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.

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

China is a huge market and he probably had to appeal. I am sure we'll get a better version of this footage soon. Probably during an update.

I've added in English captions onto the video.

For the Chinese parts I've used the translation provided by Hyo Razuki.

Thanks Kiyuu and Switch ! It makes sense now. Still think that the missing ??? is Iwao. But would need a better picture.
Thank you for your dedication. I'd forgotten to include one suggestion, so I've added it to the spoiler in my previous post.

Thanks ! 熊 makes more sense indeed. Think I'll try to edit it.

Edit : updated

http://s22.postimg.org/z1xu16xdd/translate_1_donee.jpg

Hopefully the final 3d model of Ryo won't look so robotic and stiff as seen from this photo.

Yu Suzuki Reveals Shenmue 3 Prototype(Completed version ) created by Chinese shenmue fans club
https://twitter.com/mantisjojo/status/666925117096660992

Hello everyone, I am so happy to be here :D :D :D . Shenmue dojo is very famous in Chinese shenmue fans club.
Welcome! Thanks for sharing the video.

Does Switch need to translate the first 40 minutes or so? If he'd like to that's great but I get the feeling most of it is repeated from the GDC 2014 talk.

Yeah first part talking about Virtua Fighter is not the most important part. But that's up to him I guess.
Right, the first half looks like a recap of previously presented material so I'll be starting with the juicy stuff on Shenmue III and the rest can be added later on.

Article: http://games.qq.com/a/20151116/029040.htm
Dojo Gallery: http://www.shenmuedojo.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=141

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNkaLCzL6Z8

https://youtu.be/48dIc0y-jcg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652246319186.jpg

http://img1.gtimg.com/14/1428/142847/14284763_980x1200_0.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652177874069.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652184101773.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652188116270.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652196918824.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652203247916.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652234940736.jpg

http://upload.anqu.com/20151116/1447652240379005.jpg

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.

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.

Asking for a 'promised' update is hardly being a jerk, is it?

People have invested a lot of money into this game and it's only right they stick to what they've agreed to do. Otherwise, come out, put the record straight and tell us we won't be getting monthly updates.

It's not difficult.

Asking for a 'promised' update is hardly being a jerk, is it?

People have invested a lot of money into this game and it's only right they stick to what they've agreed to do. Otherwise, come out, put the record straight and tell us we won't be getting monthly updates. It's not difficult.

Two days... it's been two days.
Give them some time and have at least a little faith. :roll:

We are still 2 years away from the release. If we start like that... those 2 years are going to last longer than the 14 (!!!) years we have waited for Shenmue 3 announcement. :mrgreen:

Whether it's two days, two weeks or two months late, it's late.

My point is, don't promise something if you can't deliver. It's unprofessional and sends out a negative message to the backers who have parted with their hard earned cash.

It's not difficult.

But it is.

To demonstrate notable progress each month through characters or environmental models without giving away spoilers is tricky.

Putting together a presentation of this month's work is still work from someone who's actively developing.

Don't sweat it.. There wouldn't be smiles all round when Sony visited if YsNet & Neilo weren't making good progress.

You've misread my post. I said it wouldn't be difficult to let backers know updates won't be monthly, as promised.

An update saying there isn't an update is better than no update at all.

Technophilz wrote: Ryu's new model

Don't wanna do a witchhunt.

But yeah.

They need to stop messing around with rewards and requests. Stop considering things and start implementing. We only have a month left.

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.

The January 1999 edition of the Dreamcast Magazine contained a multi-part feature on Shenmue. This first installment is a translation of Part 1: the Shenmue Premiere event, and the remaining parts will be coming in future posts. While reading the article, you can really feel the breathless excitement that surrounded the original game before its release.

http://i.imgur.com/tPiMPntt.png

Background to the article : as part of the build-up to the release of Shenmue, and following on the heels of the Shenmue Premiere event that had been held the previous month in Yokohama, the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine ("DoriMaga") published this 16-page special report covering various aspects about what could be expected with the as-yet unreleased Shenmue.

