Securing Shenmue's future

[drunkensailor]

I can see Shenmue 4 concluding the saga, and I'm fine with that if it was a HUGE game.
I mean, Shenmue 1 was rather small and short in comparison to 2. If you subtract the time you spend waiting around, it will be even shorter... Shenmue 2 was massive, and it covered like, 3 story chapters?... It was a fast paced and eventful game, and yet it sill managed to be longer than Shenmue 1, even with the time skip feature.

If Shenmue 4 is similar to 2 in terms of scale and length, then it would be possible to cram the remaining story chapters into it. There will be some compromises, of course. But it might be a better paced game as a result.

nah it's not going to happen without a huge compromises even if 4 was as big as 2 or bigger!
we are talking about 8 major regions outside Japan, Hongkong & Guilin are yet to be visited! BTW do we know the whereabouts of Baisha? if it's in a complete different region then there are 7 major regions left

i know with the situation the series is going through they will not be able to include every area that was initially in plan.
but at least with 3 more games but as big as Shenmue 2 they could at least add most of theses areas but maybe a little less ambitious in scale.

the game was always supposed to be 5 games. so there won't be any compromises if it's 5 games like it's going to be according to suzuki unless 3 really fails

[drunkensailor]

I'm fine with it never having a conclusion. I just want to feel satisfied if/when it ends and not feel disappointed or confused if it ends up feeling like it was ended just to conclude it as quick as possible.

If there is no ending, I'm one that could never be satisfied. I need an ending. Hence why the last 15 years have been agonizing waiting for Shenmue to continue.

Good analysis, Telekill, but I think you should double the sales objective (or halve the estimated benefit). Not the full $60 of a game goes directly to the developer. I think the platform holder (Sony) takes around $10 of any $60 game. Steam takes 30% of any game sold on its store (I reckon PSN will be similar). Retail takes its cut from any physical sale, etc.

Thanks and I agree. I think with the minimum hypothetical return being at least double what Shenmue 3 was built on though, we should be good to get Shenmue IV. This is also assuming that many of the Shenmue 3 sales aren't from being on sale at heavily discounted prices or pirated. Lots of "ifs" floating about but I'm optimistic.

You'll see Shenmue IV, except this time the franchise rights will belong to Sony, having bought the series rights from Sega who had long forgotten it's existence. YsNet will be subsequently added to Sony's stellar first party development roster of studios.

As much as I would love this as I buy every Playstation, I think this could put off the PC part of the fanbase as they would be unsure where they stood with having new Shenmue games on PC. If Sony came out and stated that Shenmue would remain on Playstation and PC, then I don't think this would be a bad idea at all and it could cement the series into having the full story that Yu intended it to have back on Dreamcast.

if pc players are such shenmue fans then they should get a playstation. the original shenmue's were also never released on pc

[Spaghetti]

I definitely don't think we're in any danger of the licence rights being bought by Sony, guys...

[cactusjack901]

if pc players are such shenmue fans then they should get a playstation. the original shenmue's were also never released on pc

Yeah, no. I'm not going to go out of my way to buy a PS4 for one game, especially when it'll probably come with a visual downgrade, possibly a framerate downgrade, and no guarantee of future backwards compatibility. That's a ridiculous statement on your part. Beyond that even; why should I go out of my way, to spend hundreds of dollars to play a game I've already spent over $100 on? It's really a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. I spent ~$800 to build my computer (I could've gotten a better GPU, but I figured an RX 480 was good enough). This computer will last me at least 10 years before I need to upgrade any of it (and even then, need to upgrade is probably inaccurate, it's probably going to be more along the lines of "should upgrade"), and honestly, when that time comes, I could probably get away with upgrading my GPU for $200-$300 and calling it a day. While it's a higher initial investment, it winds up being cheaper in the long run. Even better, you know what happens to all those games I played on my old GPU? I still get to play them with no effort, I just install them and play them. If I wanna do that on my PS4, I can't (at least not PS3 games). If I want to do it on an Xbox One, I'm sunk. If I want to do it on a Wii U, I have to buy the games over again. On my PC, I can play just about anything from the dawn of video games right up to today. I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to lose that functionality. If anything, your argument is backwards since you can play Shenmue and Shenmue II on PC as it stands today, but not on PS4. So really, it sounds to me like you're just pulling shit out of your ass to rationalize your purchase of a PS4 over a gaming PC. Mind you, this isn't me trying to shit on consoles like some of you probably think; while I will GLADLY argue that PC is the objectively superior gaming platform, there's nothing inherently wrong with consoles (aside from being way more expensive than gaming PCs comparatively while underperforming comparatively). It just really irks me when someone says that PC gamers aren't true fans of a series, or are just wasting money by buying a PC instead of a console; because we are (seriously, you're going to tell me that I'm not really a Shenmue fan, despite playing it for about 15-16 years now, and obsessively checking and reading every bit of news over the past 15-16 years, and tracking down multiple copies of the games [Well... Shenmue I anyway, being in the US makes getting a dreamcast Shenmue II prohibitively expensive; and my Xboxes are dead unless I find a modchip somewhere, so there's no real point in me picking up Shenmue IIx right now] in case any of mine break), and we're not wasting money, since we get a lot more mileage out of the PC than we do a console.

