Ummm..... what to say....

Meh, to be honest.... I know there's been a lot of discussion about character models over the past year and again, to be honest, I don't really care right now? Its not on my list of top priorities in the grand scheme of things at this point in time when I think about this game as a whole. They will look fine by the time the game is released, of that I have no doubts. I can say there is a lot of progress made, but that's about it. But it's not a concern I have at all. I think they are still in mocap stage and once that's all captured then I feel the pressure will be on to really focus on the models, but until then, they are all still in "testing", so I am not concerned with what models they use on websites, leaflets etc. We are not even halfway through production yet so, for me, I am not even thinking about models.

Just my 2 cents.

I think it's still the old model. They looked like the same old models in the footage we saw too. I should also note that Shenmue I and II characters were walking around in Choubu. Obviously placeholders, so the models just haven't been the priority yet. I'm assuming they wanted to flesh out the environments and work on gameplay mechanics first.

That was what I was hoping for. As long as I can make at least one fan feel better with the privelidged position I was in, then that was a success for me. I certainly don't want to be that guy who is like, "yea I seen stuff but I can't speak about it" for an ego boost or out of satisfaction. I'm not that way inclined. LanDC more or less covered what we seen. But at the same time, Harry and Yu said to please keep it to ourselves so it's a hard position for us to be in.

That's one side of the coin, like I said I don't like being a secretive guy, but on the other side, we know what's coming in terms of what each scene details, so our surprise is ruined. It's a situation where you make a sacrifice either way. So I just played the fence by trying my best to get you guys reassured and excited. That's what I took away from the entire experience, and not just a few minutes of non finished footage. Not what was on the screen, but the sheer fact that this really is a proper Shenmue game. Not a 15 year later interpretation, or a watered down Kickstarter game. This is as if you got the Dreamcast game in 2006 and it's just been made with a better engine. I cannot emphasise that enough, and I am counting down the days to December when I am sure we will all feel the same way.

Thanks bud.

Yea I mean it's a fantastic experience, and the first time I met him of course I was giddy and nervous. But then a couple of more meets and the reality sets in that Yu Suzuki... is just a man. A human being like us. In fact, a lovely, kind and we'll mannered gent which this world needs a lot more of. It's a great testament to the culture of Japan in general. So polite and considerate, and if you watch the news these days and see what shape the world is in, you get what I am saying.

In fact, there's a part of me that has some sympathy for him in terms of what his career comes with. He just does what he is really good at, and as a result, means he is a public figure and lives a semi-celebrity lifestyle. He is fine on camera, but is nervous and really needs to be prepped before going on stage, or in front of a lens. He gets really nervous like the rest of us would. He just wants to create and be an inspiration to younger people wanting to do what he does.

A lot of people have been wanting to know what we saw on that laptop. I can safely say there were no story spoilers in there. The majority of the footage consisted of location shots. What blew us away was the quantity that was shown, however. I think most of us have had doubts as to how far they've actually gotten into development, after only seeing a few shots of Bailu Village after all this time. But when we saw Bailu Village, Baisha and Choubu, any doubts I had were put to bed. They looked very fleshed out and beautiful already (and note that the footage was 3 months old when we saw it). There were bits of cutscene material, and a QTE testing scene, but those were really early tests and not much to talk about.

As some of you may now, YsNet recently started hiring additional staff to work on "high-end cutscenes." They are working their asses off, no doubt in my mind. I'm not saying this WILL happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if we got the first official trailer by December at Playstation Experience. Hang on a little longer, it'll be worth the wait.

I think one thing thay can be said is what Yu mentioned about the look.

It was a very good conversation, that really made me feel good (this was said before we seen what was on the laptop). Yu went into a bit of detail about the colour of Shenmue, which I found very interesting. He said about how Shenmue has a specific look, which all stems from the colour pallette. He wants Shenmue colours to feel "wet", or "moist", in that you can feel the colours on the screen. Taste them even. He said that Unreal has a great colour editor but they didn't quite have the Shenmue colours he was looking for. But eventually they did crack it and in what we seen, it was completely Shenmue.

