The fact that it's staying atop the charts with a powerhouse like God of War(which is arguably one of the greatest games ever made imo, based on personal play and not just the glowing reviews) is a true testament to it's power as a loved franchise getting a second chance at life.

I'm good friends with my old manager from GameStop and pre-orders went live there this morning, it seems. I'll probably order from him. He said prior to it going live he was getting 3 or 4 requests.


I hope this is as big a wake-up call as Sega gets when they reevaluate the franchise's future.

Well,

It is really nice to see the outpouring of support during this Tweetathon. It seems SEGA Europe responded to it recently; I'd wager they are quite happy, but content to ride the wave until they want to give up a little more information

I think they'll wait til E3, honestly--I know everyone says to not get your hopes up, but we are really moving towards something big here. It all depends on how in-depth progression has been made in Shenmue III.

It has been almost 3 months since the last "update", which was a recap of MAGIC and a couple of screens from an unknown build. We are due for a proper re-reveal soon. Here's hoping.

This game series has a far more expansive fanbase than even I thought. It is still in the Top 30 Best Sellers on Amazon, 3 weeks after the announcement.

Mayhaps they are going to have a tough time keeping this a limited release with this much fervor.

They seem to like Gamescom, so there is the possibility to it showing there.

Still holding strong at #37 on Amazon US overall in video games and #10 on PS4.

I really hope they reconsider an Limited Edition. A steelbook with a soundtrack for both games, plus the bonus poster would be sufficient enough I think. Maybe a small art book?

I'm still hopeful for a modicum of information at E3, but I will temper my expectations.

It's clear to me from the silence since February(and the confusion that seemed to come from what was shown at MAGIC) that Deep Silver is preparing to take over for the normal KS updates.

It will probably show at Gamescom for sure in August, if not E3. However, I think missing E3 ensures 2018 isn't happening, which is okay with the HD Remasters finally a reality.

Pretty amazing what we have and continue to accomplish with the revival of this series.

It is a testament to what the connected age is capable of doing. 10 years ago it was incomprehensible to bring a group together through so many outlets(Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, websites).

Look at Brooklyn Nine Nine. It was saved within hours of cancellation by a very vocal minority not unlike our own community.


I truly believe we can bring about one of the most remarkable comeback stories in video game history with our efforts.

Still hanging in the Top 50 on Amazon US and #15 in the PlayStation 4 category.

I think they are going to fix the cutscenes' aspect ratio in the end. They seem coy on confirming 4:3 is a definite thing, which tells me that perchance they are listening to fan concerns or compliments. I think that's why the member of d3t joined here was to garner information while throwing a small bit our way. He just didn't anticipate being overwhelmed by excited fans.


In regards to the release date, does this smell of an E3 release date reveal to anyone else but me?

I just can't help but think it is going to be announced there along with a full, proper reveal of III. It wouldn't surprise me if it's one of those surprise "Available Now" announcements like they did with Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 during the MvC Infinite reveal.

I am looking forward to the end of this month, to see if Yu acknowledges the re-release(finally) of his passionate former works in a KS update.

Well, upon reflection we knew this was coming. I thought a bit more about the revelations last year with Deep Silver 'S involvement.

Considering Yu said he could now expand the game beyond his original vision(i.e larger areas, more NPCs, stretch goals like a full fighting system), also stating a while back that at $10 million, it would have the features of an open world.

There is no way all of that could be fully realized and incorporated within a years time and certainly not by a reasonably small development team.

We are always quick to nitpick the early alpha footage, but I don't think the game will look anywhere close to that when it is properly shown later in the year. A lot can change in that time frame. I don't see the game releasing until Summer 2019 at the earliest, honestly, thinking on how much the scope has changed.

It's probably ready to be shown, but they don't have a prayer looking at the leaks of megatons Sony has possibly at their show(DMC5, Re2make, FFVII, Ghosts, Dearh Stranding).

It's be drowned by all that

Sony were also weirdly quite selective on which 3rd party games/publishers got into the press conference too. Maybe Microsoft sucked 'em all up?

Either way, start setting your watches for Gamescom. Only two and a half months to go.


I think that was a simple case of Microsoft busting out the biggest gun: their checkbook. They've utilized that weapon before, such as when they bought Rare in the OG Xbox days and securing rights to Shenmue II, among other things

This year it was especially apparent in the buying of Ninja Theory, as well as securing showcases for more titles from Japan(DmC5, KH3, etc.) in an effort to paint themselves more than a Gears/Halo/Forza shovelbox.

