Relevant part from the recent Famitsu interview . Seemingly still alive.

Q: Do you have plans for other ways to accept funding?

YS: I'm planning on accepting funding via PayPal. It is still being coordinated so I can't give details at the moment, but progress is being made on getting it ready.

Q: Depending on the amount of further funding, is there a possibility that stretch goals not reached during the Kickstarter campaign will be included?

YS: I would like to add them if possible. Kickstarter is a non-Japanese site and so I think it may have been hard for Japanese people to use. Even for the mailing address entry, people may have worried that making a slight mistake might result in their rewards not being delivered. So when accepting funding through PayPal, I'd like to ensure it supports Japanese language.

Q: That makes sense. With Japanese support, fans in Japan will feel relieved, won't they.

From the interview seems that fishing will be the only "stable" job Ryo can have.

He should make it 2 or 3 part time jobs. In SII if you didn't use the reset/try again gambling carrying crates was boredom, lucky hit was fun, but then you only made very little money and a lot of time.

He should make a really hard job paying a good ammount and an easy/fun for little (or/and also an average one).

I am ok with photos, but I don't want to watch a game play video. Pictures we can look at every little detail and have fun with our own imaginations, but seeing videos of something we will actually play is something that I will avoid. I will say as time goes on, we may have to have a global announcement written up regarding spoilers, and be harsh with making sure topics are clearly labelled, and/or spoiler tags used when necessary.

That's absolutely brilliant. I think many of us agree that he absolutely nailed the aesthetics of what we would like to see with a HD remaster.

Happy to see him involved.

Wow that's the flashback shorts taken care of!

Great news!

Honestly I'm going to buy the two versions, I just can't chose. The two have their drawbacks.

I don't really see any drawbacks with the PC version, it'll (hopefully) be graphically superior and support PS4 controller (though I'm hoping for 360 controller support as well). Been meaning to have a proper gaming PC for years, will save up and build one just before Shenmue III comes out.

Interview coming soon (this week).

Journalism isn't journalism anymore.

It's blogging with a paycheck.

That's why these people insert their crappy opinions like it's fact.

Yeah, even if I'm not a fan, I'm sorry to hear the line of fiction you were reading isn't going to continue. I think all of us Shenmue fans can relate to how that feels.

yep, also these people that think a non commercial fan project can be easily crushed have no idea what they're talking about and obviously haven't heard of the Streisand effect either.

maybe people with poor reading comprehension skills can't get past their assumption that we're saying it's more to kill his fan project than because he's talented, when really no one is claiming that they would hire him if he weren't talented, if not for his talent none of us would even know who he is.

You're not going to run into major spoilers when reading the interview HOWEVER, DO NOT read the question 14 if you don't want to know bosses that are going to be in the game. You've been warned ! ;-)

Thanks for warning us, please may you put question 14 in a spoiler tag when you post the interview? I'm looking forward to hearing more about the game but I still want to leave the story itself unspoiled :)

Hello guys,

As promised, I've received Yu Suzuki's approval to publish it, so here it is !

Meeting Yu Suzuki in Japan once again was awesome. I had the opportunity to meet with the development team and saw some footage and can say that Shenmue is definetly in good hands.

This interview do not contain major spoilers, however, DO NOT read the question/answer #14 if you do not wish to know about Shenmue III's bosses.

Enough said, here you go !

English version / 英語版 :

PDF version : coming soon

Yu Suzuki's interview : A New Shenmue (2015)

1) David : Hello Yu Suzuki. Today is September 14th and 2 months have passed since the end of the Kickstarter's campaign. Could you tell us how you've felt during the campaign ?

Yu Suzuki : Many people asked me how it was during E3 so I'd rather talk about what happened after that, the development and so on. That's what is the most interesting to me. The game's budget has been decided with the Kickstarter and we're working on it accordingly. We're currently testing the Unreal Engine 4.

http://s20.postimg.org/3q8adrch9/image.jpg

2) David : 14 years have passed since the release of Shenmue II. If you had to think about it, was there anything that could have been improved in the previous games ?

Yu Suzuki : When I was making Shenmue II, my goal was to make it better than the first one. Of course, there are many things that could have been better. If I had to provide an example, that'd be the use of time. How long you had to wait until the next event.

In Shenmue Yokosuka, the player had no other choice but to wait until the next event occured. The concept was to add many different features for the player to enjoy while waiting for the said rendezvous. After the first Shenmue was done, people provided their feedback and many of them were frustrated having to wait, that's why I've decided to add the « Skip Time » feature in Shenmue II. By using it, you could skip time and jump to the next scene.

3) David : During the trailer of Shenmue Online, we could see Shenhua summoning a Phoenix to fight Lan Di. Is it linked to the original story of Shenmue ?

Yu Suzuki : This is a story I made up specially for Shenmue Online. So no, It has no link to the original story.

http://s20.postimg.org/v4nf1xkvh/image.jpg

I would like to ask you some questions regarding Shenmue III and the Kickstarter campaign if you don't mind.

4) David : You've planned to add scenes from the first 2 games « Story Digest » in Shenmue III to describe the story. Are you going to use the previous games original scenes or do you plan to recreate them under the Unreal Engine 4 ? Is there any chance you're going to add Chapter 2 « the boat » in it ?

Yu Suzuki : The boat chapter won't be added. Regarding the « Story Digest » we're thinking about the best way to add it.

5) David : A fan has made a suggestion and wanted you to hear it. Is it possible for Ryo to hold a camera and take some pictures that the player could save in the inventory ?

Yu Suzuki : Ryo holding a camera doesn't match with his style and the way he is. However, the fact that the «player» himself is taking the pictures sounds like a nice idea. To be honest, I already thought about it before, so if that's possible, I would like to make this possibility happen.

6) David : In your previous interviews, you've mentioned that Shenmue III's size would be around the size of Shenmue's Dobuita. Each village will be around the same size as Dobuita or where you talking about the full game ?

Yu Suzuki : I want to make Choubu as large as Dobuita. Now, about the remaining villages, we're thinking about it.

http://s20.postimg.org/ua0vfwd0t/image.jpg

7) David : Characters will be linked to Ryo through the « Rapport System ». But is it going to change the main story and why not, make some of the characters disappear at some point ?

Yu Suzuki : This system has been built for Ryo and Shenhua. We are thinking about the possibility to make it work with other characters but that's undecided. Regarding the impact that it's going to have on the story and the game itself, that is currently under experimentation.

8 ) David : The exclusive Kickstarter content « S3World telecom» will provide the possibility to call some characters of the previous games. But are the conversations going to be limited to some lines only or will they offer some variations ?

Yu Suzuki : No, It won't be limited to a single conversation.

9) David  : The Stretch Goals «AI Battling», «Ragdoll Reaction» and «High Ground Battle System» have yet to be reached, but is there anything we could learn about these Stretch Goals ?

Yu Suzuki : Some of you may know what the Ragdoll physics is. If you release the strength of the body, it becomes like a doll, that's not really natural. That's why we're working on the «Motion Blending», adding some resistance to the muscles for example, to obtain realistic moves.

In a Virtua Fighter scene, patterns were determined by the Motion Capture, but with the Ragdoll physics, moves won't repeat over and over. If you get into something (like a wall) the reaction won't be the same. In fact, I'd like to combine the «Ragdoll Physics», the «Motion Blending» and «IK Constraint» to make the NPC and battle's reactions as real as possible.

Regarding the «AI Battling» Stretch Goal, if I had to explain this simply, that'd be, for example, when you're hitting the punch button of your pad to hit your opponent. A jab when he's close, to hit him when he's away from you and to move to hit him when he's even more far away. I would like to create a system that is taking account of the distance, conditions and the position of your rival. During normal fights, if you push a button, your character will use the same move over and over without considering your current situation. I don't really like that and would like to use the «AI Battling» to add some variations to the movements depending on your current state.

