OVA or Manga/a better option and less controversial? [rant]

[Domosuke]

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy and pleased that Shenmue 3 is being made, but as equally I'm happy, I am also equally upset at how it went down and how it was revealed.

I remember maybe a few years ago, there were hints of Shenmue 3 being released and being developed, but they were all squashed when it was shown that Yu Suzuki said it himself that the game would cost too much to make, and plans for that were going to be on hold.

So then I thought to myself, why not just make an ova or manga? Mind you, I would prefer a game, but I can settle with an ova of the following chapters.

Introducing a kickstarter, and only making it ps4 exclusive was really crappy and being that I am a xbox supporter, and I was planning on buying a xbox one and not a ps4, as currently I have a 360 (which if you really want me to keep it 100% and real, they could release Shenmue 3 on that lolz) which will never ever go obsolete until maybe even another five years if that. Don't listen to these fake rumors, and I don't have any current gen consoles as for financial reasons I can't afford them.

This game is going to cost way more than 6m to make. Even though they are using a copied engine, that doesn't matter. I still haven't decided if I was going to donate. I don't even have a ps4, or a computer that can play video games. But I still think it wasn't the best option to do that.

Shenmue is a has been game. I love vintage games like the net guy, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Doom etc, but it's time to move on. There have been so many better and interesting games that have came out since Shenmue 2 in 2002, in which Shenmue 3 is going to have to work thrice as hard in order to deliever.

GTA V came and out blew the gaming industry out of the water. It was cross platform, and still has a good booming multiplater. After playing that game, I look at Shenmue like worn out tennis shoes.

So now instead of making an ova or a manga, they decided to make a third game, however rely on more than half of the games funds coming from fans, not make it available on the console it was on the first two games (the dreamcast is the xbox anybody who disagrees can eat a foot), make it only available on ps4 a system that xbox fans hate, originally saying we only needed to raise 2m, then they got greedy and now want us to give 10m+, and we get no type of updates or news, except a badly translated podcast of Yu Suzuki "thanking" us for what we did manage to raise, and the CEO of xbox basically giving us the honest to god truth that Shenmue 3 is not going to sell well, the gaming culture right now won't even know what the fuck the game is, and it's not worth the investment.

I now plan on waiting until a paypal or slacker option is announced because I wasn't able to donate during e3 season due to family emergencies. I will probably donate twenty bucks or something of that sort. I'm not that narcissistic that I need to have a capsule version of myself or my name in the credits or etc. for the more expensive contributions.

Then I guess by 2017 in the latest I would have saved up for a ps4, and I will buy Shenmue 3 from an autistic Gamestop employee. We will all play, and we shall see at that point where the chips fall.

My rant is now over with. At this point in a nutshell, I just want to know your guys opinion as if a OVA was a better choice than what actually happened.

No, I'm not a fan of MundaneMatt because I know he brought up similar points I made.

Thank you. Shenmue fans.

[Sonoshee]

Shenmue 3 not coming to Xbox is Microsofts fault and no one else's. They had plenty of time to get it on to the 360 or One but they didn't. Cedric Biscay even said in a tweet recently that they had another opportunity 2 years ago but still didn't want to do it. Phil Spencer is more interested in first party titles than supporting third party. I am and have been an Xbox supporter since 2006, but I'll be buying a PS4 to play Shenmue 3. The blame here lies solely on MS and no one else. They had plenty of chances and blew it. I applaud Sony for giving us what we want and will support them for that decision.

And personally no, I think a game is the much better option than a Manga or OVA. I want to play it, not watch it.

[Thief]

Shenmue doesn't have a great story, but it's presented very well as a game.

Video game or nothing -- I don't want no stupid Shenmue Anime.

[zema]

So then I thought to myself, why not just make an ova or manga? Mind you, I would prefer a game, but I can settle with an ova of the following chapters.

Regarding the manga or anime, it's still possible it will happen, many games have had na anime after they were released, besides, if shenmue 3 fails to live to the expectations or does not sell well (hope not), a manga may be the only way to complete the story. Personally i would like to see a release of a book containing the shenmue story, including the cut parts, after all the games are released.

