This is awesome.
http://teamyu.net/Shenmue.III?action=raffle
The final portion of Shenmue III's crowdfunding campaign expires at the end of December, at which point the game's development budget will be set in stone. Though we are all delighted with the progress being made by Ys Net in these early stages, opportunities to expand the scope of such an important title don't come along often.
Therefore, to help make the most of these final few weeks of the year, dedicated fans have pooled their most treasured resources together with First 4 Figures to donate some extraordinary prizes for an unmissable contest we're calling the Winning Can Raffle!
In short, here's what's on offer:
- Exclusive edition Lan Di statue directly from the workshop of First 4 Figures
- Standard edition Ryo Hazuki statue signed and personalized by voice actor Corey Marshall
- Limited edition Japanese copy of the original Shenmue for Dreamcast, complete with Jukebox CD, signed by Yu Suzuki
- Limited edition Japanese copy of Shenmue II for Dreamcast, sealed and VGA Gold graded
- Translucent blue Shenmue soundtrack LP, signed and personalized by Corey Marshall
- Rare promo stickers from the Shenmue Premiere in Japan
- Official Shenmue T-shirt from the Tokyo Game Show 2015 (size M)
Plus: ALL entrants will receive a bonus Shenmue themed decal just for taking part!Remember, all you need to do is participate in the Shenmue III Slacker Backer campaign at any of the tiers listed above and forward your PayPal receipt to [email protected] before the relevant deadline to receive your decal and be entered into these draws. For any Shenmue fan this prize pool is an absolute goldmine, so whatever you do, don't miss out. For a little extra support towards Shenmue III's development, you could be walking away with an item you'll cherish for many years after the game's release - on top of the great backer rewards you're guaranteed from Ys Net!
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China interview with Yu Suzuki (Nov 19)
Dojo member sshen1127 has kindly translated this recent brief but exclusive interview from Yu Suzuki's China visit.
Nov 19 interview with Yu Suzuki (Chinese)
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4168537061
English translation
Q: Master Yu, when did you first meet up with master Lui Lian Zhi - was it 1991 or 1994? On what did you two first collaborate, was it working on Virtua Fighter 1 or 2?
Yu: The first time we met was 1993. Our first time working together was for VF2.
Q. Will Shenmue 3 have Chinese subs?
Yu: We are looking into it at the moment.
Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.
Q: How many more Shenmue games are there until the end of the story?
Yu: There is a total of 11 chapters. Shenmue 3 will be chapters 5 and 6.
Q: Will everyone who donated for the game have to wait until near the release date to have their address and version of the game confirmed?
Yu: When the time comes we will send out an email to everyone. Please keep an eye on your mailbox.
Q: Can you use Chinese characters for all the Chinese people who donated for the game, in the "Thank you" credits at the end of the game?
Yu: All the credits will be in Roman characters.
Q: Will Shenmue 3 follow the same formula as Shenmue 1 and 2? In your opinion, what is the biggest difference with Shenmue 3? And what is the key selling point to attract new players to the game?
Yu:
1. Shenmue 3 will follow in the footsteps of Shenmue 1 and 2. It will keep what makes Shenmue Shenmue. For example, real-time full voice acting.
2. Shenmue 3 will be a more of an "open world" game so player can explore more places.
3. Towards the later half of the game, there will be a brand new way to play the game to attract new players. But the details are a secret.
Q: Will there ever be a spin-off of Shenmue, such as Shenmue 0?
Yu: No, not at the moment... [laughs]
Q: Is there any plan to release an Outrun-like racing game in the future?
Yu: We do have plans to release such a game.
Q: Will Shenmue 3 have an online feature?
Yu: There is no plan for any online feature for Shenmue 3.
Nov 19 interview with Yu Suzuki (Chinese)
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4168537061
English translation
Q: Master Yu, when did you first meet up with master Lui Lian Zhi - was it 1991 or 1994? On what did you two first collaborate, was it working on Virtua Fighter 1 or 2?
Yu: The first time we met was 1993. Our first time working together was for VF2.
Q. Will Shenmue 3 have Chinese subs?
Yu: We are looking into it at the moment.
Q. In the near future, do you have any plan to release a fighting game similar to VF? Or to work with Sega for the next installment of the game?
Yu: Right now Daichi Katagari is the one who is overseeing the VF games. I handed over the games to him 100%. I will not be working with Sega for another VF game. But I might develop a brand new fighting game of my own.
Q: How many more Shenmue games are there until the end of the story?
Yu: There is a total of 11 chapters. Shenmue 3 will be chapters 5 and 6.
Q: Will everyone who donated for the game have to wait until near the release date to have their address and version of the game confirmed?
Yu: When the time comes we will send out an email to everyone. Please keep an eye on your mailbox.
Q: Can you use Chinese characters for all the Chinese people who donated for the game, in the "Thank you" credits at the end of the game?
Yu: All the credits will be in Roman characters.
Q: Will Shenmue 3 follow the same formula as Shenmue 1 and 2? In your opinion, what is the biggest difference with Shenmue 3? And what is the key selling point to attract new players to the game?
Yu:
1. Shenmue 3 will follow in the footsteps of Shenmue 1 and 2. It will keep what makes Shenmue Shenmue. For example, real-time full voice acting.
2. Shenmue 3 will be a more of an "open world" game so player can explore more places.
3. Towards the later half of the game, there will be a brand new way to play the game to attract new players. But the details are a secret.
Q: Will there ever be a spin-off of Shenmue, such as Shenmue 0?
Yu: No, not at the moment... [laughs]
Q: Is there any plan to release an Outrun-like racing game in the future?
Yu: We do have plans to release such a game.
Q: Will Shenmue 3 have an online feature?
Yu: There is no plan for any online feature for Shenmue 3.
- Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:29 pm
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Nocon Kid visits Dobuits St. in Yokosuka (Facebook Photos)
Shenmue 3 CG artist Nocon Kid shares photos of his visit to Dobuita!
Photo Gallery: http://imgur.com/a/0jFiU
Photo Gallery: http://imgur.com/a/0jFiU
- Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:02 pm
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Cédric Biscay interview by Desert Bus de l'Espoir (15/11/21)
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.
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.
- Mon Nov 30, 2015 12:27 pm
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Re: Shenmue vs Street Fighter
Can someone tell me what this has to do with Shenmue III?
- Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:25 am
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Re: Kickstarter Update 49 & 50: Paypal extension & reward po
So how much has this PayPal event actually increased the figure by so far?
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- Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:35 pm
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Re: It really not going to be Open World if fails to reach 1
Suzuki understands that open-world gameplay is a fundamental aspect of the shenmue experience and something that fans are most looking forward to (along with the story). i'm pretty confident that something similar to shenmue 1 in terms of size and depth can be achieved, even with the current budget.
the recent interview in china seemed to imply that suzuki believes he can stretch the budget further than he originally anticipated anyway, which is good news.
i think we have to appreciate that compromises may have to be made in accordance with the restrictions of the budget. paypal is still open so the final budget could still potentially increase and allow for a richer open world. i really wouldn't worry too much about it.
whatever happens at least 'the story will go on.' - which is pretty amazing, and a lot better than almost anyone was expecting.
its a matter of waiting and seeing. there is 2 full years ahead of us, and inevitably there will be loads of new info on the way. i can't wait to see some screens shots of the villages.
the recent interview in china seemed to imply that suzuki believes he can stretch the budget further than he originally anticipated anyway, which is good news.
i think we have to appreciate that compromises may have to be made in accordance with the restrictions of the budget. paypal is still open so the final budget could still potentially increase and allow for a richer open world. i really wouldn't worry too much about it.
whatever happens at least 'the story will go on.' - which is pretty amazing, and a lot better than almost anyone was expecting.
its a matter of waiting and seeing. there is 2 full years ahead of us, and inevitably there will be loads of new info on the way. i can't wait to see some screens shots of the villages.
- Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:51 pm
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The 2015 5th Annual Dojo Awards Show (Hosted by Ethan Hawke)
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/15bnByqeQKY/maxresdefault.jpg
Welcome ladies and gentleman to the 2015 5th Annual Dojo Awards live from the Kodak theatre. This is 5th Awards since the sexy Riku Rose rebranded them back in 2010 and his first year back organizing them since 2011 after being heartbroken that not many people participated last year resulting in no ceremony for the first time since the rebrand.
*Riku Rose walks out on stage*
Riku Rose:
Welcome all. This has been a great year for us all with the announcement of Shenmue III after years of little or no information. I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say I never thought that day would come and was dreading the day I would log in here to see some of the peoples posts that I love to read still hadn't posted for another day. Nearly all forums that focus on one product wither away at some point so I'm glad to see that at E3 we got an adrenaline needle in the arm too keep this place going well into the future.
It's seen the return of many old faces, even if it was for one post to say they were so proud to be part of this community and then never post again. It looks like with the promised release of 2017 and the likely delay into 2018 that we will see our little community continue to grow. If it wasn't for this I doubt we would have been able to get Ethan Hawke to host tonight and we all know that no one wanted Brendan Fraser to host for the 4th time. So before the show get's started let's look back at previous awards ceremony's.
Please see below for the list of previous winners:
Game of the Year :
2010 : Deadly Premonition
2011 : Batman: Arkham City
2012 : Assassin's Creed III
2013 : The Last of Us
Buzz Killington Award:
2010:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Kiba and Jokatech19
3rd - Crimson Ryan
2011:
1st - Dorian
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Kiba
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - KiBa
2013:
1st - AnimeGamer183
2nd - mue26
3rd - M1TT3NZ and Ryudo
Biggest Bully:
2010:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Oppy
3rd - Dorian and OL
2011:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose and M1TT3NZ
3rd - Dorian
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose
3rd - MiTT3NZ
2013:
1st - QWERTY
2nd - M1TT3NZ
3rd - beedle
Biggest Punchbag:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - Jeff
3rd - Axm, Kiba, Oppy and DoubleORen
2011:
1st: Jokatech19
2nd: Riku Rose
3rd: Tuffy, Crimson Ryan, Shengoro86, Dorian and Spokane
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - Jokatech19
2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - mue26
Funniest Member:
2010:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Gingefners
3rd - Ryudo and Oppy
2011:
1st - Spokane, OL, Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Brothaman, Gingefners, M1TT3NZ and Kiba
2012:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Brothaman
3rd - Riku Rose
2013:
1st - QWERTY and Let's Get Sweaty
2nd - M1TT3NZ and South Carmain
3rd - Rakim
Coolest Member:
2012:
1st - OL and MiTT3NZ
2nd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.
3rd - Brothaman and Spokane
2013:
1st - Rakim
2nd - Kenny and OL
3rd - Peter
Worst Member:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - DoubleORen
3rd - Dorian
2011:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Oppy, QWERTY, Martin and Gingefners
3rd - Luvly KM, Yukio and Beedles
2012:
No Award
2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - QWERTY and mue26
Member of the Year:
2010:
1st - Kenny
2nd - Riku Rose, Henry Spencer and Wude,
3rd - Ryudo
2011:
1st- OL
2nd- Henry
3rd- Peter
2012:
1st - Peter
2nd - Spokane
3rd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.
2013:
1st - MiTT3NZ
2nd -Let's Get Sweaty
3rd - Henry Spencer
Now please put your hands together for our host this evening, Mr Ethan Hawke!
*Ethan Hawke walks out on stage*
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Ethan Hawke:
Umm... Welcome to these internet fan award things for the Shamu Dojo centre... Anyway our first award of the evening is for the game of the year. Here to present the award is Bono's Dad:
http://media.salon.com/2013/02/jack_nicholson_presenter.jpg
Jack Nicholson:
Video games are becoming very realistic... So lets get started:
GOTY
In 3rd Place - Tales of the Borderlands
In 2nd Place - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
In 1st Place:
Bloodborne
Sadly Konami wouldn't let Hidetaka Miyazaki come to collect the award so in his place we have Kiefer Sutherland
http://www.24spoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2004/02/Kiefer-Sutherland-2004-SAG-Award-1024x576.jpg
Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the Buzz Killington award is your uncles new girlfriend who's 15 years younger then him and your geography teacher:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1708578!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/86th-academy-awards-show.jpg
Bill Murray:
I was in a Ghostbusters video game so I get this stuff:
Buzz Killington:
In 3rd Place -Yokosuka and mue26
In 2nd Place - Peter
In 1st Place -
Himuro
Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the biggest bully award is your mum's friend who was hot when you was in school and your friend who slept with her:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02840/kimnovak_2840395b.jpg
Matthew McConaughey:
All right, all right, all right:
Biggest Bully:
In 3rd Place - MiTT3NZ
In 2nd Place - South Carmain
In 1st Place -
Riku Rose
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the biggest punchbag, here to present the award is someone who would never date any of the nominees:
http://media3.popsugar-assets.com/files/2012/02/08/0/192/1922398/04da51f456a80c9e_140023769/i/Angelina-Jolie-presenting-Oscars.jpg
Angalina Jolie:
Speaking as someone who was very popular at school I can understand how hard it is to be bullied:
Biggest Punchbag:
In 3rd place - Jeff
In 2nd Place - mue26
In 1st Place:
Animegamer183
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the funniest member and here to present it is a man who has never laughed in his life:
http://images.dailylife.com.au/2015/02/23/6290698/neeson_main-620x349.jpg
Liam Neeson:
...
Funniest Member:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st Place:
Riku Rose
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is the coolest member award and here to present it is someone who clearly doesn't want to be here:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2248688.1424670576!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg
Sean Penn:
How the fuck can you have someone who's cool on an internet forum? This award means about as much as me winning winning the long jump in the Paralympics:
Coolest Member:
In 3rd Place - Yokosuka, Bambi and Ziming
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st place:
St. Elmo's Fire
Ethan Hawke:
Next up we have the award for the worst member, here to present the award is Kiba:
http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m00h1cnGMW1rnxcibo1_500.jpg
Kiba:
*Kiba goes on a long rant about something*
Worst Member:
In 3rd Place - Shengoro86 and mue26
In 2nd Place - AnimeGamer183
In 1st Place:
Brosause or as he is also know Amiga
Ethan Hawke:
Well tonight has been fun but we have one award left and it's the biggest one of the night. The person to present it is also our biggest guest of the evening, ladies and gentleman I give you Yu Suzuki:
http://gearnuke.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/shenmue-3.png
Yu Suzuki:
See I have more then just that sailor shirt!
Member of the year:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL and Switch
The Member of the year is:
!!!Ziming!!!
Ethan Hawke:
Thanks for all coming out tonight. Feel free to all stay for the afterparty but to get us in the mood we have some music for you. Please welcome Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4-m-cIZf4
See you all next year
Welcome ladies and gentleman to the 2015 5th Annual Dojo Awards live from the Kodak theatre. This is 5th Awards since the sexy Riku Rose rebranded them back in 2010 and his first year back organizing them since 2011 after being heartbroken that not many people participated last year resulting in no ceremony for the first time since the rebrand.
