A new 240-page book about Shenmue has been released today in Spain. It's prefaced by Cédric Biscay and there's an exclusive interview of Suzuki inside.

https://i.imgur.com/lLhLDoD.png

The Spanish standard edition (23€): http://www.heroesdepapel.es/producto/la-odisea-de-shenmue/
The Spanish limited edition (25€, 500 copies): http://www.heroesdepapel.es/producto/la-odisea-de-shenmue-edicion-limitada/

The chapters: Prologue by Cédric Biscay ( Shenmue III executive producer)
Chapter 1: Yu Suzuki, an underrated visionary
First Steps
Champion Boxing
Hang-On
Space Harrier
OutRun
After Burner
Leisure years
The Virtua sagas
Ferrari F355 Challenge
Shenmue: an interrupted dream
Last years at Sega
Life after Sega

Chapter 2: Shenmue dream.
First steps
The most ambitious RPG ever done.
The Old Man and the Peach Tree
About Virtua Fighter RPG
Prototype to Shenmue’s Saturn version
Sega’s financial situation & the change to Dreamcast

Chapter 3: Shenmue’s development
Guppy’s first steps
Project Berkeley
The creation of the Open World concept
In search of visual excellence
Last adjustments
Shenmue public reception
Last glimpse of a dream: Shenmue II
The premature Shenmue II launch
Shenmue II public reception

Chapter 4: A Story about personal evolution and internal growth
Storytelling mechanism
A youngster destined to realize a prophecy
Analyzing the story actors: Ryo & Iwao Hazuki
Analyzing the story actors: The Phoenix Mirror & Yuanda Zhu
Analyzing the story actors: Ryo’s allies Guizhang & Ren: alliance and friendship
Femininity in Shenmue: The different women roles in Shenmue
Nozomi Harasaki: Friend-Zoned
Joy & Ryo: Fire vs Ice
Xiuying Hong: Strength, Wisdom and Independence
Fangmei Xun: The must to be done kawaii doses
Shenhua Ling: Balance and Internal Harmony
Analyzing the story actors: Ryo’s enemies
A complex power structure

Chapter 5: Creating a new form of gameplay
Realistic Recreation of the Universe for the contemporary sandbox origins
The importance of budget
Secondary activities
Combat system
An OST that made history

Chapter 6: Yokosuka as a portray of Japan’s 80’s
A loyal portrayal of a consumer society
Leisure fever A pleasure for all senses
China & Japan: Two cultures connected by history
Martial Arts: A symbol of national identity

Chapter 7: Exploring China, a land of legends
Hong Kong and the Brittanic Empire influence
The victory of the urban planning
Kowloon walled city: The most dangerous place on Earth
Living to gamble, gamble to live
China: Paradise of ancient martial arts
«We travel to change, not of place, but of ideas»

Chapter 8: Shenmue’s legacy
What’s Shenmue?
Chapter 2
Shenmue: The Movie
Shenmue Online
Shenmue City

Chapter 9: Phoenix and Dragon Reborn
E3 2015: Year of dreams becoming true

Chapter 10: Shenmue, a franchise made with the heart
Yu Suzuki interview
How Carlos Ramírez has experienced the game
How Ramón Méndez has experienced the game

Photo journal: Ryo’s Odyssey: a travel around Shenmue’s real life locations<
Bibliography
The authors: Ramón Méndez González (Ourense, 1983) is Spain’s 1st Videogame Translation and Para translation college degree doctor. He’s been in the video game industry since 2003, collaborating in different game media (Edge, NGamer, Ciberpaís, MeriStation, Gamereactor…) and translating and localizing for different companies in the industry. He has translated several game title guides and worked in over 300 game titles localizations, and awarded several times for it. In the academics field, he’s the author of the game localization book: Innovative translation fundamentals for professionals, he has several online classes and he teaches at the Vigo and Alicante Universities in Spain.

Carlos Ramírez (Sevilla, 1987) is a Bachelor in Journalism and Master in Screenwriting, Audiovisual narrative and creativity. He’s been an editor for Giant Magazine, script writer for Revolution System Games and localizing tester for Firefly Studios. He has written the “Masters of Interactive Terror” (Editorial Síntesis, 2015) essays and “From Avatar to person: Videogame Character analysis introduction”. He teaches as a script writing Master at the Sevilla College in Spain. He also writes for blogs and fiction.
A pdf sample: http://www.heroesdepapel.es/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/OdiseaShenmueExtracto.pdf

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrAIPGhGh_M

About a possible English edition, the original publisher's answer .

update:
The French standard edition (34,90€): http://www.editionspixnlove.com/Tous-nos-ouvrages/L-Histoire-de-Shenmue/flypage.tpl.html
The French limited edition (24,90€): http://www.editionspixnlove.com/Tous-nos-ouvrages/L-Histoire-de-Shenmue-Phoenix-Dragon-Edition/flypage.tpl.html

https://i.imgur.com/2Vdd6JW.jpg

Monkei wrote: Rakim: Seems like it, yeah. Wtf. :l

Ziming: Thanks man, I'll try that out next time when I'm on my laptop!