That's what I meant by when I was asked about if this game was essentially "Shenmue". It really is. This is where the brilliance and importance of Yu at the helm of this is so vital to this being a true Shenmue 3. Another director may have thought something looked well, but wasn't quite Shenmue. But it really is.


Another thing to mention is Matt is 100% completely right. He made the point of saying this was a little old. This was backed up by Yosuke who cut it. Now that means what we seen was completed around June, which is just 4 months after MAGIC where we seen a cut of Shenhuas home and the fishing pond etc which Yu confirmed was completed the day before. Now with that info, and seeing what they can do in 4 months..... I swear when you see it you will drop a bollock. Not only that, but they are now hiring more staff? Sweet Jesus this game..... I can't wait until all of this stuff is public so we can all be on this level of excited that we are.

With Halloween upon us, it is time to get into the spirit, so…

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/014/323/816/1a62a14dce5699a73b771f2722f46ef1_original.JPG?w=639&fit=max&v=1477875959&auto=format&q=92&s=17a7b3b2a5a712fa0ad9312f4abe18d0

And yes, that is a Kenji Miyawaki original!

But one person who will not be going out to do trick-or-treat this year is this man.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/014/323/826/f35f62ab06f30478b575ef84e8c3a07f_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1477876031&auto=format&q=92&s=fd2da3a752d44777e994c44e9b1483dd

Yu-san has been hard at work to bring us the biggest treat of all, and now he has begun the momentous undertaking that is the signed rewards! Everyday Yu-san has been putting his signature to the Kenji Miyawaki illustrations, and thanks to your gracious and sincerely appreciated support, the number of illustrations to be signed is reaching the 5,000 mark!

Maybe next year Yu-san will be able to go trick-or-treating in his Ryo costume…

From all of us of us here, Happy Halloween!

High Res Chai/Shenhua Halloween illustration
http://i.imgur.com/UfyioPQ.jpg

Japanese site Famitsu.com today published a new interview with Yu Suzuki, in commemoration of the release of the recent Powerdrift 3D on the Nintendo 3DS, centered mainly around various arcade games he worked on at his time with Sega.

http://i.imgur.com/a2DJnVQ.jpg

The good news for Shenmue fans is that the interview contains mention of Shenmue 3 in a few places, including some direct comments by Yu Suzuki.

I've extracted and translated the relevant parts here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2016/11/yu-suzuki-comments-on-shenmue-3-nov-2.html

My favorite part is where he states that his ideal graphical vision, going back to the early arcade days, has never changed - and he gives a Shenmue 3 image as an example of that ideal.

Too many times in these events they don't list all the games to not spoil the surprise, I'm sure Shenmue 3 will be one of those surprises.
Yeah, I figure that's the case. Still, I'm thinking it might be worth asking Cedric if it's worth a Shenmue fan watching PSX to see if we get enough of a direct hint or not.

Here's what I gather of the situation (some hypothesising included):

- A December showing is something they really want to do.

- BUT, a lot of resources have to be balanced, and so there is the possibility of something more important for the overall game development taking priority, and the reveal being pushed back.

I imagine they do have a slot at PSX but Sony can pull it if YSnet aren't ready to show the game.

It's possible the "ready on time" stuff might relate to the new hires like cutscene artists so there is more cutscene material for a trailer, or they're looking to reduce the placeholder materials/bump up the graphics, or they just need the time to refine the trailer to a highly professional standard, or perhaps all three.

I wouldn't be worried about Cedric not confirming anything with less than a month until PSX remaining, because you'd be surprised how hot some of these trailers come in at press conferences. I remember stories of Ryan Payton and other Kojima Productions members flying to LA for E3 with the 2006 MGS4 trailer on a harddrive/Blu-Ray backup.