The feature consists of these parts:
Part 1. Shenmue Premiere Event (this post)
Part 2. The World of Shenmue ( here )
Part 3. The Hero and Other Characters (future post)
Part 4. It's Magic! Special Effects and Production (future post)
Part 5. Interview with Yu Suzuki (future post)

Related links :
1. Project Berkley article translation (Nov 1998)
2. Shenmue Premiere Event video (short version, English subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM2bkUm1eT8



PART 1: Shenmue Premiere Event, 20 Dec 1998

http://i.imgur.com/jMCinwCt.png http://i.imgur.com/MuqhZQXt.png http://i.imgur.com/CPZ9CnFt.png http://i.imgur.com/9pV5ODft.png

Special Report! Two Hours of Quivering Emotion
Yu Suzuki Finally Removes the Veil from his Latest Release.

Ever since the title of the game was announced, Yu Suzuki's latest game Shenmue has been wrapped in a shroud of secrecy. It is of a mind-boggling scale and employs graphics of the highest quality which are rendered completely in real time. Together these define a new genre: FREE. Our super magazine feature is a must-read!

Shenmue: Heating Things Up in Yokohama!!

On Sunday December 20th, a day blessed with fine cloudless weather with a maximum temperature of 13 degrees Celsius, a stream of fans arrived from early in the morning to attend the Premiere Event for Yu Suzuki's latest creation, Shenmue, hosted at Pacifico Yokohama. The event, held 3 times in total over a day that was filled with excitement and applause, was a huge success.

The densely-packed two hours flew by in an instant. It included an orchestral performance, eye-popping images and demo gameplay on actual consoles, and left the attendees quivering with emotion. The event drew together all the attractions of Shenmue. We followed proceedings from before the start of the presentation, so let us share with you a taste of that atmosphere.


http://i.imgur.com/7wQwvSbm.png http://i.imgur.com/irvgERzm.png
Left: The line of attendees who arrived early in the morning grew before our very eyes. The person at the front of the line had been there since 6AM. Right: A "handshake event" was held, featuring former Managing Director Yukawa & Hiroshi Fujioka .


http://i.imgur.com/9OG6u5Xt.png
The bustling first-floor lobby was decorated in Christmas colors, with photo sticker booths and merchandise for sale. Top officials from SEGA also gathered here!


Opening with a 30-minute, Four-movement Orchestral Performance!!

Premiere Event: Scene 1

The attendees were shown one after another into the scenically-situated Pacifico Yokohama event center. At the bell announcing the start of the performance, an image with the word "RPG?" was displayed on-screen for 1 minute 20 seconds, as previously seen at last autumn's Tokyo Game Show and elsewhere. After that, the main theme of Shenmue quietly began to play. Most amazing to the attendees must have been the length of the orchestral performance - fully thirty minutes. The orchestra was situated in front of the first row of seating, and played all four soothing movements of the Shenmue theme. Accompanied by a harmony of light and images, it drew the listeners into the world of Shenmue. Already the attendees were captivated by this opening, which set it far apart from a mere game event. Following this, the two event presenters made their entrance together with Yu Suzuki!


http://i.imgur.com/KGpLCyUm.png http://i.imgur.com/0CwdFqcm.png
Left: A large number of developers and guests, as well as SEGA employees, wait impatiently for the curtain to rise. Attendees filled the seating to the third floor. Right: The orchestral performance lasted for a whole thirty minutes! However the soothing Shenmue composition made you lose sense of time.


Reiko Chiba and Shigeaki Saegusa in MC roles!!

http://i.imgur.com/pw5KuhJt.png http://i.imgur.com/qSqPibot.png http://i.imgur.com/WTObOKHt.png
Left: Taking on the role of MC for this event was Reiko Chiba . Being an expert gamer, she also made insightful comments. Center: Composer Shigeaki Saegusa also took the stage. Not long ago, he resigned as an external director of SEGA due to his many other commitments. He was superb as master of ceremonies. Right: Fulfilling Yu Suzuki's promise to show "plenty of images", more than 70 minutes' worth of Shenmue material was shown, together with detailed commentary. The entire audience was overwhelmed.


Everything you need to know about Shenmue original merchandise!!

There is already a rich line-up of Shenmue related items. We'll reveal the splendid take-home goodies that are on everyone's lips, as well as the merchandise in the sales area!