*Riku Rose walks out on stage*
Riku Rose:
Welcome all. This has been a great year for us all with the announcement of Shenmue III after years of little or no information. I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say I never thought that day would come and was dreading the day I would log in here to see some of the peoples posts that I love to read still hadn't posted for another day. Nearly all forums that focus on one product wither away at some point so I'm glad to see that at E3 we got an adrenaline needle in the arm too keep this place going well into the future.
It's seen the return of many old faces, even if it was for one post to say they were so proud to be part of this community and then never post again. It looks like with the promised release of 2017 and the likely delay into 2018 that we will see our little community continue to grow. If it wasn't for this I doubt we would have been able to get Ethan Hawke to host tonight and we all know that no one wanted Brendan Fraser to host for the 4th time. So before the show get's started let's look back at previous awards ceremony's.
Please see below for the list of previous winners:
Game of the Year :
2010 : Deadly Premonition
2011 : Batman: Arkham City
2012 : Assassin's Creed III
2013 : The Last of Us
Buzz Killington Award:
2010:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Kiba and Jokatech19
3rd - Crimson Ryan
2011:
1st - Dorian
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Kiba
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - KiBa
2013:
1st - AnimeGamer183
2nd - mue26
3rd - M1TT3NZ and Ryudo
Biggest Bully:
2010:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Oppy
3rd - Dorian and OL
2011:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose and M1TT3NZ
3rd - Dorian
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Riku Rose
3rd - MiTT3NZ
2013:
1st - QWERTY
2nd - M1TT3NZ
3rd - beedle
Biggest Punchbag:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - Jeff
3rd - Axm, Kiba, Oppy and DoubleORen
2011:
1st: Jokatech19
2nd: Riku Rose
3rd: Tuffy, Crimson Ryan, Shengoro86, Dorian and Spokane
2012:
1st - Ryudo
2nd - Dorian
3rd - Jokatech19
2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - mue26
Funniest Member:
2010:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Gingefners
3rd - Ryudo and Oppy
2011:
1st - Spokane, OL, Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - Brothaman, Gingefners, M1TT3NZ and Kiba
2012:
1st - Kiba
2nd - Brothaman
3rd - Riku Rose
2013:
1st - QWERTY and Let's Get Sweaty
2nd - M1TT3NZ and South Carmain
3rd - Rakim
Coolest Member:
2012:
1st - OL and MiTT3NZ
2nd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.
3rd - Brothaman and Spokane
2013:
1st - Rakim
2nd - Kenny and OL
3rd - Peter
Worst Member:
2010:
1st - Jokatech19
2nd - DoubleORen
3rd - Dorian
2011:
1st - Ryudo and Dorian
2nd - Oppy, QWERTY, Martin and Gingefners
3rd - Luvly KM, Yukio and Beedles
2012:
No Award
2013:
1st - Animegamer183
2nd - Ryudo
3rd - QWERTY and mue26
Member of the Year:
2010:
1st - Kenny
2nd - Riku Rose, Henry Spencer and Wude,
3rd - Ryudo
2011:
1st- OL
2nd- Henry
3rd- Peter
2012:
1st - Peter
2nd - Spokane
3rd - Segata Sanshiro Jr.
2013:
1st - MiTT3NZ
2nd -Let's Get Sweaty
3rd - Henry Spencer
Now please put your hands together for our host this evening, Mr Ethan Hawke!
*Ethan Hawke walks out on stage*
http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ethan_Hawke_66%C3%A8me_Festival_de_Venise_Mostra_3.jpg
http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/clapping-crowd-applause.gif
Ethan Hawke:
Umm... Welcome to these internet fan award things for the Shamu Dojo centre... Anyway our first award of the evening is for the game of the year. Here to present the award is Bono's Dad:
http://media.salon.com/2013/02/jack_nicholson_presenter.jpg
Jack Nicholson:
Video games are becoming very realistic... So lets get started:
GOTY
In 3rd Place - Tales of the Borderlands
In 2nd Place - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
In 1st Place:
Bloodborne
Sadly Konami wouldn't let Hidetaka Miyazaki come to collect the award so in his place we have Kiefer Sutherland
http://www.24spoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2004/02/Kiefer-Sutherland-2004-SAG-Award-1024x576.jpg
Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the Buzz Killington award is your uncles new girlfriend who's 15 years younger then him and your geography teacher:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1708578!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/86th-academy-awards-show.jpg
Bill Murray:
I was in a Ghostbusters video game so I get this stuff:
Buzz Killington:
In 3rd Place -Yokosuka and mue26
In 2nd Place - Peter
In 1st Place -
Himuro
Ethan Hawke:
Here to present the biggest bully award is your mum's friend who was hot when you was in school and your friend who slept with her:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02840/kimnovak_2840395b.jpg
Matthew McConaughey:
All right, all right, all right:
Biggest Bully:
In 3rd Place - MiTT3NZ
In 2nd Place - South Carmain
In 1st Place -
Riku Rose
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the biggest punchbag, here to present the award is someone who would never date any of the nominees:
http://media3.popsugar-assets.com/files/2012/02/08/0/192/1922398/04da51f456a80c9e_140023769/i/Angelina-Jolie-presenting-Oscars.jpg
Angalina Jolie:
Speaking as someone who was very popular at school I can understand how hard it is to be bullied:
Biggest Punchbag:
In 3rd place - Jeff
In 2nd Place - mue26
In 1st Place:
Animegamer183
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is for the funniest member and here to present it is a man who has never laughed in his life:
http://images.dailylife.com.au/2015/02/23/6290698/neeson_main-620x349.jpg
Liam Neeson:
...
Funniest Member:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st Place:
Riku Rose
Ethan Hawke:
The next award is the coolest member award and here to present it is someone who clearly doesn't want to be here:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2248688.1424670576!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg
Sean Penn:
How the fuck can you have someone who's cool on an internet forum? This award means about as much as me winning winning the long jump in the Paralympics:
Coolest Member:
In 3rd Place - Yokosuka, Bambi and Ziming
In 2nd Place - OL
In 1st place:
St. Elmo's Fire
Ethan Hawke:
Next up we have the award for the worst member, here to present the award is Kiba:
http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m00h1cnGMW1rnxcibo1_500.jpg
Kiba:
*Kiba goes on a long rant about something*
Worst Member:
In 3rd Place - Shengoro86 and mue26
In 2nd Place - AnimeGamer183
In 1st Place:
Brosause or as he is also know Amiga
Ethan Hawke:
Well tonight has been fun but we have one award left and it's the biggest one of the night. The person to present it is also our biggest guest of the evening, ladies and gentleman I give you Yu Suzuki:
http://gearnuke.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/shenmue-3.png
Yu Suzuki:
See I have more then just that sailor shirt!
Member of the year:
In 3rd Place - South Carmain
In 2nd Place - OL and Switch
The Member of the year is:
!!!Ziming!!!
Ethan Hawke:
Thanks for all coming out tonight. Feel free to all stay for the afterparty but to get us in the mood we have some music for you. Please welcome Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4-m-cIZf4
See you all next year
- Fri Jan 01, 2016 10:47 am
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Re: Kickstarter Update 51: Poll Results & Shenmue.link revam
What a stupid dumb ass company.
Lets launch another Kickstarter to fire Awesome Japan.
They haven't got a clue. Damn.
Lets launch another Kickstarter to fire Awesome Japan.
