Cedric did actually say bomb several times himself.

He said spirit bomb at one point, and "hopefully we will have many more bombs to drop before Dec 2017!" recently. I think Goro over at the Kickstarter set that term off, and Cedric sort of adopted it lol.

Yeah, I've tried to paste and paraphrase this message (the original one, not this latest one) in various places. Definitely deserves its own topic.

This is why I continue to advocate giving people the benefit of the doubt rather than rushing to judgment. We aren't flies on the wall watching the proceedings and we have no idea what is going on. To simply assume ineptitude or a lackadaisical attitude is unfair in my opinion.

I think the best and most succinct answer to the question, "Is Shenmue a Good Game?" is simply:

"At least good enough for thousands of people all over the world to lose their minds when a sequel was finally announced, and for somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 people to voluntarily donate more than 6 million dollars to see it happen."

Enough said.

A great factual analysis and example of real, honest journalism that is to be applauded but will, unfortunately, do nothing to deter those who insist on seeing some sort of paranoiac conspiracy theory intrinsic to the game and its Kickstarter.

Something that's been eating at me and that I've wanted to say to said conspiracy theorists for a while now, and which I think needs saying:

Hey, I don't like big publishers' sales models and business practices generally either. I won't preorder a game for bonuses. I won't buy a season pass. I won't buy a game that requires internet for single player. Etc.

But those choices are my prerogative as a consumer. No one is forcing me to do, or refrain from doing, anything. The same is true of Kickstarter. Crowdfunding is voluntary charity for creative endeavors.

"If you back it, you're gullible." Uh, no. Not really. I know exactly what's happening here, and I'm all for it! Thanks!

"You're allowing your nostalgia to be exploited!" Uh, no. I'm willingly, and with full cognizance, choosing to let my nostalgia guide my choice in this instance. I LIKE nostalgia. Problem? Is that not okay? Am I not allowed to make decisions based purely upon nostalgia? Should I not be buying masterpiece Transformers because they're 30 year old characters that only appeal to nostalgia? Should I not bob my head to the Darkwing Duck theme when it comes up on my mp3 player? Should I not be excited about Rare Replay coming out with tons of classic Rare developed games?

"Sony is funding the whole game's development. The Kickstarter is just a way for them to scam money out of people like you!" Really? I mean, I suppose it's CONCEIVABLE... but do you really, REALLY think it's somehow better for them, financially or creatively, to bilk a few million out of a relatively miniscule reservoir of hardcore fans, and get conditional funding from Sony, than it would be to have simply announced, "Hey! Shenmue 3 is happening! Coming in 2017 to PS4 and PC!" and publish through traditional channels if they had that ability available to them? If you say so.

But here's the kicker: even were that true... I... don't... care. SURPRISE! I just want my Shenmue 3. Don't care how it gets made. Don't care who's funding it. Don't care if they have additional funding or even full funding from Sony. At all.

How about those who have ethical qualms with this (I have ethical qualms with plenty of things in the video game industry too, for the record) acknowledge that everyone has the right to do whatever they want with their own fandom, their own money, their own time, their own passion, and their own energy, rather than suggesting that if you participate in a given endeavor, you're somehow a gullible pawn in an evil, evil master plan?

Perhaps I'm being unreasonable. I'll show myself out.

My expectations are extremely low. So hopefully not much lol.

Well, not so much my expectations. More like my "bullet points for what I'll be happy with personally."

Realistically, I expect the game to be awesome for Shenmue fans, and just "okay" by modern industry standards. (Or "pretty darn good" by low budget indie game standards, perhaps!)

Either way... for myself...

I just want a great story told, with familiar and new characters alike, and above all, the Shenmue FEELING and ATMOSPHERE. Lots of verisimilitude and granular detail. Even if it isn't graphically the prettiest thing anyone has ever seen.

And lots and lots of diversions and time sinks to flesh out what might otherwise be a fairly brief experience.

As long as it does that, I'll be happy and not disappointed no matter what.

Ignore the click bait journalism. They're always like this. They always will be like this.

