Knowing Shenmue 3 will exist is about as exciting as winning the lottery.

I still don't believe Sony hurt the campaign at all. E3 shot the campaign full of life and it died because of poor management from Awesome Japan. Things picked up and we exceeded almost everyone here's expectations. You do see a lot of whining about Sony on Twitter, but it's just a vocal minority that never wanted the game in the first place.

Better Kickstarter campaign might've gotten us an extra $500K to a million. I don't think they could've done significantly better than Awesome Japan. I'm basing this on other Kickstarters' performance.

I thought he was saying that "the bomb" shouldn't be related to further funding.

They're going to have to publicly announce something soon. You can't announce Paypal at the end of the Twitch and then just choose to ignore it. The people are waiting.

These Rooster Teeth people really have it out for Shenmue. Another one of their programs (Funhaus) continues to run programs/podcasts bashing the series. Did someone at that company run a failed Kickstarter? I don't understand why they're spending so much time bad mouthing Shenmue.

They implemented Paypal on other Kickstarters they ran, notably one run for a Kickstarter for Ys Net's Kenji Otoso...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1287579779/coluboccoro

I don't think they're going away. Clearly someone on the team was already pleased with their work.

I assume the Shenmue 3 Paypal page will look a lot like this:

http://santa-company.jugemcart.com

Multiple threads about a copyright and a trademark seems a bit excessive to me. It seems like many of us have forgotten Shenmue 3, with Sega's blessing, was just announced.

The misinformed articles, commenters and Twitterers are really kind of pissing me off. Why so many crocodile tiers about this game?

The Game Informer title is something like:

"YU SUZUKI WANTS EVEN MORE MONEY"

And all the comments are like WHAT A DISASTER!!!!

David, no need for apology. I also did not intend to act like I was the source of the Facebook post. Your name on Facebook is written in Japanese characters, so I was not aware it was you. I will be more careful next time. Just thought it was worth sharing with the thread.

They've raised $65K. Whether that's a good thing is up to you.

http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/10/12/sega-europes-marketing-director-on-the-transition-from-sonic-to-smartphones

"Now my biggest challenge as marketing director is to make sure people are aware that Sega isn’t just this heritage brand that made all the Sonic games but we’re making cutting edge adult narratives such as Alien Isolation too. Not a lot of people realise we make Football Manager either – that has to change.”
“We’ve had some great successes on mobile – our Sonic Dash game has over 100 million downloads – but mobile is an overcrowded market and being truly innovative in that space isn’t easy,” he adds. “The strategy at Sega is to focus on producing great content first and then decide which platform it works best on afterwards.”

Admitting that Sega has not done a “great job over the last four years” in communicating its brand values and “Yes, we want to innovate and back smarthphones and virtual reality but our key purpose is to go back to what the brand used to stand for and I think the buzz around Shenmue 3 shows that people love our legacy,” adds Rooke, who says Sega is exploring ways to re-release the original two Shenmue titles.

“Sega was an innovator, the Dreamcast was offering online gaming as early as 1998. But perhaps back then we were pushing boundaries a little too soon. Nowadays we know what we’re good at and the strategy is to be more gradual. Over the next few years, we want to use engaging content and marketing to remind the public why they fell in love with Sega in the first place.”

I know we're reading tea leaves here, but there's no denying they're possibly dropping hints all over the place now:



I mean...come on!

Doesn't seem productive to complain about a few test shots taken three months into development. *shrug*

They're making "less" of a game based on some early shots that'll never be seen again when the game comes out. People around here just enjoy worrying.

This is awesome.

http://teamyu.net/Shenmue.III?action=raffle

The final portion of Shenmue III's crowdfunding campaign expires at the end of December, at which point the game's development budget will be set in stone. Though we are all delighted with the progress being made by Ys Net in these early stages, opportunities to expand the scope of such an important title don't come along often.

Therefore, to help make the most of these final few weeks of the year, dedicated fans have pooled their most treasured resources together with First 4 Figures to donate some extraordinary prizes for an unmissable contest we're calling the Winning Can Raffle!

In short, here's what's on offer:

- Exclusive edition Lan Di statue directly from the workshop of First 4 Figures

- Standard edition Ryo Hazuki statue signed and personalized by voice actor Corey Marshall

- Limited edition Japanese copy of the original Shenmue for Dreamcast, complete with Jukebox CD, signed by Yu Suzuki

- Limited edition Japanese copy of Shenmue II for Dreamcast, sealed and VGA Gold graded

- Translucent blue Shenmue soundtrack LP, signed and personalized by Corey Marshall

- Rare promo stickers from the Shenmue Premiere in Japan

- Official Shenmue T-shirt from the Tokyo Game Show 2015 (size M)

Plus: ALL entrants will receive a bonus Shenmue themed decal just for taking part!Remember, all you need to do is participate in the Shenmue III Slacker Backer campaign at any of the tiers listed above and forward your PayPal receipt to [email protected] before the relevant deadline to receive your decal and be entered into these draws. For any Shenmue fan this prize pool is an absolute goldmine, so whatever you do, don't miss out. For a little extra support towards Shenmue III's development, you could be walking away with an item you'll cherish for many years after the game's release - on top of the great backer rewards you're guaranteed from Ys Net!

I think it's interesting the official Sega Facebook page shared a link to the Lan Di figure preorder.


Baby steps, folks.

They'll get nicer royalties from game sales.

I don't know many prototypes that have great graphics. I wouldn't worry about graphics until we're looking at an actual game.

My problem is they don't seem to acknowledge their numerous mistakes. A simple follow-up E-mail explaining no one is losing their rewards would help. Chances are it'll take another month before we see anything. Maybe they're only being paid to work once a month? I have no insight. I'm just a guy on the net.

I think the concern about this latest mishap is somewhat overblown simply because the funding was supposed to end last month anyway. They're making more than they originally set out to, so that's a positive. The more troubling aspect is no mention of the PC version or the promised Kickstarter upgrades.

Just stumbled upon this one.

The demo is great and the graphics/music really match the classic Outrun feel.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noctet/slipstream

At least part of the media are publishing apologize and corrected articles, although they still point out the lack of communication from YsNet.

http://segmentnext.com/2016/01/07/shenmue-3-paypal-rewards-arent-canceled-publications-wrongly-reported-scenario/
They should be called out on their lack of communication.

By the way, I stand by my opinion that Shenmue 2 is the greatest game of all time. I don't care if it's aged poorly or if the English dub is terrible. I have never been more affected by a videogame in my life. It truly marked the end of an era for me as well. I pretty much lost interest in gaming after Shenmue 2. It's going to take more than some Kickstarter cock-ups and VG media bullshit to make me lose interest in Shenmue 3.

The most offensive thing about your post is that you found Shenmue 2 just 'ok'. 8)

You found Shenmue 2 merely ok and think the series' storyline is predictable and not very good. Not sure why you were ever looking forward to a third game.

No.

Exactly.

It's a prototype.

The game has barely entered development. It didn't exist at all less than a year ago. The Kickstarter models were likely thrown together in a day or two just so they'd have something to show. Remember the game would not have happened at all without Kickstarter funding. They didn't spend months and years putting the game together ahead of the Kickstartet.

I have complete faith the models, the animations and the environments will look substantially better than what we are seeing right now. You have a game directed by a talented developer--one of the most legendary of all time, in fact--with most of the original crew, particularly the character designer and environment modelers. It'll look great.

Not to mention they hired Kid Nocon, who seems to be extremely familiar with Unreal Engine. I'm sure he's not the only one on the team that is.

Have faith.

The game isn't going to look like an out-of-the-box Unreal Engine game. We're fretting over nothing.

Good to see Awesome Japan is not fulfilling rewards. One less thing for the naysayers to chicken little over.

I'm not disappointed that they didn't show anything, but I am disappointed the incompetent imbeciles running the Kickstarter/Paypal couldn't even so much as send a Tweet acknowledging the one-year anniversary.

I can't wait for their three-sentence update in two weeks that says something about it being a year full of tears or whatever cliche nonsense they tend to write, all in garbled English full of typos.

They're so bad.

I guarantee you there are people in and outside this community that would do an amazing job and not even expect compensation.

Crowdfunded games in general are an easy target. Add in the Sony conspiracy and you've got the makings of a very, very easy target.

I feel for Yu Suzuki, and I feel for the fanbase, but there's a good reason why crowdfunded games are an easy target. Look at how poor most of them turn out to be.

Once there's a playable build, I expect better coverage provided the game lives up expectations. If the character models are as poor as they were when the game was announced and the voice acting is sub-Shenmue 1, then expect to get upset all over again. (I don't expect any of this to happen.)

I'm not upset about them not showing anything, but the lack of information about the PC version is starting to worry me. I don't care what Cedric Biscay says on Twitter about it.

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. All we get are these nothing updates once a month. They need to do a state of development update, reassure backers the game is still coming to the PC, etc. They might be making amazing progress behind the scenes, but they're really letting all of us down as far as the Kickstarter involvement is concerned.

You guys are seriously overreacting, but I still think their PR people and whoever is running their online presence really suck. .the lack of info about the PC version is terrible, particularly because many pledged on a supposed PC version. The PC thing is their biggest transgression so far, IMHO. It's not showing much transparency to possibly half their backers.

Personally, I think it's time to stop begging Cedric for scraps. He hasn't proven to have much useful information on the game, and I doubt he's going to share anything substantial before Yu suzuki or Sony does.

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.

All id personally really like at this point is reassurance development is on track, the budget is being met and some transparent answers about things like the PC version. -"another Twitch chat or Twitter QA would do wonders.

If people are disappointed with the "photoshopped Ryo" I can't imagine what the original one would do for the fans. Maybe pitchforks and torches? So good move there by Yu in my opinion.

I think no screenshot of Ryo is better than a Photoshopped screenshot of Ryo. By editing the protagonist's face and sharing it with the world, they're opening themselves up to avoidable scrutiny.
I agree.

I don't want to be overly critical because, really, we don't need it, but it's pretty funny watching people here defend the Photoshopped Ryo head. It looks stupid and it's kind of weird they still can't show us a decent model. I'm not going to lie. It's a little troubling they're having this much difficulty with something so small.

Mm. I feel the Photoshopped face was an acknowledgement of being dedicated to getting it right and respecting our memories of what the characters looked like, but the message wasn't really clear enough.


Come on, man. It's okay to be critical once in a while. I don't think it was meant to acknowledge anything; they didn't expressly say it's a Photoshopped image. It looks dumb and it'll be the next thing the braying masses criticize, if the braying masses care about criticizing Shenmue anymore. I don't know very much about 3D modeling, but is it really THAT hard to get his face right after a year or two of "development"? I think they would've been better off not showing his face at all.

You should definitely be hired to run damage control. You're doing an admirable job. Is there a spot for Deputy Shenmue Ambassador open?
I can't tell if this is meant in a "nice" way or not. :lol:

But really, when you think about what I said, and I mean genuinely put yourself in 'project management' mode, you know it does make sense.

The needs of game development don't always positively align with the needs of game promotion, and when there's likely no safety net like a big publisher sat next door with a wad of cash if you need another six months, you know what the pragmatic choice is.

We probably should have picked up on it before now, but the workflow chart really does show where the priorities for 2016 have been. It's not meant in a bad way per se. You're definitely at least showing the positive side of things. Nothing wrong with trying to boost morale. I wish I were as receptive to the screenshots as you are, but I have complete faith in Yu Suzuki so I'm ok. :|

My take is until Ys Net etc present screenshots/videos as representative of the final product, I'm not going to worry.

Too old for these highs and lows. I know Yu Suzuki is a very capable developer and Kickstarter foibles aren't going to change that.

I do think another Reddit AMA would be a nice progress check for most of us--if anyone on the team has the time.

The backer NPCs really seem to be a non-issue to me. How is a western tourist in Guilin(!), one of China's most touristy regions of all, gonna break the immersion? While Guilin in 1987 certainly wasn't as packed with loads of Western tourists as it is today, but a few Western backpackers in Chobu or in the mountainside absolutely make sense.

And concerning the combat NPCs all I can say is, the Chi You Men already cooperated with the Mad Angels in Yokosuka, which consist mostly of white people, so why wouldn't a few of their "men in suits" be white?

And it's not gonna be teenagers. No white teenager or student has the money to back an NPC tier on the S3 Kickstarter campaign. It was probably men in their late 20s or older who had the ability to back those tiers.

Not trolling or anything, I really tried to see an issue here, but I don't agree there is one.
I think some people here are under the impression Shenmue is supposed to be a reality simulator. Or they're just impossible to please. Unrealistic/inaccurate NPCs has to be item # 1,275,283 on my list of worries for Shenmue 3.

Also think Sega has been removed as the registerer now unless I'm missing something: https://whois-search.com/whois/shenmuehd.com

It doesn't appear so on https://www.whois.com/whois/shenmuehd.com

Edit: I refreshed the whois database. Sega has been indeed, removed as the registrant contact...
Doesn't this just mean they went anonymous because a bunch of us started poking around in their business?

I'm not reading anything into Cedric promoting Shenmue HD, but it's nice to see one of the big names backing Shenmue III putting some pressure on Sega. He has more influence than I do, so I appreciate his efforts.

Can't say I'm surprised.
I think when we finally see something, it's going to be a drastic leap from whatever we saw months ago. No point in sharing something that isn't representative of the final product at this point.

I'd like to see more, but any wonky or underwhelming video or screenshot will send the games press/internet trolls running after Yu Suzuki like a pack of ravenous dogs. I think/hope they're keeping things close to their chests because they're hard at work and don't want to share anything that isn't close to the final product.

If we wait six months to see an update and Ryo still looks ridiculous, then I'll start to worry.

If Sega has plans involving the first two games, I think they would've let Yu Suzuki know well in advance. I think he's still pretty tight with the company, so to speak.

I understand they're up to their necks in work, but would it really be that hard to just take a photo of them in the studio to prove they're alive? Something minor would please some people, obviously annoy the perpetually displeased, and just get this issue out of the way.
To be honest, do we even need a picture like that? We know they're there, and it's hardly like that kind of update will shut the usual suspects up in the KS comments.
It's just something to keep people happy and feel invested in the process, I guess. They don't have to do anything at all. They could go completely silent until the game's out for all I care. I don't think it'd hurt to be a little more open. I understand they're hard at work, but a little tiny show of support for the fans who are waiting would be nice once in a while.