Sorry for being so harsh, but seriously, at least come up with a good argument why I should get a PS4 to play Shenmue III (protip: there isn't one)

[Sonoshee]

Beyond that even; why should I go out of my way, to spend hundreds of dollars to play a game I've already spent over $100 on?

Because it's Shenmue.

[drunkensailor]

if pc players are such shenmue fans then they should get a playstation. the original shenmue's were also never released on pc

Yeah, no. I'm not going to go out of my way to buy a PS4 for one game, especially when it'll probably come with a visual downgrade, possibly a framerate downgrade, and no guarantee of future backwards compatibility. That's a ridiculous statement on your part. Beyond that even; why should I go out of my way, to spend hundreds of dollars to play a game I've already spent over $100 on? It's really a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. I spent ~$800 to build my computer (I could've gotten a better GPU, but I figured an RX 480 was good enough). This computer will last me at least 10 years before I need to upgrade any of it (and even then, need to upgrade is probably inaccurate, it's probably going to be more along the lines of "should upgrade"), and honestly, when that time comes, I could probably get away with upgrading my GPU for $200-$300 and calling it a day. While it's a higher initial investment, it winds up being cheaper in the long run. Even better, you know what happens to all those games I played on my old GPU? I still get to play them with no effort, I just install them and play them. If I wanna do that on my PS4, I can't (at least not PS3 games). If I want to do it on an Xbox One, I'm sunk. If I want to do it on a Wii U, I have to buy the games over again. On my PC, I can play just about anything from the dawn of video games right up to today. I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to lose that functionality. If anything, your argument is backwards since you can play Shenmue and Shenmue II on PC as it stands today, but not on PS4. So really, it sounds to me like you're just pulling shit out of your ass to rationalize your purchase of a PS4 over a gaming PC. Mind you, this isn't me trying to shit on consoles like some of you probably think; while I will GLADLY argue that PC is the objectively superior gaming platform, there's nothing inherently wrong with consoles (aside from being way more expensive than gaming PCs comparatively while underperforming comparatively). It just really irks me when someone says that PC gamers aren't true fans of a series, or are just wasting money by buying a PC instead of a console; because we are (seriously, you're going to tell me that I'm not really a Shenmue fan, despite playing it for about 15-16 years now, and obsessively checking and reading every bit of news over the past 15-16 years, and tracking down multiple copies of the games [Well... Shenmue I anyway, being in the US makes getting a dreamcast Shenmue II prohibitively expensive; and my Xboxes are dead unless I find a modchip somewhere, so there's no real point in me picking up Shenmue IIx right now] in case any of mine break), and we're not wasting money, since we get a lot more mileage out of the PC than we do a console.

Sorry for being so harsh, but seriously, at least come up with a good argument why I should get a PS4 to play Shenmue III (protip: there isn't one)

sounds like you're not a shenmue fan at all

[Spaghetti]

I would hope nobody falls for the bait being laid in this thread.

[ShenSun]

if pc players are such shenmue fans then they should get a playstation. the original shenmue's were also never released on pc

