The miracle of Shenmue III

(Chapter 7 and beyond)

The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Anonymous81 » Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:34 am

I was just pondering this a bit, and I thought it might be fun to look at all the borderline-miraculous circumstances that coalesced to bring us the success we just had on Kickstarter and the resurrection of this franchise from seeming oblivion. In all seriousness, some pretty remarkable things had to happen to get us to this day. And some pretty amazing coincidences as well.

Firstly, and most importantly of all of course, the undying passion that the fans have kept alight for far longer than most would have for any other IP. I mean when you really look at it: 14 years. That's the difference between being 16 years old and 30 years old. That's the difference between high school and being a 30-something adult with children. How many people hold on to the love of something that long? Especially something that wasn't exactly a raving mainstream success?

It's not like it's a mainstream, popular thing to be a Shenmue fan in 2015 (well... it might become one now of course!) It's not like we're constantly reminded of it or get it reinforced by the media or our peers (except in communities like this one.) No, it has been entirely up to us to grit our teeth and slog through the years, carrying a seemingly futile torch for this video game. That we did that is remarkable!

Secondly, the length of time itself. How many other examples are there of ANYTHING this old in entertainment years (entertainment properties age fast) that get resurrected? I can think of only a rare handful, all of which were far more popular than Shenmue. Star Trek. Star Wars. X-Files. And those all had corporate backing. They weren't independent affairs, and they had massive media exposure and vast audiences. That people are even still TALKING about Shenmue, let alone planning to bring it back today is just astounding.

Thirdly, the many, many times Yu tried to get the game - or something Shenmue related (Shenmue Online, Shenmue City, etc.) - made, but couldn't get things off the ground. Normally when a creative force of his caliber and renown tries so many times to do something and they can't, they go on to something else. They don't doggedly hold onto a single-minded determination to get that one thing made for over a decade. Granted he did some mobile stuff, but by and large, his focus has been Shenmue. That he finally succeeded is miraculous in its own right.

Fourthly, fans petitioning Sony at just the right time. Sony's "building the list" initiative led to people speaking up and seizing the opportunity to try to get Shenmue noticed by a big company again, in some way, shape, or form. That in and of itself isn't that surprising. But what's amazing is that Yu had been considering Kickstarter for a few years, and seriously investigating the possibility of getting the game done that way. He said repeatedly that the game needed "the right opportunity" for it to work out. It was the timing of fans petitioning Sony, Sony reaching out to him, and E3 allowing him a soap box, that FINALLY provided that "right opportunity" and the rallying cry that could finally give the game a real chance of securing the funding it needed.

Fifthly, Sega allowing Yu the right to make Shenmue 3. They didn't have to do this. There are other examples of companies asking IP holders to let them do something like this, and them saying no, and sitting on said IPs and doing nothing with them. Sega has been pretty lax about letting people at least try, though. Sega's not perfect and hasn't exactly ingratiated themselves to gamers in recent years, but this one aspect of their behavior is really cool and should be applauded. Especially since, other than any potential good PR or future Shenmue related releases they can use this as a springboard for, they have no financial stake in doing it that we know if.

Sixthly, the PS4 physical copies through Kickstarter. Another example of a big company doing something they didn't have to do. Sony isn't going to see a dime for those physical copies, and we know they're the ones handling publishing (presumably PS4 porting) so in short, they're throwing money away with each of those physical copies. Just to help the Kickstarter out. Again, yes, admittedly, this gives them good PR, and the more successful the game is the more money they theoretically stand to make once its released on PS4, but it's still a risk and something they didn't have to do. It's pretty respectable.

Penultimately, breaking the record for most funded game precisely when we did. We broke the record just before dawn on the west coast of the U.S., where many major gaming sites and companies have their headquarters. Arguably, this is what gave us a huge final wave of publicity that launched the surge we witnessed throughout the final day. We were always going to exceed what we had made the previous day, but over 900K? That's publicity in my opinion. That it worked out precisely when it did is amazing indeed.