This is the Shenmue merchandise that was available in the sales area. Fittingly for the season, calendars were popular sellers, but there were also some gorgeous limited-edition items. And the quality of the official brochure must be seen to be believed.


http://i.imgur.com/4M7LkB8m.png
From the top left: calendar (2500 yen), original print signed by Yu Suzuki (limited batch, 50,000 yen), poster (4 types, 1500 yen each), notepad (300 yen each), mouse pad (600 yen each), figurine (expected price 2000 yen each, on sale from March 1st), plastic folder (350 yen), telephone card (1000 yen), premiere event limited-edition ball-point pen (limit of 1000 pens, 2000 yen each), ball-point pen (200 yen), CD single (price to be determined), mug (800 yen). From January 18th (Monday) this merchandise will be on sale at places like SEGA Freaks Akihabara branch, SEGA Freaks Fuse branch, Joypolis (Tokyo / Shinjuku / Yokohama / Fukuoka branches).


These splendid items were handed out for free to attendees of the premiere event. You too can receive them (excluding the Christmas card) by attending any of the events to be held in 5 cities across the country. Also we have a special give-away of 10 sets to DoriMaga readers!

http://i.imgur.com/sUFHfWhm.png http://i.imgur.com/KiOEuiim.png http://i.imgur.com/CQ3c4KFm.png
http://i.imgur.com/DuYRLFtm.png http://i.imgur.com/oFCmGDtm.png http://i.imgur.com/ozPQhcct.png http://i.imgur.com/7DZIznEm.png
1. 3-fold pamphlet: the background color sets it apart from the official brochure that was on sale, being a different color. Perfect for showing it off! 2. Music CD. The CD contains 2 songs: the main theme and Shenhua's theme. 3. Tattoo stickers: these include the Shenmue logo, the game title and emblems. 4. Christmas card. This was included only at the Yokohama event, and was a Christmas card of Shenhua. 5. Notepad: a handy notepad. The game title (in Roman characters) is written on each page. 6. Shenhua figurine: the prize item must be this Shenhua figurine. Height 15cm. 7. T-shirt: A black T-shirt with the Shenmue title at the front, and Phoenix emblem at the back.


Premiere Event: Scene 2

Live demonstration on a Dreamcast!!

After showing in succession a Making Of Shenmue video, an eye-opening clip introducing the characters, and images and commentary about Magic Weather, the venue heated up further. Toward the middle of the event, actual gameplay was demonstrated on Dreamcast consoles, including Quick Timer Events and a gambling scene. Each scene had been prepared separately on one of 4 Dreamcasts and various aspects were demonstrated. Following that, a video was shown with a message from Bajiquan master Lian Zhi Wu.

http://i.imgur.com/NWDqnv4m.png
During the demo play, a QTE chase scene, a battle, and a gambling scene were exhibited as well as Magic Weather. Game designer Mr Okayasu also made an appearance.

Live streaming to the internet!

Live internet streaming was set up for each of the three events held on the day, and they were broadcast to the world. Dreamcast users were able to view an abridged "newsflash" edition.

http://i.imgur.com/jZJHNnlt.png
Mr Oshii, who attended the second event. "I wasn't interested in the computer graphics, but I'm glad I was able to meet a girl like Shenhua", he commented.

Premiere Event: Scene 3

Actors for the main characters also took the stage!

As the presentation neared the end, the actors for each of the Shenmue characters took the stage and addressed the audience.
http://i.imgur.com/IPfzc7sm.png
Hiroshi Fujioka was the last to enter the stage. "I'm greatly moved", he proclaimed.

Character: Ryo Hazuki ( Masaya Matsukaze )
http://i.imgur.com/iQwLzbnm.png
"I had a heap of lines, so it was tough", says Matuskaze, who plays Ryo. Shenmue is fully voiced!

Character: Shenhua Ling (Hazuki Ishigaki)
http://i.imgur.com/tbYevpZm.png
Ishigaki, who plays Shenhua, already has quite a fan following. Her slightly ditzy (?) personality went down well with the attendees!

Character: Wuying Ren (Takumi Hagiwara)
http://i.imgur.com/VY6iSRcm.png
Yu Suzuki spoke favorably of Hagiwara, commenting "He performs the role of Ren elsewhere, just by being himself". He's cool, but underneath a fine young man?

