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I know we aren't much acquainted, but I am terribly sorry to hear this. I pray that you have a speedy recovery and the loving support of your friends and family. You have our well wishes here.

Wait what have I missed?

Basically I had this idea of how we can incorporate the 4 Wude into our local communities. My idea was to have businesses, schools, and other institutions learn about the principles and apply it to their daily lives. Ultimately this would bring positive reinforcements such as revenue, competition, (business-wise) and even educate people on what Shenmue actually is while bringing attention to our efforts. However, there is a HUGE flaw that Mittens pointed out. Most people may be reluctant to do this and it would be difficult to be taken seriously... after all it's a videogame! Therefore, I've rescinded my post to do further research on how we can make make our efforts work for us--- we want Shenmue 3 right?

So let's segue into this new theory of mine. Hold on to your lace girdles ladies and gentlemen, the obvious is about to be stated. If Sega failed to move copies of the first two installments in the first place (due to expensive manufacturing, aggressive competition, lack of publicity, abandoning North American consumers, Microsoft etc.) then what the hell are we doing here? Surely, there are thousands of us gamers worldwide that do enjoy the series. But let's face it... we'd have to be billionaires to bribe Sega into giving Suzuki the license. Let me make this absolutely clear that I'm not giving up, and nor should the rest of you.

But here's the thing. I know some people don't put much stock into what people randomly say in comments, boards, and sites outside of here, but it's staring at us right in the face. In fact, if you go to Sega's facebook, you'll see scattered comments about S3, which is expected. But pay attention to what other fans are saying about us. Yeah, the Shenmue fans, "they're great, they're tough, they have so much hope, they never give up" etc. while others are simply disgusted and annoyed.

We can sign as many petitions as want, we can tweet, thunderclap, and quintessentially harass them to no end, but it's ultimately up to Sega to decide... and that's going to be a real kick in the nuts for them. Remember Sega was ALWAYS ahead of their time. Think about their consoles and the actual technology put into them. Think about the games. Then think about the money . When you invest that much money into something, any smart entrepreneur would be seeking a return. You not only want to gain capital, you want a cushy profit margin. You want EXCESS so you can keep production going. Sega invested too much too soon. And to top it off, I would say that most of us gamers could not afford to invest in their systems to give them that said return.

Let's go back to Sega's navy blue and bruised nuts for a minute. I bet it kills Sega inside to not only have to give up making future hardware but also having to reconsider giving up their golden child (Shenmue) to another company yet AGAIN. Remember Tomb Raider? Look what happened... it got ported to Sony. Sega never understood it's market... gamers are mostly comprised of people who don't necessarily have disposable income.

I'm really trying not to be pessimistic, this is pure speculation on my part. The only way Sega could ever, ever get Shenmue 3 out there is to stop sulking and give in to a competitor (e.g. Sony or what have you). Now that competitor has to wonder whether or not investing in this game is going to leave them bare-assed in the cold too. We have to be more understanding as to what's going on. Because at the end of the day, you never want to screw anybody out of their money. If anything, instead of attacking various companies, we need to become Shenmue's PR agent and see how we can establish a better selling point than Sega ever did. And even if we did, who's to say that we will be the model consumer ready and willing to buy the game? So instead of them relying on their niche market, we need to impress "prospective buyers".

So my question to all of you is this: who's a used car salesman around here?

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I didn't really find any fault with the Twitch stream at all. I think maybe the red shirted man was nervous about having to answer to thousands of fans live, so it's understandable that he seemed a bit awkward. I honestly would be too. The blue shirted gentleman was patient and concise. All in all, Yu Suzuki was very polite and didn't seem at all bothered about the handling of his Q & A, so that's what's important to me.

In retrospect, some people may say that it could have been more polished, but I also find that in business it makes things easier to work with people who have similar rapport and do not make their colleagues or fan base uncomfortable. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if it were someone who didn't understand the gaming industry and were very stiff and parochial. I just chalk it up to a bad case of nerves for these folks.