Sony had a hard lesson learned about big splashes and no release dates from 2015-2016. I mean, we've now seen more information on Shenmue III in screens, video and interviews than FFVII-R.

Hell, Resident Evil 2 Remake was ANNOUNCED in the same time frame as FFVII Remake and we will be PLAYING it in 6 months.

Looking forward to Gamescom.

Gonna be revealed at Gamescom I think as part of the big show for Shenmue.

That's pretty hefty, as we know it will be a sizable game but..

I think it's a tentative placeholder. I play Final Fantasy XIV and with all expansions and patches up to June 2018, it takes up around 79-80GB. That's an MMO, so I don't see a single-player experience taking up that size on console.

Seems he was just baiting for clicks and retweets.

You know, it is interesting how Adam pointed out along with James how incredibly complicated Shenmue's programming was. It was held together by "rubber bands" in a metaphorical sense.

I remember Yu talking about how he liked UE4 for Shenmue 3, but was more used to really getting his hands in there to code what he wants. Sounds like he really tinkered big time in Shenmue!

The true reason it is a miracle it runs, even on modern consoles is it takes an entire development team to replicate and transfer the particular coding of essentially one person.

Sega jumped on the money train that someone else started.

Well, yes. Any company would look at a chance to make some revenue. They relinquished the rights because they weren't sure of a return on their investment, especially considering Shenmue wasnt very successful all those years ago.

They were even timid to do these, according to Adam's insider info. Shenmue, despite it's cult following and critical acclaim for the time, left quite a burn financially to Sega when Sony crushed the Dreamcast with PS2s hype train.

Yes, Shenmue has a very strong community, but was it really strong enough to fund a sequel outside SEGA? Was it strong enough to justify efforts to port the games nearly 20 years later?

They did quite a lot to these games for this re-release, in all honesty. They could've just shoveled them, but they didn't. Could they have done more? Maybe, but how did they know Shenmue III's success wasnt just hype off the E3 of Dreams or a one-off for nostalgia goggle wearers?

SEGA has been surprised, very surprised by the reactions to this compilation. Shenmue IV will have only one chance to get made and that is back in-house with SEGA themselves, arguably. Another Kickstarter will not have the same success.

Our support for their efforts on this collection is our one shot to vote with our wallet on the continuation of the series. Now that's a money train I'll jump on.

This story has a point at the end, but is still an opinion I suppose.

Yesterday, I went to help my mother run some errands at home. She is getting older and struggling in the wake of
my father's death last year, as he took care of everything while they were married.

She wanted to buy something for the grandchildren; she rarely ever sees them due to distance so we walked around Target. They happened to have a lone NES Classic in the case, which she thought the kids would love as I had one at their current age(5 and 3.5). So she got it as their gift..

The system runs in 16:9 before you choose a game and then switches to the 4:3 mode with black borders when you select one and begin to play on a widescreen HDTV...

You know what? It didnt jar me, nor did it take away from the experience for me or my son(young daughter just wanted to watch it).

I doubt Shenmue HDs transition will really bother me. I say this because I was one of the naysayers and even though it still elicits a twinge of disappointment, I'm more ok with it now.


As an aside, I walked into my father's "music room", as he was a massive audiophile and sauntered around a bit reminiscing. Next to the altar which houses his medical license, etc was a stack of CDs he often listened to on his large speakers. On the top was Shenmue Orchestra and Shenmue Chapter 1.

He always snuck my CDs as a kid, as he loved classical or instrumental. Fitting that would be there.

I'm saving up for my next payday so I have a cushion to go ahead and up to the $450 tier, if it is still available by then.

Surprised they didn't confirm participation at Gamescom, but I've got a good feeling they are going to do that on August 3rd, similar to SEGAs reveal of 1+2's release date trailer.

This community astounds me. I've followed many Kickstarters, but I've never seen any pull in that much money last minute via Slacker Backer. I'm wagering a lot of people upgraded their pledges.

I honestly feel it will blow through to $7.5 million before it ends, granting us the fully fleshed out combat system which is what I really wanted.

Yeah, we were probably going to get it anyway,(they cant say that because nobody would continue to contribute) but if the area expansion goals beyond are funded by DS, then reaching the High Ground System means we get the fully realized experience.