Also ignore those who go with it. Anyone who was ever going to continue funding after already doing so during the Kickstarter will, and anyone who wasn't, probably never will. We can garner a few converts through things like TeamYu doing something every 3rd on social media again, but beyond that, Shenmue 3's funding base (from crowdsourcing at least) is already established.

Anyone who wasn't already willing to give blood isn't going to do so now. And anyone who was - and is able - will. It's that simple, and worrying about the negative opinions of the funding being thrown around won't change it one iota imho.

Just focus on what we CAN do. Which is raise awareness AMONG those established fans ready and able to continue funding, and try to get the few converts we can through campaigns such as whatever TeamYu has planned for next month.

Stay positive and determined rather than generating consternation about what we have absolutely no control over. And never forget it's - possibly literally - a miracle any of this is happening at all in the first place.

IMHO

Peace.

What I would like to know is the reason for the delayed paypal. At first I thought that YsNet, Sony and Sega perhaps were working on finalizing a deal to make Shenmue HD and to coincide the announcement with the paypal support, perhaps even as part of the rewards. The fact that paypal was going to be announced at the 17th and that Yu Suzuki, Cedric and Shibuya were going to TGS made me think it was possible that HD ports would be announced there. Now that TGS is over we know that's not the case.
Another possibility I though of was that they were simply preparing attractive new rewards with a variety of reward tiers and that was the reason for the delay. Now we can see that's not really the case either, the reward tiers are basically the same as in the kickstarter campaign, at least for now. Anyone who has a reasonable theory for the delay?

The best theory I've heard - and the one I find most reasonable personally, although I still don't know the specifics at all - though we'll likely never know for certain, is that there are different legal realities in different regions and countries when it comes to how PayPal functions. Not from a user standpoint obviously, but from a legal standpoint in terms of accepting donations for an unfinished product versus simply transferring funds or buying an existing product.

That, and the fact that in the past PayPal has frozen donated funds for crowdfunded projects because they felt there was not sufficient guarantee of product delivery to their customers. Straightening all of that out, at least to a degree YsNet would find safe and secure so they could rely on any donated funds without such unknowns, may have taken longer to figure out in an authoritative way than we might imagine.

We also know from responses by Awesome Japan that there were things going on they weren't privy to necessarily, which means we weren't either, contributing to the delay. So I think getting all of the i's and t's dotted and crossed legally and in other ways is a good theory as to the reasons. But even failing that, clearly something was going on that we lack any insight into which demanded considerable time and effort to straighten out. What that could be specifically? Your guess is as good as mine.

We will probably never know with any certainty. I'm just glad it's finally functional. It would have been great to have it immediately after the KS and I do feel we lost momentum (understatement,) but what's done is done. Must move forward.

The best way to push for full voice acting is to promote the PayPal campaign during the window we have imho. They've said it is contingent upon funding, and that's the only tool we have.

This will be a game with a very limited budget. There is a finite amount of content they will be able to create. If it's a choice between a larger world and more things to actually do in game, and voice acting where text would convey the same information but just less cinematically, then I would prefer they do the latter personally. I don't want a smaller game world and less content just so we can have voice acting.

But if we want to have our cake and eat it, too... we need to raise more funds.

My reaction was:

"No... NO! O_O" Followed by, "If this is in any way disingenuous or not really a true Shenmue sequel, I will cry."

Then I saw Yu, and saw the people in the audience crying, and cried. Then I immediately watched other people's reactions (especially the Huber reaction lol) and cried again. And again. For like an hour.

Then I got angry that Sony wasn't actually funding it, and was cynically using people's fandom to garner goodwill for themselves without contributing (which I later of course found out was totally false and that they were actually contributing an undisclosed amount - which came as a big relief to me lol.)

Then I started looking into whether or not I could afford to contribute. And then I debated whether I should... but finally could not resist, and did. And then became obsessed. And then spent hours every day promoting it and ended up going way over what I initially intended to donate lol.