As far as the questions go, I think perhaps they were addressing the topics that were being asked ad nauseum and were not clarified before. I'm really excited about Corey Marshall and the possibility of all the original voice-over actors. And it would make me very happy to see the HD releases, if possible. I give Yu Suzuki top marks for trying to make his fans happy... he genuinely cares about what we think and do. It's just a shame that some people cannot reciprocate the same respect for him and his team.

Moreover, in my opinion adding more rewards tiers at the going percentage rate (20-25%) could possibly be detrimental to the production cost, considering that the focus would be put toward producing merchandise rather than the actual game even at the ~72% budget schematic. I worry about that, as I see Suzuki and his team scrambling for more ideas in terms of rewards--- each product is going at a considerable markup to cover the ~25% budget set aside for it. But I also understand the consumer model and know that people would like to be aptly rewarded for their investments.

I truly appreciate Suzuki's incredible display of diplomacy and repose. I think between the immense burden of acquiring the rights, putting together a suitable development + financing + public relations team, and pleasing the prospective buyer, he appears verily composed.

This may not be apparent through my pseudonym, but I am a woman and I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Frozen. I do not characterize myself to be any different from anyone, regardless of gender. What I value most importantly is my life, my successes, and my failures so that I learn from them. Sometimes I do not express myself as eloquently as I should (my apologies, I do tend to be very passionate at times on this forum), but I see no reason to think I am lesser or superior to anyone on here. I find that as long as I am a human being of the same genus and species, what difference does it make?

There are obvious gender disparities based on biological and physiological factors and so forth, but that is an entirely different topic altogether. But I will make a point in saying that I do not take offense when I am truly aware of my personal limitations in all aspects of life, career, and physicality. I have dabbled in various trades, some of which may have been deemed "unsuitable" for a women such as architecture or technology, but it does not discourage me to go to work and support my loved ones.

For instance, I do not fault men for helping me to pick up a slab of basswood if I cannot place it on a lumber cart. I am physically small and I am fully aware of my limitations. The same goes for soldering leads or programming servers. I have found through dealing with the general public and numerous corporations that what truly matters are ability, skill, experience, and sometimes education (depending on whether or not you have established yourself through vocational means). I actually find it quite disgusting for women to manipulate men by claiming harassment, abuse, or behave coquettishly for political or financial advancement. Those ploys I do not endorse.

Whether you are man or woman, your success depends entirely on your diligence, endurance, and determination. As far as feminism is concerned for troubled nations, the case is the complete inverse. Some spiritual sects or governmental belief systems do employ these harmful tactics. There are women in foreign countries that are being burned alive, maimed, disparaged, sold, and proselytized as "martyrs" for some Draconian cause. These issues unfortunately, are proliferated throughout differing societies and are considered norms. There is not much to be done except to provide aid, education, and yes-- employ military means of severance to disperse these harsh environments. But as a citizen of a first world country, I consider myself fortunate to be here and appreciate the camaraderie of my male associates.

Well to answer your question Henry... it's pretty bad here in America. Particularly in places like California or my city: New York.

Pardon me, but this is going to come out particularly harsh considering I'm talking about other women. I personally think feminists are the reason why there is so much separatism among the sexes. I usually find that most of the feminists I've have come across are women who absolutely refuse to groom themselves, respect potential suitors, or who are morbidly obese and blame men for not being attracted to them. They claim to be independent yet lean on the men to do everything, yet never take personal responsibility for anything they do. Some are very narcissistic and high maintenance and others look like Shane MacGowan. They never want to sacrifice anything in a relationship and wonder why no one will date them or marry them. And then they cry when they can't acquire a Diesel model who "sells his body to the masses" and who is possibly more attractive than they are. It just kills them that someone is somewhat in a higher station in life because they are utter failures and will do nothing about it.