Character: Iwao Hazuki (Hiroshi Fujioka)
http://i.imgur.com/kXDvumPm.png
Fujioka had considerable stage presence. His smart, suited figure made a striking impression.

Premiere Event: Scene 4:

Director Yukawa will be participating in further premiere events nationally in 5 of the largest cities throughout the New Year!!
http://i.imgur.com/MSoDVyrt.png
"Shenmue is amazing. It will sell well and I will return as managing director", laughed the former Managing Director Yukawa, who was last to be introduced. Going forward, he will also be making appearances throughout the country.


The two-hour presentation reached its finale in the blink of an eye. At the end, videos shown included an extraordinary scene of ducking and weaving through a forest - unbelievably, the graphics were rendered in real time! With attendees feeling extremely satisfied, the event began to wind up. The guests who were introduced together with Director Yukawa differ at each of the three event showings: at the second one was Mamoru Oshii , a grandmaster of the anime world, and CG creator Daizaburo Harada; at the third was actress Kaoru Sugita made an appearance. I wonder if the attendees felt a bit lucky?

For those people who weren't able to attend, the same presentation will be held in various cities in the New Year, so if you are a Dreamcast owner then you should definitely go. We'll be covering them in a future edition!

Shenmue: presentations coming soon to 5 large cities!!

Two showings will be held at each venue. First: 1PM - 3PM. Second: 4PM - 6PM.
Jan 9, 1999 (Sat): Osaka Welfare Hall, Osaka [2500 people per event]
Jan 10 (Sun): Fukuoka Sun Palace, Fukuoka [2500 people per event]
Jan 15 (Fri): Hokkaido Welfare Hall, Sapporo [2500 people per event]
Jan 16 (Sat): Sendai International Center, Sendai [1000 people per event]
Jan 17 (Sun): Aichi Labor Hall, Nagoya [1500 people per event]


It's Time to Reveal the Truth of Shenmue!
Future Parts

Part 2: The World and Areas of Shenmue
Following our report in Part 1 on the Premiere Event, we will look at all the things about Shenmue that have until now been covered with a veil of mystery - taking each in order, one at a time. "What I wanted to make is a single, real world" -- we look at this surprising concept and examine a number of the latest Dreamcast images backing it up. It's now time to reveal the world that Yu Suzuki has spent three years creating.
http://i.imgur.com/hp1VHz6.png
The world of Shenmue, of which a large number of images were shown at the Premiere Event. The fact that even these represent only a small part of the huge world is nothing more than remarkable.

Part 3: The Hero and Other Characters

His name is Ryo Hazuki -- the main character, who travels Shenmue's astonishing world and space as the player's alter ego, is a completely new character who has been made especially for the game. We look at the characters, so full of charm, and the actors behind them... Watch out for the full-scale action modelling that brings the characters to life without any use of video clips.
http://i.imgur.com/POmp9E7.png
The hero of Shenmue, Ryo Hazuki, who was revealed for the first time at the Premiere Event venue, along with this poster. The movie scene which brought this illustration to life left a vivid impression!

Part 4: It's Magic! Special Effects and Production

Two types of "magic" have been cast on the huge but finely-detailed world: "Time Control" and "Magic Weather". The introduction of these two new technologies gives the world of Shenmue an unprecedented realism. This means that even for the same room or place, every player will see something different!
http://i.imgur.com/LECcxhH.png
"Magic" has been cast on Shenmue to make you feel as if you are there. We delve into the secrets.

Part 5: Interview with Yu Suzuki

On a certain day in December, an urgent press event was held just for members of the magazine industry, in order to uncover all the mysteries surrounding Shenmue, from its concept to its origins. We look at a number of new facts that were revealed which have not been spoken about at the Premiere Event, as well as a message from Chinese Bajiquan grand master Lian Zhi Wu.
http://i.imgur.com/ORIHxL6.png
We'll cover the themes of Shenmue, including its main catch-phrase "Keep friends, those you love, close to you", and reveal new facts for the first time. In this last part, Yu Suzuki speaks!