And finally, the «High Ground Battle System», is the interactivity with the surrounding environment. I want to create and add strategy and realism to the battles. For example, throwing your opponent on a barrel and making it break or hitting a wall and making it fall like a wave on your enemy. I'd like to create more complex battles using the UE4's physical phenomenon.

David : These features were not available in the first two games right ?

Yu Suzuki : To say the truth, I've already used it. You could see something like that during the «70 Man Battle». But these techniques were used 14 years ago and I am sure that the result will be more interesting if we use the actual technology.

10) David : Is Shenhua going to be with Ryo all the time or is Ryo going to be on his own from time to time as well ?

Yu Suzuki : Both. Moments where Ryo will be on his own and some where Shenhua will stand by his side.

http://s20.postimg.org/6lldkmgh9/image.jpg

11) David : Just like in Shenmue I and II, is it going to be possibile to grab the items around us and examine them ?

Yu Suzuki : I would like to make it.

12) David : Some people would like to know more about the Paypal campaign and its rewards. Is there anything you can tell us ?

Yu Suzuki : The campaign will start on September 17th. With Kickstarter, people were limited to one reward, but this time, they will be able to add other rewards. Also, I'd like Japanese users to browse this page, all details will be in Japanese. The remaining Stretch Goals are also a part of this campaign and if we reach them, as promised, they will be made. I am counting on you !

13) David : Niao Sun has been presented during the first Shenmue events but is only appearing for the first time in Shenmue III. Why did you show her so soon during the promotion of the game ? Is there a special reason behind this ?

Yu Suzuki : There's no real reason. She was attractive and I liked her, that's why I wanted to show this character to all of you as soon as possible !

http://s20.postimg.org/jr0vqqact/image.jpg

14) David : Looking at the development's schedule, 4 big bosses will be added to the game. Have you decided to cut some parts of the story and add the 4 main Chiyoumen bosses ?

Yu Suzuki : All I can tell you is that you're going to face Niao Sun of course, and also Lan Di !

http://s20.postimg.org/40fsx3r3h/image.jpg

15) David : Many players would like to have the possibility to switch between the Japanese and English voices. Do you plan to add such a feature in Shenmue III ?

Yu Suzuki : We are considering the possibility to switch between English and Japanese voices. So, many people would like Japanese voices and English subtitles ? I will probably start a poll about this to see what people are looking forward to.

Here is the last question !

16) David : Any special message that you'd like to say to the fans and why not, people who never played Shenmue until today ?

Yu Suzuki : My message towards the fans :

Thank to all of you who have been waiting for the last 14 years. I will bring with Shenmue III a new way to play and many things that were not in the first two games. I am aware that many of you are expecting Shenmue III to be the same as the first games but as a game creator, I am always challenging myself and I'd be very happy if the fans appreciated Shenmue III. Thank you for welcoming the new Shenmue !

Now the message toward players who never experienced Shenmue before :

I am developing it in the best possible way to make sure that you are going to enjoy the experience even though you have never played the first Shenmue. So even if you have no idea what the Shenmue I and II were, please do not hesitate to try it out please !

http://s20.postimg.org/ja248r8x9/DSC_0563.jpg

The interview is now over. I would like to say thank you to Yu Suzuki who allowed me to do this interview. A huge thanks to all the people working at YsNet, for their warm welcome and kindness.

I'd also like to say thank you to Cédric Biscay, french co-producer of Shenmue III. I had the opportunity to meet him and I can tell you that he's really motivated and he loves Shenmue as much as we all do ! Shenmue III is in good hands and I am really looking forward to it !

My next interview should happen during the Magic Monaco in February 2016.

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the answers.

©David DE VILLE

**********

Japanese version / 日本語版 ：

鈴木裕さんのインタビュー : 新しいシェンムーへ

1) ダビッド ： 鈴木さん、こんにちは。本日、インタビューを行わせていただくことになり、ありがとうございます。宜しくお願い致します。それでは、はじめましょう。シェンムーⅢのKickstarterのキャンペーンが終了してから、二ヶ月ぐらい経過しました。よろしければ、キャンペーンの間の印象を教えて頂けませんか。

鈴木氏 ： 皆さんに良く聞かれたのはショーの期間中の印象でしたので、その代わりにE3（ロサンゼルスで行われるゲームショー）が終わったあとや開発について話したいと思います。バジェットが決まったので、そのバジェットに合わせてゲームのフローに従って、現在はUE4のテストに入っています。

http://s20.postimg.org/3q8adrch9/image.jpg

2) ダビッド ： シェンムーⅡが発売されてから１４年が経過しました。今、思い浮かべると、シェンムーⅠとⅡには改善点があったと思いますか。

鈴木氏 ：　シェンムーⅡを作るときはシェンムーⅠを改善して作ったので、もちろん改善点が沢山ありました。一つの例を挙げると、待ち合わせの時間です。シェンムーⅠでは待ち合わせの時間までただ待つことしか出来ませんでした。なので、シェンムーⅠでは待ち合わせの時間までに遊ぶ要素を沢山入れてあります。待っている時間に違うことをやって欲しいというのがシェンムーⅠのコンセプトでした。シェンムーⅠが終わったらそこに対してストレスが溜まると言うプレイヤーの声が高かったのでシェンムーⅡでは待つシステムを入れることに決めました。その時間まで待つというシステムを使うと、その時間と場所にジャンプすることが出来るようになりました。　

3) ダビッド ： シェンムーオンラインのトレーラーでは藍帝（らんてい）は龍を、シェンファは鳳凰を召喚して戦っているシーンがありました。このシーンはシェンムーのメインストーリーと繋がっているのでしょうか。

鈴木氏 ： シェンムーオンラインのために作った外伝なので、オリジナルストーリーと繋がっていません。

http://s20.postimg.org/v4nf1xkvh/image.jpg

4) ダビッド ： まだ、シェンムーをやったことがないプレイヤーにストーリーを分かってもらうために、シェンムーⅢにシェンムーＩ＆Ⅱのストーリーダイジェストコンテンツが追加される予定があります。
それは、昔の動画（シェンムーThe Movie)か、あるいはUnreal Engine 4でリニューアルしたもので追加されるのでしょうか。そして、カットされた「二章　船」の動画版を追加されますか。

鈴木氏 ： シェンムー「二章　船」　は追加されません。ストーリーダイジェストに関してはどの形がいいかどうか検討中です。

5）　ダビッド ： シェンムーファンからのアイデアを聞いたので、お伝えさせていただきます。シェンムーⅢの涼がカメラを持って、写真を撮って、アルバムに保存できるシステムというアイデアでしたが、いかがでしょうか。

鈴木氏 ： 涼がカメラを持つというと、ちょっと彼のイメージに合わないと思います。プレイヤーの方が写真を撮ったらいいと思っています。写真の機能が使えるのは以前からやりたいと考えていたので、出来ればやりたいです。

6） ダビッド ： 以前、他のインタビューを受けていたときに、鈴木さんはシェンムーⅢの世界のサイズはシェンムーのどぶ板と同じぐらいになると言いましたが、それは全部のエリアですか。それとも一つずつの村がどぶ板と同じぐらいのサイズになるということでしょうか。

鈴木氏 ：鳥舞をどぶ板くらいの大きさにしたいと思っています。他の村については検討中です。

http://s20.postimg.org/ua0vfwd0t/image.jpg

7） ダビッド ： 今回は好感度システムによって涼が他のキャラクターと繋がっていることは変わりますが、そのシステムでストーリーの変更や仲が悪いと仲間と会えなくなってしまう設定がありますか。

鈴木氏 ： 好感度システムは涼とシェンファーに向けて作ったシステムです。他のキャラに使うかどうかは検討中です。ストーリーやゲーム進行にどれくらいの影響を与えるかどうかは現在実験中です。

8） ダビッド ： キックスターター限定の国際テレホンカードで前作で出てきたキャラクターに連絡することが可能ですが、出来る会話が一つ限りなのか又はバリエーションがたくさんあるのでしょうか。

