We’ll definitely see Shenmue re-releases at some point. Whether they’re more or less bare-bones ports or not remains to be seen of course, but yeah- someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later, and ideally preceding Shenmue 3’s release (for obvious reasons).

Only thing bugging me is Sega’s complete BS excuse (“licensing issues”- GTFO with that sh*t. Jet Cola, bitches), which means that they either aren’t ready to make an official announcement just yet (hey hey!) ….or simply don’t consider Shenmue to be a priority in any way, shape or form (ie ‘you’ll get them when you get them’).

Either way, they're stalling. Let’s hope they don't disappoint.

can i watch this one or is the original one necessary? :-k

Watching the original should come first. Watch either the Director's Cut, or the Final Cut (the latter being Ridley Scott's preferred version)

Regarding Blade Runner 2049- everything looks amazing. They really found the perfect director in Denis Villeneuve. Full confidence in the flick....as long as Harrison Ford isn't his 21st century grumpy self.

Hot news. Sega is currently investigating the possibility of potentially thinking about considering a would-be release at some point in time.

And revenge.

I'd say it's obviously real. A 4-hr work day using money stockpiled in Yu's garage just sounds accurate to me.

Brilliant translation ;)

To be honest, in hindsight, the original Dec. release date seems all the more puzzling now.

I suspect that Suzuki & co originally low-balled the backer minimum ($2M), almost expecting to make an interactive movie of sorts. The backing then quickly took a legendary turn, with the team now tasked to meet an almost impossible release date. At this point…when do you announce a delay? Certainly not towards the beginning, as the “press” would have jumped all over it.
(I can see the “Shenmue Trouble: Suzuki asks for patience (and money)” headline already.)

All in all, I’d say the timing here was as close to “perfect” as possible.

Then again, perhaps they really did try to meet this impossible release date for the longest time (sleeping at the office/ etc/ etc), before finally giving in to reason and planning ahead accordingly. Who knows.

One thing is for sure: this entire KS has been nothing short of a fascinating experiment.
Whatever happens, it’s been one hell of an exciting ride. For everyone.

…Only thing missing now is that fabled HD remaster announcement ;)

I don't remember when and which exact words Yu said this but if the kickstarter had earned a little more than 2 million only, Shenmue 3 would have been closed to an interactive movie, or a very linear game at least. Way before this, releasing Shenmue III as a comic was even a possibility.

I remember this as well; we certainly dodged a bullet with the $2M 'game'.

A shenmue comic...Jesus...times were certainly desperate for a while.

In their defense, those head injuries were probably caused by consecutive hype trains that derailed ;)

Remember when everyone was universally wowed by Nocon Kid’s awesome remaster?
Had the Shenmue 3 team used a similar Ryo, this debate would be nonexistent.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLfOOUqUsAAG0z5.jpg:large

It’s especially frustrating knowing that he’s on the team, and yet they’re choosing to go in a completely different direction…which is nowhere near ‘there’ yet.

I was really surprised to see such a long teaser at this point, especially given the big delay that was recently announced.

Still, WIP or not, it felt pretty surreal to watch the video.
It's incredible to see new footage after 15+ years.

Anyway, I think Shenmue fans are understandably happy… but I question how non-fans will take it. Are gamers used to watching incomplete trailers at game shows? Will they even give enough of a shit to realize that this is very much WIP footage? (Not explicitly labeled in the actual video)
It certainly is a ballsy gamble.

Shenmue 3 is a tricky one; everyone’s trying to find their pace, place and space in this crazy KS project.
Baptism by fire.

Assuming all ends well, Shenmue 4 should basically be a breeze development-wise.

I think the main difference may be the audio quality this time around. I remember the audio from the original Shenmue being terribly compressed and muffled, to the point where I switched TVs multiple times thinking it was that.

You're right, but that was only in the English version; the Japanese audio was perfectly crisp, sound-wise.

(Side note- I really hope they pull off dual language tracks this time around.)

Man this is all sounding really good.
Unreal 4 + Deep Silver's investment = we win.

^ That and full voice acting.
A mostly text-based Shenmue just sounds....weird.

Truth be told, I find it hard to believe that, in the 21st century, Suzuki & co wouldn't be able to include full voice acting in the final game. Sure, it probably cost an arm and a leg in the 90's, but come on. We live in a different century now, which should make the process much cheaper, easier and more convenient.

^ That's because this listing is for the retail product.

-If you want to help Shenmue 3, then pre-order a copy via the Slacker Backer
-If you want to fund Shenmue 4, then you need to buy the final (retail) product upon the game's release.

As Shenmue fans, we basically need to do both ;)

However, if Shenmue I and II were released as they were on the Dreamcast then I believe they'd get a perfect score of a 10/10 or at least a 9 or 8/10.

No they wouldn't.
It's a polarizing franchise. Always has been. Porting a 20 year-old game and leaving it 'as is' probably won't make anyone 'see the light' anymore than it would have back in 1999.

It's Shenmue...you either like it or you don't.

Resurrecting this topic, as the movie has not only been released...but is on its way to becoming a cult favorite, much like the original.

As far as I'm concerned, I thought it was flippin' incredible.

Well, I certainly don’t need google translate to make the following assertion:
Shenmue 3 isn’t going to change society.

It is, however, going to be an awesome niche game that this community will love exploring/ picking apart.

…I just hope that the game attracts enough of an outside audience to secure a 4th installment in the series.

I find the Dojo a lot more enjoyable nowadays, to be honest. Sure there are less discussions (reflecting the overall lack of updates), but at least the vibe is easygoing and pleasant again.
The toxicity is gone.

Re: the update…well, it’s nothing“new” per se, but proof of life is always good.
I do hope they’ll release something a bit more fun at the end of the year, as a nod to the original release date.