And now... now I am reliving those memories thanks to this topic, and smiling broadly. :)

Just did my monthly 3rd of the month $30 donation. ^_^ All I can manage for now. Bound and determined to at least do that, though. I had planned to donate far more, and to donate to Shenmue Dojo as well but... medical bills. Darn real life, always getting in the way of my unbridled idealism.

At our current pace (approx. $50,000 a month) I predict we will just barely make 6.5 million, adding one more stretch goal. Not horrible at all. Not the greatest, but not horrible. Still privileged and excited to have been a part of this, no matter what the outcome. Still think everyone here are gaming heroes lol. :P

Today Polygon had an op-ed on this as well, and it was borderline sarcastic and admonishing.

I posted the following in response, for what it's worth:


With all due respect, and total deference to everyone’s right to an opinion… to say I disagree with this op-ed, powerfully, would be a massive understatement.

Some facts omitted from all of these recent articles surrounding Shenmue 3 funding.

1) "I could do with some more money!" was said with a smile and a chuckle. Not as an ungrateful demand along the lines of, "We refuse to divulge details but we need more funds pronto!" Yu and co have been nothing but grateful and respectful towards their backers to date.

2) Shenmue is not a profitable franchise. It is an enormous financial risk. No one wanted to touch it. Sony, Shibuya, and other unstated sources are indeed contributing some unspecified amount… but it has been stated that it isn’t anything approaching even half the full budget required for a proper followup to what was one of the most innovative and ambitious examples of game design in history. If it were, Sony would have simply announced it as a PS4 exclusive that they were publishing themselves. There would be no crowdfunding.

3) Crowdfunding is voluntary. People do understand this, yes? No one is holding a gun to anyone’s head here. Kickstarter is charity for creative endeavors. It’s not investment. It’s not purchase. It’s not preorder. It’s charity. Voluntary charity for creative endeavors.

4) It is ridiculously common for crowdfunded projects, through Kickstarter and other platforms, to also raise funds from other sources. Not just PayPal, but also other funding partners. It is equally common for said projects to never specify what the nature, source, or quantity of said funding is. No one is under any obligation to divulge such details and, indeed, there may be agreements prohibiting the parties in question from doing so.

5) Perhaps most importantly… they weren’t even going to do PayPal originally! The backers on Kickstarter hounded them about it, out of sheer desire to see many who complained that they couldn’t use Kickstarter for whatever reason, get the opportunity to back the project as well. They provided PayPal at our request. I can say this as someone present for the entirety of the campaign. This PayPal funding only lasts for a few months. It ends in December. It is not perpetual. (Frankly, I wish it was. Perhaps then we’d get a truly worthy followup, instead of what is likely to be a pared down sequel that cuts corners in order to continue this decade plus old narrative… but it’s still more than I ever hoped to see in a million years, so I’ll gladly take it.)

With the above facts in mind, some questions:

Is anyone upset that Red Ash got a publisher, thus prompting the crowdsourced funds to only be for stretch goals?

Is anyone upset that Deep Silver is publishing Bloodstained?

Is anyone upset that Star Citizen has raised NINETY MILLION dollars through crowdfunding, long after its initial campaign ended?

Why is Shenmue 3 being singled out for this treatment by the gaming press at every turn? Is it simply because of its high profile reveal at E3 by Sony?

Shenmue fans waited for 15 years for something we never, ever thought would happen. Something that never, ever does happen in this industry: a game that was an outright commercial disaster, from a failed platform that ended a major company’s participation in the hardware market, with an arguably niche audience, being revived and against all odds, breaking crowdfunding records.

Our funding of it is voluntary, witting, and passionate. We are, with some exceptions of course as everyone is different, for the most part, all quite happy about it. So what, may I ask, is the problem exactly?

I fully concede that, as a devoted Shenmue fan, I am biased. But there are some serious double, triple, and quadruple standards being applied to Shenmue 3 and its funding. We waited 15 years. Criticism and opposition are everyone’s prerogative. But please consider the above when putting out such messaging on the project. Please.

Thank-you.

^ In all fairness, the chances of Sony not getting anything in return are virtually nonexistent. It just means they’ve worked out a deal we aren’t privy to…which actually sums up that partnership quite well.