鈴木氏 : 会話は一つ限りではないです。

9） ダビッド ： 「ラグドールリアクション」や「ＡＩバトル」や「ハイグランドバトルシステム」というストレッチゴールはまだ達成していませんが、それについて詳しく説明してくださいませんか。

鈴木氏 ： 皆さんはご存知かもしれませんが、ラグドール物理演算というのがあって、人体の力を抜くと人形みたいなものになって、キャラクターがだらんとしてしまいます。これだけでやると動きが不自然になってしまいます。
そのため、これにモーションブレンディングしたり、例えば筋肉の抵抗（コンストレイン）を加えると、よりリアルな動きが出ます。バーチャファイターで攻撃をされるシーンはモーションキャプチャーで撮ったシーンでパターン化されていますが、ラグドールというのはそのときの地形やぶつかったときの動きを繰り返さないので、実際はラグドール、モーションブレンディング、ＩＫコンストレインを上手く組み合わせてバトルのリアクション・・・例えばNPCのリアクションをもっとリアルにしたいです。

AIバトルというのは、例えば簡単にいうとパンチのボタンだったら、相手が近かったらジャブ、相手が少し離れていたらストレート、もっと離れていたら移動してストレートというふうに相手との位置や距離や状況に応じて,自動的にバトルの技が出来るようにAIでコントロールしたいです。普通のバトルというのはコマンドを押せばそのコマンドの技が出るという風になっているので、その技が状況に合っていなくても出てしまいます。それは良くないなと考えているので、状況に合った技をだすためにAIでコントロールしたいと思っています。

ハイグランドバトルシステム は、キャラクターの周りのものを使って、バトルに臨場感と戦略を加えて作りたいと思っています。例えば、敵を投げたらドラム缶が崩れてきて敵をやっつけるとか、闘おうとしているときに壁を叩いたら波のように崩れてきたり・・・UE4の物理現象を連鎖させて、より複雑で楽しいバトルを作りたいと思っています。演算を使ってやりたいなと思っています。

ダビッド ： シェンムーⅠ・Ⅱではやっていなかったシステムですね？

鈴木氏 ： ちょっとやっていました。７０人バトルのときにドラム缶が崩れてきたりとか…　ですが、あれは14年前の技術でやった表現なので、現在の技術でやったらもっと楽しいものになると思います。

10） ダビッド ： シェンムーⅢではシェンファがシェンムーIIと同じように常に涼と一緒にいるのか、彼が一人になることが多くなるのでしょうか。

鈴木氏 ： 彼女と一緒にいるときもありますし、一人になるときもあります。

http://s20.postimg.org/6lldkmgh9/image.jpg

11) ダビッド ： シェンムーとシェンムーⅡでアイテムを細かく観察することが出来ましたが、シェンムーⅢでも同じような動作が出来ますか。

鈴木氏 ：　出来るようにしたいです。

12) ダビッド ： Kickstarterのキャンペーン終了後、更に支援したい方がPaypalで支援出来るシステムが発表されました。それについての詳細を説明して頂けますか。

鈴木氏 ： ９月１７日からPaypalを開始対応しています。Kickstarterでは１個しか買えなかったのですが、今回は追加の購入が出来ますし、あとは特に日本のユーザーが日本語で申し込むことが出来ますので是非ページを見に来て下さい。基本的にはストレッチゴールにも対応していますので追加金額でストレッチゴールをクリアすると約束している部分が実現出来ます。皆さん、宜しくお願いします。

13) ダビッド ： 鳥隼（ちょうじゅん）は昔からプロモーションキャラクターとして使用されていて、シェンムーⅢから登場することになりましたが、どうして１４年前からそのキャラクターを紹介されましたか。特別な理由がありますか。

鈴木氏 ： 特別な理由がありません。キャラクターが魅力的だったので、僕がそのキャラクターが好きで、早く皆さんに見せたかったからです。

http://s20.postimg.org/jr0vqqact/image.jpg

14) ダビッド ： 開発の構成によって、シェンムーIIIでは4つのボスがいるということが分かってきました。つまりストーリーを短くして、四天王（らんてい、こうてい、えんてい、げんてい）を含めることにしましたか。

鈴木氏 ： 一つだけのことを言います。四天王の藍帝(蒼龍) と炎帝（鳥隼）が出てきます。

http://s20.postimg.org/40fsx3r3h/image.jpg

15) ダビッド ： 日本語と英語音声を選択するオプションが欲しい方が多いそうです。このような選択肢をシェンムーⅢに追加するつもりでしょうか。

鈴木氏 ： 日本語版と英語版の音声切り替えが可能かどうか検討してみます。海外では日本語音声で英語字幕が欲しい人が多いですか。出来たら、一回アンケートを取ってみたいですね。

それでは、最後の質問です。

16) ダビッド ： シェンムーファンや又はシェンムーを初めてプレイする方々に伝えたい特別なメッセージがありましたら、どうぞ。

鈴木氏 ： シェンムーファンの皆さんについては１４年間ぐらい待ってくれて、本当にありがとうございます。シェンムーⅢではシェンムーI＆Ⅱにない、新しい遊びをチャレンジしようと思っています。シェンムーI＆IIとか全く同じ遊びを期待している人がいるかもしれませんが、鈴木裕は常に新しいことにチャレンジするクリエイターだと思って、シェンムーⅢを応援してくれると嬉しいです。新しいシェンムーを応援して下さい。

はじめて遊ぶ人については、シェンムーIとⅡを遊んでなくても、知らなくても楽しく遊べるように、シェンムーⅢを作る予定です。はじめてのプレイでも、シェンムーの良さが伝わるようなゲームになるので、是非遊んでみてください。

http://s20.postimg.org/ja248r8x9/DSC_0563.jpg

インタビューを読んで下さった皆さん、ありがとうございます。鈴木裕さんとYSNETのスタッフの皆さんにも大変感謝しております。

シェンムーIIIは２０１７年１２月末に発売予定です。興味がある方は是非、シェンムーIIIの公式サイトのページをご覧下さい。

http://shenmue.link/　

予約購入のページはこちらです。

http://shenmue.link/order_jp/

This is exactly why I've been through double-check and approval from YsNet. I didn't want journalists to grab some parts and turn these into false rumors or clickbaits.

Glad they quickly posted on Twitter that the Xbox thing was not true !

Don't believe anything until there's an official announcement. Shenmue 1 & 2 HD is big enough for its own announcement, not some side comment.

The jacket will probably be toned down abit but it is obvious that they're still experimenting with the lighting. They're also not utilizing any Post Processing at the moment and if they are it's only for a slight color node but I don't think they're using any in the second and fourth screenshot. I think it goes without saying that this will change and right now they're experimenting with an engine that they probably never used before so it takes abit of time and energy to figure these large frameworks out.


Hey, welcome. So in your personal opinion, do you think there's plenty of time for Yu and his team to master Unreal and learn to use it to its fullest (or at least to a high degree of proficiency) before Shenmue 3 releases? I know Yu has been out of the loop a while, and I don't think refusing to play modern games helps that, but, I'm curious to ask, from someone who has experience in UE, how realistic it would be for Yu and his team to catch up fairly quickly? What do you think?

Thank you for the welcoming! Oh of course! It took me about a full year to learn everything and that was me going in with very little game development experience. Team Yu will be able to figure it out quite easily i'm sure. Even if it takes a year to learn the minute details it will still leave them with plenty of time for polish and effort.

If I had 6 months, a full animation set and the 3d models necessary and a few level designer's I could probably re-create Shenmue 1's systems entirely from the cutscenes (Minus the voice acting and lip syncing), to a combat system to the general movement and transitions in Unreal Engine 4.

Working with C++ in UE4 is great. Typically with alot of Engines you end up with some sort of... well, a high level language but a minor scripting language at that without the ability to use pointers. I won't turn this into a programming lesson but let me just say that pointers is why C++ is still around after all these years which makes everything pretty easy!

