Lets Talk Shenmue HD

[Radar]

Pollyanna

[SMDzero]

Pollyanna

That's precisely my point!

Pollyanna thought the word was sunshine and rainbows and that she could just up and eat steak and ice cream everyday.. unfortunately she became a cripple despite all her optimism.

Likewise, we were all over the moon for the Shenmue 3 trailer.. we watched Peter's twitch with great enthusiasm only to have our hopes crushed and our souls irreparably blackened by the abject disappointment.

Sorry to be negative Peter.. please don't ban me I'm sorta drunk. Shenmue 3 for LIFE!!!!!

[Peter]

Nah you won't be banned. You forget this site is 15 years old. We have seen proper trolls, infiltrate as staff members and try to take the boards down permanently.
Some have posted images across 1000 separate topics which took days to clean up. Some have used vocabulary that even impressed me, including using historical facts which in a way, was an excellent educational experience.

No, if you were banned, that would be acknowledging that you are in their trolling league, when in reality, your efforts are laughable at best. You are smaller than small time around here when it comes to trolling. You are more the house jester. A miniature one at that. Like this guy:

[SlySpy]

I wonder if Dan Pilcher is excited for Shenmue 3.

[Spaghetti]

I wonder if Dan Pilcher is excited for Shenmue 3.

[Peter]

@Peter: Post of the year.

[Centrale]

As much as I'd like to believe that Sega recognizes the sound logic and potential profit from some nicely-done HD remasters, I just don't have that much confidence that it will happen in a timely manner. My gut feeling is that they'll actually wait and see how Shenmue III does before committing to the HD remasters, at which point the best opportunity will have passed by. They had planned to do a series of Dreamcast remasters beginning with Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio and... uh, one of the fishing games... and apparently these didn't sell as well as they were hoping, so they haven't continued.

Regarding the speculation about "licensing issues"... although it's been said many times, many ways - the issues might not be the in-game product placement, which can easily be replaced with fictional brands like Jet Cola, but might be related to some sort of middleware that is integral to the game engine. As years go by and companies go out of business or are bought by other companies, it can become difficult and expensive just to sort out who owns what. But that's just my speculation... do any of the emulator programmers have any insight into whether or not there are some middleware packages being used in Shenmue?

[Spaghetti]

Regarding the speculation about "licensing issues"... although it's been said many times, many ways - the issues might not be the in-game product placement, which can easily be replaced with fictional brands like Jet Cola, but might be related to some sort of middleware that is integral to the game engine. As years go by and companies go out of business or are bought by other companies, it can become difficult and expensive just to sort out who owns what. But that's just my speculation... do any of the emulator programmers have any insight into whether or not there are some middleware packages being used in Shenmue?

I've seen this written a lot, but the source of this is a single forum post that was never substantiated anywhere else since, but just passed on until it loosely became "fact".

I realistically could not see SEGA even TALKING about Shenmue HD if this was the issue, because if there were doubts about the licencing of middleware they could be prohibited from releasing Shenmue HD entirely. I'm of the opinion that until further evidence presents itself, these issues either never existed or have since been worked out.

It's best to take SEGA at their word currently.

[Valascaziel]

I just simply find it hard to believe it to be an issue of licensing.

All it'd take is for those companies to see that the upcoming sequel has pulled in close to $7 million and is the most funded KS game in history for them to say "Yeah we'll grant use again."

It's just smart business. That being said, Sega supposedly has big news coming up in the first half of the year(I'll have to find the source) so maybe we'll see it before E3 2017. Grain of salt, though--their idea of big news is probably Sonic Pachinko or whatnot.

[Himuro]

Who is Dan Pilcher?

[Telekill]

I'm giving it a solid 50/50 chance.

On one side, Shenmue is a practically forgotten franchise with millions of today's gamers having been too young to even remember it. From the perspective of Sega, is it really even worth it to bring the first two games into High Definition? How many beyond the hardcore fan-base would even bother with it?

On the other side, now is the perfect time to bring both games into an HD collection. Why now? The third is going to be releasing soon enough and the best way to get a larger fan-base to sell the third game is to start people at the beginning and let them play the story entirely as it was meant to be played.

On the pessimistic side, if we don't hear about a Shenmue HD Collection by next E3, I highly doubt that we'll ever get it. Releasing it before Shenmue 3 is slated to release or at the latest at the same time as Shenmue 3 would be the window of opportunity. Once Shenmue 3 is released, that window is closed.

On the optimistic side, if they do release the HD Collection, I expect this to have a limited physical run if not being digital only from the start on both PSN and PC. I also don't see anything being added beyond upgraded resolution and the 16:9 screen ratio for widescreen gaming that we're used too today. I would imagine trophy support would be added as well. Beyond that, I expect nothing and that's fine.

[Spaghetti]

I just simply find it hard to believe it to be an issue of licensing.

All it'd take is for those companies to see that the upcoming sequel has pulled in close to $7 million and is the most funded KS game in history for them to say "Yeah we'll grant use again."

It's just smart business.

That is absolutely not how it works. It would be nice if it did, but renewed massive interest in Shenmue as a series has likely made negotiations harder rather than easier because all the companies involved are going to want more for their participation.

The licencing on Shenmue is approaching 20 years old, and a good portion of the fine detail may no longer be applicable to today's market. The people who made the negotiations on either end may no longer be with any of the companies involved, so there's no personal business connection there either. That's not even accounting for the fact that the licencing companies may not even be interested in putting their brand in a video game any more.

It's a fucked up situation on many, many fronts. I think it's admirable that SEGA have at least paid lip service to the idea of undoing the legal knot, but we all know Plan B is to replace the products with original brands (i.e Jet Cola) if the companies don't play ball or ask for too much.

It's at least a committal by SEGA to try doing right by any potential Shenmue HD. If they're willing to tackle a challenge this big instead of taking the path of least resistance, it gives me hope they're not going to half-ass any other aspect of Shenmue HD.

[sand4fish]

Regarding licensing issues, there are none if the concern is toward "trademark infringement," "trademark dilution," "trademark tarnishment," and "defamation", the areas of law to be considered when placing brand names in a work of fiction. The only problem Sega might have is the fact they won't get paid, and no one wants to advertise for free in this world I take it.

[Spaghetti]

Regarding licensing issues, there are none if the concern is toward "trademark infringement," "trademark dilution," "trademark tarnishment," and "defamation", the areas of law to be considered when placing brand names in a work of fiction. The only problem Sega might have is the fact they won't get paid, and no one wants to advertise for free in this world I take it.

The original legal paperwork for the licencing likely never included any clauses for re-release, so all bets are off and it's effectively starting fresh. The owners of the licenced properties may not agree on their inclusion on a re-release irregardless of paying out/getting paid.

[Tsubasa]

We have seen proper trolls, infiltrate as staff members and try to take the boards down permanently.
Some have posted images across 1000 separate topics which took days to clean up.

Please, tell me you're kidding.