I don't know about that. None of the KS funds are going to Sony, and the physical copies are only going to KS backers. So how does Sony recoup the cost of those units? I would speculate Shibuya or YsNet paid for them... except that YsNet has stated when we were all clamoring for them that it was up to Sony, not them. A greater percentage of digital sales to compensate perhaps? That's the only thing I can think of.

Re: the need of a “new” PR strategy, I’m just puzzled by the official lack of action, to be honest. Aside from throwing out Paypal as a complete afterthought, they really haven’t done sh*t.

On the one hand, I’m incredibly happy to have the game finally happening. I really am.
On the other, I’m infuriated as to the overall handling of all things marketing; I mean…what the f*ck? They realize there’s still money to be made here…right?

I'm certain they do. This is why (and this is ONLY a hypothesis, not an assertion) I suspect three things.

1) The KS campaign was thrown together extremely quickly to capitalize on the E3 timing because the deal they made happened very abruptly, and in close proximity to the event.

2) They have VERY limited funds for marketing in their own budget. They seem to have believed Sony would provide advertising and marketing. I suspect this is why Awesome Japan were chosen, despite their somewhat spotty track record. Price.

3) Sony is taking a very hands-off approach with them, essentially letting them sink or swim apart from whatever financing deal they entered into, and the physical copies. I could be way, way off base, but I sort of get the feeling they expected more marketing support from Sony than they've received. They clearly lack the funds to handle it themselves, or they would have imho.

What do you think?

Shared this on Twitter. Deserves to be read in full.

Yeah, I shall go out on a limb and say Yu and NoconKid both know what they're doing and why. Still super stoked for him.

As said in the other topic in which it was mentioned (and it does deserve to be front page, so glad to see it!) this should be read by anyone with a passing interest in Shenmue at all. And I will continue to share these links with everyone I can. Awesome retrospective. Brought back memories.

I agree. I'm not talking about resting on our crowdfunding laurels. I'm talking about the pervasive anger and disaffection that has taken root here and elsewhere despite things being better today than they were a year ago for Shenmue fans. People fearing that if we don't raise 10 or even 7 million we will see a Shenmue 3 that tarnishes the legacy of the series. (I actually feel a poorly conceived HD re-release of the first two games would do that more than Shenmue 3 ever could, personally, but I digress.)

I think it's safe to say everyone here and everyone in other Shenmue communities is doing everything they're financially, physically, and mentally able to do to raise awareness about this PayPal campaign. I doubt there's ever been a community of fans, collectively and individually, who have sacrificed more or expended more effort on trying to support a game series. And I agree it's not over yet.

But there's also going to be an upper limit on what we can achieve. No one knows what that limit is, but it's going to be hit (if it hasn't been already,) and all I'm saying is, if that limit is lower than we wish it was, we should still be thankful and happy with whatever we get and not feel embittered or like all is lost... especially when just a few months ago, all really was lost, and we were - to anyone's knowledge - never going to see this game happen in our lifetimes.

That's all I'm getting at.

Yeah, I sincerely doubt they are going to fork over pay, allow him intimate insight into the development process, and then publicize it, all just to stop him from releasing a (truly beautiful) fan project when they could have (or SEGA could have) simply issued a C&D, flagged his YT for copyright, and been done with it.

Could it maybe be a case of two birds one stone? Possibly. But it seems more likely they felt (given their limited budget and need to be selective with hires) the project would legitimately benefit from his presence. Which is awesome.

So much cynicism despite being a fanbase that literally achieved the impossible on a miraculous level. :/

Awesome interview DEVILLE David! Thank-you so much for securing it and sharing it with all of us! I've tweeted it and posted it in the Kickstarter comments!

I have said all I wish to or will say on the subject. Carry on.
Hey, you mind me asking you a question? It's completely fine if you don't, given that you have said all that you wanted on the subject but I'm just curious.