If Yu plans to be in LA at the very start of the month, and I assume he might just to avoid potential conflicts with holiday events, then I'll take that as confirmation that the plan is/was to bring the game to PSX.

I did have a different post mostly finished, but I just got a reply from Cedric when I asked if Shenmue fans should be eager for PSX.

I said:

Just so nobody gets excited needlessly, will it be worth Shenmue fans watching out for PSX next month?

And Cedric replied:

If we are ready on time , we will show something next december. I cannot confirm at this stage.

Has to be noted : the "next December" thing is likely a consequence of him not being a native English speaker. I remember there was similar confusion around MAGIC Monaco time when he talked about showing Shenmue III next February, when he merely meant the following month not year.

No commitment to showing at PSX, but it's not a straight "no" either. It seems like they may have a slot, if they can get a video finished on time.

I don't understand why people have been doubting what we have been told by the bosses of the team itself. But for those who are still doubting....

Nick Accordino was a special guest on the 8-4 Play podcast a couple of weeks back. Nick is currently an associste producer for ISD (International Software Department) for Sony Interactive Entertainment America (SIEA).

His job is to take all of the games that come from Europe and Japan, and get them all ready for shipment in the States. They are involved with everything in the game, from transforming it from its original Japanese or European version, to the North American version. He was in Japan for lots of meetings, and also because there is a lot of stuff planned for PSX that needed to taken care of.

An interesting quote he said was, "there are a lot of surprises, particularly Japanese surprises this year for PSX..."

http://traffic.libsyn.com/eightfour/8-4Play_167_161028.mp3

Do you guys really need any more hints like ;-)

Ragdoll is pretty much in every game now, in fact, you could just enable it by checking a box in UE4. So I wondered why Suzuki was making a big deal out of it (to even have it as a stretch goal...).

I guess it might be advanced ragdolls like Rockstars games, but I wonder how that will benefit the combat exactly.
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of ragdolls... I like them when they're blended with regular animations. Like if you kick a guy in his abdomen, an animation plays where he falls on his knees grabbing his stomach, and then the ragdoll physics are activated and he falls down.

If it was applied like that, it would be great.

If I remember correctly, Yu talked about the ragdoll and it's something similar as you have said. It´s an improved version of the ragdoll reaction.
Oh yeah, I just remembered he said that before. Pretty cool!
Just having regular ragdolls would've been terrible.

Hey Peter,

I just read your fantastic interview in the Mega Visions issue #1 :king:

I hope you don't mind, since the interview has been officially published, if I quote you for the benefit of our Dojo friends. :)

MEGA VISIONS:
In a podcast with Fauxpop Media, Adam Sipione (one of your fellow Shenmue fans on the trip) mentioned that Yu Suzuki was quite eager to show off some material that hasn't been shown off to the public. Is there anything that you can share with us, and if you can't, can you give us your own reaction to what he showed off?

PETER CAMPBELL:
Unfortunately yes, YSNET and Suzuki-San were kind enough to give us their trust, and show us some unseen Shenmue III material at various points of the day. I am not legally bound to keep what we seen to myself, but being given that trust was an amazing gift, and not something I would breach. But what we were shown...

...Jaw dropping.

I don't mean that in a fanboy manner either. People have no idea what they have been able to achieve, and what's about to drop in the very near future. In my wildest dreams, what I imagined Shenmue III looking like, what we seen was on a totally different level. YSNET have been deliberately quiet since the summer of 2015, and as someone who prefers the less is more approach, I feel fully justified with that after what we were shown. It's insane, and I honestly cannot wait until the fans see it!!


Well dear Peter, we cannot wait to see it indeed!!

Thank you :heart:

You can subscribe to/purchase the Mega Visions issue #1 here:
http://www.megavisionsmag.com/

I'm pretty curious about graphic level, Peter looked very impressed judging by his words, could it be possible that they achieve something similar to the level of Uncharted 4?
No.