It's true Yu Suzuki has been out of the modern game market for a while... but Shenmue wasn't really like any other game was it? That could've been why it did so poorly but it was easily the best to me. Mixing RPG elements into a fighting game while taking HUGE risks on an emphasis of building an atmospheric environment (Not just the levels but the NPC's) while giving you a variety of options on how you wanted to perform. Shenmue was way ahead of it's time by a decade at least. I don't know the specifics but if I had to speculate i'd say the budget went over originally because of the technology switches from the Saturn to the Dreamcast, the re-creation of thousands of textures and hundreds of models and easily thousands of lines of code. People seem to forget that building an engine (A stable one anyways) takes years to do and is easily one of the hardest type of frameworks to make that requires huge teams.

So what is my point? If I could do this then Team Yu should have no problem. I wouldn't worry about it at all... plus we're all forgetting one important fact here. IT'S SHENMUE 3!!!

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!

Dojo member sshen1127 has kindly translated this recent brief but exclusive interview from Yu Suzuki's China visit.

Nov 19 interview with Yu Suzuki (Chinese)
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4168537061

English translation

Q: Master Yu, when did you first meet up with master Lui Lian Zhi - was it 1991 or 1994? On what did you two first collaborate, was it working on Virtua Fighter 1 or 2?
Yu: The first time we met was 1993. Our first time working together was for VF2.

Q. Will Shenmue 3 have Chinese subs?
Yu: We are looking into it at the moment.

Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.

Q: How many more Shenmue games are there until the end of the story?
Yu: There is a total of 11 chapters. Shenmue 3 will be chapters 5 and 6.

Q: Will everyone who donated for the game have to wait until near the release date to have their address and version of the game confirmed?
Yu: When the time comes we will send out an email to everyone. Please keep an eye on your mailbox.

Q: Can you use Chinese characters for all the Chinese people who donated for the game, in the "Thank you" credits at the end of the game?
Yu: All the credits will be in Roman characters.

Q: Will Shenmue 3 follow the same formula as Shenmue 1 and 2? In your opinion, what is the biggest difference with Shenmue 3? And what is the key selling point to attract new players to the game?
Yu:
1. Shenmue 3 will follow in the footsteps of Shenmue 1 and 2. It will keep what makes Shenmue Shenmue. For example, real-time full voice acting.
2. Shenmue 3 will be a more of an "open world" game so player can explore more places.
3. Towards the later half of the game, there will be a brand new way to play the game to attract new players. But the details are a secret.

Q: Will there ever be a spin-off of Shenmue, such as Shenmue 0?
Yu: No, not at the moment... [laughs]

Q: Is there any plan to release an Outrun-like racing game in the future?
Yu: We do have plans to release such a game.

Q: Will Shenmue 3 have an online feature?
Yu: There is no plan for any online feature for Shenmue 3.

Shenmue 3 CG artist Nocon Kid shares photos of his visit to Dobuita!
Photo Gallery: http://imgur.com/a/0jFiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHwxjwISgKo

Most interesting parts :

(5:10) About MAGIC 2016 in February
There will be a progress statement. Normally, we have the ambition to show a trailer... well rather a teaser I'd like to clarify, with the first true reliable images so we're ambitious. At least, we'll see new things like images, explanations about the game, story, etc.

(16:29) About Yu Suzuki
He's very nice, infact we are basically great pals, that's the reason we work together as well and he's a very humble person ( note : Cédric stresses this point during the video because not all the creators he knows are friendly in the gaming/anime universe and sometimes act like divas ). I think he is humble because he did everything that was possible to do in the sector of gaming. I was always fascinated when he showed me photos of him with Spielberg or Mickael Jackson but with calm, not as someone like a stalker. And you know what, it was those people who were happy to be pictured with Suzuki because his games provided them a lot of fun and they wanted to collaborate with him. So he doesn't boast at all about it, he's really supercool, we get on very well, and above all, we often drink good wine together. He likes wine, so I do. It's generally the common lot of our discussions (laughs).
Question : Which wine is his favorite ?
Cédric : Well it's a bit of expansive wine (laughs). He enjoys the really great wines, the Château Margaux, etc.
Q : And Romanée-Conti, and goes on...
C : So, yeah I admit we didn't reach this level together yet but we drunk some Château Margaux from his own wine cellar.
Q : His Tokyo-based wine cellar, isn't it ?
C : Yeah, a mini wine cellar in his office at his home but I will say nothing because I own a wine cellar in my office too so I refuse to make fun of him (laughs).


(18:35)
C : The production is progressing well, we're not late at all, it's still planned for Christmas 2017 as we decided. You know, a big interest is there, it's a traditional month for the players. Ok there are other moments in the year but it's usually better to release a game at Christmas.

Q : Since when you're working on Shenmue III before the announcement exactly ?
C : I admit we're not talking a lot about things like that, I don't want to be already impolite but (laughs) it's kind of confidential.

(19:51)
Sega is the IP owner. So for us, making Shenmue III is a huge risk because we don't own the IP. If you own the IP, that means you make a big return on investment. In our case for example, our return on investment will only be from the sales, period. We will not see the money generated by the goodies for example.

I think there are 200 000 big fans.

About AAA status
(Shenmue III) will not be Call of Duty but it will be a really good PS4 game and will easily meet the current PS4 standards.

My hidden goal was $5 million (for kickstarter).

(23:45)
What I anticipate is that Sega releases Shenmue I & II HD. Of course I must make clear that's not official but just what I wish. For me, it's the only viable way for selling well Shenmue III, so beyond the fans network. We also thought about doing a little manga or animation based on Shenmue I & II story but that's nothing compared to remake Shenmue in HD version. About the question you ask me about the hype, while it did not influence us, I think it can for others. I have the feeling that now everybody is interested in Shenmue, for example, at the companies level, to release related goodies.

Q : When was your first encounter with Yu Suzuki, how, and around which wine you seduced him ?
C : Basically, I was interested to meet him. I met him in Tokyo thanks a common friend. Then we talked about a lot of things, firstly Shenmue of course as a fan but I'm also fan of Virtua Fighter so we had a lot of common things to talk. I also bring him to an event in the south of France, then the Anime Game Show at Monaco in 2013 where the official discussion about Shenmue seriously started out because before this moment, it was really impossible as Sega didn't want to let the IP at all. So we're become real friends and we met again several times at San Francisco. We also did together the GDC , the Napa Valley as you mentionned wine. So we indeed drunk all the great American wines while discussing about how to find fundings for Shenmue III. Well it looks quite simple but you know, I do my business since almost 15 years in Japan, you can't meet Yu Suzuki so easily but thanks my job, the doors open a little more easily.

Q : Indeed, a bit like the Jet Set. The hardest part is to get in, and you did it.
C : I would say rather the Jet Set of Gaming (laughs)


(40:08)
Q : How many people are working on Shenmue III development, currently and actively ?
C : Well, our friend Suzuki didn't allow me to talk. He said to me "Don't talk about it, they will discuss again, etc". So sorry I can't answer your question (laughs).

Q : But it's a lot of people, isn't it ?
C : Yes of course, it's a video game so there is a minimum. Moreover, since the annoucement in June, we received so many requests from people who want to participate in the developement, that never stops ! There are even developers who want to work FOR FREE, it's insane. Then it smoothed down a little. For the Shibuya Production mail, I receive personally only 3 or 4 emails per week while in June, it was crazy, they were dozens and dozens of people per day, phone calls with "We want to participate in Shenmue III". [...] There were Australians, Japaneses, Ukrainians... they weren't random guys in their garages but true studios !

Q : Can we suppose that the team, although mainly Japanese, is pretty international ?
C : The team is essentially Japanese but with indeed some foreigners who live in Japan, who speak Japanese. You know that if you don't speak Japanese, it's very complicated... well I'm saying but I don't speak Japanese (laughs), but if you're working among a team, it's difficult.


(41:57)
Q : Will the PC version be optimized compared to the PS4 version ?
C : Good question, I would say "Yes".