Do you feel Shenmue so far did have bad representation of the fairer sex? Personally I feel there's a good range in Shenmue. I mean the women are all different from each other. The only one that might possibly be a danger so far is Joy, but it's not impossible to imagine the daughter of a well to do business empire get involved with the wrong crowd. Everything about her, from her scant clothing to her over the top dyed hair, screams a desire to make an impression. I also think that some women are like that, not every one of course, but some may be. Teenagers especially can be.

What are your thoughts on Shenmue's depiction of women so far? (It's hard to talk about this new ChiYouMen leader since we haven't really seen her yet properly) But only if you don't mind me asking, of course.

Also, every time I see your avatar I want to play Skies of Arcadia again.

I don't personally mind the depiction at all. But then, I'm male, and not really the one who would be impacted by the depiction. Even among women, not everyone will mind it either. But for those who do, I advocate their right to voice concerns about it - just as I advocate Yu's right to depict his characters however he wants - I actually feel Shenmue has some decent to good depictions of women personally. But I think a lot of women would like to see characteristics other than simply "strong and beautiful" in video games.

Someone (can't remember who) once said something (poorly paraphrasing from memory) along the lines of, "Batman gets to be strong, handsome, scarred, dark, conflicted, a brilliant detective, intelligent, haunted, and arguably psychotic. But somehow just being 'strong' is considered enough when it comes to most female characters." I may not personally feel that way about Shenmue or other games, but I can totally understand some women feeling that way.

The reason I don't want to talk about it further though, is because I've been through it many times and been called a "white knight" or a "social justice warrior" for my trouble. So while that may or may not happen here, I just don't have the emotional or mental energy to engage with the topic and really discuss it frankly. Online debates never result in anyone changing their views anyway (not that I want to change anyone's views) and it's such a controversial issue that my social anxiety and depression don't really allow me to brave the storm of discussion for long before I feel overwhelmed and sad, so I just don't usually.

So with that said, I will bow out of the discussion again.

P.S. I play SOA at least once every couple of years on Gamecube. :) Wish they'd release it again, in any form.

Hey, if nothing else, it will have paid for a lot of meals, tea, fanta, and coffee to keep the team working.

Exactly. And let us never forget, it's damn near miraculous as much as has been raised has been at all.

Quantic Dream are the developer of Omikron: The Nomad Soul (a game I loved back on Dreamcast,) Indigo Prophecy (known as Fahrenheit outside the U.S.,) and Heavy Rain. :) They make very unique interactive experiences which are sort of Shenmue-ish only in the sense that you either love them or hate them lol.

I made this to help promote the final weeks, as well as the monthly #SaveShenmueHD campaign. Best I could do. I'm going to be more scarce on this forum but wanted to leave this here at least. I know there are many better, but I try lol. If you think it's useful, feel free to spread it around especially on the 3rd of the month.

https://youtu.be/Gkgc7Oce59I

Just popping in to say:

That looks incredibly advanced for four months of dev time, and it seems like the legendary Yu Suzuki development pipeline efficiency and detail stickling is hard at work with this game lol. It ALREADY has a feel, an atmosphere, and a "smell" as he might put it. And this is with over two years of dev time remaining.

Yeah. He may surprise everyone despite the limited budget...

Had to pop in just to say:

It boggles my mind how evocative those locations are - still! - of the game. If you quint your eyes, a few of them could easily pass for screenshots! The sheer reality of the game, to this day, is just unparalleled if you ask me. At least outside of literal simulation projects that seek to recreate, say, real world race tracks complete with graffiti and the like. What they achieved, when they achieved it... remarkable. Still flabbergasting all these years later.

Great photos, too! Nokon Kid has a beautiful eye.

That is all. :P Oh and, if you celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving. ^_^

Ali being there is a good sign. But I'm a little crushed there was no mention of Shenmue whatsoever in the keynote. The keynote is likely to be the most watched portion of the event, and a mention to spur on the PayPal at least would have been wonderful.

Especially given how casual the keynote presentation was. They were cursing, saying off the cuff random stuff to be funny, etc. Very relaxed atmosphere. In that, someone - anyone - couldn't have said, "Back Shenmue 3!" or something? Anything. Sony has been totally silent since E3, and it's worrisome.