Without even seeing it, I can tell you that Shenmue III has nowhere near the budget or resources for the outright realism-chasing pixel-pushing that Uncharted 4 has. Only top-tier AAA games can really hope to have that kind of look.

Shenmue III is more likely going to rely on its art direction, unique environments, and attention to detail to look amazing. UE4 is a great engine that can help them achieve modern standards in graphics easier than without it, but at some point you come up against walls of budget, time, staff, and current hardware limitations.

Shenmue III doesn't need to be the graphical powerhouse the original was on Dreamcast at all to evoke the same feeling, judging from what Peter has said, and I agree. I don't think Shenmue's distinct visual style is down to just the fact it was the best looking game ever at the time.

http://i.imgur.com/1ZpFTAn.jpg

Alongside the recently announced premiere of Shenmue 2 - The Movie Remastered on the Shenmue Dojo Twitch Channel, we are re-launching the regular broadcast of the channel on December 3rd!

The schedule will begin at 9am PT, 11am CT, 12noon ET, and 5pm GMT, with a quick introduction and playthrough of Whats Shenmue. This will give people a chance to wake up, or get ready for the Playstation Experience event, which we will also stream live on our channel.

After the event, we will then have the special premiere of Shenmue 2 - The Movie Remastered, from Mr 357, and then have weekly broadcasts of Shenmue playthroughs all the way up until the release of Shenmue 3.

Hope to see you all on the 3rd

Channel link: https://www.twitch.tv/shenmuedojo
Forum Topic: HERE

Thanks dude. To be brutally honest, I am not a confident person in general, and I certainly don't like how I sound on camera. If I said I was looking forward to next Saturday I would be lying. I am more nervous and I've said from the beginning that if anyone felt they could do a better job, or feel more comfortable doing a Dojo Twitch then by all means, take the mantle. This has been an idea which has been kicked about for over a year and no one has took the initiative, so I felt I had a responsibility to do so.

I have no desire to be an Internet personality, nor do I desire any sort of ego boost. All of this is purely for Shenmue, and that's what keeps my motivation going. Theres no promotion to any side channel ive got going on, nor will i be playing random games outside of the Shenmue franchise. All of these sleepless nights working on the design, the logistics etc, is simply so that Shenmue has a permanent and regular presence on what is currently the 4th busiest site on the Internet today. Shenmue needs to be on Twitch pure and simple.

With that said, I will be giving this my all, to be entertaining and watchable to any viewer. I say entertaining, I should probably say more energetic, I mean I am not going to be juggling balls or making immature jokes for cheap laughs. I just want a regular stream where all Shenmue fans can be welcomed open arms, and spend a couple of hours together on a new venture. Have a laugh in chat, make new friends, but all at the same time as promoting Shenmue, and getting it out there. To help this, I couldn't think of a more perfect day to go live with it.

It's not going to be a cheap tacky stream with me sitting with poor lighting coming through a window, I have did numerous tests with different lights, and no expense spared on the video and audio hardware. I've aimed for a level of professionalism all to hope the viewing figures are high and that Shenmue on Twitch can reach further and further over the next year in the run up to Shenmue 3. I don't want this to be a success for my own personal gain, I only want this to be successful for Shenmue.

I would have went had there been confirmation, it's not far from me, but have been told it's not looking likely. Hoping to be surprised though.


That's.... interesting.

Perhaps plans have changed since September who knows. Either way, none of us will know until it happens so until then we can just look at the event face value and assess the possibility of there something being shown at the event. Here's a list I can compile:

- Nothing whatsoever has been shown in 9 months.
- They already pulled out of E3 last minute, also rearranging the summer LA dinner as a result.
- We were shown a trailer in September, which was more or less ready to go that month as is, never mind with all the extra work put in. We were also extremely hinted at, that it was for PSX.
- The event itself will be in LA, where Yu will be at the same time. Last time he has at a public event like that was MAGIC, where new footage was revealed.
- PSX is more indie/3rd party based so it's the right event for Shenmue 3 to be showcased.
- SIED rep has stated that this year's event will be Japanese developer heavy.
- Yu is not confirmed for MAGIC 2017, so if he isn't attending that, what other public platform is on the horizon to show off Shenmue 3.
- December is the anniversary month for the Japanese and European release of Shenmue.