(56:15)
Q : Outside the kickstarter, will a physical version be available ?
C : Yes absolutely.

(59:10)
Q : Will the PS4 and PC versions cost a different price ?
C : No at the moment but it's something that can change for multiple reasons. But at the moment, no.

Can someone tell me what this has to do with Shenmue III?

So how much has this PayPal event actually increased the figure by so far?

http://s10.postimg.org/6dw6y5fi1/image.png
http://s11.postimg.org/55n27rmkj/image.png

http://s22.postimg.org/40f2ym7fl/image.png
http://s21.postimg.org/nozn8hs6v/image.png

http://s22.postimg.org/5ahhreql9/image.png
http://s14.postimg.org/hnuxsh9y9/image.png

Suzuki understands that open-world gameplay is a fundamental aspect of the shenmue experience and something that fans are most looking forward to (along with the story). i'm pretty confident that something similar to shenmue 1 in terms of size and depth can be achieved, even with the current budget.

the recent interview in china seemed to imply that suzuki believes he can stretch the budget further than he originally anticipated anyway, which is good news.

i think we have to appreciate that compromises may have to be made in accordance with the restrictions of the budget. paypal is still open so the final budget could still potentially increase and allow for a richer open world. i really wouldn't worry too much about it.
whatever happens at least 'the story will go on.' - which is pretty amazing, and a lot better than almost anyone was expecting.

its a matter of waiting and seeing. there is 2 full years ahead of us, and inevitably there will be loads of new info on the way. i can't wait to see some screens shots of the villages.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/15bnByqeQKY/maxresdefault.jpg

Welcome ladies and gentleman to the 2015 5th Annual Dojo Awards live from the Kodak theatre. This is 5th Awards since the sexy Riku Rose rebranded them back in 2010 and his first year back organizing them since 2011 after being heartbroken that not many people participated last year resulting in no ceremony for the first time since the rebrand.

*Riku Rose walks out on stage*

Riku Rose:
Welcome all. This has been a great year for us all with the announcement of Shenmue III after years of little or no information. I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say I never thought that day would come and was dreading the day I would log in here to see some of the peoples posts that I love to read still hadn't posted for another day. Nearly all forums that focus on one product wither away at some point so I'm glad to see that at E3 we got an adrenaline needle in the arm too keep this place going well into the future.

It's seen the return of many old faces, even if it was for one post to say they were so proud to be part of this community and then never post again. It looks like with the promised release of 2017 and the likely delay into 2018 that we will see our little community continue to grow. If it wasn't for this I doubt we would have been able to get Ethan Hawke to host tonight and we all know that no one wanted Brendan Fraser to host for the 4th time. So before the show get's started let's look back at previous awards ceremony's.

Please see below for the list of previous winners:

Game of the Year :
2010 : Deadly Premonition
2011 : Batman: Arkham City
2012 : Assassin's Creed III
2013 : The Last of Us

Buzz Killington Award:
2010:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Kiba and Jokatech19
3rd - Crimson Ryan

2011:
1st - Dorian
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Kiba

2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - KiBa

2013:
1st - AnimeGamer183
2nd - mue26
3rd - M1TT3NZ and Ryudo

Biggest Bully:
2010:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Oppy
3rd - Dorian and OL

2011:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose and M1TT3NZ
3rd - Dorian

2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose
3rd - MiTT3NZ

2013:
1st - QWERTY
2nd - M1TT3NZ
3rd - beedle

Biggest Punchbag:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - Jeff
3rd - Axm, Kiba, Oppy and DoubleORen

2011:
1st: Jokatech19
2nd: Riku Rose
3rd: Tuffy, Crimson Ryan, Shengoro86, Dorian and Spokane

2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - Jokatech19

2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - mue26

Funniest Member:
2010:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Gingefners
3rd - Ryudo and Oppy

2011:
1st - Spokane, OL, Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Brothaman, Gingefners, M1TT3NZ and Kiba

2012:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Brothaman
3rd - Riku Rose

2013:
1st - QWERTY and Let's Get Sweaty
2nd - M1TT3NZ and South Carmain
3rd - Rakim

Coolest Member:
2012:
1st - OL and MiTT3NZ
2nd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.
3rd - Brothaman and Spokane

2013:
1st - Rakim
2nd - Kenny and OL
3rd - Peter

Worst Member:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - DoubleORen
3rd - Dorian

2011:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Oppy, QWERTY, Martin and Gingefners
3rd - Luvly KM, Yukio and Beedles

2012:
No Award

2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - QWERTY and mue26

Member of the Year:
2010:
1st - Kenny
2nd - Riku Rose, Henry Spencer and Wude,
3rd - Ryudo

2011:
1st- OL
2nd- Henry
3rd- Peter

2012:
1st - Peter
2nd - Spokane
3rd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.

2013:
1st - MiTT3NZ
2nd -Let's Get Sweaty
3rd - Henry Spencer

Now please put your hands together for our host this evening, Mr Ethan Hawke!

*Ethan Hawke walks out on stage*
http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ethan_Hawke_66%C3%A8me_Festival_de_Venise_Mostra_3.jpg
http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/clapping-crowd-applause.gif

Ethan Hawke:
Umm... Welcome to these internet fan award things for the Shamu Dojo centre... Anyway our first award of the evening is for the game of the year. Here to present the award is Bono's Dad:

http://media.salon.com/2013/02/jack_nicholson_presenter.jpg
Jack Nicholson:
Video games are becoming very realistic... So lets get started:

GOTY
In 3rd Place - Tales of the Borderlands
In 2nd Place - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
In 1st Place:
Bloodborne

Sadly Konami wouldn't let Hidetaka Miyazaki come to collect the award so in his place we have Kiefer Sutherland
http://www.24spoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2004/02/Kiefer-Sutherland-2004-SAG-Award-1024x576.jpg

Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the Buzz Killington award is your uncles new girlfriend who's 15 years younger then him and your geography teacher:

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1708578!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/86th-academy-awards-show.jpg

Bill Murray:
I was in a Ghostbusters video game so I get this stuff:

Buzz Killington:
In 3rd Place -Yokosuka and mue26
In 2nd Place - Peter
In 1st Place -
Himuro

Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the biggest bully award is your mum's friend who was hot when you was in school and your friend who slept with her:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02840/kimnovak_2840395b.jpg

Matthew McConaughey:
All right, all right, all right:

Biggest Bully:
In 3rd Place - MiTT3NZ
In 2nd Place - South Carmain
In 1st Place -
Riku Rose

Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the biggest punchbag, here to present the award is someone who would never date any of the nominees:

http://media3.popsugar-assets.com/files/2012/02/08/0/192/1922398/04da51f456a80c9e_140023769/i/Angelina-Jolie-presenting-Oscars.jpg

Angalina Jolie:
Speaking as someone who was very popular at school I can understand how hard it is to be bullied:

Biggest Punchbag:
In 3rd place - Jeff
In 2nd Place - mue26
In 1st Place:
Animegamer183

Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the funniest member and here to present it is a man who has never laughed in his life:

http://images.dailylife.com.au/2015/02/23/6290698/neeson_main-620x349.jpg

Liam Neeson:
...

Funniest Member:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st Place:
Riku Rose

Ethan Hawke:
The next award is the coolest member award and here to present it is someone who clearly doesn't want to be here:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2248688.1424670576!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

Sean Penn:
How the fuck can you have someone who's cool on an internet forum? This award means about as much as me winning winning the long jump in the Paralympics:

Coolest Member:
In 3rd Place - Yokosuka, Bambi and Ziming
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st place:
St. Elmo's Fire

Ethan Hawke:
Next up we have the award for the worst member, here to present the award is Kiba:

http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m00h1cnGMW1rnxcibo1_500.jpg

Kiba:
*Kiba goes on a long rant about something*

Worst Member:
In 3rd Place - Shengoro86 and mue26
In 2nd Place - AnimeGamer183
In 1st Place:
Brosause or as he is also know Amiga

Ethan Hawke:
Well tonight has been fun but we have one award left and it's the biggest one of the night. The person to present it is also our biggest guest of the evening, ladies and gentleman I give you Yu Suzuki:

http://gearnuke.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/shenmue-3.png

Yu Suzuki:
See I have more then just that sailor shirt!