It's one of those posts about something cool that's popped up on eBay! Huzzah! This is quite cool though: a prototype copy of Shenmue, complete with a smorgasbord of hastily labelled VMUs that were apparently used for demoing sections of the game to the press back in those halcyon days of the late 1990s. Indeed, the seller goes on to detail the exact circumstances in which these labelled VMUs would be used:

This is the exact bundle my husband used when he demoed to the press, including save files from multiple points in the game so that he could easily show the various scenes. This was given to him as a gift upon completion of the Shenmue project.

This has been confirmed as belonging to Mike Rhinehart, the lead tester of the NTSC-U version of Shenmue. I know for a fact that I can't afford this bundle (which also includes a System Disc), but it'll be interesting to see what the lot eventually goes for. Here's the link to the auction. Oh, and the gallery is below...

http://albumizr.com/ia/a9d21c9bb4b9fa3dd54bf8d1d2c627b9.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/eb5ca14a30b63007dd98899f462806ba.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/ad3735629542b22a532a15c08c216ce0.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/9edff9372f1fdeeaac9a4c7492c8bf5e.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/eef682f9210b34b8a1decb6b9c8395f1.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/b8fd599da629831a914c67d1a18c38e2.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/061f0f65ca057ee3dc88e28b1be68fa1.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/5d3c6c20ee004e22b1c192ec6576ea06.jpg
http://albumizr.com/ia/bc185fbc3e0e1d1506f9885056a333d7.jpg


Source Link
eBay Link


I can 100% confirm this is Mike.
The VMUs are the same ones from my interview with him here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LzGRZrt8Ng

If you don't like the look of Shenmue III, you're free not to play it, but there was no other way this game was getting made.

I am not happy with how Shenmue 3 is being handled. I know there's no other way it'd be getting made, but judging from how gloomy things are currently looking, there's also no way we'll live long enough to see another one getting made.

Check out indie projects like Armikrog and Mighty No.9 and see what I mean.

I feel the same about those projects as well; for years there was so sign of a sequel to The Neverhood, so it was either Armikrog or nothing. Capcom didn't seem to have faith in the Megaman franchise, so Inafune went to Kickstarter to create Mighty No. 9. It was either these games or seemingly nothing.

The Shenmue community in general have done more for Shenmue III than Awesome Japan has. We should be given medals.

Or mirrors...

I expected more info for the first anniversary, I hoped we'd have another live stream or maybe another Q&A with Suzuki.
We learned that development started only six month ago, and I hope they finally kicked AJ out of the mix for good ...

The development really started 6 month ago but that doesn't mean that anything hasn't been made before.
They had plenty of preparation work, hiring and design to do.

Also, don't forget the Chinese event (back in November 2015) where some footage and prototype were already shown to the public:

https://youtu.be/YNkaLCzL6Z8?t=47m55s

I'm satisfied with the Anniversary update, glad to see how happy and confident Yu Suzuki looks!

I'm sure they are holding material for bigger events like TGS or PSX.

Just keep in mind that from the end of they year, Shenmue 3 will be far enough in development to show new material. Exciting times are coming for both fans and backers!

Fuck that looks so photorealistic, great job !

KidMarine wrote: They obviously need to texture his skin still. Jesus Christ.

Is that typically something that's done 6 months before release?

Phil.

If you looked into things a bit more (ie. the YSnet website) you'd see that they are hiring and only hiring experienced developers and those familar with UE4.
Veteran developers that Yu has hired from the AM2 development team of the past are people who I'd trust more than having some other "big company" step in and take over. These guys lived and breathed Shenmue for many years. They know Shenmue. They ARE Shenmue.

It really doesn't matter how long Suzuki has been out of the game, he's still the visionary he always was. You can tell by some of the idea's he has for Shenmue 3. Like the Rapport system; whereby Shenhua or other NPC's will be a certain proximity to or away from you depending on the level of trust. That's pretty impressive. I don't remember seeing that kind of feature in any other game to date. It's these little touches that will make Shenmue 3 as intimate and impressive as the previous instalments.

I can understand the worries you have. But when you look at things logically, you'll see that we really do have the best team and the best guys behind Shenmue 3.

Just give them the benefit of the doubt if you can't give them trust.