These are all the positive points to increase the positivity that Shenmue 3 will be at the event. But they don't garauntee it. If it doesn't get shown, I will be super disappointed, but it's not impossible that it wont be shown.

https://twitter.com/CedricBiscay/status/802201635854368768

@CedricBiscay As a Shenmue fan, do you recommend me to tune in to the Playstation Experience '16 livestream? :D
@TangoGWfan hmmm today my answer is yes but we never know ;)

8)

I also got a reply, but the one above is certainly more direct.

https://twitter.com/CedricBiscay/status/802201803307761664

@CedricBiscay I'm sure you're sick of these questions, but are the plans for a December re-reveal of Shenmue 3 still going smoothly? Thanks!
@SpaghettiNEOGAF we are doing our best as usual !

I think we're getting something similar to what Japan KS dinner backers saw. I don't think Peter or LanDC mentioned how long it was, but I expect two and a half minutes would be the safe bet on length. It depends how much more they're willing to show than they were six months ago, when the dropped E3 trailer was cut.

Even if it's just the same with less placeholder elements + new Ryo and Shenhua models it'll be so much more than we've seen of the game since, well, ever. Maybe they'll sneak in more cutscene material, but I wouldn't expect them to based on the fairly recent job posting for cutscene artists.

I know that feel bro!

By the way, all presentations will be day 3?
I believe they start PSX off with the stage show/conference event, so December 3rd.

A little while back in another thread (a great theory video posted by James Reiner talking about the Shenmue mirrors) there was some discussion about the fact that Lan Di had been named as the leader of the Chi You Men in the first game.

Based on information from Yu Suzuki in conferences and interviews over the years, it's now well established that this isn't actually the case.

I've written up a short post about Ryo's meeting with Master Chen where this mis-translation occurs in the English version, compared to the Japanese wording:

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2016/11/lan-di-leader-of-chi-you-men.html

http://i.imgur.com/3S4414wl.png

Hazuki00 wrote: I don't know if it has been already said, but, apart from the streaming Peter is going to do, is the show going to be recorded? I'm afraid I won't be able to watch it in direct...

Yeah, it'll be recorded, don't worry...

The wait is hard as f***!

How long does it last today's presentation? 2 hours?
1 hour.
Shorter than last year's PSX which I think was a an hour and a half.
The show is either gonna be fast paced and packed... Or they have not much to show.

Either way, as long as Shenmue 3 is shown, the event will deliver... At least for me.
Any showing of FF7R, Ace Combat 7, and REMake 2, is gonna be a nice extra.

What we seen was around 3 minutes.

Also is the Dojo running slow for anyone or is it just me?

http://i.imgur.com/WzctHEF.png

Lead programmer on the postponed Shenmue Gaiden visual novel, ShenSun , has created a Christmas special of the long-awaited point and click adventure.

Shenmue Gaiden: Christmas Event is a 30 minute lighthearted title with multiple outcomes across various playthroughs.

For more information, a synopsis and how to download, please visit ShenSun's topic here .

On a similar note, we'd like to wish a Happy New Year to all Shenmue fans across all communities. Here's to an exciting 2017!

A short New Year's message from Yu Suzuki & the Shenmue III team has appeared on the official website:

New Year’s Greetings Everyone!

We hope you are having a holiday season. The development of Shenmue III has stepped into its second year, and our team is in high spirits.

Without your support, we would have not been able to make it this far. We thank you again for all you have done to make Shenmue III a reality.

We look forward to continuing our journey with you in 2017, and wish you a wonderful year ahead.