Le sigh.

Evidently this individual lost everything they had, and still managed to acquire a Sega Dreamcast. They are an avowed Shenmue fan.

Give this person the award for Greatest Shenmue Fan On The Planet!

https://www.facebook.com/tuan.hollaback ... 8766624109

That is all.

Basically it comes down to human nature and psychology.

Take the new Star Wars movie. One contrarian person called Rey a "Mary Sue," and now everyone (mostly people who had never heard that term before and don't even fully understand its context, since they seem to think it simply means "overpowered," which it doesn't) is parroting it in an effort to appear aligned with the hip, contrary, against the grain opinion of someone they perceive as vaguely intelligent and therefore desirable as someone to emulate so that they themselves may also appear vaguely intelligent/hip/non-mainstream, etc.

And it doesn't matter if you feel Rey is sort of a Mary Sue character - that's not my point. My point is that many people will tend to, in an almost Nietzschen "will to power" sort of way, unconsciously be attracted to the aggressor and to immitate them. Especially when the target of the aggressor is something unabashedly positive, uplifting, or "feel good," which many people see as weakness. People's unconcious desire to "not be taken in" coupled with the desire to appear "above it all" and intelligent, kicks in and overrides their empathy, ability to think in nuanced, proportional terms, and so they just knee-jerk.

If something is an underdog and seemingly unlikely to ever happen - e.g. the resurgence of the space combat and trading sim in Star Citizen - then they clamor for it and support it. No matter how much money it makes. They exalt it as a success story. But when something is perceived to be somehow insulated or guaranteed to succeed (which, ironically, Shenmue 3 isn't and wasn't - if anything, it's the biggest big name crowdfunding underdog there is in a sense) because, say, a company like Sony introduces it at E3 and everyone erroneously assumes that means it has corporate backing in every imaginable sense... then they want to tear it down and look for conspiracy theories because their ego demands they avoid being suckered or appearing gullible.

It's ridiculous of course, makes zero sense, and is completely irrational. But welcome to human nature, sadly. A huge proportion of everything human beings do is unconscious, instinctual, and unwitting. We just... do stuff. Without thinking, without considering, without sensitivity or insight. We just react. Then we invest in the reaction, and become entrenched and egoic about it, and thus defensive of that position, such that no one can admit they were wrong and CHANGE anything. That's just how it works.

Things like Shenmue 3 finally happening, people overcoming the odds, miraculous things that we never thought would happen... those are the bright spots that make life in a world such as that bearable and at times, magical.

End ramble. Don't mind me, I'm sick and delirious.

There are still rewards for PayPal backers. They are just different than the "exclusives" offered to KS backers.

Do I agree with that? No. I wish they had interpreted the poll as yes + indifferent = majority vs no = minority, rather than yes vs no being such a slim margin they went with no, while ignoring the indifferent votes. Precisely because I know there will be people like yourself who will not back the game on PayPal now. And I want the game to get every last cent it can. That, for me, is the beginning, middle, and end of this process. Money. Funding. As much as humanly possible. From wherever they can get it. That's all I care about as far as any of these machinations go: what will net them the most funding. And clearly there are people like yourself whose money they will now miss out on.

Sure it can be argued that if they alienated those who voted "no," they might lose all that funding somehow too (even though I would assume the KS funds have by now already been withdrawn, so that should be moot.) But ultimately I feel this hurts the campaign, if only marginally.

Myself? I couldn't care less about rewards. Which makes me disagree both with those who voted "no," AND with those like yourself who will witholds backing over this. I would happily give up all the rewards in the tiers I pledged at if it would help the game. I just want the thing to get as much money as humanly possible and be the greatest possible Shenmue experience it can be. Full stop.

So, I respect your choice. But I would humbly ask that you reconsider. If not... so be it. Nothing more to be said in that case.

Take care. I hope the game ends up being something you can love upon release.

1 - My first and foremost desire for any Shenmue game - that wonderful sense of granular, intimate detail and verisimilitude.

2 - Slow paced, thoughtful gameplay and world discovery.