I've put up a blog post about the announcement on Phantom River Stone:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/06/shenmue-3-rescheduled-for-2018.html

I made a slightly fuller translation of Yu's comment from the video. The official captions are fine so far as meaning but I felt they lost a little bit of the nuance.
http://i.imgur.com/DWFOG0g.png

I want Shenmue 3 to be the best game ever made, not only because it's my most anticipated game of all time, but also Shenmue 3 will most certainly determine the fate of this fantastic series, I could never forget how the commercial outcome of Shenmue I & II had affected the future of Shenmue and I don't want to ever relive that nightmare again...


I think you have to let go of that expectation, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, it's pretty nebulous... "the best game ever made." In whose eyes? The critics, the general public? There'll never be agreement on this. In your own eyes? That's more possible, but even so it might be healthier to hope that it's your favorite game, or simply a satisfying and fulfilling game. Personally I love the previous Shenmue games, but I've never considered them in terms of being perfect or being the best. I love them simply because they are unique and convey a spectrum of feelings that no other games have. I also understand that I'm at a very different place in my life now and I don't expect to have the same kinds of feelings when I play Shenmue III that I did when I played I and II. Although they may nail the vibe and aesthetic in a very satisfying way, there's no way around the fact that I'll be ~17 years older and with new perspectives and it's not up to the developers of Shenmue III to account for my own changes.

Ultimately, though, it's out of your hands... out of all our hands. Our collective hopes and fears don't have a direct influence, so it's up to us to manage our expectations. I think you should be heartened that it's being made by many of the original designers. That alone is an achievement of the best possible circumstance in a turbulent commercial artform. They've expressed that at its current state of development it is already exceeding their own expectations. Things are going well.

As for the (speculated) involvement of some younger and less experienced members of the development team, Yu Suzuki et al started out as young, inexperienced developers, too. They had seniors who recognized their potential and talent. Now they are in the position of being able to recognize and cultivate the potential of less-experienced yet talented collaborators.

Great !! So the ugly new logo is now official, things keep getting better and better with every update ...

I'm not pleased with the new logo either. I don't know how this translates to the end product being crappy, though. If we exclude the character designs (which are obviously a WIP), everything, i.e., the environment, choreography, etc., seems to be shaping up well. When the character models improve, I'm confident people will be blown away by what YsNet has been able to achieve with their limitations.

So the June update on the logo was moot?

I mean how hard is it to give fans the proper logo?

So the June update on the logo was moot?

I mean how hard is it to give fans the proper logo?
Read what Yu said. It's kind of his last stand on having a new logo.

I read what he said. So my point still stands why did we get this update in June?

Yes, Shenmue III has updated its title logo. Taking your comments into consideration, Yu Suzuki and the team gave the title logo another hard look and decided to update the logo with this design.

If they have reverted and given us frankly a severely inferior logo in every respect. This matter should have been handled a long time ago yet here we are still discussing Yu-san and the team getting the logo correct.

I still don't like the new logo regardless that Suzuki made it.

You are a great poster Spaghetti but you've knee jerk defense of every aspect of Shenmue 3 and its related development continues to stifle real or constructive criticism. And trust me there's been a lot to criticize.

You and others may think a logo isn't a large thing in the overarching development of the title but I think it speaks to the messy and frankly disjointed nature of the way many things have been rolled out during the KS campaign. The majority of the fans clearly spoke out and stated their clear preference a long time ago. It appeared the team and Yu-San finally came to their senses and provided us the June KS update.

The fact they've gone back on this and provided frankly a logo that many derided before knowing Yu-San was behind it, I think speaks volumes. Cursive is going to win out? It doesn't explain the insentient back and forth when this should have been finalized as it appeared to be in June and Yu's attention is concentrated on frankly more important matters.

Also piece of advice, don't tell backers who have spent their hard earned dollars and have been life-long fans of the series how to react or behave.

Hopefully your supposition is wrong about Yu deeply affected by that.

I hope so too, and I don't hate you or KillTheSaga or Technophilz I try to respect everyone's opinion (sometimes not doing a great job) Even when it's the opposite to mine. It's great to see passion. But it's very hard now to read not the comments in their context but to me, what now seems to be a complete lack of faith in this game, which is ironic since this game has been built on faith. I said I see the issues with the character models, anyone can. But the multiple comments from myself, other community members and even Yu himself that they are temporary and a work in progress that falls on deaf ears is what's discouraging. All of the "model" backlash will not be in the final game, but right now, I can't see any faith in that. It feels like there are so few left now trying our hardest to keep morale and faith high, like James and the Tweetathon csmpaign, the 500k team trying to keep the positivity high, and David and the Shenmuemaster guys keeping those strong French relationships in tact to name but a few. But it's getting so hard now, at least for me.