From Yu Suzuki and the Shenmue III Team

http://i.imgur.com/5sxVsPy.gif

I've also made a blog post looking at some of the Japanese cultural details displayed in the illustration:

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/01/new-years-greetings-from-yu-suzuki-team.html

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2016/12/yu-suzuki-interview-part-1.html

Bump. Part 1 translation published!
Thanks Spags! I was burning the midnight oil and didn't get the time to update the forum last night.

I guess it makes sense to keep it all in one thread so I'll update the OP with the interview links as they're ready .

Castle or fort? The drawing looks like the doughnut-shaped enemy HQ that we've seen in previous imagery.
Yes, it definitely looks like a Tulou like we've seen before in the concept art, doesn't it. Guess Yu just wanted to keep it simple for this interview. Also I notice he didn't allow the magazine to publish a close-up shot of it. 8)

Ah! So much better than Google telling me Harada's response was "Goody!" lol.
:D I was really tempted to use that in my translation.

I don't know if this has been posted here before, but I thought this was really obscure in terms of viewcount for how good the mocap was, so I'm posting it anyway.

Hazuki00 wrote: Is magic monaco held on february 3?
What happen this day?

MAGIC is on the 18th. We're just holding out until Friday (Feb 3rd) to see if an update drops, otherwise it'll probably be another wait to the end of the month.

It's not the fault of Awesome Japan at all. They are just the middle man. They will have been sitting waiting like us, for an email from YSNET with the content and files to go along with it. If YSNET don't send anything through then they have nothing to host.

All those pictures and videos you have seen, haven't been AJ going into the dev offices for capture. One of the developers does all that and then AJ liase with one of the executive producers over what's to be written (English version). AJ can add more information concerning them in regards to surveys and details about Kickstarter rewards etc, but in terms of game and development content, that's all from YSNET exclusively.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit (Feb 1, 2017) :
Part Three of the interview translation is now ready.

Read the translated article here on the Phantom River Stone blog:
Part One: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2016/12/yu-suzuki-interview-part-1.html
Part Two: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/01/yu-suzuki-katsuhiro-harada-interview.html
Part Three: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/02/yu-suzuki-katsuhiro-harada-interview.html
Part Four: Coming soon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A glimpse of a new illustration for Shenmue III plus some original images / documents from the days of working on "Virtua Fighter RPG" / Shenmue I & II.

These are from a new Japanese-language interview with Yu Suzuki & Katsuhiro Harada (from the Tekken series) published online at denfaminicogamer.jp.

Regarding an English translation of the Shenmue-related parts of the article, I am working on this and will post up a separate thread about it once ready.

For now, here are the Shenmue-related images from the article:

Shenmue III: Yu showing Tulou illustration
http://i.imgur.com/xKgKn6s.jpg

"Ren's hideout"
http://i.imgur.com/6MpzCny.jpg

"Pier at Langhuishan"
http://i.imgur.com/yrrcIkk.jpg

"Shelves at Tomato Convenience Store"
http://i.imgur.com/xEFglpu.jpg

"Suspension bridge"
http://i.imgur.com/81gT6IT.jpg

"Interior of Hong Kong restaurant"
http://i.imgur.com/0VyMrry.jpg

"Aberdeen"
http://i.imgur.com/TBj1Bds.jpg

"Hong Kong: Bird Street"
http://i.imgur.com/olmFaUD.jpg

"Part Time Job: Breaking Tiles" [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/USrnUIb.png

”Fishing” [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/rq3k7Rz.jpg

"Washing spot" [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/v3Q5B3G.jpg

"Interior of the Yuki Dojo"
http://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/SCAN00801.jpeg

Article source: http://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/virtua_fighter

In Shenmue I & II Ryo gathered various pieces of information about the visit father made to Hong Kong & Guilin all those years ago, so I've tried to bring these together into a diagram showing some of these relationships and timelines.

