E3 2018: Can Shenmue III afford to miss this year?

[Valascaziel]

Topic.

It's well known that E3 is a huge stage to make your debut, but we now have other conferences that are becoming larger(Gamescom, Paris, etc.) PSX as well, as I doubt Sony will do what they did last year as they got a lot of flak for it.

That being said, do you think Shenmue III will make the big stage this year? If not, do you think it will begin to instill worry in fans about the project or will it be okay if they wait for Gamescom?

I personally think Shenmue III must make a large splash at E3. Fans have been clamoring for a true reveal for a long time and this E3 will mark 3 years since it's surprising reveal. I don't believe that is a milestone they can afford to miss.

If it doesn't, you can pretty much bank on a very hefty delay into 2019. I don't think they'll even peg a date of the game at E3, maybe a Coming Soon. It's worth noting that God of War didn't get a date til 3 months before it's release.

[gillian_seed]

If Shenmue 3 is in the E3, it will be overshadowed by many other titles like Red Dead Redemption, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, maybe Kingdom Hearts and who knows if FF7 Remake will be there as well... I think it will be better to show the game in other events.

[spud1897]

I say show it at as many events as possible.

[The_Intruder]

Since the game is releasing this year I'm sure it will be at E3.

[Centrale]

I expect it will have a presence at E3, but I don't think it will be positioned alongside the AAA releases. For example, if it ends up being part of Sony's presentation, I would expect it toward the end of the presentation, and introduced as a unique kind of project rather than mashed into a montage with Last of Us 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

As for the original question of what the general perception would be if it were to miss E3, it could be all right depending on the tone set by the marketing campaign. I think we'll get a very clear picture of what we can expect from marketing later this month with the Magic Monaco presentation. At that time they might say, 'don't expect something at E3, we'll be showcasing the game at other events' and that would set everyone's expectations accordingly. On the other hand they might say nothing of the sort and that will fuel rampant speculation here on the forums, at least.

[*Kenshin Himura*]

Regardless of how much competition Shenmue will have against other devs at E3. They have to show it off at E3 and TGS 2018, this is the "hit the ground running" (paraphrasing) marketing promotion year for Shenmue 3 according to Biscay and Yu-san. In addition, It would be highly in their favor to have Sega to announce S1&S2 HD remasters at E3 to add extra cajun in their promotion to make S3 more attractive in a sense of getting a trilogy instead of one game that has been long overdue for 17 years for the fans and newcomers.

[mrandyk]

I said it last year, I'll say it again. I think it's more likely we see Shenmue at e3 next year than this year.

[Telekill]

I'm pretty sure that Cedric stated that Shenmue 3 is still slated to release in 2018. That would tell me that we would more than likely see something at E3. Now if it's there or not is anyone's guess, but I'm willing to bet we see something in preparation of a fall release.

In regards to Shenmue HD Collection (1 & 2), I can only hope that it is announced at E3 or before as it's pretty apparent that Sega would be incredibly stupid not to do these remasters before the release of Shenmue 3. They've proven to be stupid in the past so we'll see.

[Hyo Razuki]

To put it short, I'm with OP on this one and think that S3 can absolutely not afford to miss E3 2018.

Chances are the game will be out before E3 2019. They'll be in Monaco this month and it's pretty save to say they'll do Gamescom again, so they've got Europe covered. They need to do an event in Japan too, and maybe something for the Latin American or Asian markets.

[spud1897]

I reckon they might do TGS if release is nearer then end of 2018.

I'd love them to do EGX in the UK this year!

[drunkensailor]

I said it last year, I'll say it again. I think it's more likely we see Shenmue at e3 next year than this year.

of course not. the game has to be released this year for financial constraints alone. shibuya confirmed this as well.

[King John Blaze]

Shenmue should be as significant as any Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls release. Bias aside, the quality of the first two games were second to none at its time. I remember being so grateful towards Sega for producing such a masterpiece but at the same time angry and disappointed in the way they marketed the game.

Had a perfect opportunity to release the series to a new audience with the Xbox release, but instead of releasing the first game followed by the second, they just released the second game and alienated most of the new audience who would have shown an interest.

There is so many major releases this year and that does no bode well for Shenmue, especially where simply being noticed won't be enough as, to be frank, it does not look like a good game. Being the third game in the series, not many gamers are going to be aware or interested in the series. Similar to the Witcher 3, if it looked amazing for the get-go, people will buy it simply by having one glimpse. Shenmue 3 however, being a relatively low-budget game, doesn't seem to be having that affect.

It does need to get some promotion in E3 but they need to make sure it looks like a game you need to play because that janky-graphic preview they showed left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Abraham_1]

Of course Shenmue 3 will be at E3 this year if it actually comes out this year. If Sony took the risk with showing the Kickstarter in 2015, they will obviously show the game itself at E3. Remember the backlash they got for showing a kickstarter at E3?

[VukBZ2005]

There is so many major releases this year and that does no bode well for Shenmue, especially where simply being noticed won't be enough as, to be frank, it does not look like a good game.

What, in your opinion, makes you believe it doesn't look like a good game? Marketing aside, Shenmue III, in my opinion, seems worthy of the series. It has an intriguing storyline & beautiful environments. The character designs are approaching what most consider production quality, too.

[RyoHazuki84]

Hopefully, the upcoming Magic Monaco event will be a first step to what we might see. Maybe they will announce E3 or whatever there