They haven't got a clue. Damn.
- Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:25 am
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Re: Kickstarter Update 51: Poll Results & Shenmue.link revam
I find their interpretation of the poll results dumb, but what frustrates me the most is 90%+ of the time, they are the cause of the negativity surrounding Shenmue 3.
Im gonna go ahead and say it, something needs to be done about this company sooner rather than later. There's been too many mistakes and errors that have had a negative impact on Shenmue.
Im 100% certain the KS could have reached 7 - 8 million if AJ didn't continuously screw things up. I mean we've turned a blind eye several times to their nonsense and given them chance after chance, but lets be real, this will happen again and again, im certain of that.
Research past media reports and analysis videos and you'll see they are the cause of most of the problems.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1121020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnvy0yzgVWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwphQVMDJvY
These guys are getting paid good money to do a relatively easy and amazing job in its own right, but they still fuck up. They are responsible for media relations, communication and the campaign itself, yet they make no attempt to promote the campaign, no attempt to gather further support, no attempt to communicate or make exclusive deals with media outlets to gain further interest, etc, etc.
We, the fans have done everything since Shenmue 3 has been announced. We've promoted, we've used our youtube friends to spread the word, we've created new campaigns, made exclusive deals with companies such as first four figures, Corey Marshall, etc etc etc. Some of us have been keeping the dream alive over on other message boards and damage controlling like crazy to clear up doubts and confusion. Doubts and confusion that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
You have to ask yourself, why are we doing everything??? We all have jobs, study etc, yet we still find time to continuously push Shenmue 3 for the greater good, for free i might add. It comes from passion and Love. These guys dont do anything, and its their full time job????
Awesome Japan clearly have no real interest in the project. The sad fact is, they'll be able to take full credit for the most successful KS ever and they didnt do fuck all to help.
Maybe this situation is a lot more complex, but as a backer who has placed around $1000 into the project, im unhappy with the way things are going. Personally, if i was apart of the project in a more executive manner, like cedric or Sony, Id fire these guys as soon as possible, or pay their contract off, so that they could be replaced by a more competent team.
#SaveShenmuefromAwesomeJapan
Im gonna go ahead and say it, something needs to be done about this company sooner rather than later. There's been too many mistakes and errors that have had a negative impact on Shenmue.
Im 100% certain the KS could have reached 7 - 8 million if AJ didn't continuously screw things up. I mean we've turned a blind eye several times to their nonsense and given them chance after chance, but lets be real, this will happen again and again, im certain of that.
Research past media reports and analysis videos and you'll see they are the cause of most of the problems.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1121020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnvy0yzgVWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwphQVMDJvY
These guys are getting paid good money to do a relatively easy and amazing job in its own right, but they still fuck up. They are responsible for media relations, communication and the campaign itself, yet they make no attempt to promote the campaign, no attempt to gather further support, no attempt to communicate or make exclusive deals with media outlets to gain further interest, etc, etc.
We, the fans have done everything since Shenmue 3 has been announced. We've promoted, we've used our youtube friends to spread the word, we've created new campaigns, made exclusive deals with companies such as first four figures, Corey Marshall, etc etc etc. Some of us have been keeping the dream alive over on other message boards and damage controlling like crazy to clear up doubts and confusion. Doubts and confusion that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
You have to ask yourself, why are we doing everything??? We all have jobs, study etc, yet we still find time to continuously push Shenmue 3 for the greater good, for free i might add. It comes from passion and Love. These guys dont do anything, and its their full time job????
Awesome Japan clearly have no real interest in the project. The sad fact is, they'll be able to take full credit for the most successful KS ever and they didnt do fuck all to help.
Maybe this situation is a lot more complex, but as a backer who has placed around $1000 into the project, im unhappy with the way things are going. Personally, if i was apart of the project in a more executive manner, like cedric or Sony, Id fire these guys as soon as possible, or pay their contract off, so that they could be replaced by a more competent team.
#SaveShenmuefromAwesomeJapan
- Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:57 am
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Re: Kickstarter Update 51: Poll Results & Shenmue.link revam
I hear ya Peter, but i think a good majority of the fans are pissed at AJ for constantly screwing up. Maybe they wont be replaced, but their continuous incompetence needs to be addressed. We all want Shenmue 3 to succeed and reach its full potential and there is a common problem that keeps popping up. Awesome Japan.
Whoever is in charge of their contract needs to seriously sit them down and discuss their unprofessionalism and mistakes. We can't have this happening going forward, especially considering some media outlets are looking for any excuse to rip shenmue apart.
The poll doesnt really bother me too much, its the unnecessary effect its having on Shenmue in general and AJ constant screw ups. Like i mentioned previously, this scenario and reaction will happen again and again if it doesn't get addressed.
Clickbait articles are one issue, but simple errors and incompetence that indirectly fuel clickbait journalist is another unfortunate problem we have.
This post may come across negative, but i think we need to address the negative issues fully, so we can put them to rest once and for all and never have to worry about them again.
Just my thoughts
Whoever is in charge of their contract needs to seriously sit them down and discuss their unprofessionalism and mistakes. We can't have this happening going forward, especially considering some media outlets are looking for any excuse to rip shenmue apart.
The poll doesnt really bother me too much, its the unnecessary effect its having on Shenmue in general and AJ constant screw ups. Like i mentioned previously, this scenario and reaction will happen again and again if it doesn't get addressed.
Clickbait articles are one issue, but simple errors and incompetence that indirectly fuel clickbait journalist is another unfortunate problem we have.
This post may come across negative, but i think we need to address the negative issues fully, so we can put them to rest once and for all and never have to worry about them again.
Just my thoughts
- Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:08 pm
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Re: Will DLC copies
I always felt donating was a no-brainer because this is Shenmue 3. I never thought not to donate over something like a backer reward.
- Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:20 am
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Yu Suzuki's interview by Red Bull and new screenshots
http://www.redbull.com/en/games/stories/1331775510544/shenmue-3-yu-suzuki-interview
Kickstarting Shenmue 3 and the return of Ryo
By Ben Sillis on 9 February 2016
Legendary game designer Yu Suzuki on crowdfunding, Ryo’s return and even Shenmue 4.
http://i.imgur.com/Jd1PO79.jpg
Ryo is back after more than a decade © Ys Net
Mr Suzuki has been waiting a long time to make his latest game – about 20 years, in fact.
" From the beginning, I had been readying plans for various contingencies should the chance to develop Shenmue 3 ever arise, " he tells Red Bull in an exclusive interview. " After the Kickstarter announcement, I received a lot of messages and videos from people all over the world. I was very deeply moved that Shenmue still has so many loyal fans, even after 15 years. "
There are very few developers who are household names, stars that shine as bright as the mascots they create. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame, maybe Peter Molyneux at a push. You could probably count them all one one hand, even, but you'd have to reserve one digit for Yu Suzuki, AKA Mr Sega, head of its AM2 development team for almost two decades.
While American CEO Tom Kalinske is often credited with turning Sega into a powerhouse to rival Nintendo in the 1990s, it was Suzuki who turned in the games he sold. Responsible for arcade hits like Hang-On and Out Run, Suzuki was one of the first developers to pioneer polygonal 3D graphics, in games like Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop. Did you ever play in a Daytona USA cabinet in the arcade as a kid? Of course you did. That was him too. Ferrari F355 Challenge. Space Harrier. Dozens of classic games. But there's one game he's never been able to escape from, one he has never even tried to, that has cast a shadow over his career this century: Shenmue.