The diagram includes some assumptions / guesses, which I talk about here:

Blog post:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/02/iwao-hazukis-china-visit-diagram-of.html

http://i.imgur.com/QvEB4lR.png

The character of Yuanda Zhu is quite enigmatic, as he seems to change what he says depending on who he is talking to. I don't think he has bad intentions towards Ryo, but I get the feeling he is hiding the true circumstances around the death of Sunming Zhao. It will be interesting to see how (or whether) this is developed in Shenmue III.

I've never heard of the website ricedigital.co.uk before this news story. This is what a friend told me:

They are a decent-sized and reliable Japanese site based in the UK. They have connections to the industry as their sister company is PQube, who publish Japanese games.

http://s21.postimg.cc/c8lo99y53/rice_dojo.png

British website Rice Digital is reporting that, according to "a trusted source close to Atlus USA," HD remasters of Shenmue 1 and 2 will be released this year, with it being "safe to assume a PC/Steam release."

You can read more analysis of the report here and forum discussion here .

This Friday, March 3rd, the monthly #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon continues the campaign for Sega to make a formal commitment to releasing such remasters ahead of Shenmue III.

I've completed an English translation of the recent Famitsu interview with co-producer of Shenmue III, Cédric Biscay.

The interview covers Cédric's background and reasons for starting his company Shibuya Productions, and he talks about some of the guests and goals of the MAGIC event.

And of particular interest for Shenmue fans, at the end of the interview Cédric is asked about Shenmue III and the current development progress. Here's the relevant section:

http://i.imgur.com/NlwmD3M.jpg

If you have a few minutes the whole interview is worth a read too. Link:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/03/interview-with-cedric-biscay-at-magic.html

It's not part of a trailer. That whole "Meeting With Yu" section of the video looks like a collection of live gameplay demonstrations and checks. It does look like a cutscene of some kind included in the part they were checking, though.


Yu-san primarily sits in the position we have always seen him in. He rarely will leave that chair. The process is, like it's always been with Shenmue development, is that each of the developers will go to the main table at arranged times to present what they have been working on, on the main TV screen. Yu has a huge pointer stick and he will go through absolutely everything that is right, and also what he wants changed. Or that something he has asked to be changed has not been done right.
These meetings can be with an individual developer, or with a group of them together if it relates to developmental duties which cross fields. For inspirstion and reference, the cupboards on the side of the office contain all resources, from each game, guide books, and of course, the multiple folders which make up the Shenmue "bible" as it's known.

There isn't a single thing in this game, that has not been locked in without Yu-san having the final decision, and things are done exactly to his liking. Despite being a Kickstarted game, he is as relentless in his desire for quality as you could possibly imagine.

21st March 2017

$6,730,004 (+$4,473)

74,042 backers (+68)

WOW. Nearly $4500 in 8 days, and nearly 70 new backers. Dev Room Update 2 seems to have been a big hit!

I've received many requests on Youtube to include the dog and bird sounds into the FREE 1 track.

I would say yes. You guys don't have to believe us, but what Spaghetti was saying about smoke and mirrors, and what they have revealed in Kickstarter updates compared to what we have seen, they are playing their cards very close to their chest. No bullshit or joking about here, and Adam, Matt, George, Jessica and Joe will back me up on this 100%.

Understand how much money i personally had to give, and the sacrifices i am still having to make to this day, to be sitting there on that bus. Do you really think Yu and the gang turned around and said, "peeps we are fucked here. We only have a shitty Ryo model and a fishing pond to show ya, but please, big it up to the hills when you get back and make it seem like we know what we are doing. Thanks buddy.". If i seen something i wasn't happy with, then trust me they would have heard about it. In fact, there was one thing that i was unhappy with, but i wasn't going to say anything. But after talking with Matt (sitting beside me) he brought up the same thing. Did we say something? Damn right we did. It was about the QTE sequence we seen and we were not happy with aspects of it. Yu himself humbly apologised..... Let that sink in. Yu Suzuki is fucking apologising to us?? That's how humble he is. He knows what he needs to do, and how demanding us hardcore Shenmue fans are. He knows what we want and expect. He assured that it was still early testing and that it was being worked on, like every aspect of the game. But this was a fully rendered and animated QTE sequence with black suits, much in the style of the White Dynasty QTE sequence from Shenmue 2.

