Shenmue Dojo

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A NeoGAF user spoke with Giocorsi about Shenmue at PSX. He revealed that Shenmue was the most requested title from the #Buildingthelist campaign and there are a lot of issues restricting it's release. If anyone remembers earlier this year another NeoGAF user commented that legal/copyright problems prevented HD ports from happening.

I was just about to post about Yakuza 5 getting localized, though its a shame we're only getting it digitally it DOES prove they're listening to all of their fans demands, first Final Fantasy Type-O, now Yakuza 5....I imagine (and hope) that if enough people buy Yakuza 5 that will push them to release Yakuza Zero....and then hopefully they'll start hashing things out for some Shenmue related stuff, digital or not anything happening on that end is good news and this PROVES Sony is listening to us. This is all grand news ^.^

Great, great.
They can't give us Shenmue III by themselves but they are really able to bring Shenmue I & II hd on Playstation as first step.

Those are some great little news. The Yakuza 5 localization may not be directly linked to Shenmue but it really shows that they listen and do some great things with Sega. The acknowledgement of the demand for a new Shenmue game is of course great again.

Adam Boyes stated last year regarding #BuildingTheList that they would tackle the easier requests first. Shenmue needing more time therefore makes sense. Them delivering Yakuza 5 makes me believe that they are credible.

I wonder if based on Sega playing it so safe with Yakuza 5 by doing a PSN release if Shenmue 1+2 HD will also be PSN ports and if Shenmue 3+4 will go the way of a PSN episodic series a la Walking Dead, RE Revelations 2, Silent Hills.

Some guys from NeoGAF met up with Adam Boyes and Gio Corsi and one of them had this to say:

Holy fuck. Chilling w/ Boyes.

I asked Gio Corsi what was his his number 1 request and he said Shenmue:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... tcount=499

He said there are a lot of issues restricting the release of Shenmue.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... tcount=502

So it seems like they (Gio Corsi and Sony) are trying, behind the scenes, to make it happen!

Henry Spencer wrote:[...]

He said there are a lot of issues restricting the release of Shenmue.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... tcount=502

[...]

About this bit of information; there was another Gaffer/insider who (in question about "Why SEGA didn't make a Shenmue HD Collection for PS360 again?") said:

Afaik, it's mostly due to legal/copyright reasons.

back in '12 you may remember that Sega went into a port spree. JSR, Nights...they thought it was a great idea, with very low risk and nice proft potential since, well, they don't want to fund traditional AAA anymore. Multiple ports were in development, among them was the canceled Skies of Arcadia port.

Shenmue case was special since not many people know this, but apparently the engine for both games uses licensed technology. It's not Bink Video or Sofdec codecs, apparently it's related to the very own engine.

Well, the thing is, according to what I've been told, the owner of those technologies folded years ago, and it's not clear who owns the copyright now.

Someone shown Sega a working Shenmue prototype for Xbox 360...but after disappointing sales by JSR and Nights, they didn't care enough to bother with the legal hassle. So it never went through the prototype stage, and the Skies of Arcadia port was canceled.

[...]

[Source: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46868&p=1068524#p1068524]

I really wish they'd just make an official statement regarding the licensing of the games engine and content.
That statement from that guy there does seem plausible, we already talked about it. But I want the official version.

#giveyutheengine

Funding around 90 million for two sequels and salvaging 1+2 from dormancy hell was never going to be a walk in the park compared to just slapping on some subtitles. Shenmue may definitely be at the bottom of their list, but at least its on their list and they're committed to making it a reality, that's the main thing.

We need to support Yakuza 5 when it releases, it might help encourage Sony to further pursue Shenmue.

Hmmm, this is all certainly very fascinating and encouraging to hear. Couple of quick points I'd like to throw out there:

1. Yakuza 5 is a fantastic sign that Sony - god love 'em - is actually working hard to satisfy their fans' requests. After all, never mind Shenmue for a moment. For the longest time, most western Yakuza fans also pretty much gave up on Sega ever supporting the series in the West again.

That Sega is now willing to put some kind of effort and resources into localizing Yakuza 5 for western release shows you just how hard Sony must have needed to work with Sega *just to have Yakuza 5 released as a digital release*.

2. There you have it folks. Shenmue I and II HD ports most likely exist in near finished form somewhere deep in Sega's bunker but that the software engine licensing issue truly is something that Sega (especially *today's* Sega) would not spend any time or effort on resolving.

3. So it might come down to this. Trying to get the HD re-releases out is almost starting to become too complicated an issue in its own right. It's almost like trying to get the HD releases out is taking time, effort, and resources away from just getting Suzuki the budget he needs to make the necessary new main core titles to just finish the series off.

Now hold on folks. I'm not trying to split up our focus or spread any negativity here. For me, it's almost like the release of a new Shenmue 3 has to be all or nothing - it's either going to be some kind of collection release of SI, SII, and S3 together or nothing at all. After all, we're right: Shenmue 3 won't make a whole lot of sense to a lot players without S1 and S2 *BUT* focusing *just* on trying to get HD S1 and S2 out before even contemplating making Shenmue 3 seems like a huge time, effort, and money sink that would be better served working on the actual Shenmue 3.

(On a tangent, I would assume Suzuki would know a thing or two about who actually owns the software engine rights to the two games he made personally, wouldn't he? And once we know who owns the rights, although I don't want to sound shallow here, it would just be the matter of throwing them enough money to purchase the rights to expressing this engine again with S1 and S2 HD re-releases...)

Just some food for thought. On the other hand, chin up! Sony does hear us and is literally in the business of making our requests come true. Moving forward, we need to keep on trying and become part of the solution somehow.

Afaik, it's mostly due to legal/copyright reasons.

back in '12 you may remember that Sega went into a port spree. JSR, Nights...they thought it was a great idea, with very low risk and nice proft potential since, well, they don't want to fund traditional AAA anymore. Multiple ports were in development, among them was the canceled Skies of Arcadia port.

Shenmue case was special since not many people know this, but apparently the engine for both games uses licensed technology. It's not Bink Video or Sofdec codecs, apparently it's related to the very own engine.

Well, the thing is, according to what I've been told, the owner of those technologies folded years ago, and it's not clear who owns the copyright now.

Someone shown Sega a working Shenmue prototype for Xbox 360...but after disappointing sales by JSR and Nights, they didn't care enough to bother with the legal hassle. So it never went through the prototype stage, and the Skies of Arcadia port was canceled.

[...]

[Source: http://shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic. ... 4#p1068524][/quote]

I can't imagine that this legal issue is an insurmountable obstacle. Stuff like this happens all the time. The bottom line is that they don't think the HD versions will sell otherwise they would do it. Yu Suzuki said it is up to Sega if they want to release the HD versions of I and II.

There are other options available to get people up to speed. Everyone seems to think that there has to be HD releases of the first two in order for there to be a 3rd game. I would love HD versions of the first two games, but I am MUCH more interested in continuing the story. I would love to hear Sony or Microsoft or whomever talk about why they haven't yet taken the risk to fund the 3rd game. Is it just budget? If so, then Yu Suzuki needs to find a way to make the game in smaller chunks. I understand the risk of again ending up where we are now, but at least it advances the story. We have had a whole lot of nothing for almost 14 years...

Encouraging information. Will definitely pick up a PS4 if Shenmue makes its way on to there.

I'm a little pessimistic after hearing about the legal issues. And very sad to hear that the NiGHTs and JSR ports didn't sell, especially if that means that SoA got canned. The games themselves are great and the ports were very well handled. On the other hand, Valkyria Chronicles was a huge success. I don't know what to think now.