You can also directly download the video, read my second post on this thread

Just a little mistake in your scripts, Cédric said infact "il m'a donné une petite émission" instead "il m'a donné une petite mission". In reference of the "Animax TV" that we see in the video I think.

It's hard to listen so i'm 95% sure only.

GYO6161 wrote: Even 4 months later, is so entertaining still seeing the E3 reactions...

This reactions interface is amazing :

A fictive cover just for fun.



alternative color : https://i.imgur.com/tD7tcSW.jpg

Shenmue is playable in the official retrogaming section of the Paris Games Week. The initiative is from Mo5.com , an association defending the heritage of video games and computer science and taking charge of the section.

(photo from mo5.com)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSamxfKWwAETLgC.jpg:large

(photo taken by Sergey Galyonkin )
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSZQf3GXAAAyVlH.jpg:large

(photo taken by Romain Mahut )
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSaZIvbWUAAJd_O.jpg:large

(photo from Sega Europe)
https://scontent-fra3-1.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/e35/12142138_1489268094701938_2041257462_n.jpg

You can see that the presentation board is illustrated by Orioto (Mikaël Aguirre), the illustrator who made these artworks :
http://pre13.deviantart.net/d675/th/pre/f/2015/188/b/9/chinesedream_by_orioto-d90cbhs.jpg
http://pre03.deviantart.net/f8de/th/pre/f/2014/308/c/6/shenmue1080p_by_orioto-d85a3gw.jpg

Visitors can also buy the biography of Yu Suzuki.

It's really a shame if Sega need them again to release something related to Shenmue.

Marshall's return disclosed as 5,2 million $ unlocked stretch goal.



source : official Shenmue 3 twitter

In the scene at 52:00, Suzuki talks about wanting to deliver a "properly-finished, beautiful work" and presses his staff for some ideas about what to do for the last part of the harbor area. I believe they discussing the ending of Shenmue I (one of the developer's also mentions boarding the boat). Fascinating to see an important part of the game being worked out.

Was thinking about this scene, my guess is that when they decided to split the game into two, they didn't have a satisfying ending for the first part. Maybe the boat chapter and fight with Chai was devised at this point? And then maybe they cut it later due to time/budget/disc constraints and settled for the little fight in the harbour (it does seem a bit out of place)?

EDIT: Lending support to the late addition of the boat chapter is the fact that it's not one of the 11 pieces of chapter concept art (Chapter 2 went straight to Hong Kong). My guess is the shifting of the Shenhua chapter to earlier in the story happened early on as a lot of the first preview images were Ryo with Shenhua in Guilin, but we've never seen in-game footage of the train chapter, only a few seconds of pre-rendered CG on the Project Berkley disc.

At some point of the production, Shenmue I was planned with 2 out of the 16 chapters. I read it from the Yu's bio.

So the boat chapter was supposed to be the true ending of Shenmue I.

Technophilz wrote: A question here: why this new prototype footage isn't shown to backers yet ???

China exclusive, Yu has to show his love for their money.

Shanghai Shen from youtube has found an old interview.

http://www.gamersky.com/news/201507/615268.shtml

Someone named Shanghai Shen has made an interesting translation of a conference recap in the Youtube comments :

http://games.qq.com/a/20151116/029040.htm

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284763_980x1200_0.jpg
it will use unreal 4

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/63/228/1966/127897353.jpg
it take place in china. most story take place in guilin. and explain how the people and the culture of the people lives there

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/34/229/1966/127897579.jpg
open world and will introduce a kowloon like place and a village around guilin

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/39/228/1966/127897329.jpg
more traditional Chinese fighting style

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284779_980x1200_0.jpg
the story progression.

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284784_980x1200_0.jpg
shenmue 3 forest. and wealth system and earlier video footage

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284770_980x1200_0.jpg
mian story start in bailu

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/117/229/1966/127897662.jpg
fighting background

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284796_980x1200_0.jpg
game interior design

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/23/228/1966/127897313.jpg
fans gift

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/118/229/1966/127897663.jpg
talk about how much he like the gift and think about adding the gift in the game and the release date.

A site has credited your translations :
http://wccftech.com/sega-supporting-she ... yu-suzuki/

Teletubbies dictatorship strikes again lol.

Trust in what ? Yu never promised the top in terms of visual. Artistic maybe.

Well, it's a shame that you summarize my thoughts with only some posts and forget all my other positive ones. Leak some questionable opinions does not mean I don't trust in him (he did not promise a lot after all). I'm pretty sure to appreciate the game whatever the technical result, and honestly I think it's going to be a great game, good at least with an epic final part. I just consider all the possibilities.

Almost each day, a random thought is enough to make me fuckin thrilled to think that moment will finally happen without reading or seeing anything related to Shenmue. Each time I play Shenmue, I'm switching parts in my mind by what could be Shenmue III. Each two weeks, I have to counter misinformation and idiotic pessimism around the project on different popular local sites (sometimes with real success). Today, we got a marvellous screenshot of houses with fields and some dreamful doc photos. I just don't feel the need to make a fuss when a news comes, sorry.