Introducing a kickstarter, and only making it ps4 exclusive was really crappy and being that I am a xbox supporter, and I was planning on buying a xbox one and not a ps4, as currently I have a 360

As others have said Microsoft were not interested in the game. It was either with sony or no shenmue 3.
Even if you can't afford to buy a ps4 now, maybe you will be able to buy one in a few years, and the game will still be there for you to play. It's a lot better then no game at all, is it not?

[shenmue852]

Shenmue doesn't have a great story, but it's presented very well as a game.

Video game or nothing -- I don't want no stupid Shenmue Anime.

Pretty much, the game makes you live through the story so you care more, despite realizing that it isn't Dostoevsky or Hayao Miyazaki level writing.

[Gen]

Shenmue doesn't have a great story, but it's presented very well as a game.

Video game or nothing -- I don't want no stupid Shenmue Anime.

I totally agree with this. That's why I also have a hard time understanding fans who say they want shenmue 3 mainly so they can finish the story. Because if you take just the story and make it into a movie it will just be a b- kungfu movie with some supernatural elements. The magic of Shenmue lies in experiencing the game. The story is a part of that experience ofcourse, but I think that too much emphasis is being put on the story in game development sometimes.

Shenmue is a game after all. To make the third installment as something other than a game makes as much sense as making Return of the jedi as a boardgame instead of a movie.

That being said, I don't think Shenmue has a particularly bad story compared to other games. Most games don't have a great story. Modern games might have a darker or more mature theme though. But Suzuki's intention from the beginning was that young kids would be able to enjoy it. Personally I wouldn't mind if S3 took a turn to more mature/complex themes and it's possible that it might from the details we know.

And as was mentioned by Thief, the story is presented very well in the game, it's an exciting adventure and I'm eager to see where it leads. I also think it has wonderful characters. Shenhua for example is an interesting character and beautifully written IMO.

It's unfair to compare stories in games with movies or novels, because I don't think games excel at telling linear stories like those media. Thematically though, I don't see why the Shenmue saga couldn't approach something like a Miyazaki movie in terms of complexity. Dostojevsky-level storytelling is obviously something only a novel can achieve.

On the note of Shenmue being a has been game. That may be the case, it's 15 years old. However, it has aged better than probably all games from that era. And a game like Shenmue has basically not been made since. Sure, other games have embraced the concept of an open world that Shenmue revolutionized, but none has done it quite like Shenmue, with a world that felt handcrafted and living compared to the much larger sandbox-design of modern games. And we know that Yu Suzuki always likes to innovate and will surely bring something new to S3.

Also, GTA V is really not a groundbraking game. It has fantastic production values and is massive in scale but in terms of game-mechanics it's still basically the same as GTA 3. And frankly the series probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for
Shenmue.

End of rant.

[Gavan]

Shenmue doesn't have a great story, but it's presented very well as a game.

Video game or nothing -- I don't want no stupid Shenmue Anime.

I totally agree with this. That's why I also have a hard time understanding fans who say they want shenmue 3 mainly so they can finish the story. Because if you take just the story and make it into a movie it will just be a b- kungfu movie with some supernatural elements. The magic of Shenmue lies in experiencing the game. The story is a part of that experience ofcourse, but I think that too much emphasis is being put on the story in game development sometimes.

I love the story in Shenmue. It is very intriguing and interesting, much better than a kung fu B movie IMHO. That said, I would NOT be happy with getting Shenmue 3 as a manga or anime instead of a game. The story is great and very important, but it is only part of what makes Shenmue so special. A spin off/prequel manga or anime would be great though.

On the note of Shenmue being a has been game. That may be the case, it's 15 years old. However, it has aged better than probably all games from that era. And a game like Shenmue has basically not been made since. Sure, other games have embraced the concept of an open world that Shenmue revolutionized, but none has done it quite like Shenmue, with a world that felt handcrafted and living compared to the much larger sandbox-design of modern games. And we know that Yu Suzuki always likes to innovate and will surely bring something new to S3.

Also, GTA V is really not a groundbraking game. It has fantastic production values and is massive in scale but in terms of game-mechanics it's still basically the same as GTA 3. And frankly the series probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for
Shenmue.