It's a little hard to describe Shenmue if you've never played it. It's a sweeping drama of family revenge set in 1980s suburban Japan and bustling Hong Kong that incorporates detective work, 3D fighting, a metric busload of voice acting and more of life's most mundane activities than you might expect. You can play darts or buy toy capsules from a vending machine. You can get a job lifting boxes for pocket money, and at one point you literally have to spend an entire in-game week carrying books out of a library.
It was banal and it was beautiful. It was the culmination of Yu Suzuki's work pushing Sega's hardware to the absolute limit, and cost a fortune to make – a rumoured $70 million, though part of that cost went into Shenmue 2.
It did not sell.
http://i.imgur.com/AT8Tl3X.jpg
Shenmue creator, Yu Suzuki © Ys Net
It would be tempting to say that audiences were not ready for such a game. But Shenmue and its sequel were only failures by the same metric that Dreamcast was, in that they happened to exist at the same time as the mighty PlayStation 2, and therefore did not make their costs back. Both games were adored by fans, who spent more than a decade clamouring for a resolution to the cliffhanger at the end of part two. Suzuki for his part continued to spend the 2000s returning to his older arcade hits while dropping hints that he'd love to return to the story of brave, blundering teenager Ryo Hazuki, if only Sega would give him the budget.
Then E3 2015 happened and everything changed. Suzuki decided to tweet a photo of a forklift truck, Ryo's preferred ride, and then turned up on stage at the Sony keynote to announce Shenmue 3 would be coming to PC and PS4 – so long as fans were prepared to back the game on Kickstarter to the tune of $2 million. Predictably, the project broke the Kickstarter record for funds raised for a game when 69,320 backers pledged a total of $6,333,295 to help bring Ryo back.
The return of Ryo
As we enter 2016, it's clear we're entering a new phase in Suzuki's career. Sega has granted his new studio, Ys Net, permission to use the Shenmue IP, but otherwise does not appear to be involved, while inexpensive and powerful game engine software now makes the game feasible on a much smaller budget. In some ways though, Suzuki admits he's picking up where he left off all those years ago.
" Shenmue 3 will be based on the original 11 chapter story I planned during the [Sega] Saturn era, " he tells Red Bull. " Using that story, we put the game together in such a way that people new to Shenmue, as well as fans of Shenmue 1 and 2, will be able to enjoy the game. "
For those new to the saga, Suzuki has a quick primer: " It is the story of a boy who travels to China on his quest to avenge his father's death, but it is also a story of love and friendship, and the bonds he shares with the people he meets as he matures to manhood through his martial arts training. "
This description sounds a tad like the blurb you might find on the back of a Sega Saturn game box, and does not quite capture the story's allure: Shenmue 2 ends on a decidedly magical note in a rural village in China, with Ryo discovering that two mysterious Macguffins may cause the resurrection of an even more evil Macguffin. We push for a few more details, and while Suzuki is keeping tight-lipped on plot, he says Ryo will grown on his journey. He's still angry, but his encounters with others may help to temper that rage.
http://i.imgur.com/7XFjSyX.jpg
Shenmue 3’s environment is making use of UE4 © Ys Net
" In terms of the story, a year has not yet passed from the conclusion of Shenmue 2, so Ryo's feelings of revenge have remained unchanged, " Suzuki says. " As Ryo did in Hong Kong in Shenmue 2, he will travel to Guilin in Shenmue III, maturing as he encounters different people through his martial arts training. "
Little time has passed for Ryo, but gamers have certainly grown up in his absence. Entire console generations have come and gone. You can still play Shenmue 2 on an HDTV with an Xbox 360, but the frustrating controls – you move with the D-pad, not a thumbstick – only serve as a reminder of just how much conventions have changed.
We wonder if Suzuki, who openly admits he began planning this game in the '90s, believes he will struggle to update Shenmue 3 to 2016 expectations. " We are planning to use Unreal Engine 4 for Shenmue 3, utilising the most cutting edge production techniques so we can exploit the engine's maximum potential, " he says. " The design concept of UE4 matches perfectly with how I make games, which is why I went in that direction. "
Genre shifting Shenmue
It's not just games that have changed in the interim however, but how we talk about them too. Shenmue was far ahead of its time in this regard, at least. The game's open cities, with operating bus routes and shops that opened and closed with the days of the week, predated even Grand Theft Auto 3 by several years, and were a predecessor of the sandbox games we play today. Suzuki even came up with his own acronym for the genre at the time, 'FREE' (Full Reactive Eyes Environment). But if he had to pigeonhole his life's work now?
" The genre that is the closest to describing Shenmue is what nowadays is called an open world game, " he says. " The concept of Shenmue was to maximize the level of game play freedom by offering the highest potential number of different ways one could enjoy the game. "
http://i.imgur.com/lkBBjlF.jpg
Expect plenty of mystery in the third instalment © Ys Net
For better or worse, Suzuki also originated the concept of the Quick Time Event (QTE): you would perform set actions and survive certain scenes – like someone trying to stove Ryo's head in with a metal pipe – by pressing a button on time with the screen. Succeed and the story continues. Fail and you might have to go the long way round, find another lead in your detective hunt, or have your face smashed in by a Triad member. It was a novel concept at the time, but it's fair to say it's been overused since, especially in Japanese action games. A good developer, so the theory goes, will provide the tools and the engine to let you pull off cool stunts, not just bang out a cut scene set to a rhythm game.
Suzuki says QTEs will be making a return in Shenmue 3 however. " While QTEs may feel a little wanting to some action gamers, I believe that it is a fundamental technique that allows a broad range of players to actively participate in the dramatic performances of a game."
"That said, I would like to take up the challenge of creating the next evolution of the QTE, " he adds, cryptically.
http://i.imgur.com/VDMCglZ.jpg
Suzuki wants some of the team to remain anonymous © Ys Net
How Ys Net balance that need for secrecy and surprise with the transparent communication required of a successful Kickstarter project will prove interesting. " This is my first experience with developing a game in this manner and it has been a very valuable one, " Suzuki says.
" For the Kickstarter, the architecture of the game was based on a scalable structure that could be adapted to the changes in budget. I can continually receive feedback from the backers through the entire process, which in turns helps to focus the development. "
The team will have to focus. Despite the availability of powerful, multi-platform game engines and middleware, the Japanese gaming industry has turned away from open world games, and console games altogether, Suzuki points out. That makes finding a team to tackle a game with such a heritage on a comparatively small scale more challenging still.
" Smartphones have become the mainstream in the Japanese gaming market today, creating an environment where the technology developed for consoles is often underused ," he says. " Also, it is becoming difficult to secure the talent necessary to make such games, but thankfully, we have managed to gather a very promising team for Shenmue III. "
Suzuki says that he cannot reveal the size of the team – or the budget – for " confidentiality reasons ", but he is happy to talk about one recent and remarkable hire: a fan. 'Kid Nocon', a South Korean graphics designer, wowed gamers recently with his incredible high definition makeovers of scenes from the first Shenmue (" I have wanted to make a Shenmue HD for a long time ," Nocon tells us). He must have made an impact on Suzuki too, because he then hired Nocon for Shemue 3.