It's even more a shame since you really look unable to deal with different opinions.
Your remark about "minority" is concerning, as if someone has to belong with a "norm" to provide a legitimate thought.
That's why I never got problems with over-enthusiastic members neither trash-talkers here. Although some of them got on my nerves the first weeks following their subscription (Zoltor) before I learnt more about the fans they are. I believe that a discussion is always more interesting when you can cross different views about a same subject.

And please show some respect to the Yu's team. If some trust and support have to be put in somewhere, it's not only Yu but YSnet and Neilo. Yu can be the most brilliant developer of the world, he needs talent from his staff too. That's him who said he's dreaming to hire programmers with coding autonomy, not only Unreal 4 UI mastery. Our idol Yu can't deliver everywhere or your "trust" will quickly turn in disappointment I'm afraid.

I now understand why Fenghuang is part of Unesco.

http://img1.gtimg.com/gamezone/pics/hv1/34/229/1966/127897579.jpg
http://ac.enghunan.gov.cn/SP/www.enghunan.gov.cn/Tourism/TravelGuide/Xiangxi/201308/W020130827501421251678.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/%E5%87%A4%E5%87%B0%E5%8F%A4%E5%9F%8E%E5%A4%9C%E8%89%B2%E4%BA%8C%E5%8F%B7.jpg/800px-%E5%87%A4%E5%87%B0%E5%8F%A4%E5%9F%8E%E5%A4%9C%E8%89%B2%E4%BA%8C%E5%8F%B7.jpg
http://nsa37.casimages.com/img/2015/11/18/15111808333570816.jpg
http://www.3us.com/Uploads/Editor/2015-06-25/558b600c939cf.jpg



May Choubu be a mix of Fenghuang with Yanghshuo as the Li river ends at this town ?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/YangshuoFromTvTower.jpg/800px-YangshuoFromTvTower.jpg

Nice Shenmue cameo in an official Oculus VR video (look behind the arcade) :


http://youtu.be/TNRpqzTh0f8?t=25m10s

Monaco Hebdo interview
http://www.monacohebdo.mc/16513-shibuya-productions-leve-plus-de-6-millions-de-dollars

"I made a lot of advisory work in video gaming and animation because they are interesting sectors for me. My idea has always been to create my own contents."

"Shibuya is the name of the most busy place of Tokyo so the most cosmopolitan. We know that Japanese people are not that attracted by the international. But Shibuya is a neighbourhood where a lot of things happen. And we work a lot with Japan. That's why I wanted to associate this image with my company."

"I moved to Monaco because the Principality is pretty well-known in the world, especially in the US. It's also much easier to meet decision-makers in Monaco where the network is rich and tight at the same time. In Japan, the Principality is especially known for the Formula One, its luxury goods and tourism. "

"We work also on 26 Astroboy episodes of 26 minutes each. The name will be Astroboy Reboot"

"We are a young company. But in 2014, we will be the company which made Shenmue and Astroboy Reboot. Thus, the eyes turned towards us will be more interested. But starting off with these two big releases (Astroboy is planned for september 2017), we earn reputation and reliability. And a lot of time."

"The real revenue will be in two years. If all goes well, it should be around 5 million euros."

"The network is the origin of everything. This is what makes possible all we're doing. Since 15 years, I build my network in Japan."

"To raise confidence, you need time. In Japan, there is a lot of codes you have to comply. My chance is that, very often, people get bored and look for China instead... where they usually fail. It's been 10 years since we talk about China as almost an Eldorado. But who really managed to establish itself in China ?"

"I played a lot of games, especially Japanese games. Shenmue had a deep impact on me. I spent sleepless nights on it. There was also Shenmue 2. But with the Dreamcast disappearance, Shenmue III never happened.

"I don't know how to draw, nor write a story or a program, neither animate... However, I know how to connect people and generate a network, especially in these sectors."

Shibuya Prod work with 4 employees. The company's role is to outsource its productions, notably in Japan, Bulgaria, United States and France. To fund a project, convince co-producers is needed. These co-producers are usually studios that employ 100 or 200 people to, for example, create and program a game.

"Sega did nothing with Shenmue. The idea was to make Shenmue III and create a huge buzz around this game".

"The budget is about several million euros, funded widely by Shibuya Prod's own funds."

"At the moment, no Mac version is planned. I can't tell you exactly but Sony put less money in the project than Shibuya".

"We target to sell one million copies. This is not what we need to earn money but that's my goal."

About piracy : "But I still have faith in the true players, those who want beautiful packaging and look to gain a beautiful object. But I keep dreaming. Those who usually hack will continue to do so. For a game sold 60 euros, the packaging is 2-3 euros. Piracy is cultural. In Japan, downloading is still less common than selling CD.

"Our productions need teams of 150-250 people. It's still far from Disney"

Biscay has the advantage of knowing everyone since 10 years. As he worked already with them (the right owners of Astroboy), the young boss decides to opt for audacity. He asked if they would let him make a "reboot". Surprise: he gets a "yes" in minutes. In three months, the first contract is signed. Which is pretty amazing since, in this kind of business, negotiations sometimes last 2 or 3 years before reaching a signature. "This is why I love Japan. There, everything is a matter of trust. However, if we betray the word, you're dead, can pack your bags and return in Europe."

