ShenGCH wrote: Hey, hey, y'all! Not sure if this will be seen as advertising, or anything, but I made a video last week expressing my excitement about the excellent news as well as some ideas for improvements for the HD remasters, etc., so I'd love to hear what you think of it:
Because you asked...
1: The story that came about regarding a Sega employee claiming Shenmue I and II HD were done was confusion on the former employee's part. They were never finished.
2: The Kickstarter thing was a massive fuck up. The short version is that the translator mistranslated what Yu Suzuki said.
3: HD Remasters being released. I stand in the unpopular minority here. Everyone wants Sega to put them out there on everything and hope for the best. I see this as absurd.
First, Sega has such little faith in the series, you can be damn sure they wouldn't do the ports justice.
Second, they throw away their best bargaining chip with any potential investor. Let's say I'm Sony. I'm vaguely interested in funding Shenmue III. But I want Shenmue I and II exclusively on my console so that it maximizes the amount of customers who NEED my hardware. If Sega released an HD port on their own, to everything (consoles and PC), kiss Shenmue III good bye. Unless it sold a STELLAR amount. Which it wouldn't be likely to do.
Expanding on that. If you think I'm wrong, I present you with the fact that Sega released HD ports of Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure I and II, Jet Grind Radio, and so on. Where are their next installments? Exactly.
4: Please give up any delusion of Shenmue I, II, or III being released on the PC. You may like the idea on the surface, and I agree with you. The modding potential would be fun. But you need to properly analyze how unrealistic that is. As said above, if Shenmue I and II HD get releases on everything, PC included, with no Shenmue III on the horizon, then that is where it all ends.
5: I like some of the ideas you have for changing certain things about the game play.
Using the second joystick is a good idea. Though I disagree with changing the pacing, though you don't seem to agree with yourself either.
But, I can see where you're coming from.
I agree with the online leaderboards, that'd be neat.
Disagree with the rotary dial complaint, but that's a personal preference.
I completely agree with the music suggestion.
I also agree with the voice acting, leave it be. But I'd like the option to switch between languages. English and Japanese. Personally I prefer the Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Though most of these changes are unrealistic. It's highly unlikely Sega would change anything for the better. If Sony is paying the bills, then maybe. But unfortunately you use examples of games that were massive successes financially that got proper remake treatment. Metal Gear Solid and Halo for example. Shenmue would not qualify, as much as I love it.
6: Welcoming Shenmue III, that's a given sir.
7: As stated before, unless you have one specific console creator fully investing in Shenmue, you better pray it doesn't get an HD release. Though I wouldn't worry about this, it's clear Sega won't be doing it themselves.
8: You can't guarantee Shenmue would sell well. We all hope it would, but we do not know that. Though I do think it'd move a bunch of PS4s off shelves.
9: I think it's vastly more likely Sega will simply grant permission to Sony in exchange for a cut of the profits or a pre-paid licensing fee.
10: Overall, nice analysis, thanks for making it.