to cancel Shenmue 3. Don’t matter, though. All dreams gotta die sometime.

[iyapol]

Really think it's time to stop reading into Cedric's Tweets. He clearly has very little to do with the game's development and nothing to do with its PR. He's not implying anything; he's flat-out saying he has no control over anything that happens.

You're probably right. A combination of language barrier and fans clutching at straws.

It could be read - I have nothing to do with PSX or the development of the game so you're going to have to wait until the next update.

[yuc02]

I'm one of the 10k backers, and I did get to see some content that's not been released publicly. What I've seen has personally reassured myself about the project, and I believe that's the same sentiment everyone else who went to the dinners felt. Unfortunately we've been asked not to disclose them outside so can't force you to feel the same, that's just something you'll have to trust us on.

I'm only speculating here but I guess either the project has hit some difficulties recently such that a video wasn't possible, or it was deemed not good enough by Suzuki-San.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed as well, but I ask of people to have a bit more patience, and try not to spread this negativity into something the media can make up as newsworthy. We managed to wait more than a decade didn't we?

[iyapol]

Innocently repairing the broken link? Or website update?

[mjq jazz bar]

I think Cedric has good intentions, but his Twitter is being unfairly scrutinized because Awesome Japan/whoever isn't doing their job. He made the mistake of trying to communicate with a pretty hardcore group of fans. I think one great trailer will fix all these months of heartache and dsappointment, so hang in there.