Then everything is on track and Astroboy becomes a 9 million euros budget funded by co-producers : a Japanese one, two TV channels and Shibuya Productions. Caribara Productions (based in Paris, Annecy, Liège and Montréal) takes charge of the animation.

Other project, this time focused on cinema : "Lily and the magic pearl" by Anri Koulev, directed with Bulgaria and co-produced. The story is written by the poetist Valeri Petrov (1920-2014). Ben Cross (Star Trek 2009) is one of the dubbers. Biscay : "I want to offer a more confidential production, an auteur cinema which would never happen without our help."

"On the technical plan, the animated film is the neighbor of gaming. However, about the funding, it's very different. It's not the same intermediaries neither the same partners or the same mounting methods for budgets. Video games are still the most profitable : the potential gain is greater than an animated film. With television, it's difficult. Whereas with the cinema, when you see the complete success of The Minions..."

"We have already a big project for 2019. But from 2017, we hope to do one release per year at least."


http://i2.wp.com/modogameur.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Affiche-MAGIC-francais-small.jpg?resize=852%2C600

Modogameur interview
http://modogameur.fr/interview-cedric-biscay-organisateur-du-magic/

Q : Can you tell us more about you ?
CB : Above all, I am passionate of Japanese animation and video games. In order to work in these sectors, I founded two companies. The first in Nice in 2002 (2003 in Japan), specialized in advising between Europe and Japan. The name is Shibuya International. The other in 2014 with as primary goal the creation of video games and cartoons and whose name is Shibuya Productions. The latter company has the distinction of being located in Monaco and Japan. I also give courses in Master video games at the École Polytechnique de Nice-Sophia Antipolis.

Q : Do you think that Magic can become an event as not-to-be-missed as the Paris Games Week ?
CB : If you believe the articles following the 2015 edition, the MAGIC is already a must-see event in regard to its guests, the cosplay contest and video game creation competition endowed with € 100,000. We have to work hard to go even further. Our event offers free entrance with a broad focus on the conferences and round tables, we have no plans to expand the stands and to welcome tens of thousands of visitors. Our aim is to always offer more quality for true fans. That year we had notably Yuji Naka (Sonic), Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy), Shinji Hashimoto (Kingdom Hearts), Eric Chahi (Another World), Alain Damasio (Remember Me), Frederick Raynal (Alone in the Dark), Viktor Kalvachev (Blue Estate), Philippe Buchet (Sillage) without forgetting Yoichi Takahashi (Captain Tsubasa) who comes to France and Monaco for the first time.
The 2016 edition will announce the presence of Buichi Terasawa (Cobra), Yu Suzuki (Shenmue) Kavinsky (Drive), David Lloyd (V for Vendetta), Didier Tarquin and Christophe Arleston (Lanfeust) to name a few."

Q : Your favorite mangas and games ?
CB : So much to say ! But ok, the first that come to mind are Dragon Ball Z, Cobra, Death Note, Hokuto No Ken, Saint Seiya, Hikaru no go and many others ! About games : Shenmue, Enemy Zero, Bio hazard, Radiant Silvergun, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Virtua Fighter 4, Sega Rally , Super Mario Kart, F-Zero, Street Fighter Zero 3, Uncharted 2 … this is it I can not stop !

Q : How did you selected the prestigious guests for this second edition ?
CB : I must admit that it is mostly the likes of the team. We refuse to take the easy path and don't try to follow current mainstream topics for example. Most of our guests are not into a promotion logic but come to share a good time with their fans. The undeniable advantage is that it provides a greater depth to exchanges with the public. Similarly, we do not accept pay dedications or other system that would encourage our visitors to pay for the right to photograph or signature.

Q : What are your ambitions for future editions ?
CB : We would like to pass on two days because we are beginning to refuse a lot of opportunities because of too short time we have now. However, our will is to remain a free admission event, we are not financially able to do so now. We have to find more sponsors because remember that MAGIC is an event that we fund entirely by this means.

Q : Have you never thought about exporting the Magic outside Monaco to do big conferences like Japan Expo or even Paris Games Week ?
CB : For now this is certainly not news, but we do not exclude any serious track. I myself implanted Japan Expo in Marseille and Montpellier MIG, we want MAGIC retains its specificities. With us all guests are VIP!

https://www.facebook.com/desertbusfr/photos/a.418810918241875.1073741827.416683068454660/766339926822304/?type=3&theater

You can still participate to Cédric's gift (a travel to Monaco to meet Yu Suzuki) by making a 15,42 euros donation to http://urlz.fr/2I9T

The donations are directed to Secours populaire français a French non-profit organization founded in 1945, dedicated to fighting poverty and discrimination in public life.

