Ziming wrote:
Source: Rights Issues Hampering Shenmue Re-Release
by Tristan Oliver December 28, 2015
It may be one of the most successfully crowdfunded projects of all time. It may be far and away the industry’s surprise announcement of the year. But one of the most crucial elements of Shenmue III‘s future success may be introducing a new generation to the original franchise in the first place. Though it sounds as simple as re-releasing the original titles to current consoles–and indeed there has been and outpouring of support from the Shenmue community to do just that–a reliable source has told TSSZ it’s not that easy.
Our source indicates Sega has interest in re-releasing the original Shenmue to current platforms–and has wanted to for years, not just recently with Shenmue III’s Kickstarter success as a catalyst–but there are several hurdles to overcome. One of them involves rights issues with brands used in-game, like Timex and, in Japan, Coca-Cola. Those rights have to be re-negotiated. If they can’t be, the brands have to be purged from the title, and given how vast Shenmue is as a game, that is a “heavy” task, our source says. Still, it is something Sega is pursuing.
Even if that obstacle is overcome, there’s the matter of the game engine. Our source says that while the bulk of the core Shenmue engine was developed in-house by AM2, there are pieces of it licensed through a third party that Sega does not own outright. The trouble, our source indicates, is that the company in question–the name of which we do not know–has gone out of business since Shenmue‘s original release. Sega is attempting to track down who owns the technology. While we do not know how much of it was used in combination with AM2’s in-house work, not getting those rights means some additional coding will be necessary for any re-release to occur.
And what about Shenmue III? When it appeared as part of Sony’s E3 keynote this year, it was widely assumed Sony would offer a level of assistance to series creator Yu Suzuki and Ys Net, be it financial or otherwise. But our source tells us Sony’s agreement with Ys Net almost entirely involved that stage announcement. It does not appear Sony is financially supporting Shenmue III otherwise, and in fact our source says Sony had a similar marketing agreement with Sega on Yakuza 5‘s Western release where Sony only assisted with marketing. The good news is that, conceivably, there’s nothing stopping Shenmue III from being on platforms past the PC and Playstation 4 for that reason. The bad news is that, with a crowdsourced budget currently hovering under $6.5 million, the game’s success really is on the backs of its supporters. You can still contribute through its official website via PayPal.
We should note we’ve attempted to reach out to those connected to the Shenmue III project for comment on these matters, unsuccessfully. If you can help us, please tip us through email or Twitter.
Hyo Razuki wrote: This engine post has become the kind of urban legend which is very hard to get out of the world once it is out there. Thanks again for clarifying, Spaghetti.
Peter wrote: That's my view. Not mud slinging or saying my opinion is better than others. It's quite simply that.
15 months.
On top of that, it didn't even take them that long to churn out Crazy Taxi without its licences. Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, Levis, KFC, Fila, and the Offspring Soundtrack all easily ommitted. If they didn't renegotiate the licences for that game, why do it for Shenmue?
Sega say they want to recreate it as best they can? It has their full attention? That's cool. But don't say that when you tried to drastically undercut it like they did with Blitworks, and don't say it's got your full attention 15 months after an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, which they did absolutely nothing to help or encourage.
That's not even being salty or negative. That's cold hard facts, and the reality of what has happened to this present day.
mrandyk wrote: If the licensing issues in question really are limited to the in-game brands then this is simply inexcusable. The only one I can even recall right now in the US version is Timex and I won't be the least bit disappointed if they swapped it for the same generic Sega branding they put on everything in the Tomato store. I am aware that more brands than Timex were in the US release but my point is that there were very few and they made zero impact on the game experience (unlike Crazy Taxi where it was very cool to be driving to stores that existed in the real world). 15 months has been more than enough time to settle this issue - assuming that the issue at hand is just the real-life brands in Shenmue and not music and technologies.
At the very least, and for all we know this may be the situation, Sega should be developing the remakes right now regardless of how the licensing issue turns out - again, assuming the issue is the in-game brands.
Maybe the remakes are in development. I still wouldn't expect Sega to announce remasters until Shenmue 3 is a bit closer to release. In my mind the best time to release these would be 3-6 months prior to Shenmue 3 and an announcement would make most sense about 3-6 months prior to their release.
I hate to hear these lame excuses though, I'd rather hear nothing at all from Sega than see a statement saying they still can't figure out licensing after 15 months.
Kintor wrote:I'd say that it's a no win situation, a 'dammed if you do, dammed if you don't' sort of thing, but there's really no reason the discussion has to take this tone. All we have here I Sega keeping touch with the Shenmue fanbase, letting us know that Shenmue 1 and 2 HD are on the way, even if they aren't ready to make any official announcements; which should hardly have been grounds for this sort of heated and negative speculation.
Peter wrote: It's not a case of that at all. That's the problem, they are not "doing" anything. Almost a year and a half later. Looking into licences for 15 months? Justify it, please, because it's either a case of thay they are dragging their heels, or have no motivation to put the proper time and effort into getting this thing going.
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