Team Yu wrote: Thanks Tony, it's a perfectly valid point and one that we deliberated over when writing that open letter.
Like any open letter though, the target audience isn't so much the addressee, but more the public. We don't expect anybody of any consequence at Sega to read those words. If we thought it was worth contacting them directly then we would, and we'd do it in Japanese (with help, certainly!). But the intent of that page is to light a fire under fans and motivate them into action, which is all Team Yu has ever done. We're the world's worst dressed cheerleaders for the community at large.
It's very likely to be something we tweak and adjust as time goes by however, so please do keep the feedback coming.
I can only echo Tony's feedback.
By actually giving the rights to Ys Net for Shenmue 3, SEGA are showning they are willing to listen and cooperate for the fans. I feel the tone of the request is quite demanding perhaps unduly so since I believe their sentiment is changing. Satomi himself has been quoted to profess this. Let's look at the recent licenses changes: Datadiscs - Shenmue soundtrack on LP - unheard of, Shenmue ring tones on iTunes, and of course Shenmue 3. (As an aside Phantasy Star Online western release was also announced)
With the roaring success of the #SaveShenmue "3" campaign it's hard to deny the fan's desire for more Shenmue products. Shenmue 3 is obviously the biggest feather our collective hats, but let's not let not get ahead of ourselves, as if we can sit on a high throne and dictate what SEGA should or should not do. Sure we fans have been denied Shenmue 2's sequel for 14 years, but thanks to the fans campaigning, especially thanks to sites like ShenmueDojo & TeamYu over these years we have Shenmue 3 now. It would be foolish of SEGA not to consider offering for sale Shenmue 1 & 2 on today's platforms. But looking at the numbers properly, there were under 70,000 backers for Shenmue 3. Who knows also what the real number of real individual backers due to multiple pledges by fans including myself. If we take 10% of fans were hard core enough to do multiple account backings we're looking at 63,000 backers.
So, they're currently looking at 63,000 possible sales. That's not a whole lot for Shenmue 1 & 2 HD. Even if they sold Shenmue HD 1 & 2 combined for $60 a pop, that will be a gross of $3,780,000. Depending on outsourcing HD ports, they could make some money off it. Possibly if Kickstarted, fans could shell out for that again, but judging from the comments around my local area of the internet (AU) people are already flushed out of cash from Shenmue 3 especially since the USD has picked up in strength.
It's a tricky proposition, not one guaranteed to make Sega profit, therefore a cautious approach by SEGA. They don't want to give fans false hope, nor do they want to lose money. Money talks, but how much of the $3.7 million could be profit for SEGA to make it worth their time? Furthermore, Shenmue 1 & 2 are already playable to an extent on PC in HD freely.
Rather than a combative, provocative campaign for Shenmue 1 & 2 HD (or even better a Remaster), we can ask them based on theirs and our mutual good will on Shenmue 3 to seriously consider Shenmue 1 & 2 for the fans. The air has changed, maybe we should change too. I do hope you will consider rewriting the tone to be more supportive and acknowledging SEGA's recent efforts and you know what, we could work with SEGA to get the word out. You know we are the best cheer squad for it.