3 - Irrespective of how brief the actual narrative is, enough enjoyable and engrossing diversions, time sinks, and activities to make my time in this world feel worth it.

4 - Jobs

5 - Day night cycles and opening/closing businesses.

If they can nail all of that, everything else will just be gravy for me. Also I hate to say it and hope I don't offend, but as someone who's actually on the autistic spectrum, since this is something I keep seeing A LOT online these days, can we maybe try to refrain from using "autistic" as a general descriptor for anything we consider "derpy?" As a personal favor if nothing else? Much thanks.

Just saw that flyby footage. You know, this one. https://youtu.be/mY3goVYBrOA

Annnnd... I'm dead. The progress made in such a short period is unreal, and the feels are already there. It's really happening. It's really, actually happening.

I hope when the time comes, the media doesn't go into a total blitz about the trial's quality/polish as indication for the final product to bad mouth it like with mighty no. 9, but knowing the media... :-(

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

They will. We all know they will. We should all be prepared to defend the game - yet again - when that happens. Because the gaming press is subservient to its readers/viewers, and the loudest among them don't seem able to do this:

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww74/Vamphaery2/ezgif-4270045474_zpsodimmuin.gif

I wouldn't support it. Yu - or a Yu protege with profound passion for Yu's vision - are prerequisites for my support.

Ask Huber: how long did it take you to recover from your initial (and very public) response to the reveal of Shenmue 3. Because I knew it took me several weeks, meditation, mediCAtion, and the passing of a few kidney stones, before I calmed down again. (Not exaggerating.)

Yeah definitely look up all the reactions to the announcement. Sincerely, legitimately moving and reassuring on a profound level they were lol.

While perhaps not the overwhelming success we all hoped it would be, let's put things into perspective. We've raised an additional 271,687 so far via PayPal, which has added rag doll reactions to the game's combat system, and has no doubt helped pay for a lot of coffee, dinners, and just plain work hours.

I feel compelled to say a hearty THANK-YOU to my fellow Shenmue fans who have made that happen, and who continue to support the game going forward. When this thing finally exists and is in our hands... it will be because we gave a damn.

Thank-you so much for your efforts at translating these. Awesome interviews.

Nah, there's no conspiracy. Just alot of bias that doesn't get applied to other games (even other crowdsourced games.) It doesn't bother me too much, but it's definitely an ongoing thing, especially the misrepresentation of facts. But that's okay.

As for the game itself... I couldn't be more positive lol. We're getting Shenmue III! What's more positive than that?

Honestly, I don't care if all it does it buy the devs some lunches and coffees. If that's what it takes to get them through development, so be it.

As for promoting it... I feel like I did everything I could and spent every ounce of energy I had on it. Real life problems intervened and I had to spend less time on it than I would have liked. (Hence my being scarce.) But I still take the time to tell people about it on a personal basis, and continue to donate when able.

Every little bit helps. That philosophy is how we got it Kickstarted after all.

Thank-you as always Sononshee & Snoop for all your updates, passion, and observations.

^ I somehow thought you were an oldschool member from the good old Dojo days :lol:

I wish! Lol. I was always obsessively passionate about Shenmue, but somehow... I never discovered these communities for it existed until the KS happened! I guess it's because I was only introduced to the internet for the first time via the Dreamcast (my first two years online were spent typing with a controller lmao) and after the system died and Shenmue 2 went to xbox and then nothing happened... I just assumed, heartbreakingly, that it was dead. And at that time, the idea of internet fan communities were just a total non-sequitur to me. Never occurred to me. The internet was such a new experience for me.

And then once I became more net and tech savvy, it just never occurred to me to look. I figured Shenmue was just this niche thing that I and some of my real life friends adored but that most had forgotten. So I just went about replaying it every few years, along with Skies of Arcadia, and went about my life lol.

Then the KS happened and I discovered Twitter (not being on social media prior to that is likely another reason for my ignorance lol - I'm just not a willfully social individual) and through it, both this site and Team Yu. And joined up immediately. Feel like I really missed out. But at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I did literally everything I could to promote and support the campaign.