Shenmue definitely isn't a has been game. I recently played it again after more than 10 years and I still loved it just as much. Sure the graphics don't look as good as those of modern games but it is still an amazing game, yes even compared to what is available today.
I agree that no other game exists that is very similar to Shenmue (except maybe for the Yakuza games, but they aren't THAT similar either). Sure, many other open world games exist but they are in completely different genres, a lot faster paced and their worlds aren't as detailed.

Oh yeah and GTA sucks.

[LucBu]

Don't have much time so I'm going to boil this down.

Shenmue is a great game. Even after all this time it's still one of the most engrossing games I've ever played. A new Shenmue is exactly what this stagnant industry needs. No idea if it'll be great again, but if there's anyone who can pull it off it's Yu Suzuki. Peace.

[Gen]

I love the story in Shenmue. It is very intriguing and interesting, much better than a kung fu B movie IMHO. That said, I would NOT be happy with getting Shenmue 3 as a manga or anime instead of a game. The story is great and very important, but it is only part of what makes Shenmue so special. A spin off/prequel manga or anime would be great though.

I also love the story in Shenmue and think it's important, but what I meant was that games and films are different. Story in games can also be what the player is doing and experiencing from moment to moment, or the emergent story. That is driven by interactivity which is the heart of what a game is IMO. The scripted story in Shenmue is perfect in the context of the game but I honestly don't think it would be a particularly good movie if they simply took the story and made a movie of it. They have already tried it with Shenmue: the movie . However,that's not a critique of the story since what matters is how it works in the game.

[Domosuke]

Thank you all for your replies.

I just want to say again as I mentioned this in a previous thread, sometimes I get peer pressured into my opinions usually from those on youtube and other third party sites which talk about video gaming, in which they make up good points.

I'm just saying Shenmue Online and Shenmue City both failed. So I'm not saying Yu Suzuki doesn't invest or plan well, but it wouldn't be the first time a Shenmue revival fell through.

To me if I were him, I would have released maybe a Manga/Anime/OVA series, a visual novel series on the 3ds or something, and maybe if sales and the fandom were still here, then plan on doing a console open world game.

Thank you again for the replies Shenmue fans.

[shredingskin]

I think that when people said "I just want to finish the story" actually meant "I want closure".

[fittersau]

I think that when people said "I just want to finish the story" actually meant "I want closure".

Yeah pretty much it. Closure. Cliff hangers like that, just leave fans wanting. Imagine if Firefly didn't get the movie, Serenity, same sort of thing.

And yes, utterly stoked we're getting Shenmue 3 game.

[Sh3ppy]

make it only available on ps4 a system that xbox fans hate

As Sonoshee above me said, the reason it's not on xbox is solely down to microsoft. Not the developers.

I will probably donate twenty bucks or something of that sort. I'm not that narcissistic that I need to have a capsule version of myself or my name in the credits or etc. for the more expensive contributions.

Ouch. I must be hella narcissistic going by that logic.

My rant is now over with. At this point in a nutshell, I just want to know your guys opinion as if a OVA was a better choice than what actually happened.

Absolutely, irrevocably not.

[AnimeGamer183]

No.

[Domosuke]

Ouch. I must be hella narcissistic going by that logic.

I didn't say that you were. I don't pay attention to E3, and unless you payed attention to E3, you would have never heard of Shenmue 3 being announced.

I didn't even find out until maybe a month after E3, by then the kickstarter was just about done, and had I found out about it earlier, I could have saved my money up to donate. Now that the kickstarter is over, and I have money I could donate to the project, it doesn't matter anyways as all the incentives are over and I now have to wait for a paypal option which they say is coming, but hasn't yet.

If you donated more, you got in my opinion, more narcissistic options to be implemented in the game, (name in credits, npc modeled after you, capsule toy modeled after you), due to your wealth and how much you contributed. Whether you consider yourself narcissistic or not, that is what it is.

So to me, I'm not going to donate more than twenty bucks as for one that's all I really can donate, I'm young and in college, and disowned by my family so I'm independent, and two, I don't think it's fair that since I managed to give more money, I get all these options that every person who donated should get.