And God forbid if you have 17% body fat versus 16%! Don't have a 12-pack? Oh, well aren't you a tubby little turd. Have a 12-pack? You're "manorexic". It's just the fact that these horrible degenerates are so undesirable that they create this nonsense cause to ease their loneliness while blaming the "man". This fight for equal wages here in NYC is very well misunderstood, especially since it has nothing to do with sex but a matter of insurance. Women tend to purchase more prophylactics and contraceptives versus males. Our bodies are designed differently, and have higher risks of certain diseases. And there is the matter of pregnancy. Some companies pay you for maternity leave and some don't. And they are well within their right to deny you such wages because you are in absentia; you're not generating revenue for the said business or company you are working for. This leftist ideology is weak and embarrassing to say in the least. Therefore I say: "Don't give me that. She don't make enough money she can quit."

Sorry to keep bumping this topic, but I really wanted to address this before I bow out finally:

:lol: I'm sorry to laugh, but I honestly, genuinely, did not actually think anyone really truly believed these ridiculous stereotypes about feminists anymore. Do you live in the 1970s?

I don't think I have this archaic idea that feminists are warthogs who wear cargo shorts and sport Caesars. Some (and I say this emphatically), not all , take this ideology to such extremes that they will verbally attack you for thanking a gentlemen for opening a door for you or pulling out your chair. I've been personally accosted for just about everything, and usually by this particular group of crazy women. I've literally been told that I shouldn't wear a nice dress for my boyfriend because I am sexually objectifying myself, or that I shouldn't grow my hair long or workout because I shouldn't have to please men. These women believe they are siding with a just cause? That is truly laughable.

I love to cook, I love to take care of people, and I take care of myself because I am physically small and I like martial arts. It's not about "feminism" at all because they tear down other women instead of helping valid causes such as drug abuse, sex trafficking, teenage pregnancy, etc. It's supposed to be about respecting both men and women without undue criticism. And believe me, women tend to do that quite often, feminist or not. Women will tear eachother apart because we're all competing for success, visual appeal, vibrant health, and life partners. Being a woman is like trying to build the perfect character for a dungeon crawler or RPG. You want to max out your XP and HP, and then you want an entire weapons cache with unlimited magic, plus super agility and strength, and still manage not to come across as useless as Jean Grey but slinky enough to bag a Remy LeBeau. As long as it isn't one of the Morlocks... they're dirty.

I made attempts at contacting the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter team regarding the explanation of stretch goals, new rewards, VO choice and budget, redoing the video campaign, the reason for the choice of multiple playable characters and how to reel in the general gaming community when most never even heard of the first two games.

My plead yielded the following reply:


Hello,

Very sorry for not getting back sooner! Ok, here we go:
Stretch Goals - Thank you! We are working on it! Trying to be more specific with the SGs and will try to get the explanations moved over. Mr. Suzuki does not want to get too deep without giving all the story away!
Mirrors - Trying!
Video - Still very early development, so there is not much game footage yet. As for scene requests... I think we will have to leave that up to Mr. Suzuki. Again can't give away the story!
At the current stage of funding, it is still hard to know how much voicing there will be. There have been lots of comments for language switching and Mr. Suzuki is aware of the situation.
Why multiple characters? Mr. Suzuki has stated this is one of the things that he really wants to do with Shenmue 3. Will definitely let him know though!
Why care about Shenmue 3? Got it. You are very right. Top priority now getting the message across. We will have the page updated soon.
More rewards? Yes working on them now. Thank you for the ideas!

Thank you very much, please keep your ideas coming, because they will keep us going forward.

Joel &
the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Team


PS. I did not question the integrity of the work done by his team, because I believe it's counter-productive and unnecessary at this point.

I wish I had his energy, he seems like a very happy person. Maybe a bit awkward but that's okay. Public relations is a tough field with a discerning clientele... I'm very surprised to see someone so accommodating in the business. Usually you have to own a Cessna to get a comprehensive response. I wouldn't make too much fun of him; he could probably falcon punch a guy in the kidneys. Maybe.

To be fair, at least Awesome Japan are quite good when it comes to responding to user messages.

Horseshit. I emailed them on Kickstarter, after no response, sent them an email to their website, after no response I sent them a tweet to their Twitter account and....... no response.

I think there's close to 50,000 people who feel the same way. Most of the questions are pretty redundant so it'll probably be in the updates. But if you're asking about that Victorian velvet and lace codpiece for Ryo at the $11M tier, then by all means carry on.