Member of the year:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL and Switch
The Member of the year is:
!!!Ziming!!!

Ethan Hawke:
Thanks for all coming out tonight. Feel free to all stay for the afterparty but to get us in the mood we have some music for you. Please welcome Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4-m-cIZf4

See you all next year

What a stupid dumb ass company.

Lets launch another Kickstarter to fire Awesome Japan.

They haven't got a clue. Damn.

I find their interpretation of the poll results dumb, but what frustrates me the most is 90%+ of the time, they are the cause of the negativity surrounding Shenmue 3.

Im gonna go ahead and say it, something needs to be done about this company sooner rather than later. There's been too many mistakes and errors that have had a negative impact on Shenmue.

Im 100% certain the KS could have reached 7 - 8 million if AJ didn't continuously screw things up. I mean we've turned a blind eye several times to their nonsense and given them chance after chance, but lets be real, this will happen again and again, im certain of that.

Research past media reports and analysis videos and you'll see they are the cause of most of the problems.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1121020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnvy0yzgVWc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwphQVMDJvY

These guys are getting paid good money to do a relatively easy and amazing job in its own right, but they still fuck up. They are responsible for media relations, communication and the campaign itself, yet they make no attempt to promote the campaign, no attempt to gather further support, no attempt to communicate or make exclusive deals with media outlets to gain further interest, etc, etc.

We, the fans have done everything since Shenmue 3 has been announced. We've promoted, we've used our youtube friends to spread the word, we've created new campaigns, made exclusive deals with companies such as first four figures, Corey Marshall, etc etc etc. Some of us have been keeping the dream alive over on other message boards and damage controlling like crazy to clear up doubts and confusion. Doubts and confusion that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

You have to ask yourself, why are we doing everything??? We all have jobs, study etc, yet we still find time to continuously push Shenmue 3 for the greater good, for free i might add. It comes from passion and Love. These guys dont do anything, and its their full time job????

Awesome Japan clearly have no real interest in the project. The sad fact is, they'll be able to take full credit for the most successful KS ever and they didnt do fuck all to help.

Maybe this situation is a lot more complex, but as a backer who has placed around $1000 into the project, im unhappy with the way things are going. Personally, if i was apart of the project in a more executive manner, like cedric or Sony, Id fire these guys as soon as possible, or pay their contract off, so that they could be replaced by a more competent team.

#SaveShenmuefromAwesomeJapan

I hear ya Peter, but i think a good majority of the fans are pissed at AJ for constantly screwing up. Maybe they wont be replaced, but their continuous incompetence needs to be addressed. We all want Shenmue 3 to succeed and reach its full potential and there is a common problem that keeps popping up. Awesome Japan.

Whoever is in charge of their contract needs to seriously sit them down and discuss their unprofessionalism and mistakes. We can't have this happening going forward, especially considering some media outlets are looking for any excuse to rip shenmue apart.

The poll doesnt really bother me too much, its the unnecessary effect its having on Shenmue in general and AJ constant screw ups. Like i mentioned previously, this scenario and reaction will happen again and again if it doesn't get addressed.

Clickbait articles are one issue, but simple errors and incompetence that indirectly fuel clickbait journalist is another unfortunate problem we have.

This post may come across negative, but i think we need to address the negative issues fully, so we can put them to rest once and for all and never have to worry about them again.

Just my thoughts

I always felt donating was a no-brainer because this is Shenmue 3. I never thought not to donate over something like a backer reward.

http://www.redbull.com/en/games/stories/1331775510544/shenmue-3-yu-suzuki-interview

Kickstarting Shenmue 3 and the return of Ryo
By Ben Sillis on 9 February 2016
Legendary game designer Yu Suzuki on crowdfunding, Ryo’s return and even Shenmue 4.

http://i.imgur.com/Jd1PO79.jpg
Ryo is back after more than a decade © Ys Net

Mr Suzuki has been waiting a long time to make his latest game – about 20 years, in fact.
" From the beginning, I had been readying plans for various contingencies should the chance to develop Shenmue 3 ever arise, " he tells Red Bull in an exclusive interview. " After the Kickstarter announcement, I received a lot of messages and videos from people all over the world. I was very deeply moved that Shenmue still has so many loyal fans, even after 15 years. "

There are very few developers who are household names, stars that shine as bright as the mascots they create. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame, maybe Peter Molyneux at a push. You could probably count them all one one hand, even, but you'd have to reserve one digit for Yu Suzuki, AKA Mr Sega, head of its AM2 development team for almost two decades.

While American CEO Tom Kalinske is often credited with turning Sega into a powerhouse to rival Nintendo in the 1990s, it was Suzuki who turned in the games he sold. Responsible for arcade hits like Hang-On and Out Run, Suzuki was one of the first developers to pioneer polygonal 3D graphics, in games like Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop. Did you ever play in a Daytona USA cabinet in the arcade as a kid? Of course you did. That was him too. Ferrari F355 Challenge. Space Harrier. Dozens of classic games. But there's one game he's never been able to escape from, one he has never even tried to, that has cast a shadow over his career this century: Shenmue.

It's a little hard to describe Shenmue if you've never played it. It's a sweeping drama of family revenge set in 1980s suburban Japan and bustling Hong Kong that incorporates detective work, 3D fighting, a metric busload of voice acting and more of life's most mundane activities than you might expect. You can play darts or buy toy capsules from a vending machine. You can get a job lifting boxes for pocket money, and at one point you literally have to spend an entire in-game week carrying books out of a library.
It was banal and it was beautiful. It was the culmination of Yu Suzuki's work pushing Sega's hardware to the absolute limit, and cost a fortune to make – a rumoured $70 million, though part of that cost went into Shenmue 2.
It did not sell.

http://i.imgur.com/AT8Tl3X.jpg
Shenmue creator, Yu Suzuki © Ys Net

It would be tempting to say that audiences were not ready for such a game. But Shenmue and its sequel were only failures by the same metric that Dreamcast was, in that they happened to exist at the same time as the mighty PlayStation 2, and therefore did not make their costs back. Both games were adored by fans, who spent more than a decade clamouring for a resolution to the cliffhanger at the end of part two. Suzuki for his part continued to spend the 2000s returning to his older arcade hits while dropping hints that he'd love to return to the story of brave, blundering teenager Ryo Hazuki, if only Sega would give him the budget.
Then E3 2015 happened and everything changed. Suzuki decided to tweet a photo of a forklift truck, Ryo's preferred ride, and then turned up on stage at the Sony keynote to announce Shenmue 3 would be coming to PC and PS4 – so long as fans were prepared to back the game on Kickstarter to the tune of $2 million. Predictably, the project broke the Kickstarter record for funds raised for a game when 69,320 backers pledged a total of $6,333,295 to help bring Ryo back.

The return of Ryo
As we enter 2016, it's clear we're entering a new phase in Suzuki's career. Sega has granted his new studio, Ys Net, permission to use the Shenmue IP, but otherwise does not appear to be involved, while inexpensive and powerful game engine software now makes the game feasible on a much smaller budget. In some ways though, Suzuki admits he's picking up where he left off all those years ago.
" Shenmue 3 will be based on the original 11 chapter story I planned during the [Sega] Saturn era, " he tells Red Bull. " Using that story, we put the game together in such a way that people new to Shenmue, as well as fans of Shenmue 1 and 2, will be able to enjoy the game. "
For those new to the saga, Suzuki has a quick primer: " It is the story of a boy who travels to China on his quest to avenge his father's death, but it is also a story of love and friendship, and the bonds he shares with the people he meets as he matures to manhood through his martial arts training. "
This description sounds a tad like the blurb you might find on the back of a Sega Saturn game box, and does not quite capture the story's allure: Shenmue 2 ends on a decidedly magical note in a rural village in China, with Ryo discovering that two mysterious Macguffins may cause the resurrection of an even more evil Macguffin. We push for a few more details, and while Suzuki is keeping tight-lipped on plot, he says Ryo will grown on his journey. He's still angry, but his encounters with others may help to temper that rage.