I appreciate them showing something. We are still a LONG way off from final release, folks. I don't know why people perpetually have their pitchforks out. Clickbaity articles from Pushsquare do not help. They don't look at the bigger time frame, just immediately nitpick.

It didn't matter to them that the models were still motionless, unanimated. It didn't matter that this video was simply proof they have it and will be beginning soon(we still have 12-18 months, guys). It was "Welp, garbage. 5 out of 10s confirmed, jank confirmed."

In regards to Technophilz, I respect his opinion, the worry is understandable, but I must disagree with the comparison.

The comparison CAN be made, but it doesn't hold potency. You cannot compare an indie developer to someone like Naughty Dog.

Naughty Dog is a veteran company for a singular platform with technology and budget far, FAR in excess of what Shenmue III has, regardless of Deep Silver's involvement. They have their own revenue stream, plus being owned by Sony themselves.

This holds true for many, MANY developers. Quantic Dream and Naughty Dog are pioneers in that field of facial animation and motion capture, unmatched by probably any other developer in the world. It is unrealistic to expect ANYTHING of that calibur, I'm afraid.

there, see?!

I always appreciate that they do something to have these regular KS updates, and I don't want to sound like an ungrateful ass, but, to be honest, this was, once again, pretty pointless. Not to mention that this "conversation" was nothing but an obviously scripted interview. I mean, they made it look like "Look, we got Hiroaki Takeuchi (here's his bio, by the way) for a chat with Yu Suzuki. It's gonna be interesting!", but, in fact, any random person could have asked those questions.

Anyway, all this interview did was leaving me a bit worried about the battle system. Yu Suzuki has been (vaguely) talking about his ideas for the game's battle system in several interviews and it seems to me that that will be the biggest change we see in the game, when compared to Shenmue 1 and 2, so I've always been intrigued by what Suzuki-san has in mind, but, this time around, more than intrigued, I'm a bit worried, as he made it sound like the whole thing would be akin to a fight in a point-'n-click game or something...
But I'm hoping he's just having a hard time explaining it (or simply doesn't want to go into too much detail right now, as it's still too early and a lot can change).
Shenmue had a great battle system, which in my opinion, should be refined, not ditched. I mean, in a game which revolves a lot around martial arts, a proper fighting system is paramount, in my opinion. But, of course, this is Suzuki-san's work, not mine, so it's up to him. At the end of the day, I just hope it turns out to be something fun, no matter how different. And, since, so far, Suzuki-san has given me no reason not to trust him, I'll trust him.

Also, once again, I get a strong feeling that there's no way the game won't be delayed once again.

Although everything in this new "update" tells us backers to lower our expectation even more, the dreamy people (as usual) are excited and happy with that ....

In short, what we've just been told is : graphics won't be comparable to AAA titles, it took almost two years to make "acceptable" models of the two main characters, facial expressions and animations are not done yet, we now have fewer characters than what's been initially announced, the new fighting system will be puzzle-based and more aimed towards causal players so we can kiss anything close to the decent fighting system of Shenmue and Shenmue II goodbye, and finally another delay is highly expected.

btw, can someone remind whoever subtitled the video that we're still in 2017 ?

https://i.imgur.com/82MLCiU.png


http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/12/commentary-on-kickstarter-update-78.html

Switch's Phantom River Stone blog has an analysis up for the video, including some clarifications about Yu's comments in Japanese that didn't come across as directly as they could in the English subtitles.
Which matches with Yu's comments at Gamescom that Choubu alone could have an NPC count of 200.

Similarly, "puzzle game" is a bit of a translation goof, and is actually "thinking-style game", which is the same phrase Yu has used at Gamescom and (I think) in interviews even earlier than that about the combat. It's obviously not referring literally to puzzle games, but was likely used to evoke a sense of strategy Yu has talked about before in regards to the new combat (splitting enemies into smaller groups, knocking objects and other enemies into each other for an advantage, etc).