Yeah, no. I'm not going to go out of my way to buy a PS4 for one game, especially when it'll probably come with a visual downgrade, possibly a framerate downgrade, and no guarantee of future backwards compatibility. That's a ridiculous statement on your part. Beyond that even; why should I go out of my way, to spend hundreds of dollars to play a game I've already spent over $100 on? It's really a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. I spent ~$800 to build my computer (I could've gotten a better GPU, but I figured an RX 480 was good enough). This computer will last me at least 10 years before I need to upgrade any of it (and even then, need to upgrade is probably inaccurate, it's probably going to be more along the lines of "should upgrade"), and honestly, when that time comes, I could probably get away with upgrading my GPU for $200-$300 and calling it a day. While it's a higher initial investment, it winds up being cheaper in the long run. Even better, you know what happens to all those games I played on my old GPU? I still get to play them with no effort, I just install them and play them. If I wanna do that on my PS4, I can't (at least not PS3 games). If I want to do it on an Xbox One, I'm sunk. If I want to do it on a Wii U, I have to buy the games over again. On my PC, I can play just about anything from the dawn of video games right up to today. I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to lose that functionality. If anything, your argument is backwards since you can play Shenmue and Shenmue II on PC as it stands today, but not on PS4. So really, it sounds to me like you're just pulling shit out of your ass to rationalize your purchase of a PS4 over a gaming PC. Mind you, this isn't me trying to shit on consoles like some of you probably think; while I will GLADLY argue that PC is the objectively superior gaming platform, there's nothing inherently wrong with consoles (aside from being way more expensive than gaming PCs comparatively while underperforming comparatively). It just really irks me when someone says that PC gamers aren't true fans of a series, or are just wasting money by buying a PC instead of a console; because we are (seriously, you're going to tell me that I'm not really a Shenmue fan, despite playing it for about 15-16 years now, and obsessively checking and reading every bit of news over the past 15-16 years, and tracking down multiple copies of the games [Well... Shenmue I anyway, being in the US makes getting a dreamcast Shenmue II prohibitively expensive; and my Xboxes are dead unless I find a modchip somewhere, so there's no real point in me picking up Shenmue IIx right now] in case any of mine break), and we're not wasting money, since we get a lot more mileage out of the PC than we do a console.

Sorry for being so harsh, but seriously, at least come up with a good argument why I should get a PS4 to play Shenmue III (protip: there isn't one)

Sounds like this guy is just trolling you. Everything you said makes sense to me. You've purchased Shenmue 3 on PC already or plan to? That means you've supported its resurrection. What ever platform you choose to play it on is entirely up to you.

As someone who owns almost all consoles, i hear ya on the backwards compatibility issue and how the pc directly addresses this issue.

Back on topic ladies.

[cactusjack901]

Yeah, I had a feeling this guy was just a troll. I'm bad about falling for bait on issues like that. I just hear crap from most of my friends about how I should get an Xbox One or a PS4 all the time, and they just throw the strangest "logic" at me. Like saying the PS4 Pro or Xbox One Scorpio can do 4K gaming where my RX 480 can't; which is only a half truth on both parts. The PS4 Pro/Xbox One Scorpio can only do 4K at 30 FPS for some games; and most of those games have severe frame drops when running at 4K; beyond that, it's not always truly 4K, they dynamically adjust resolution for performance boosts (a good idea, but it looks like total shit when the resolution is jumping around every 5 seconds and winds up just being horrible in practice. This practice is finding it's way to PC gaming, but unlike on consoles, you can turn it off). My RX 480 can handle 4K at a steady 30FPS for most games, but for PC gaming that's not really acceptable. My plan is to try and get a 1070 or 1080 by the end of the year (1080Ti if that happens and costs less than a grand, but I'm probably gonna end up with just a 1070)


Anywho, that's enough of my ranting; back on topic. Yeah, I backed for $120 during the KS. After 15 years, damn right I'm gonna have my name put in the credits (and I hope my capsule toy is either Chai or a Forklift). I know a lot of the worry here is on whether or not Shenmue V will happen, but I've heard murmurings that Shenmue IV is directly dependent on Shenmue III's sales; that's why my kickstarter copy is staying in it's box, and I'm just going to buy it digitally on Steam (or order another physical copy if it's not available on Steam), and if possible buy copies for my friends who would actually play it. Gotta drive up those sales somehow.

[KidMarine]

Anywho, that's enough of my ranting; back on topic. Yeah, I backed for $120 during the KS. After 15 years, damn right I'm gonna have my name put in the credits (and I hope my capsule toy is either Chai or a Forklift). I know a lot of the worry here is on whether or not Shenmue V will happen, but I've heard murmurings that Shenmue IV is directly dependent on Shenmue III's sales; that's why my kickstarter copy is staying in it's box, and I'm just going to buy it digitally on Steam (or order another physical copy if it's not available on Steam), and if possible buy copies for my friends who would actually play it. Gotta drive up those sales somehow.

This is definitely the right strategy, buy multiple copies for friends who have no interest in the series, or just to put to one side.

Hardcore fans buying multiple copies + people who have never played Shenmue before but are curious enough to buy III = Enough sales for IV. Hopefully.