Donation process :

1) Click the " FAIRE UN DON " button

2) Check " Donner un montant libre " and write 15.42. Click " SUIVANT "

3) Fill the blanks :

Monsieur = Mister
Madame = Miss
Prénom = first name
Nom = last name
Ville = city
Pays = country
Souhaitez-vous laisser un petit mot [...] = write a comment
Je souhaite que le don ne soit pas diffusé [...] = make an anonymous donation

SMDzero wrote:
Also SPOILERS:

Ryo fights a bear?? WTF is he supposed to be Davey Crocket now??!?!?

Born on a mountaintop in Guilin.. killed a bear when he was just 18!?!?!?!?

Well

The book is indeed solid and very sweet. The only drawback is that the spine is inevitably folded after reading.

I will call Cédric to ask Prince Albert to make a deal with Xi Jinping. Maybe could Shenmue III get a $ 145 million extension then ?

Interesting thought ShenGCH. That gives me the desire to get childhood flashbacks in Shenmue III to learn more about him and his relation with Ryo.

Just found a spiritism club in Kowloon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHwxjwISgKo

Most interesting parts :

(5:10) About MAGIC 2016 in February
There will be a progress statement. Normally, we have the ambition to show a trailer... well rather a teaser I'd like to clarify, with the first true reliable images so we're ambitious. At least, we'll see new things like images, explanations about the game, story, etc.

(16:29) About Yu Suzuki
He's very nice, infact we are basically great pals, that's the reason we work together as well and he's a very humble person ( note : Cédric stresses this point during the video because not all the creators he knows are friendly in the gaming/anime universe and sometimes act like divas ). I think he is humble because he did everything that was possible to do in the sector of gaming. I was always fascinated when he showed me photos of him with Spielberg or Mickael Jackson but with calm, not as someone like a stalker. And you know what, it was those people who were happy to be pictured with Suzuki because his games provided them a lot of fun and they wanted to collaborate with him. So he doesn't boast at all about it, he's really supercool, we get on very well, and above all, we often drink good wine together. He likes wine, so I do. It's generally the common lot of our discussions (laughs).
Question : Which wine is his favorite ?
Cédric : Well it's a bit of expansive wine (laughs). He enjoys the really great wines, the Château Margaux, etc.
Q : And Romanée-Conti, and goes on...
C : So, yeah I admit we didn't reach this level together yet but we drunk some Château Margaux from his own wine cellar.
Q : His Tokyo-based wine cellar, isn't it ?
C : Yeah, a mini wine cellar in his office at his home but I will say nothing because I own a wine cellar in my office too so I refuse to make fun of him (laughs).


(18:35)
C : The production is progressing well, we're not late at all, it's still planned for Christmas 2017 as we decided. You know, a big interest is there, it's a traditional month for the players. Ok there are other moments in the year but it's usually better to release a game at Christmas.

Q : Since when you're working on Shenmue III before the announcement exactly ?
C : I admit we're not talking a lot about things like that, I don't want to be already impolite but (laughs) it's kind of confidential.

(19:51)
Sega is the IP owner. So for us, making Shenmue III is a huge risk because we don't own the IP. If you own the IP, that means you make a big return on investment. In our case for example, our return on investment will only be from the sales, period. We will not see the money generated by the goodies for example.

I think there are 200 000 big fans.

About AAA status
(Shenmue III) will not be Call of Duty but it will be a really good PS4 game and will easily meet the current PS4 standards.

My hidden goal was $5 million (for kickstarter).

(23:45)
What I anticipate is that Sega releases Shenmue I & II HD. Of course I must make clear that's not official but just what I wish. For me, it's the only viable way for selling well Shenmue III, so beyond the fans network. We also thought about doing a little manga or animation based on Shenmue I & II story but that's nothing compared to remake Shenmue in HD version. About the question you ask me about the hype, while it did not influence us, I think it can for others. I have the feeling that now everybody is interested in Shenmue, for example, at the companies level, to release related goodies.

Q : When was your first encounter with Yu Suzuki, how, and around which wine you seduced him ?
C : Basically, I was interested to meet him. I met him in Tokyo thanks a common friend. Then we talked about a lot of things, firstly Shenmue of course as a fan but I'm also fan of Virtua Fighter so we had a lot of common things to talk. I also bring him to an event in the south of France, then the Anime Game Show at Monaco in 2013 where the official discussion about Shenmue seriously started out because before this moment, it was really impossible as Sega didn't want to let the IP at all. So we're become real friends and we met again several times at San Francisco. We also did together the GDC , the Napa Valley as you mentionned wine. So we indeed drunk all the great American wines while discussing about how to find fundings for Shenmue III. Well it looks quite simple but you know, I do my business since almost 15 years in Japan, you can't meet Yu Suzuki so easily but thanks my job, the doors open a little more easily.

Q : Indeed, a bit like the Jet Set. The hardest part is to get in, and you did it.
C : I would say rather the Jet Set of Gaming (laughs)


(40:08)
Q : How many people are working on Shenmue III development, currently and actively ?
C : Well, our friend Suzuki didn't allow me to talk. He said to me "Don't talk about it, they will discuss again, etc". So sorry I can't answer your question (laughs).