" Kid Nocon is one of the people who has never stopped supporting Shenmue through all this time, " Suzuki says. " Even when I first met him, I could really tell he felt strongly towards Shenmue. I hope he will continue to be an active part in the Shenmue team. "
Sequels incoming
At the time of the Kickstarter, Ys Net had little more to show prospective backers than a scene with Ryo and Shenhua hopping over some stepping stones. Suzuki says the team are currently, " working on the prototype for the game. Using that prototype, we are experimenting with the various features of UE4 and testing out the systems we want to implement. "
Suzuki is avoiding making any benchmarks to break his own back with, and steering clear of promises on visual fidelity and specs, at least for now. So 1080p, 60fps purists will have to hang tight for now. " We have just recently decided upon the graphical benchmark quality. As to frame rate, we are still running tests ."
Suzuki's reticence to talk specifics up until this point is understandable – who would want to ruin a game fans have waited patiently for, for more than 15 years? It does, however, make the answer to our next question all the more surprising. Will Shenmue 3 hasten to conclude what was originally conceived as a sprawling, 11 chapter epic?
" I'm afraid that the story will not be concluded with Shenmue III, " Suzuki says, frankly. " After thinking it through, we decided that forcing a conclusion in Shenmue 3 would only make the story feel rushed, and compromise the game as a whole. I hope we can make "
In other words, Suzuki is back to that grand, original vision for the series once more. All it took was a bit of a patience for publishers, the industry and software to catch up with him.
We just hope we won't be waiting quite so long again for Shenmue 4. Suzuki, for his part, seems optimistic: " In five years’ time, I think I will [still] be making games, " he says. " As for Ryo? I am anxious to hear where the fans think he will end up. "
Kickstarting Shenmue 3 and the return of Ryo
By Ben Sillis on 9 February 2016
Legendary game designer Yu Suzuki on crowdfunding, Ryo’s return and even Shenmue 4.
http://i.imgur.com/Jd1PO79.jpg
Ryo is back after more than a decade © Ys Net
Mr Suzuki has been waiting a long time to make his latest game – about 20 years, in fact.
" From the beginning, I had been readying plans for various contingencies should the chance to develop Shenmue 3 ever arise, " he tells Red Bull in an exclusive interview. " After the Kickstarter announcement, I received a lot of messages and videos from people all over the world. I was very deeply moved that Shenmue still has so many loyal fans, even after 15 years. "
There are very few developers who are household names, stars that shine as bright as the mascots they create. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame, maybe Peter Molyneux at a push. You could probably count them all one one hand, even, but you'd have to reserve one digit for Yu Suzuki, AKA Mr Sega, head of its AM2 development team for almost two decades.
While American CEO Tom Kalinske is often credited with turning Sega into a powerhouse to rival Nintendo in the 1990s, it was Suzuki who turned in the games he sold. Responsible for arcade hits like Hang-On and Out Run, Suzuki was one of the first developers to pioneer polygonal 3D graphics, in games like Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop. Did you ever play in a Daytona USA cabinet in the arcade as a kid? Of course you did. That was him too. Ferrari F355 Challenge. Space Harrier. Dozens of classic games. But there's one game he's never been able to escape from, one he has never even tried to, that has cast a shadow over his career this century: Shenmue.
It's a little hard to describe Shenmue if you've never played it. It's a sweeping drama of family revenge set in 1980s suburban Japan and bustling Hong Kong that incorporates detective work, 3D fighting, a metric busload of voice acting and more of life's most mundane activities than you might expect. You can play darts or buy toy capsules from a vending machine. You can get a job lifting boxes for pocket money, and at one point you literally have to spend an entire in-game week carrying books out of a library.
It was banal and it was beautiful. It was the culmination of Yu Suzuki's work pushing Sega's hardware to the absolute limit, and cost a fortune to make – a rumoured $70 million, though part of that cost went into Shenmue 2.
It did not sell.
http://i.imgur.com/AT8Tl3X.jpg
Shenmue creator, Yu Suzuki © Ys Net
It would be tempting to say that audiences were not ready for such a game. But Shenmue and its sequel were only failures by the same metric that Dreamcast was, in that they happened to exist at the same time as the mighty PlayStation 2, and therefore did not make their costs back. Both games were adored by fans, who spent more than a decade clamouring for a resolution to the cliffhanger at the end of part two. Suzuki for his part continued to spend the 2000s returning to his older arcade hits while dropping hints that he'd love to return to the story of brave, blundering teenager Ryo Hazuki, if only Sega would give him the budget.
Then E3 2015 happened and everything changed. Suzuki decided to tweet a photo of a forklift truck, Ryo's preferred ride, and then turned up on stage at the Sony keynote to announce Shenmue 3 would be coming to PC and PS4 – so long as fans were prepared to back the game on Kickstarter to the tune of $2 million. Predictably, the project broke the Kickstarter record for funds raised for a game when 69,320 backers pledged a total of $6,333,295 to help bring Ryo back.
The return of Ryo
As we enter 2016, it's clear we're entering a new phase in Suzuki's career. Sega has granted his new studio, Ys Net, permission to use the Shenmue IP, but otherwise does not appear to be involved, while inexpensive and powerful game engine software now makes the game feasible on a much smaller budget. In some ways though, Suzuki admits he's picking up where he left off all those years ago.
" Shenmue 3 will be based on the original 11 chapter story I planned during the [Sega] Saturn era, " he tells Red Bull. " Using that story, we put the game together in such a way that people new to Shenmue, as well as fans of Shenmue 1 and 2, will be able to enjoy the game. "
For those new to the saga, Suzuki has a quick primer: " It is the story of a boy who travels to China on his quest to avenge his father's death, but it is also a story of love and friendship, and the bonds he shares with the people he meets as he matures to manhood through his martial arts training. "
This description sounds a tad like the blurb you might find on the back of a Sega Saturn game box, and does not quite capture the story's allure: Shenmue 2 ends on a decidedly magical note in a rural village in China, with Ryo discovering that two mysterious Macguffins may cause the resurrection of an even more evil Macguffin. We push for a few more details, and while Suzuki is keeping tight-lipped on plot, he says Ryo will grown on his journey. He's still angry, but his encounters with others may help to temper that rage.
http://i.imgur.com/7XFjSyX.jpg
Shenmue 3’s environment is making use of UE4 © Ys Net
" In terms of the story, a year has not yet passed from the conclusion of Shenmue 2, so Ryo's feelings of revenge have remained unchanged, " Suzuki says. " As Ryo did in Hong Kong in Shenmue 2, he will travel to Guilin in Shenmue III, maturing as he encounters different people through his martial arts training. "
Little time has passed for Ryo, but gamers have certainly grown up in his absence. Entire console generations have come and gone. You can still play Shenmue 2 on an HDTV with an Xbox 360, but the frustrating controls – you move with the D-pad, not a thumbstick – only serve as a reminder of just how much conventions have changed.
We wonder if Suzuki, who openly admits he began planning this game in the '90s, believes he will struggle to update Shenmue 3 to 2016 expectations. " We are planning to use Unreal Engine 4 for Shenmue 3, utilising the most cutting edge production techniques so we can exploit the engine's maximum potential, " he says. " The design concept of UE4 matches perfectly with how I make games, which is why I went in that direction. "
Genre shifting Shenmue
It's not just games that have changed in the interim however, but how we talk about them too. Shenmue was far ahead of its time in this regard, at least. The game's open cities, with operating bus routes and shops that opened and closed with the days of the week, predated even Grand Theft Auto 3 by several years, and were a predecessor of the sandbox games we play today. Suzuki even came up with his own acronym for the genre at the time, 'FREE' (Full Reactive Eyes Environment). But if he had to pigeonhole his life's work now?