^ Yeah, that was the reasoning...which is kind of retarded.

If YS wants to update the 17 year-old logo of a game that's pretty much nowhere to be found, then I suppose there's some merit to the idea (as much as I hate to admit it)...but then again, Suzuki might also do well to remember that Shenmue's target audience tends to be able to read/write cursive to begin with. Just saying.

^ Yeah
It's a strange decision for Sega to ultimately not fund/publish/etc the game in any way. Regardless as to what the ultimate product may be, I doubt Shenmue 3 would completely "flop".

Shenmue’s voice acting is legendary…in terms of being shit.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is better
The Room is better.

I feel sorry for all the Xbox owners who had to endure something which warped their experience completely. At least DC owners got a taste of the good stuff when importing Shenmue 2 EU ;)

Whatever…let’s just hope part 3 gives access to both languages on disc…

Saw it finally, and enjoyed it immensely.

Definitely a heavier experience than that of previous films in the franchise, but that only means that a second viewing is in order. Somewhat reminiscent to how The Two Towers made me feel.

I don’t really understand where all the hate is coming from; I suppose a lot are hyperbolizing and nitpicking over where the story/ characters were taken (fair enough), but, in spite of its flaws, you’d really have to be a moof-milker to not recognize the film as a worthy addition to the saga, IMO.

Before Ep. IX comes out, I look forward to seeing what kind of reception the “fans” have in store for Shenmue 3 ;)

I really like the extended trailer!

Re: Magic- It's a microcosmic conference held in Monaco. The only reason it's being (artificially) hyped is because Biscay has a vested interest in the event itself.

Let's hope that bigger and better events will give us more to chew on, in terms of substantial content.

I really like the extended trailer!

Re: Magic- It's a microcosmic conference held in Monaco. The only reason it's being (artificially) hyped is because Biscay has a vested interest in the event itself.

Let's hope that bigger and better events will give us more to chew on, in terms of substantial content.

True. They didn't really show much at last year's either, did they?

I just let myself get hyped up. I figured that because A) It's been in development for 2 and a half years now, B) It's been ages since we've had a real progress update and C) They announced it and hyped it up; that all this meant we would be getting a proper update there. That was my own presumption though :(

Not at all. Your reasons are completely valid; the hype was very real.

I think that some of us may have suspected it in the past… but didn’t really want to believe it until today:
Magic Monaco is basically worthless. With or without Biscay’s BS.

Using the Shenmue 3 campaign to justify the promotion of an event that you are spearheading is fine...as long as you deliver the goods in the end. With 3 stills and a 6 month-old trailer, I'd say we’re pretty f’ing far from that being the case right now.

I feel sorry for those who actually wasted real $$$ to attend this in person.

Well…at least Yu’s getting some vacation time out of this. Good for him :-D

At the same time, the disclaimer clearly states that it's WIP; there's (hopefully) still time to get those updated textures!

That means $23.99 if you live in the US and have a Best Buy gamers' club discount.
Awesome deal.

^ Your Mon Mothma suggestion is great (Laura Dern could’ve filled in for the actress as well); not to mention that as audience members already acquainted with the character, we might have given more of a shit about the Vice Admiral’s decisions and ultimate fate in the end.

A brief Lando appearance would’ve been perfect as well.
Something like:

Finn (who doesn’t know shit as a new member of the ‘resistance’) asks Maz Kanata for help finding a code breaker, who in turn directs him to Lando. After a roughly similar sequence of events on the casino planet, Lando finally pops up and says something like “sure, I’ll help you”… before chucking both Finn and Rose in jail….where they meet Benicio del Toro’s character. The rest is history. Lando is still a cool guy, and Benicio’s character makes more sense all of a sudden.

I’m fine with the sequence in the movie, but something akin to the above would’ve satisfied me more as a longtime fan.

The later the better, especially if Shenmue 3 gets delayed again (which I hope happens).

I want both teams to take their sweet, sweet time with each game in order for us to get the highest quality version possible.

Zooming/cropping is a godawful idea.

Honestly, the only “concern” I have at this point is that Yu Suzuki isn’t involved in these remasters.
Being the architect behind the entire saga, it’s a shame that, for a multitude of reasons, this wasn’t/ couldn’t be the case.

Hopefully, ___ years from now, when the Shenmue saga is completely over and modern times (popular demand?) call for a Shenmue remake, then things will be different. One can hope!

^ Would you by any chance be happy to be able to play in Japanese with English subtitles?

^ I seem to recall him mentioning some sort of crippling medical/anxiety issues; it might provide some context here.

In any case, he’s a good poster, so it’s unfortunate (and frankly a bit silly) to just abruptly quit like this, especially over an informative discussion.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Come back dude, it’s a good time to be a Shenmue fan.

Update:

GYO6161 wrote: Bloom can be turned off confirmed by Sega Europe
https://twitter.com/SEGA_Europe/status/ ... 1229370368

Great news!

D3T is a capable outfit filled with professionals.
The problems/ shortcomings that are mentioned in various threads have nothing to do with them as a team, or their work ethic.

Let’s face it: everything comes down to the budget.
Sega most likely did not “break the bank” for these HD ports/remasters. Had they added another zero on their check, then we could have gotten 16:9 cutscenes/ 4K gameplay/ online forklift racing/ What’s Shenmue/ Passport features/ updated textures/ etc.

So, let’s not be too harsh. It’s a discounted collection that you can get in the US for about $25. Besides, they could always make further improvements to the collection via future patches.

The good news: the game is selling well beyond expectations, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the franchise in the future.

It's Shenmue. You want/need that KS exclusive physical game case
Additionally, if you can spare the funds, you could always get the digital copy at launch, so the devs actually register a sale.