China interview with Yu Suzuki (Nov 19)

[shredingskin]

Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.

Seems like Yu is tired of SEGA and burned the bridge (good for him, I hope SIII will be awesome).

Also interesting the part of the new gamemode, (i guess it's that strategy-like thing he said), hopefully it's not like Brutal legend.

Also I think that SIII will start at the beginning of SIII, Yu kinda hinted at that. Also the only videos we have seen are scenes from SII.

[Lan Di-sama]

Woot! Full voice acting! The lack thereof would have been tough for me to swallow.

Kinda sounds like he wants to make a IV and V. If Shenmue II ended partway through Chapter 4, then it stands to reason that Bailu concludes it and Choubu is Chapter 5 and Baisha is Chapter 6.

Sure hope this doesn't flop.

[Giorgio]

Q: Will Shenmue 3 have an online feature?
Yu: There is no plan for any online feature for Shenmue 3.

I would like online features in Shenmue 3, similar to the Shenmue Passport's ones. Like, online highscores (of mini-games), biographies, etc.

[Sonoshee]

Q: Will Shenmue 3 have an online feature?
Yu: There is no plan for any online feature for Shenmue 3.

I would like online features in Shenmue 3, similar to the Shenmue Passport's ones. Like, online highscores (of mini-games), biographies, etc.

A passport feature would have been nice, but thank God we won't be getting some tacked on multiplayer similar to the Tomb Raider reboot in 2013. I always felt Shenmue and TR were two franchises that never required it.

[abaww]

I'm very happy with the full voice acting. I was also hoping for some online features (multiplayer online minigames) though...

[Amir]

Don't really see the point of online bios, think they were only ever intended to show-off the Dreamcast's then-state-of-the-art Internet capabilities, could just include them on disc/in initial download these days. Mini-game rankings would be a nice addition but with the limited budget I'd rather they focus on the best single-player experience possible.

[sshen1127]

i personally does not mind to pay DLC for chapter 2 and 3 ..

[johnvivant]

as much as i'd love to have an online vs. mode for lucky hit, online capsule toy trading and leader-boards, i believe the core game should take precedence over these features. they should only consider adding such features if they have time and money left over at the end. but in truth, even then i'd probably prefer it if they used this to further polish the game.

[James Brown]

Maybe after starting development he's realised that it's actually easier than it used to be back in the day to make a game. He said in that recent presentation in china, because of the newer engines he felt that anyone could make a game. He also said that he was going to make the forest bigger from 2x2km to 4x4km or whatever. Maybe he is just finding it easier to make an expansive open world with Unreal Engine 4?

Also I really think it's safe to say that Yu is not considering the boat chapter as chapter 2 anymore since it never surfaced as the chapter, so he's pushed the chapters forward a number. So Shenmue 1 - Chapter 1, Shenmue 2 - 2/3/4, Shenmue 3 - 5/6. Maybe's Bailu Village is still being considered as chapter 4, even though it starts Shenmue 3 off, maybe the next official chapter isn't until Baisha or Choubu?

[freakycritter]

Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.

Seems like Yu is tired of SEGA and burned the bridge (good for him, I hope SIII will be awesome).

Also interesting the part of the new gamemode, (i guess it's that strategy-like thing he said), hopefully it's not like Brutal legend.

Also I think that SIII will start at the beginning of SIII, Yu kinda hinted at that. Also the only videos we have seen are scenes from SII.

He never had any desire to go back to VF (as soon as after 3).

Buring all briges would mean that Sega shut down communication with him. However thats as far as it goes, just communication.

[NeoShredder]

Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.

Seems like Yu is tired of SEGA and burned the bridge (good for him, I hope SIII will be awesome).

Also interesting the part of the new gamemode, (i guess it's that strategy-like thing he said), hopefully it's not like Brutal legend.

Also I think that SIII will start at the beginning of SIII, Yu kinda hinted at that. Also the only videos we have seen are scenes from SII.

He never had any desire to go back to VF (as soon as after 3).

Buring all briges would mean that Sega shut down communication with him. However thats as far as it goes, just communication.

I don't know why you guys are assuming he's 'burnt bridges' with SEGA. After all he GOT the Shenmue IP from them, and he's still an advisor with them. Anyway I don't see him handing over Virtua Fighter as implying anything, Yu has always been an innovator, he's not going to ride franchises for an easy retirement unless he's doing something new with them. Remember the first Virtua Fighter was one of the pioneers in 3D polygon graphics, and by the time of 3 well...its, how do I put it....trite? For an innovator?

[Amir]

Yu has always been an innovator, he's not going to ride franchises for an easy retirement unless he's doing something new with them. Remember the first Virtua Fighter was one of the pioneers in 3D polygon graphics, and by the time of 3 well...its, how do I put it....trite? For an innovator?

Yup:

The difference between Miyamoto-san and I is that he takes the same game and takes it deeper and deeper, like with the Mario series, while I like to work on different games and concepts. I don't like doing the same thing.

[LucBu]

Ha, deeper and deeper. Like what? Giving Mario a double jump power up? Please, it's embarrassing Mario has been repackaged so many times. Mario is actually a worse offender than Call of Duty.

[James Brown]

Very interesting info there. Really glad to hear that about the voice acting and the size of Shenmue 3 will be larger than Suzuki originally envisioned. It's great to hear him so optimistic about the future of his games again. I very much look forward to the new driving game and fighting game from the Grand Master himself. OutRun is probably my favourite driving games series, so it makes me excited to hear him say that.

Maybe after starting development he's realised that it's actually easier than it used to be back in the day to make a game. He said in that recent presentation in china, because of the newer engines he felt that anyone could make a game. He also said that he was going to make the forest bigger from 2x2km to 4x4km or whatever. Maybe he is just finding it easier to make an expansive open world with Unreal Engine 4?

Also I really think it's safe to say that Yu is not considering the boat chapter as chapter 2 anymore since it never surfaced as the chapter, so he's pushed the chapters forward a number. So Shenmue 1 - Chapter 1, Shenmue 2 - 2/3/4, Shenmue 3 - 5/6. Maybe's Bailu Village is still being considered as chapter 4, even though it starts Shenmue 3 off, maybe the next official chapter isn't until Baisha or Choubu?

Pretty much. Think you've cracked it, the Boat section is no longer a chapter. I do wonder if it will be mentioned when

Chai inevitably turns up or not.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Ha, deeper and deeper. Like what? Giving Mario a double jump power up? Please, it's embarrassing Mario has been repackaged so many times. Mario is actually a worse offender than Call of Duty.

Long may the embarrassment of Mario continue if it brings us games like Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2.