Also, the "2018 has been the year..." comment at the end of the video is not just a 2017/2018 typo mix up, but a tense mix up and meant to be "2018 will be the year...".
Thanks a lot to Switch for his contributions in clearing some of the ambiguity up! Spaghetti
Member

On the topic of character models, with character design studio Lakshya Digital now having joined the project , Yu states that this month (December 2017) the number of character models has substantially increased. The English subtitles in the video say that the count

In today's video interview, Yu again uses the same phrase in Japanese ("thinking-style game") to describe the type of battle system he wants to create. This is a description that applies to games such as board games (chess etc), 3D-block puzzles or puzzle video games

In his wrap-up message, Yu talks about the coming year. 2018 will be a crucial year addressing the most important part of Shenmue: the way in which the Shenmue characters go about their daily lives.

I'm expecting nice looking environments (easily done nowadays with photogrammetry), piss poor character models, and an overwhelming feeling of regret over "what could have been".

No doubt a lot of people on here will love it, whereas the rest - and many more "beyond" - will see it as nothing more than what's to be expected from a Kickstarted adventure game aiming for the Steam market.

I've said many times though that this portion of the story probably isn't for me anyway, as the setting is far removed from what made me fall in love with the series.

Obviously I hope it's good and can revitalise the series, based on what I've seen though it just doesn't look all that great. Then again it won't look as it's supposed to for a good while, and we still haven't seen any gameplay, so I could just be talkin utter shite as per.

EDIT: The new logo still looks shite btw. Why haven't they changed it back yet?

^I kinda agree. I reckon that the community will be split, but I can't see it being enjoyed by the "mainstream" audience. If anything the Steam users that tend to enjoy moderate to hugely successful indie games will be the crowd that'll probably enjoy it the most. That's what I think, at least.

I don't understand why they didn't post the new three screenshots. Many people, even being Shenmue fans, are not aware about what the media say and they haven't seen the models' improvement.

they also have to bring the older logo back, and I think we have to keep telling them that the new logo is bad and unacceptable.

Why don't you tell them on the KS comments? Many people complain on the forums or Facebook, but just a few do it on the right place. If everyone who disagrees on changing the logo made a comment on the KS page, they would probably listen.

Technophilz wrote: The game is supposed to be out in a few month, right? right???!!!
I don't speak French, so can someone tell if they've officially announced another delay yet ?

i don’t see how it’s coming out anytime soon. We’ve seen absolutely zero gameplay.

Well.
Lets have our expectations and feelings at real level, so there wont be any disappointment when the game comes out.

Screenshots are pretty much bad, i understand the level of budget this game have, but honestly.

It's not the look or budget of the game that neccessarily worries me, it's the fact that it's been nearly 3 years since the Kickstarter and all we have to show for it - besides the 'teaser' and a couple of goofy videos ("oh look, here's Ryo opening a cupboard and here's a fairly bad model of an old lady and we're changing her facial expressions. Big whoop") - is a few 'art' shots (because they aren't real screenshots from gameplay). It's getting old now.

The game is supposed to come out this year. Either come clean and admit the game is way off from being ready to be released or show off some actual gameplay in motion.

I'd even settle for some screenshots if they were actually showing off actual gameplay instead of just glorified game art, e.g...

http://lightningamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Shenmue-combat.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KsXTA.jpg

As a fan, I am very disappointed. We got three new pictures last month and only four more pictures today. Thats all we get?

I was convinced, that we will NOT see a "gameplay-video" today. But that we will get nothing new
except these three pictures is very sad.

After 32 months of development, we have only received about 30 pictures and a mediocre teaser video. Yu Suzuki did not even want to answer the question of whether the game will get released in 2018.

The Extended Gamescom trailer looked absolutely TERRIBLE.
Wait for them to release it in direct feed so the whole world can laugh at them, AGAIN.

I am yet again left disappointed by this game.

I'm sorry. I love this series, but this is getting absolutely unacceptable. Announced in 2015, nothing shown at all for gameplay in THREE years, still WIP character models and in 2018 they are showing a trailer 6 months old or more??

I'll hold out until E3 and pray for a turnaround and to be floored. If it's a no show, then I'm asking for my $500 back. This is turning into a disaster. I don't want to hear defense of it--at this point the "it's still developing, just wait and see" argument doesn't work anymore.