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Shenmue 3’s environment is making use of UE4 © Ys Net

" In terms of the story, a year has not yet passed from the conclusion of Shenmue 2, so Ryo's feelings of revenge have remained unchanged, " Suzuki says. " As Ryo did in Hong Kong in Shenmue 2, he will travel to Guilin in Shenmue III, maturing as he encounters different people through his martial arts training. "
Little time has passed for Ryo, but gamers have certainly grown up in his absence. Entire console generations have come and gone. You can still play Shenmue 2 on an HDTV with an Xbox 360, but the frustrating controls – you move with the D-pad, not a thumbstick – only serve as a reminder of just how much conventions have changed.
We wonder if Suzuki, who openly admits he began planning this game in the '90s, believes he will struggle to update Shenmue 3 to 2016 expectations. " We are planning to use Unreal Engine 4 for Shenmue 3, utilising the most cutting edge production techniques so we can exploit the engine's maximum potential, " he says. " The design concept of UE4 matches perfectly with how I make games, which is why I went in that direction. "

Genre shifting Shenmue
It's not just games that have changed in the interim however, but how we talk about them too. Shenmue was far ahead of its time in this regard, at least. The game's open cities, with operating bus routes and shops that opened and closed with the days of the week, predated even Grand Theft Auto 3 by several years, and were a predecessor of the sandbox games we play today. Suzuki even came up with his own acronym for the genre at the time, 'FREE' (Full Reactive Eyes Environment). But if he had to pigeonhole his life's work now?
" The genre that is the closest to describing Shenmue is what nowadays is called an open world game, " he says. " The concept of Shenmue was to maximize the level of game play freedom by offering the highest potential number of different ways one could enjoy the game. "

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Expect plenty of mystery in the third instalment © Ys Net

For better or worse, Suzuki also originated the concept of the Quick Time Event (QTE): you would perform set actions and survive certain scenes – like someone trying to stove Ryo's head in with a metal pipe – by pressing a button on time with the screen. Succeed and the story continues. Fail and you might have to go the long way round, find another lead in your detective hunt, or have your face smashed in by a Triad member. It was a novel concept at the time, but it's fair to say it's been overused since, especially in Japanese action games. A good developer, so the theory goes, will provide the tools and the engine to let you pull off cool stunts, not just bang out a cut scene set to a rhythm game.
Suzuki says QTEs will be making a return in Shenmue 3 however. " While QTEs may feel a little wanting to some action gamers, I believe that it is a fundamental technique that allows a broad range of players to actively participate in the dramatic performances of a game."
"That said, I would like to take up the challenge of creating the next evolution of the QTE, " he adds, cryptically.

http://i.imgur.com/VDMCglZ.jpg
Suzuki wants some of the team to remain anonymous © Ys Net

How Ys Net balance that need for secrecy and surprise with the transparent communication required of a successful Kickstarter project will prove interesting. " This is my first experience with developing a game in this manner and it has been a very valuable one, " Suzuki says.
" For the Kickstarter, the architecture of the game was based on a scalable structure that could be adapted to the changes in budget. I can continually receive feedback from the backers through the entire process, which in turns helps to focus the development. "
The team will have to focus. Despite the availability of powerful, multi-platform game engines and middleware, the Japanese gaming industry has turned away from open world games, and console games altogether, Suzuki points out. That makes finding a team to tackle a game with such a heritage on a comparatively small scale more challenging still.
" Smartphones have become the mainstream in the Japanese gaming market today, creating an environment where the technology developed for consoles is often underused ," he says. " Also, it is becoming difficult to secure the talent necessary to make such games, but thankfully, we have managed to gather a very promising team for Shenmue III. "

Suzuki says that he cannot reveal the size of the team – or the budget – for " confidentiality reasons ", but he is happy to talk about one recent and remarkable hire: a fan. 'Kid Nocon', a South Korean graphics designer, wowed gamers recently with his incredible high definition makeovers of scenes from the first Shenmue (" I have wanted to make a Shenmue HD for a long time ," Nocon tells us). He must have made an impact on Suzuki too, because he then hired Nocon for Shemue 3.

" Kid Nocon is one of the people who has never stopped supporting Shenmue through all this time, " Suzuki says. " Even when I first met him, I could really tell he felt strongly towards Shenmue. I hope he will continue to be an active part in the Shenmue team. "

Sequels incoming
At the time of the Kickstarter, Ys Net had little more to show prospective backers than a scene with Ryo and Shenhua hopping over some stepping stones. Suzuki says the team are currently, " working on the prototype for the game. Using that prototype, we are experimenting with the various features of UE4 and testing out the systems we want to implement. "
Suzuki is avoiding making any benchmarks to break his own back with, and steering clear of promises on visual fidelity and specs, at least for now. So 1080p, 60fps purists will have to hang tight for now. " We have just recently decided upon the graphical benchmark quality. As to frame rate, we are still running tests ."

Suzuki's reticence to talk specifics up until this point is understandable – who would want to ruin a game fans have waited patiently for, for more than 15 years? It does, however, make the answer to our next question all the more surprising. Will Shenmue 3 hasten to conclude what was originally conceived as a sprawling, 11 chapter epic?
" I'm afraid that the story will not be concluded with Shenmue III, " Suzuki says, frankly. " After thinking it through, we decided that forcing a conclusion in Shenmue 3 would only make the story feel rushed, and compromise the game as a whole. I hope we can make "
In other words, Suzuki is back to that grand, original vision for the series once more. All it took was a bit of a patience for publishers, the industry and software to catch up with him.
We just hope we won't be waiting quite so long again for Shenmue 4. Suzuki, for his part, seems optimistic: " In five years’ time, I think I will [still] be making games, " he says. " As for Ryo? I am anxious to hear where the fans think he will end up. "

I love how faithful those screens are compared to the source material, furniture and even some mountains are placed in the same place







I love it.

I put together some of the clips that were shared on twitter. I expect a full conference video in the coming days.

Well I hope you liked the coverage of the Magic Monaco so far ;)

Hey, 27 february was a big day for shenmue news and also my birthday, so I decided to make a cake dedicated to shenmue
this is a loading screen which I have seen in my mother's womb :)

feel free to use this idea on your birthday!

http://i.imgur.com/vkM2CON.jpg

more details )

http://i.imgur.com/B5g6GLR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DCVZEut.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/npw2CD5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7vX5BkR.jpg

PSD file https://mega.nz/#!DooGiCYD

Howdy! I'm Flamzeron. I'm new here. I got into Shenmue a good 9 months ago when I got a Dreamcast back in June at a used stuff store. To be honest, it was the announcement of Shenmue III that got my interested. I had heard about the series before but I never played it at the time. During the summer of 2015 was when I started looking up more videos about the games and ultimately decided to buy the first one off of eBay. Played it, loved it, bought the second one off of a guy on Facebook (don't worry, it was in good condition lol) and loved it as well. I love the story and the martial arts elements to it. I can't wait for Shenmue III, especially with that ending from Shenmue II!

My favorite video game series is the Tales series, to which I almost have a complete collection of (at least a version of each game, only missing two). Besides Tales, my favorite franchise is Dragon Ball. I also like Ys, EverQuest, Soulcalibur, Dark Souls (Demon's and Bloodborne included), Dynasty Warriors, Warcraft, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Star Ocean to name a few. I collect both retro and modern games and I've been working on my personal wishlist and trying to narrow it down to the absolute must haves. As a gamer, I'm mainly interested in A-RPGs but I also like platformers, fighters, adventure, puzzle, and action games.

I also collect other stuff, like anime, comics/manga, and action figures, but I also collect T-shirts and I used to collect swords back in the day. I just collect whatever interests me.