Q : But it's a lot of people, isn't it ?
C : Yes of course, it's a video game so there is a minimum. Moreover, since the annoucement in June, we received so many requests from people who want to participate in the developement, that never stops ! There are even developers who want to work FOR FREE, it's insane. Then it smoothed down a little. For the Shibuya Production mail, I receive personally only 3 or 4 emails per week while in June, it was crazy, they were dozens and dozens of people per day, phone calls with "We want to participate in Shenmue III". [...] There were Australians, Japaneses, Ukrainians... they weren't random guys in their garages but true studios !

Q : Can we suppose that the team, although mainly Japanese, is pretty international ?
C : The team is essentially Japanese but with indeed some foreigners who live in Japan, who speak Japanese. You know that if you don't speak Japanese, it's very complicated... well I'm saying but I don't speak Japanese (laughs), but if you're working among a team, it's difficult.


(41:57)
Q : Will the PC version be optimized compared to the PS4 version ?
C : Good question, I would say "Yes".

(56:15)
Q : Outside the kickstarter, will a physical version be available ?
C : Yes absolutely.

(59:10)
Q : Will the PS4 and PC versions cost a different price ?
C : No at the moment but it's something that can change for multiple reasons. But at the moment, no.

Technophilz wrote: I have a feeling that this won't be the last delay to live with ...

I forgot his "I promise". Already a fail.

Such a warming image. The book looks really beautiful to own.

I've not seen any panic here :-k

Whether we get the update one day, I don't care personally and everybody will agree with you, Kiske.

The real trouble is the lack of communication because this would be another proof of amateurism. You can't hide the fact that a promise is a promise. Yu is a terrible communicator and needs to improve himself if we wants that things goes well in the future. I repeat but it's no longer question of attracting new backers but showing some professionalism to those who have paid.

Of course, it's only an hypothetic statement as we're only on December 2. I see no reason why their amateurism would reach that level.

And have to keep in mind that Shenmue's story has changed. Like Yu Suzuki loves to say, there's the "original story" and what Shenmue is today.

I'll probably watch trailers etc as I don't really mind spoilers anymore. But I have to agree about the Nico Nico's video spoiler. That one was huge and I wasn't expecting him to reveal it so soon. :mrgreen:

Until which point the story has changed ? If it's just about quests between keys points of the story, it's not a big deal. But if the change concerns the identity or the will of some characters, that would sound really enigmatic.

I assume this was in the context of the 11 VFRPG Chapters. As chapter 3 there is the cut train chapter, it definitely makes sense not to mention it, as it doesn't really happen in the story we got (Seems as though the boat chapter isn't being taken into account anymore, either).

The deleted Chapters 3 and 4 in Shenmue are likely to be the Chapters 3 and 4 from Virtua Fighter RPG (Su Zhou and Shanghai). I no longer think that the train counts as a chapter in the current story cut. It probably did as an extra-chapter when Suzuki talked about 16 chapters instead 11.

National sales.

It's from the Librería Gigamesh, a library in Barcelona apparently.

source : https://www.facebook.com/LibreriaGigamesh/photos/a.768141249867528.1073741872.257714990910159/1162393770442272/?type=3&theater

The complete ranking :
01 – Emilio Bueso, /Ahora intenta dormir/ (Valdemar) [100%]

02 – L. J. Salart, /Proyecto Marte/ (El astronauta imposible) [83%]

03 – George R.R. Martin, /El caballero de los Siete Reinos/ (Ediciones Gigamesh) [68%]

04 – Andrzej Sapkowski, /El último deseo/ (Alamut) [65]*

05 - Andrzej Sapkowski Sapkowski, /La espada del destino/ (Alamut) [65%]*

06 – Terry Pratchett, /A todo vapor/ (Fantascy Libros) [38%]

07 - Joe Abercrombie, /Medio rey/ (Fantascy) [35%]*

08 - Joe Abercrombie, /Medio mundo/ (Fantascy) [30%]*

09 – Brandon Sanderson, /El imperio final/ (Nova CF) [25%]*

10 – Miquel Barceló, /Nueva guía de lectura de ciencia ficción/ (Nova CF) [23%]

11 - George R. R. Martin, /Juego de tronos/ (Gigamesh) [23%]*

12 - Linda Antonsson & Elio M.García Jr & George R. R. Martin, /El mundo de hielo y fuego/ (Gigamesh) [20%]

13 – Ramón Méndez González y Carlos Ramírez, /La odisea de Shenmue/ (Héroes de papel) [20%]

14 – Andy Weir, /El marciano/ (Nova CF) [20%]

15 – Neil Gaiman, /Neverwhere/ (Roca) [20%]

16 – Simón Bellido Fernández, /Tenebris/ (2.0 Books) [20%]

17 – Ernest Cline, /Ready Player One/ (Nova CF) [20%]

18 – vv.aa., /FantAsia/ (Edicions Xandri) [20%]

19 – Dan Simmons, /Hyperion/ (Nova CF) [18%]*

20 - Aranzazu Serrano Lorenzo, /Neimhaim/ (Fantascy) [18%]

The 60 fps could have been sweet for the combats and the Shenmue cinematographic style which uses constant travelling. But otherwise, the critics come mainly from people who have no clue about the franchise or hardware in general. Journalists like to put this forward because the framerate is part of visuals, and visuals are the most affordable subject for everyone.

