Just thought I'd make a separate thread in case the info got buried in the "No Shenmue III until E3 2017!!!" topic, but also to take a positive look ahead at the near future.
Basically politely* asking the Shenmue III support team via the Kickstarter yielded these answers R.E the December update:
Thank you very much for your candor. We will certainly be doing our best to keep everyone interested and in faith.
There should be something in terms of screen shots coming up this month.
Please keep your hopes up! This is a long process, but please trust Yu-san and everyone else involved has Shenmue's best interests at heart!
All our best,
Joel & the Shenmue III Team
We are glad to give all we can.
There should be an update before Christmas, likely within two weeks time.
Thank you again for your support and feedback.
Kindest Regards,
Joel & the Shenmue III Team
*politely is emphasised because that's probably the attitude you should go with if you're going to message them too, but I'm sure you all know that. You're all a well behaved bunch... mostly. :lol:
Personally, I think the update will drop on, or before December 22nd, as the 23rd is a public holiday in Japan.
FAQ:
" Can we trust this information? "
IMO, yeah. I know we've gotten into a mess recently over who to listen to about the project, but Joel and the rest of the support team are a lot closer to the project day-in day-out than Cedric, and their job is effectively communications, including planning and helping determine what goes into KS updates.
" Will it just be screens? "
Until we hear otherwise from a strong source, then just assume screens. I expect some written information with the screens, but whether it'll be worthwhile is unknown.
" Will the screens have the new character models? "
Nobody knows. That may not be the priority for the development right now, but the environments should be quite a bit further along than when we saw them in February.
UPDATE:
If you read down the thread a little you'll see a tease from Yu with a blown out photo on a phone screen seemingly showing Shenhua face-on. Considering the last time they officially showed Shenhua or Ryo they had them literally facing away from the camera, I think a face-on shot implies it could be the new model.
Similarly, Shenhua's outfit looks different from E3 2015 to me. The scarf (snood... thing) looks smaller and exposes more of the shoulder, and generally the outfit looks less baggy the best I can tell. If we could see the sleeve colour we'd know for sure if it's a new model or not, but the colours are too blown out.
Personally? I think we might be seeing new models.
" When's the US $10K Backer dinner? "
Soon. Imminent, even. Yu Suzuki is in the US and has already dropped in on Gio Corsi from Sony. It should happen over the weekend and put Yu back in Japan by mid-week. Nobody really knows who the dinner backers are, and nobody is expecting any information to leak; so sit back and put it out of your mind for now if possible.