To all: I made a blog to detail thoughts on life and such to help me write out my thoughts. Check it out if you like.
https://jamesreiner.wordpress.com/

Shengoro86, I know I do not know you or any of the other members here personally, but this forum topic caught my attention and it genuinely alarmed me. So all in all, I just had the maternal instinct to stop by and say something that can offer some form of comfort or advice. I hope I do not come across as intrusive but I did take some time to read your blog and I must say, you are pretty brave to say what you feel about Sam. I truly hope that you and Sam work things out and I'm very sorry for your heartbreak. I know how you feel, and trust me, things will get better. And I'm not just saying that just because. I say this because I understand where you are coming from. Going back to what you mentioned in your blog post and I quote:

"For the last couple of years in our relationship, I dwelled into issues that led us to begin having a dead relationship. I was too much into my hobbies and I took time away from being emotionally there for her. I spent too much time working and playing Shenmue when I should have been being intimate with her. It is for these reasons and other major imperfections that we are no longer together."

I really must express that it is imperative that you do not blame yourself for a failed relationship. The reason being is that people simply change . You have to recognize that what you do and what you love is what makes you unique to the world and what may have attracted Sam to you in the first place. But that doesn't mean that there isn't another woman out there for you-- or that you and Sam won't get back together, or what have you. That is unfortunately up to fate and circumstance. Changing who you are, finding new friends, finding new hobbies is just denying a part of you that is real. And for that, as horrible as this may sound, is not worth it for anyone no matter what.

I had the experience of dating a guy for a couple years out of college and then all of sudden, he just wasn't the same guy. He was my best friend. I never had qualms with any of his friends, his smoking habit, and he worked as a cop. I actually considered myself as one of those girls that guys could talk to because I was level-headed and pragmatic. And then one day I caught him cheating on me. I blamed myself... but then I realized he wasn't interested anymore. After all, we were in our early twenties and he didn't want to be tied down with me. He actually told me I was the marrying kind. I don't know if that's a compliment or a veiled attempt at calling me the last chance kind of girl, lol. I can joke about it now, but it did hurt. But in all relationships that come to an end, no matter what the circumstance, you move on and hopefully land with someone better (who will love you just as equally and unconditionally). People can change in an instant, and I don't want to say this but it must be said. Sometimes people do want to experience the dating life and see what's out there. But most of the time they come to realize that everything they wanted in a person was already there and perhaps they took it for granted. I don't really know your situation thoroughly to come to that conclusion, but again, life does happen and you have to fulfill obligations that require your attention. There's nothing wrong with that.

I live in a city with plenty of attractive and smart women (competition!), but I didn't go out there and change the way I look or think because I got hurt. I would have never found my guy today. And I'm the Shenmue fanatic in the relationship... lol. If you feel that you can make improvements in your life, go right ahead. But don't do it for the hopes of getting your loved one back. You have to keep in mind that if you do make positive changes in your life you will feel better... but that doesn't necessarily mean she will magically come back. Talk to her about how you feel and listen to how she feels and what she expects in a relationship. However, if you know that neither one of you can come to terms with how to make things work... you guys need to move on and wish eachother the best of luck.

Don't do anything to hurt yourself, please. You have a lot to live for... not just relationship-wise. You seem like a very respected and valued member here (judging by the comments), and you seem friendly too. I'm not going to lecture you and say "You should think of what people will say if you do this or that" and just wag my finger at you disapprovingly. You have every right to feel what you feel, especially when there was so much time and love invested in this relationship. I hope you take the time to truly do what makes you happy and heal. You deserve to be loved just like everyone else does, not to quote a Smith's song but old Morrissey had some sense. But stay away from The Smiths for now, that is really depressing stuff to listen to... especially after a break up. He's made many men lose their man card.

Sigh. I would have loved to have that watch AND the Monaco trip. I hate being a responsible adult when I should be spending my money on videogame endeavors! I can always sell my brother next time, he has his own van and everything.