My passion is writing. I hope to be a novelist one day and I have been working on a samurai novel whenever I get the chance. I've written some short stories and poetry as well as a couple other novels, but I haven't gotten anything published yet. Maybe one day.

That basically wraps it up. Other than those tidbits, I used to do voice acting, but I retired due to a lack of creative drive. I also run a podcast and do videos on YouTube for funsies. I look forward to all the fun stuff we will will do and talk about about I hope we can all be buddies! :)

Dear all,

My name is Rob Scharr, and I am one of the Kickstarter sponsors joining with Yu Suzuki and Shibuya productions this weekend here in Monaco. It was also a great pleasure to meet Peter and a few others from Shenmue Dojo last night. I hope to fully become a part of this community going forward and hope to speak with as many of the other Shenmue supporters as possible.

I studied Japanese for six years and Chinese for three years, but I am a political scientist by trade, and I will have earned my PhD in that field after a few more months. As wild and wacky as the political situation in my home country- the United States- has become, I will have plenty of reasons to do my best in this field going forward. But a prominent US political figure said something a few years ago that stuck with me. He said, "People don't succeed because they are smart, or wealthy. They succeed because they have passion for what they do. Passion is what really makes all the difference." And as soon as he said this, the first thing that came to my mind was Yu-Suzuki and Shenmue, and I hoped that someday, I could translate my latent passion for Shenmue into results.

I should come clean about one thing. With only a handful of sporadic exceptions, I have not gotten deeply involved in gaming for the past 15 years, and therefore I probably know much less about the ins and outs of the Shenmue universe- and gaming in general- than just about anyone in this community. In fact Shenmue I was one of the very last games that I delved into on any meaningful level, and for reasons I will go into another time, the game changed my life. A couple years after that, my college gaming friends all went their separate ways and I for the most part lost the community with whom I had shared then Shenmue experience in 1999/2000. I was also deeply demoralized by the way Sony and the gaming press dispatched the Dreamcast simply by lying about how much more powerful the PS2 was supposed to be; all Sony had to do was say "55 million polygons per second," and all of the third-party developers flocked to the PS2 like stupid sheep. I was furious at Sony for years, and since Sony had basically remade the entire gaming industry in their own image and I frankly wanted no part of it. Given how much Sony is doing to support Shenmue now, I don't quite hold a grudge against them like I used to, but that's another story. Bottom line, I basically removed myself from the gaming world after the Dreamcast's early demise.

On top of that, Aspect, Sega of Japan's publishing arm, released a book under Yu Suzuki's name that was heavily autobiographical in 2001, entitled "Game Works: Volume I.". Yu Suzuki himself didn't sit down and write the book himself; rather, he was interviewed by a man named Akira Nagae, who in turn compiled a series of interviews with Yu Suzuki with some brief commentary in between. There was never a "Volume II" and I had no idea what plans they had- they might have gone back to Suzuki for more material, or they might have gone to Yuji Naka or someone else at Sega. The book, as it was put together, had a few quirks, the cover was bland as could be, and I might have chosen a different title had it been up to me. From what I can tell, the book sold extremely poorly in Japan, even though it was packed with good information. If Shenmue taught us anything, it is that we cannot necessarily rely on the collective senses of the Japanese gaming masses to know a good thing when they see it, and if the book had have been released in North America and Europe with a few adjustments, I believe it could have easily sold tens of thousands of copies.

With this in mind, shortly after finishing my undergrad in 2002, I translated the entire book into English. Despite Aspect's and my best efforts to find a U.S. publisher, it never happened. At that time, the only gaming-centric publishers (such as Prima) focused only on strategy guides, and mainstream publishers, none of whom knew the first thing about games, all refused to touch it. Efforts took place on-and-off over the years to revive the project, but nothing ever came of it, and after that disappointment, aside from a brief stint teaching Japanese at DigiPen Institute of Technology (which is Nintendo of America's school), my involvement in the gaming industry went back to zero and pretty much stayed there until last year when Shenmue III was announced.

With that announcement, the passion very suddenly began rushing through my veins again, and I made the decision to stretch myself to my financial limits and make the $10,000 contribution on Kickstarter so I would have the chance to thank Yu Suzuki in person. And so here I am in Monaco ready to spend the day with Suzuki-san and my fellow contributors Chao and Amir, both of whom are outstanding people from the UK. Today, I plan to discuss with them what plans they have for voice acting, and I will ask Yu Suzuki- who himself knows much about history, how the end of the Cultural Revolution in China and how the beginning of the economic reform era will manifest itself within Shenmue III's environment. And when the Japanese script for Shenmue III is finalized, we will need people with have not just good language ability, but with a deep and visceral connection to Shenmue in order to do justice to the game's message. Whether I will be one of those people that makes this happen is entirely up to Suzuki-san and his team, but at any rate, I don't feel that we will be well-served if this game's translation is left entirely to contractors with no real connection to Shenmue, as is the case with most games these days.

We all have our own professions, and going forward, I will be the most competent political scientist I can be. But also, going forward, I will go above and beyond whatever is asked of me by Suzuki-san and his team for this game and others that follow; at the end of the day, this isn't about me, but about realizing Yu Suzuki's vision, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will do whatever it takes to make this game the kind of success it can be. Even post-release, our work won't be done. It will especially be up to sites like Shenmue Dojo- and in particular, people like Peter, to make sure the press treats Yu-san fairly and also to make sure we pull out all the stops in spreading awareness of (and providing word-of-mouth publicity for) this magnificent endeavor.

Therefore, I hope to become part of this community, even after my long hiatus from the scene.

Thank you.

Rob Scharr





I wish I could post more, but my brain has literally flatland. It did a while ago during the day to be honest. I am going to try and get some sleep, fly home tomorrow, and then sit and try to type out anything I can remember from the past few days. It was so crazy, I haven't been able to do what all of you guys have been doing all day, and actually digesting the new information and images, as well as going nuts about them.

One thing I can remember and can be open about, is that when the "surprise" part of the confrence happened, and Cedric brought Suzuki-san back on stage, and the video of the Shenmue tree as well as the interior of Shenhuas home.... It legitimately almost brought me to tears. It's the best video I have seen yet, and I was unbelievably blown away by how faithfully it had been recreated, down to the last pot and pan. That blew my mind beyond words, and it's the video that has filled me with the most confidence about this game yet.

Peeping into a bathroom will reveal the true Full Reactive EYES Entertainment power of the Shenmue series. Curious who Ryo's going to peep into; Shenhua most probably. Also those voice recordings didn't go into waste after all; their use was planned from the beginning.

The previous paragraph was rated P ...for Peeping (you Pervert).

:-s

Oh, I see you are confused, I'll explain.

Duck Racing is a special gambling event in Shenmue II which can only be unlocked by following a specific set of side-events. Also, a penguin enters the race on rainy days.

And a transvestite is a person who likes to dress like a person of the opposite sex.

Awesome Japan Poll:

What font do you prefer? The old font or the new font?

Old Iconic Font - 100% (1 trillion votes)

New Font - 0%

AJ: - Due to to overwhelming and clear response, we have decided to stick to the NEW FONT. Thanks to all who participated.

All the official brands can be replaced by "Jet Colas".
The voice acting is already done, at best you need to give a percentage of the profits back to the voice actors, but they don't hold the rights of their performance.

SEGA is indeed a business, a horrible one. They rather continue shitting out mediocre sonics, than rebuild their other forgotten franchises.

The Shenmue community in general have done more for Shenmue III than Awesome Japan has. We should be given medals.

Or mirrors...

Okay, WHO is the member who is now involved in Shenmue 3's development?

WHY did he get the position?

In WHAT capacity is he working on Shenmue 3?

Have we seen the RESULTS yet of his work?

And WHY aren't people happy for him? Did he make a dick-move somewhere down the line? Is his identity Adam Doree?????

I want answers!

Source: http://www.gameblog.fr/news/61836-shenm ... ntastiques