Japanese is possibly the hardest language in the world to learn

Depends of which aspect you're talking about. Write and read fluently the Japanese looks very complicated but understand orally is known to be pretty affordable for any motivated person. But maybe it's different for people who speak a native language with some accent.

Anyway, they have Lord Tess so it's not an excuse, they just don't take the social networks seriously, sadly.

Retrovolve.com : " The Relentless Twitter Campaign to Save Shenmue Continues "

http://retrovolve.com/the-relentless-twitter-campaign-to-save-shenmue-continues/

BY MANDI ODOERFER ON DECEMBER 2, 2015
When Twitter launched in 2006, most gamers assumed that the Shenmue series was dead in the water. The last game in the series, Shenmue II, had released back in 2001, shortly after Sega exited the console market. The big-budget franchise had earned rave reviews, but it also cost Sega a small fortune to develop. Between Sega’s financial woes and the years of radio silence, a third game seemed all but impossible.

But like Ryo Hazuki, the protagonist of the Shenmue series, fans were incredibly persistent. They used Twitter as a rallying point, banding together to share their love of the series. On the third day of every months, hundreds, then thousands of users would tweet alongside the hashtag #SaveShenmue. It didn’t matter how hopeless things seemed; they were determined to see Ryo’s journey through to the end.

shenmue iii announcement

On June 15th, 2015, the impossible happened. Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki took the stage at Sony’s E3 press conference and announced a Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue III. Within 8 hours of the announcement, the game had been fully funded. When the campaign ended in July, it had raised over 6 million dollars. Fans had never given up on Shenmue, and at long last, their faith had been rewarded.

Now, Shenmue devotees hope to harness the power of Twitter once more. Fans are using a brand new hashtag, #SaveShenmueHD, to ask for HD versions of the first two Shenmue games. Unlike their last Twitter campaign, this seems like a fairly simple request. HD remakes are commonplace, and skyrocketing Dreamcast sales prove that the demand for these games is high. However, making this dream come true might be harder than it seems.

Back in 2012, IGN reported that Shenmue HD was headed to both XBLA and PSN. According to their source, the games had been finished for “well over a year.” Sega was simply waiting for the right release window.

shenmue soccer ball

But in spite of early reports, Shenmue HD was never released. At the 2014 Sony Playstation Experience event, Sony Corporation of America director Gio Corsi said that Shenmue HD was his “number 1” request, but that there were a number of issues restricting the game’s release.

While there are no public statements regarding Shenmue HD‘s difficulties, there are a number of fan theories. Many of them revolve around an old post made on the NeoGAF message board, in which a user claims that there are copyright issues involving the game’s engine.

neogaf shenmue post

Although there’s no way to confirm (or debunk) the information in this post, it’s clear that there are complications surrounding the release of Shenmue HD. Re-issuing the first two games may seem like a license to print money, but if doing so will cause legal headaches for Sony, they might not think it’s worth the hassle.

That makes it all the more important for Shenmue lovers to show their support with the #SaveShenmueHD hashtag. If fans show Sony how important this is to them, they’ll be more willing to jump through whatever hurdles necessary to bring them to modern consoles.

Shenmue HD may be a longshot, but that doesn’t mean it’s beyond the bounds of possibility. And even if it is impossible, the Twitter campaign is still worth a shot. As Shenmue III has shown, impossible things can happen every day.
http://retrovolve.com/the-relentless-twitter-campaign-to-save-shenmue-continues/

Exactly!!! This game will be an experience where YOU determine how long it becomes. I'm getting angry, so if I drop some language here, apologies in advance...


Yeah but that's quite an idealist speech. Of course, the Shenmue's philosophy will be enough to enhance the experience. But you can have the most open mind, the game design limits will still be there. If a developer can't determine a precise length of play for most of us, they can with ranges so the question is worth asking. And we don't have much information about the density of Shenmue III's world. Some words from Yu about objects interactivity or scale can be worrying.

The apprehension is completely relevant, specially when you consider our upcoming waiting/playing ratio which is outstanding. Thankfully, we're waiting a video game not a 2-hour movie.

The battle to gather more money for Paypal is still on as bigger the open world is, the more quests we'll get. We should all think to find a way to promote efficiently Shenmue III in the last campaign days. Not only to gamers or unaware Shenmue fans who would live outside internet but also those who are passionate of China, those who practise martial arts and goes on. That's the deal we should treat.

Returning to our initial topic, it would be also interesting to know which pace would fit better the story flow. On the one hand, if you follow the strict straight storyline, you're sure to miss the YSnet core work and the original purpose of the game. On the other hand, if you take too much your time, you may lose the story intensity and that's a waste. It's the eternal debate about how to make the better use of your freedom when you own it.

Personally, I have no problem to complete Shenmue III in a straight fast line (if I have to). With the dreamcast versions aging year after year, I got into the habit to pay less attention to the environment and follow the strict storyline. And you know what, the game felt as good as a "normal" playthrough if not better. After all, that doesn't disallow you to discover Shenmue III afterwards. There are so many different ways to appreciate this game.

