Eurogamer: 'Shenmue 3 as close to being announced.....

[Yokosuka Martian]

Adam Doree article 2014

[MiTT3NZ]

I'll just come out and say it. Seems to me - by how both Cerny and Suzuki himself have been talking recently - that Yu's quite desperate, and I don't think it has anything to do with Shenmue. Both are talking the talk about Shenmue III. "We're looking for investors", "SEGA are okay about it but won't invest", "I want to make Shenmue III but it's a question of money", "I want to make a new game like Shenmue, but learning from the mistakes I made with it", and the most important (albeit, paraphrased) line coming from both of them "Don't tell anyone I said this btw..."

Suzuki has clearly has got to the point where he's running out of options. He wants to be relevant. The Team Yu campaign, Shenmue's fan base, the talk of Kickstarter... seems to me like he's considering using the Shenmue brand to fund this "Spiritual Fantasy-based Shenmue-like" game, because he blatantly doesn't have the money to go big budget.

The logical solution to that is to do a Gearbox. Get an investment for one game to fund another. Be it through sales or the investment itself. I wasn't a massive fan of GDC. Always considered myself a geek, but felt incredibly normal and out of place there. One thing I definitely learnt though... a lot of slight suspicions I had about the industry were confirmed. It's very open and friendly on the surface, but quite seedy underneath. Funnily enough, it seems the opposite way round with the companies you'd expect it from.

Either way, this article is just an elongated version of what everyone who spoke with Cerny or Suzuki has said post-GDC. The main difference between pre-GDC and now is that Yu seems to be open about the fact that he is looking for investors. The downside is that he's laughably unrealistic in his expectations. If anyone listens to Fatman on Batman (which I doubt, tbh), his views on Kickstarter seems to be the exact same as Paul Dini's tongue-in-cheek "fund my 60s Batmobile" idea.

Obviously, I hope I'm wrong, but let's have it right... it's an extremely rare occurrence.

[ShenSun]

Eurogamer "Yu Suzuki is out of touch with today's gaming industry"

Shenmue 3 confirmed, NOT to be an FPS.

[Shotaro Kaneda]

I'm guessing graphic novel, he can't afford to make the game but wants to get the story done and people to stop asking him about the story, so this way he can get it over and move on to things he wants to do

[Jokatech19]

I hear what Eurogamer is trying to say, but I disagree in large part. First of all, to call yourself a Shenmue fan, and then to see the Skyrim generation of games as a replacement to it, is beyond hypocritical. The demographic that Shenmue touched is still untouched. There hasn't been a game that has put a young Japanese boy into an open 3d world set in the mid 80's, using only martial arts, as he uncovers the mystery of his father's murder. The only gaming that exists today targets the lovers of FPS's, fighting games, demon-conjuring games, and War Sims. None of those are up the alley of the purists that love Shenmue. You can say the target market is relatively small in today's world, but don't sit there and say in this demon-infested game world, that the premise of Shenmue has been done over and over again over the last 12 years- because that's just nonsense. And the progression of technology isn't an issue with a game that is more about the story and execution than the flair. Shenmue wasn't a mindless action game that relied on captivating you with it's visuals and speed. Those were just perks at the time. Shenmue 3 could come out today looking like Shenmue 2 on the Xbox, and I'd be just as interested.

I've said in the recent past that I wouldn't want Shenmue 3 to come out at this point, but for a different reason. Today's gaming is what is wrong with gaming. Shenmue stood for a time that was right in gaming history. I'm afraid that if it came out today, it would be influenced by current generation fads and lose the purity that made it great. Staying itself is the last thing that is wrong with it Eurogamer..

[mue 26]

Mittenz, did you actually go to GDC? I swear you live in Manchester?

[MiTT3NZ]

Yes, I live in Manchester because I'm from Manchester. I don't get the point...

[mue 26]

Don't be patronizing, you obviously know what I meant. Did you fly over there for GDC then?

[MiTT3NZ]

To be honest, I thought you were bein a nob about it, suggestin that coz I'm from Manchester I couldn't possibly have the means to leave the country. But yeah, Segata sorted me out with a ticket n a hotel.

[mue 26]

wow that's dedication. So did you get to meet the forum legends that are Segata and Alimn. Where are the photos?

[MiTT3NZ]

Well, not really. I didn't go coz Yu Suzuki was there, I went coz I'm workin on Segata's next game. And do I really seem like the kinda guy who takes photos? I'm pretty sure the last one I took was of a shit I'd taken. No lie.

[mue 26]

So you're infiltrating the games industry, in much the same way I'm trying to infiltrate the Japanese culture. Respect man. You're an outsider until one day you're an insider before anyone's realized what's happened.

[Rakim]

Respect!

[Messiah]

As much I love the Shenmue world. I'd rather Yu create a kickstarter game for a spiritual successor than wallow in the fact he can't make Shenmue 3. Who agrees?

[vegetafett]

Shenmue III will not happen unless it gets the money, so we maybe close to a kick starter. But I highly doubt an announcement for the actual game itself. I really hope that Suzuki is able to get everything going but I don't think it is gonna happen unless he gets some help from somewhere whether it be from the fans or a big company like Sony. If this game does go into production even with Dreamcast graphics I will be moved to tears. Until then This is a nice article that give me a small bit of hope today