" The genre that is the closest to describing Shenmue is what nowadays is called an open world game, " he says. " The concept of Shenmue was to maximize the level of game play freedom by offering the highest potential number of different ways one could enjoy the game. "
http://i.imgur.com/lkBBjlF.jpg
Expect plenty of mystery in the third instalment © Ys Net
For better or worse, Suzuki also originated the concept of the Quick Time Event (QTE): you would perform set actions and survive certain scenes – like someone trying to stove Ryo's head in with a metal pipe – by pressing a button on time with the screen. Succeed and the story continues. Fail and you might have to go the long way round, find another lead in your detective hunt, or have your face smashed in by a Triad member. It was a novel concept at the time, but it's fair to say it's been overused since, especially in Japanese action games. A good developer, so the theory goes, will provide the tools and the engine to let you pull off cool stunts, not just bang out a cut scene set to a rhythm game.
Suzuki says QTEs will be making a return in Shenmue 3 however. " While QTEs may feel a little wanting to some action gamers, I believe that it is a fundamental technique that allows a broad range of players to actively participate in the dramatic performances of a game."
"That said, I would like to take up the challenge of creating the next evolution of the QTE, " he adds, cryptically.
http://i.imgur.com/VDMCglZ.jpg
Suzuki wants some of the team to remain anonymous © Ys Net
How Ys Net balance that need for secrecy and surprise with the transparent communication required of a successful Kickstarter project will prove interesting. " This is my first experience with developing a game in this manner and it has been a very valuable one, " Suzuki says.
" For the Kickstarter, the architecture of the game was based on a scalable structure that could be adapted to the changes in budget. I can continually receive feedback from the backers through the entire process, which in turns helps to focus the development. "
The team will have to focus. Despite the availability of powerful, multi-platform game engines and middleware, the Japanese gaming industry has turned away from open world games, and console games altogether, Suzuki points out. That makes finding a team to tackle a game with such a heritage on a comparatively small scale more challenging still.
" Smartphones have become the mainstream in the Japanese gaming market today, creating an environment where the technology developed for consoles is often underused ," he says. " Also, it is becoming difficult to secure the talent necessary to make such games, but thankfully, we have managed to gather a very promising team for Shenmue III. "
Suzuki says that he cannot reveal the size of the team – or the budget – for " confidentiality reasons ", but he is happy to talk about one recent and remarkable hire: a fan. 'Kid Nocon', a South Korean graphics designer, wowed gamers recently with his incredible high definition makeovers of scenes from the first Shenmue (" I have wanted to make a Shenmue HD for a long time ," Nocon tells us). He must have made an impact on Suzuki too, because he then hired Nocon for Shemue 3.
" Kid Nocon is one of the people who has never stopped supporting Shenmue through all this time, " Suzuki says. " Even when I first met him, I could really tell he felt strongly towards Shenmue. I hope he will continue to be an active part in the Shenmue team. "
Sequels incoming
At the time of the Kickstarter, Ys Net had little more to show prospective backers than a scene with Ryo and Shenhua hopping over some stepping stones. Suzuki says the team are currently, " working on the prototype for the game. Using that prototype, we are experimenting with the various features of UE4 and testing out the systems we want to implement. "
Suzuki is avoiding making any benchmarks to break his own back with, and steering clear of promises on visual fidelity and specs, at least for now. So 1080p, 60fps purists will have to hang tight for now. " We have just recently decided upon the graphical benchmark quality. As to frame rate, we are still running tests ."
Suzuki's reticence to talk specifics up until this point is understandable – who would want to ruin a game fans have waited patiently for, for more than 15 years? It does, however, make the answer to our next question all the more surprising. Will Shenmue 3 hasten to conclude what was originally conceived as a sprawling, 11 chapter epic?
" I'm afraid that the story will not be concluded with Shenmue III, " Suzuki says, frankly. " After thinking it through, we decided that forcing a conclusion in Shenmue 3 would only make the story feel rushed, and compromise the game as a whole. I hope we can make "
In other words, Suzuki is back to that grand, original vision for the series once more. All it took was a bit of a patience for publishers, the industry and software to catch up with him.
We just hope we won't be waiting quite so long again for Shenmue 4. Suzuki, for his part, seems optimistic: " In five years’ time, I think I will [still] be making games, " he says. " As for Ryo? I am anxious to hear where the fans think he will end up. "
- Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:35 am
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Re: Monaco Magic 2016 - Official Discussion Topic
I love how faithful those screens are compared to the source material, furniture and even some mountains are placed in the same place
I love it.
I love it.
- Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:27 am
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Re: Monaco Magic 2016 - Official Discussion Topic
I put together some of the clips that were shared on twitter. I expect a full conference video in the coming days.
- Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:53 am
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Re: Monaco Magic 2016 - Official Discussion Topic
Well I hope you liked the coverage of the Magic Monaco so far ;)
- Sat Feb 27, 2016 12:06 pm
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Shenmue Cake
Hey, 27 february was a big day for shenmue news and also my birthday, so I decided to make a cake dedicated to shenmue
this is a loading screen which I have seen in my mother's womb :)
feel free to use this idea on your birthday!
http://i.imgur.com/vkM2CON.jpg
more details )
http://i.imgur.com/B5g6GLR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DCVZEut.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/npw2CD5.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7vX5BkR.jpg
PSD file https://mega.nz/#!DooGiCYD
this is a loading screen which I have seen in my mother's womb :)
feel free to use this idea on your birthday!
http://i.imgur.com/vkM2CON.jpg
more details )
http://i.imgur.com/B5g6GLR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DCVZEut.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/npw2CD5.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7vX5BkR.jpg
PSD file https://mega.nz/#!DooGiCYD
- Sat Feb 27, 2016 6:19 pm
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Re: New Members Introduce Yourself!
Howdy! I'm Flamzeron. I'm new here. I got into Shenmue a good 9 months ago when I got a Dreamcast back in June at a used stuff store. To be honest, it was the announcement of Shenmue III that got my interested. I had heard about the series before but I never played it at the time. During the summer of 2015 was when I started looking up more videos about the games and ultimately decided to buy the first one off of eBay. Played it, loved it, bought the second one off of a guy on Facebook (don't worry, it was in good condition lol) and loved it as well. I love the story and the martial arts elements to it. I can't wait for Shenmue III, especially with that ending from Shenmue II!
My favorite video game series is the Tales series, to which I almost have a complete collection of (at least a version of each game, only missing two). Besides Tales, my favorite franchise is Dragon Ball. I also like Ys, EverQuest, Soulcalibur, Dark Souls (Demon's and Bloodborne included), Dynasty Warriors, Warcraft, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Star Ocean to name a few. I collect both retro and modern games and I've been working on my personal wishlist and trying to narrow it down to the absolute must haves. As a gamer, I'm mainly interested in A-RPGs but I also like platformers, fighters, adventure, puzzle, and action games.
I also collect other stuff, like anime, comics/manga, and action figures, but I also collect T-shirts and I used to collect swords back in the day. I just collect whatever interests me.
My passion is writing. I hope to be a novelist one day and I have been working on a samurai novel whenever I get the chance. I've written some short stories and poetry as well as a couple other novels, but I haven't gotten anything published yet. Maybe one day.