I watched/listened more than a hundred of podcasts about E3 2015 founded in Youtube or Google in my country. I was surprised to see the number of youtubers who have played Shenmue and were sincerely fans (actually between 10 and 20 channels). Globally, almost all the youtubers expressed happiness or their pleasant surprise, meaning they reflect respect or even admiration to the franchise. Of course, half of them also debated the legitimacy of the kickstarter.

Another detail that amazed me, the misinformative english-speaking videos got usually as much as thumbs down than thumbs up. It's not the case of the popular channels who trash-talked the game but you can feel that the negative comments are some kind of anti-conformism thinking, meaning that Shenmue is really embedded in the pop culture in a positive way and has become something that you like to criticize freely because it's a social phenomenon that you can't stop.

I also found out that one of the main leaders of MO5 (the association taking charge of the retrogaming section at Paris Games Week 2015) is Douglas Alves. He's a well-known French Sega specialist, journalist, video games history teacher and a Shenmue fan. Some of you are subscribed to his twitter. He's very well informed as he talked to many Japanese developers including Suzuki during his career. He also predicted the Shenmue III announcement on PS4 few months before the E3.

Just to say, if you do the sum of all these Shenmue ambassadors on the web, plus your friends and colleagues, the word of mouth can only get better until Shenmue 3 release.

I would be easily satisfied as Shenmue III tends to please casual audience but :

A select difficulty menu would look awful in a game which claims to be a friendly anti-BTA and an experience more than a conventional game.

Theoretically, Shenmue does not need a difficulty mode as the battles are supposed to focus on player's intelligence and choices rather AI adjustable time reflexes as Yu publicly conceptualized. The idea would be against his philosophy and be a confession of game design fail. But it's only theory.

I don't know who to blame in this story (besides AJ). Yu made a clear mistake but before that, Awesome Japan showed experience and works in Japan despite the splatters spotted by Heath Hindman, his choice was understandable.

About firing AJ, I couldn't say more as I don't know how much Yu's loyalty is or what are the contractual conditions between YSnet and AJ.

Furthermore, notice that Kenji Itoso, the Shenmue III video director, also used Awesome Japan services for his own Kickstarter campaign before E3 2015. Yu had just a poor network (despite the Cédric's one) and I would say no luck.

That's because, for most people, the campaign is over. It's time to for the game to enter development (which it has) and time for us to await the game. 99% of people who care enough about Shenmue 3, will have already pledged money

There's still a fair amount of people who are interested in the game but didn't pledge anything because they still believe that Sony funds the game. If we can promote the Paypal properly and pedagogically among the players and Asia culture fans, perhaps we'll get this little decisive amount of money which makes YSnet able to unlock the 7m stretch goal (although the stretch goals are symbolic at this point).

$6,498,224 ---> $6,498,724 (I pledged $500)

http://i.imgur.com/h0aTFxY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3ZxlOUF.jpg

Yu Suzuki : Some of you may know what the Ragdoll physics is. If you release the strength of the body, it becomes like a doll, that's not really natural. That's why we're working on the «Motion Blending», adding some resistance to the muscles for example, to obtain realistic moves.

In a Virtua Fighter scene, patterns were determined by the Motion Capture, but with the Ragdoll physics, moves won't repeat over and over. If you get into something (like a wall) the reaction won't be the same. In fact, I'd like to combine the «Ragdoll Physics», the «Motion Blending» and «IK Constraint» to make the NPC and battle's reactions as real as possible. (source : http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49223)

A new and short (Japanese) interview of Yu Suzuki has emerged!
http://www.4gamer.net/games/000/G000000/20151211081/index_9.html#ys_suzuki

Yu Suzuki votes The Last Guardian and FFVII as goty lol
http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/12/28/133-japanese-developers-pick-their-game-of-the-year-2015-splatoon-beats-bloodborne-mario-and-more/

Just tweeted him to not watch Spectre, it's an utter garbage.

$6,498,224 --> $6,507,657 (+9433)
71,203 backers --> 71,259 (+56) ($168 per new backer)

Full ragdoll system unlocked, congrats.

Yu Suzuki : Some of you may know what the Ragdoll physics is. If you release the strength of the body, it becomes like a doll, that's not really natural. That's why we're working on the «Motion Blending», adding some resistance to the muscles for example, to obtain realistic moves.

In a Virtua Fighter scene, patterns were determined by the Motion Capture, but with the Ragdoll physics, moves won't repeat over and over. If you get into something (like a wall) the reaction won't be the same. In fact, I'd like to combine the «Ragdoll Physics», the «Motion Blending» and «IK Constraint» to make the NPC and battle's reactions as real as possible.

Oh s**** the AI battling sounds insane. I begin to believe that Shenmue III could be the best 3D VS fighting game in the market, above Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken 7 & cie.

Media shouldn't have waited Shenmue III to remember of Yu's existence. Hopefully other forgotten creators can get the spotlight too.