Do i think the game is going to be delayed? Of course. What game isn't these days. But the reasons i have are the opposite, in that the game could probably be released in December on schedule, but i know Yu will agonise over EVERY detail and pixel in this game. Every line of dialogue and how it's spoken. How the animations look, how the cut scenes are directed. I think this game will be delayed because for the lack of resources he has now compared to what he had at Sega, he will still try and make sure this game goes out looking as ambitious and grandeur the originals were.

So what if it's delayed. Big deal. Are they liars and cheaters! No they are not, and if i see anyone brand the team with slurs like that, they will be warned. What difference does it really make, except for good things. We don't know what's happening, and if 2 fully HD remasters are due to be released over the coming year or so, then by all means take your time YSNET. We have 2 games to keep us preoccupied. We don't know that for sure, but have some faith. Everything will be fine. Before you know it's you will have completed this game over a matter of hours. See when you have completed it, that's when to worry about if there will be a Shenmue 4 or where the future lies. Right now, you know what's coming, so enjoy the ride and the excitement of Kickstarter updates and major gaming events because very soon, it will all come to an end. Stop thinking and worrying about the future and live for the now.

Inside its like a big classroom. Suzuki-san is at the head table and each member of staff has daily meetings at scheduled times where they bring their work up to him. Okayasu-san sits just to the right of the main table at his own desk, then all the other staff, old and new are together. Learning and working. Sometimes Suzuki-san​will do a walkabout and see what you are working on at that present point in time.

I've made a small video to help promote the Slacker Backer campaign. Hope everyone enjoys it!

Please watch in HD 60FPS for the best experience.



Thanks to Mr.357 for the gameplay footage and thanks to Kiske for the idea

We've been talking about this off and on. We've had the idea of thanking the team for their hard work. This includes Shibuya Productions and YS Net. I think in the final or so year of development, it would really give a boost of morale for the team. They truly deserved to be thanked in a real, authentic manner that is deserving of the Shenmue fanbase.

This thread is for ideas. ShenGCH had the idea of a massive card that is signed by various Shenmue fans around the world. I had the idea of giving the team a fruit basket.

Any idea would be nice. We are currently coordinating teaming up with Shenmue 500k and possibly Team Yu to see what we can get off the ground because the team deserves support and thanks, and if the industry won't do it, like always we'll carry this by ourselves.

Cheers for the compliment, Flagship.

Does anyone know how many people work in Shenmue 3?
Not exact numbers, no. Even if we knew the exact staff count for YSnet, it'd still be inaccurate because of other development studios assisting (Neilo, for example) as well as contract/freelance staff. It's not a big team on the whole, that much we can assume.

I'd say you have all of Okayasu-sans company helping (in a hush hush capacity due to it being his own studio and that would muddy the waters in terms of finances etc), but don't forget there are also 2 YSNET studios working on Shenmue 3. You have the Ebisu studio which I don't know the layout and figures for. I was surprised that's where the package that RyoHD got his package from to be honest. Then there's the Gotanda studio. That's the one we have seen in the Kickstarter videos. There's about 16-24 developers in there, but I would say not at the one time. Especially if they are doing a 24 hour turnaround. That's not including management.

And thank you for the kind words guys. It's always very appreciated. But you know me, and it's really no trouble and also not a lot of work. Anyone could have done it.

Yes, that one. It appears to be interesting to see how are the characters linked.
http://shenmuedojo.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/shenmuecharactertree.jpg

Not particularly large or high-res, but this is the one I found in the Dojo's art archive.

Interestingly enough I also found an illustration of Ren using grenades. I wonder if that'll happen in Shenmue III? It'll certainly be... explosive. :lol: