I wanted to say something positive about this expected release delay, but I simply couldn't.
Of course, some will be fine and happy with it, and some will always be fine with anything actually. I'm not one of them though.

Imho, delaying the game again to 2019 is NOT a good thing, yes, the game will have a longer development time to get more polished, but I'm definitely not fine with the “2019” delay for many reasons:

1- 2019 will probably be the final year in the life cycle of current-gen consoles, rumors say that PS5 dev kits are already in the hands of some developers, and next-gen titles could be announced (or even released) as early as holidays 2019. Now, what would be the impact of the delayed Shenmue III if/when that happens?

2- Timing this "update" a month before E3 could mean that they may have nothing to show at E3, another missed mass exposure opportunity maybe? especially that they didn’t show any new material with the delay announcement, not even a single new screenshot! If this turns out to be the case, then it’d clearly highlight a lot of problems this project has been having. Being unable to show a satisfactory trailer or gameplay demo after three years of development is never a good sign.

3- The vague 2019 release date, without an estimated release window is yet another indication that things aren't going smooth, that could also mean they’re not confident/transparent enough to commit to a clear release window, maybe because they know they’d probably miss it again.

4- Deep Silver could be the best thing that ever happened to Shenmue III since the grand announcement back at E3 2015, and I don't think this project could have even been possible without them on board. But, what about the future of Shenmue? We all know any future Shenmue project will certainly depend on how well Shenmue III will perform (financially). This game HAS to sell very well, we all know that it has no other option but to be profitable, but will it sell well enough to guarantee us another Shenmue?

Shenmue and Shenmue 2 are two of the most innovative games ever made, and they still have extra special place in the hearts of almost everyone who played them. That alone makes them eligible to way better treatment than the one they recently have had so far.

I am aware of the low-price tag, the limited development budget, and the joy and excitement of walking into a game store to buy a brand-new Shenmue game off the display shelf. But allow me to ask you this simple question: what are you going out of that game store with? It isn’t a remake, not a remaster and not even a direct port. It indeed has, first and foremost, an identity crisis. so I’d simply call it: a lazy port.

When I take a look at recent (and even last-gen) HD remasters, I feel how lazy and probably rushed this port really is. I can understand and forgive the 30fps, but everything else is totally unforgiven: compressed audio, a mix of 4:3 and 16:9, no reworked models, poor looking textures, missing Passport/VMU content, saves not compatible with Shenmue 3, Denuvo etc …

And to add insult to injury, they decided to push their “informative” messages through someone who has the show-off mentality of “I know things that you don’t” which made such announcements annoying instead of being interesting.

It’s really sad to see people here being “directed” towards what they say, when to post and how to discuss their ideas. It’s also pathetic to see people end up being suspended for not following the “directives” of “keeping negativity minimal”. You can “force” people to say positive things all you want, but that won’t change the fact that everyone can clearly flaws and limitations, and they have every right to highlight them and discuss them in their own way and style.

I believe this is unacceptable today, and no matter how hard you try to push people towards thinking positively about it, I think very few will actually do, especially gaming media and those who are new to the series who may not have enough nostalgia.

I am aware that this might be my last post here, which could even get deleted before mods ban me for not being “positive” enough. But still, in a time where glorious remakes and really good remasters of much less impactful games exist, I will always have a bitter feeling about what will we all end up getting next month.

Let me finish by saying that, despite everything I said above, I think everyone should still support this release, buy it and play it. Because this will directly and definitely affect the future of the series. We need to show Sega that we still care about Shenmue, and that we value their effort of brining the series back to modern systems. But we also need to tell them loud and clear, that Shenmue fans are not living in 1999 anymore, and that we are also not that easy to satisfy.

Shenmue has invented the F.R.E.E genre, and it taught me to look for, admire and enjoy every fine detail in its living and breathing world, and it won’t be that easy to change that today, even if that has got me in so much trouble with other respected members and mods, and if this ends up being my very last post here, I would like to take this chance to thank the Dojo for all the love and passion, for the great Shenmue news and projects over the years and for the great times.

Now, if you haven’t pre-ordered the new Shenmue games already, please go ahead and do it NOW.

This screen is still work-in-progress and " are " subject to change.

Maybe they were planning to release more than a single screen and eventually changed their mind, but still they should know that world is observing each and every bit of info related to Shenmue III very closely. Apart from that typo, it's nice to see updates starting to look more professional.

The screen looks good too and another stretch goal reached. I think this might be one of the best updates yet.