And last but not least... we finished on 6.333 I mean... REALLY? Seriously! Shenmue 3. 3rd of the month #SaveShenmue campaign. 30 on the 3rd. And we finish on 6.333? Tell me that's not the least bit improbable! Lol.

In short... the journey to Shenmue 3's Kickstarter success has been amazing, especially considering all the obstacles it had to overcome. I consider it a literal miracle, and a once in a lifetime event that I will remember forever. Seriously, this is the stuff of legends. Things simply don't ever work out this way in life. That they did for Shenmue 3, is kismet.
Last edited by Anonymous81 on Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Hyo Razuki » Sat Jul 18, 2015 3:58 am

It really is a miracle! Also, I didn't notice the 3 thing but now that you mentioned it. :roll: :lol:

We did it!!! :beerchug:

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby CodingGenesis » Sat Jul 18, 2015 6:55 am

A big applause to us, the community. Here's to us and Shenmue! :beerchug:

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby johnvivant » Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:20 am

i really want to thank you Anonymous81. throughout the campaign i would always see you either in here or in the kickstarter comments, being helpful, positive, and enthusiastic. you understood everything well, and knew what actions to take. this is so useful when directing people. amazing work. this is a really well summarized analysis. the only things that really hurt the campaign was the misinformation about the funding which was fueled by click-baiting faux cynical journalists, and that strange original twitch stream (damage of the twitch stream is debatable imo).

other than that all the other factors converged to produce an amazing and improbable outcome. =D> thanks

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Yokosuka » Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:27 am

Happy for Cedric who took risks to make the dream come true, congrats to the community for never give up. I will never forget the Yu's tears yesterday.

It's amazing to see that Shenmue tolds a beautiful human adventure on both plans : virtual and real. I do not know any other video game giving such emotions. Shenmue III is a miracle and we deserve it. =D>

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Telekill » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:25 am

Really interesting post. I had not noticed the 333 being significant, but that is an interesting point.

Congrats to Yu Suzuki and the fans!
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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby 7heavens » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:37 am

Nice post Anon81. Like the fact you pointed out 6.333 million coincidence. The kismat of the beginnings of shenmue 333 was manifested on the 6th month.
For all those who don't speak Urdu/Hindi/Persian 'kismet' means destiny.
Last edited by 7heavens on Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby JaySw34 » Sun Jul 19, 2015 12:31 am

Wow very well written. You just summed everything up very nicely. Awesome job. Great post!

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby PILMAN » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:31 am

It is a miracle, if you remember all the frustration we had to endure with years of waiting for E3 announcements and TGS, and then the false hope and lies from Adam Doree and Kikizo claiming they had inside knowledge of development, and then Adam Doree flat out claiming the game was cancelled and scrapped in 2007. If you consider all of the inconsistency in reporting over the years, I am very surprised that Shenmue is being developed today, but all for the better :)

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Erevador » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:38 am

Has been beautiful to watch this incredible fan community band together and power this campaign to the finish line.

I am grateful to everyone who put in the work to make this Kickstarter such a roaring success.

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby SMDzero » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:10 pm

Also 2M was the initial goal and we reached 3x that at 6M. Plus the 333,000 on top of that didm't go unnoticed...

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Re: The miracle of Shenmue III

Postby Fei Fong Wong » Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:26 am

Its been a month and i cant believe this even now, i had always hopes but 14 years of frustations and let downs where a rumor after rumor got the worst scenario for the series made me totally skeptical about all possibilities of a miracle, life was "without Shenmue 3" and that was so normal, like breathing.
And now, the most awesome miracle occurred, the planets aligned and the mystical eclipse has throw the forces to the lines of destiny and now we are all crying and jumping and screaming and making awesome posts about how Yu Suzuki is moved by the power of humans helping to reach a common goal, one that so much people tought it was impossible.
And im glad that i helped, with all of you, because i love Shenmue, and im proud of being in that aligment of powers.

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