Do any of the proceeds go to S3 development?

Good interview. I think the pragmatism of all involved actually makes success more likely rather than less. And we know Yu is legendarily good at managing budgets and making the best possible use of them. The question for me is not whether a good Shenmue game will come out of development with the budget they have, but rather how it will be received in the gaming media. Like it or not, the gaming media dictates whether a game just does "okay," or breaks through and becomes a huge hit.

Fortunately, a game like Shenmue 3 doesn't need to sell millions upon millions of copies in order to be profitable, because of the structure of their budget and how funds were obtained. And because of Sony's willingness to essentially take the physical distribution hit entirely on PS4. All of that cannot be understated in terms of how important they are for what kinds of numbers the game likely has to do to be profitable.

And with digital distribution, we've seen games sell a few hundred thousand copies and go on to become very profitable, and even launch franchises. I have great optimism Shenmue 3 will do exactly that. Especially since I'm sure the game will be much more accessible to newcomers than Shenmue 1 & 2 (whether we want that ourselves, or not, it's essential for the future of the franchise that S3 not be a niche game with only niche appeal. They can pack it with verisimilitude and dense, rich detail and interactivity like we all demand from Shenmue, while still having more approachable controls for instance.)

I think the game will absolutely be a success. The only question will be, how large a success? I always remain optimistic though, while also being realistic about the challenges. Especially from the gaming media.

I never expected anything, to be frank, so I wasn't disappointed. I was more worried about people's reactions here and elsewhere, than about what we'd see.

As I've said before, as much as we all want to believe otherwise, I seriously doubt we will see anything before E3 2017, and maybe not even until TGS 2017. I also will not be at all surprised to see the game delayed, possibly by as much as a year or more. This is just something fairly common with Kickstarted games (and games in general these days, the more ambitious, the more likely the delay... and this is SHENMUE 3.)

And yes, I agree with others that the gaming press will eventually rip the campaign to shreds (again) because of this if it happens.

But I also fully expect that once the game is out, we will all end up with a fun game that is spiritually aligned with the Shenmue we remember, with a detailed, rich world, but with some contemporary (read: more accessible) gameplay mechanics. I expect many here and in the rest of the Shenmue community to be angry about some of that... the lack of footage before E3 or TGS, the possible delay, the press reaction to it, and even the contemporary gameplay elements added, because people want a true hardcore Shenmue experience... but, while I could always be wrong, I really do strongly suspect this is the future of Shenmue 3.

And I'm not one bit upset about any of that.

While frustration is only natural, I think we need to just remain steadfast, as we always have, and wait. It's not like Yu Suzuki of all people is going to deliver a terrible game, or cancel the game. It's going to come out. It's going to at least be fun (though I think, given my experience with other Kickstarted games, we should prepare for it to be merely "good" rather than "amazing" just given budget constraints... and we should also prepare for the gaming press to review it very poorly, or at best, as sort of average to good, high 7s basically) and we're all probably going to enjoy it.

I see no reason to doubt that. At all. As I've stated since the start of the KS campaign and its conclusion... yes, communication has been horrible. From the livestream quality during the KS, to things like saying we should tune into events and then nothing happening (likely internal conflicting information, or Sony not feeling the game was ready to show either, imho - remember, Sony is handling distribution for PS4 and like it or not, their brand is linked with Shenmue 3 and its image.) But it's not like people are going out of their way to deceive us. And it's not like the game isn't going to get made. They're not stringing us along because they want to frustrate us. It just is what it is.

I think the worst thing they could do for the game right now, is show us alpha footage or some such, or another insubstantial "test" that will only provide ammunition to the game's critics. They made a huge splash with the KS. It died down (along with all the negative press!) The worst thing they could do right now is revive all that hate, by showing something so easy to criticize. I firmly believe they will show us the game when it is finally in a state that is much harder to assail, and one that actually excites and intrigues, rather than confuses or worries.

I hate to always be the weird juxtaposition between realism and unbridled optimism but... somebody has to be. :P So that's my two cents. Come on guys, it's not the end of the world. Happy Holidays!