That basically wraps it up. Other than those tidbits, I used to do voice acting, but I retired due to a lack of creative drive. I also run a podcast and do videos on YouTube for funsies. I look forward to all the fun stuff we will will do and talk about about I hope we can all be buddies! :)
My favorite video game series is the Tales series, to which I almost have a complete collection of (at least a version of each game, only missing two). Besides Tales, my favorite franchise is Dragon Ball. I also like Ys, EverQuest, Soulcalibur, Dark Souls (Demon's and Bloodborne included), Dynasty Warriors, Warcraft, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Star Ocean to name a few. I collect both retro and modern games and I've been working on my personal wishlist and trying to narrow it down to the absolute must haves. As a gamer, I'm mainly interested in A-RPGs but I also like platformers, fighters, adventure, puzzle, and action games.
I also collect other stuff, like anime, comics/manga, and action figures, but I also collect T-shirts and I used to collect swords back in the day. I just collect whatever interests me.
My passion is writing. I hope to be a novelist one day and I have been working on a samurai novel whenever I get the chance. I've written some short stories and poetry as well as a couple other novels, but I haven't gotten anything published yet. Maybe one day.
That basically wraps it up. Other than those tidbits, I used to do voice acting, but I retired due to a lack of creative drive. I also run a podcast and do videos on YouTube for funsies. I look forward to all the fun stuff we will will do and talk about about I hope we can all be buddies! :)
- Tue Feb 23, 2016 2:03 am
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Re: Monaco Magic 2016 - Official Discussion Topic
Dear all,
My name is Rob Scharr, and I am one of the Kickstarter sponsors joining with Yu Suzuki and Shibuya productions this weekend here in Monaco. It was also a great pleasure to meet Peter and a few others from Shenmue Dojo last night. I hope to fully become a part of this community going forward and hope to speak with as many of the other Shenmue supporters as possible.
I studied Japanese for six years and Chinese for three years, but I am a political scientist by trade, and I will have earned my PhD in that field after a few more months. As wild and wacky as the political situation in my home country- the United States- has become, I will have plenty of reasons to do my best in this field going forward. But a prominent US political figure said something a few years ago that stuck with me. He said, "People don't succeed because they are smart, or wealthy. They succeed because they have passion for what they do. Passion is what really makes all the difference." And as soon as he said this, the first thing that came to my mind was Yu-Suzuki and Shenmue, and I hoped that someday, I could translate my latent passion for Shenmue into results.
I should come clean about one thing. With only a handful of sporadic exceptions, I have not gotten deeply involved in gaming for the past 15 years, and therefore I probably know much less about the ins and outs of the Shenmue universe- and gaming in general- than just about anyone in this community. In fact Shenmue I was one of the very last games that I delved into on any meaningful level, and for reasons I will go into another time, the game changed my life. A couple years after that, my college gaming friends all went their separate ways and I for the most part lost the community with whom I had shared then Shenmue experience in 1999/2000. I was also deeply demoralized by the way Sony and the gaming press dispatched the Dreamcast simply by lying about how much more powerful the PS2 was supposed to be; all Sony had to do was say "55 million polygons per second," and all of the third-party developers flocked to the PS2 like stupid sheep. I was furious at Sony for years, and since Sony had basically remade the entire gaming industry in their own image and I frankly wanted no part of it. Given how much Sony is doing to support Shenmue now, I don't quite hold a grudge against them like I used to, but that's another story. Bottom line, I basically removed myself from the gaming world after the Dreamcast's early demise.
On top of that, Aspect, Sega of Japan's publishing arm, released a book under Yu Suzuki's name that was heavily autobiographical in 2001, entitled "Game Works: Volume I.". Yu Suzuki himself didn't sit down and write the book himself; rather, he was interviewed by a man named Akira Nagae, who in turn compiled a series of interviews with Yu Suzuki with some brief commentary in between. There was never a "Volume II" and I had no idea what plans they had- they might have gone back to Suzuki for more material, or they might have gone to Yuji Naka or someone else at Sega. The book, as it was put together, had a few quirks, the cover was bland as could be, and I might have chosen a different title had it been up to me. From what I can tell, the book sold extremely poorly in Japan, even though it was packed with good information. If Shenmue taught us anything, it is that we cannot necessarily rely on the collective senses of the Japanese gaming masses to know a good thing when they see it, and if the book had have been released in North America and Europe with a few adjustments, I believe it could have easily sold tens of thousands of copies.
With this in mind, shortly after finishing my undergrad in 2002, I translated the entire book into English. Despite Aspect's and my best efforts to find a U.S. publisher, it never happened. At that time, the only gaming-centric publishers (such as Prima) focused only on strategy guides, and mainstream publishers, none of whom knew the first thing about games, all refused to touch it. Efforts took place on-and-off over the years to revive the project, but nothing ever came of it, and after that disappointment, aside from a brief stint teaching Japanese at DigiPen Institute of Technology (which is Nintendo of America's school), my involvement in the gaming industry went back to zero and pretty much stayed there until last year when Shenmue III was announced.
With that announcement, the passion very suddenly began rushing through my veins again, and I made the decision to stretch myself to my financial limits and make the $10,000 contribution on Kickstarter so I would have the chance to thank Yu Suzuki in person. And so here I am in Monaco ready to spend the day with Suzuki-san and my fellow contributors Chao and Amir, both of whom are outstanding people from the UK. Today, I plan to discuss with them what plans they have for voice acting, and I will ask Yu Suzuki- who himself knows much about history, how the end of the Cultural Revolution in China and how the beginning of the economic reform era will manifest itself within Shenmue III's environment. And when the Japanese script for Shenmue III is finalized, we will need people with have not just good language ability, but with a deep and visceral connection to Shenmue in order to do justice to the game's message. Whether I will be one of those people that makes this happen is entirely up to Suzuki-san and his team, but at any rate, I don't feel that we will be well-served if this game's translation is left entirely to contractors with no real connection to Shenmue, as is the case with most games these days.
We all have our own professions, and going forward, I will be the most competent political scientist I can be. But also, going forward, I will go above and beyond whatever is asked of me by Suzuki-san and his team for this game and others that follow; at the end of the day, this isn't about me, but about realizing Yu Suzuki's vision, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will do whatever it takes to make this game the kind of success it can be. Even post-release, our work won't be done. It will especially be up to sites like Shenmue Dojo- and in particular, people like Peter, to make sure the press treats Yu-san fairly and also to make sure we pull out all the stops in spreading awareness of (and providing word-of-mouth publicity for) this magnificent endeavor.
Therefore, I hope to become part of this community, even after my long hiatus from the scene.
Thank you.
Rob Scharr
I wish I could post more, but my brain has literally flatland. It did a while ago during the day to be honest. I am going to try and get some sleep, fly home tomorrow, and then sit and try to type out anything I can remember from the past few days. It was so crazy, I haven't been able to do what all of you guys have been doing all day, and actually digesting the new information and images, as well as going nuts about them.
One thing I can remember and can be open about, is that when the "surprise" part of the confrence happened, and Cedric brought Suzuki-san back on stage, and the video of the Shenmue tree as well as the interior of Shenhuas home.... It legitimately almost brought me to tears. It's the best video I have seen yet, and I was unbelievably blown away by how faithfully it had been recreated, down to the last pot and pan. That blew my mind beyond words, and it's the video that has filled me with the most confidence about this game yet.
My name is Rob Scharr, and I am one of the Kickstarter sponsors joining with Yu Suzuki and Shibuya productions this weekend here in Monaco. It was also a great pleasure to meet Peter and a few others from Shenmue Dojo last night. I hope to fully become a part of this community going forward and hope to speak with as many of the other Shenmue supporters as possible.
I studied Japanese for six years and Chinese for three years, but I am a political scientist by trade, and I will have earned my PhD in that field after a few more months. As wild and wacky as the political situation in my home country- the United States- has become, I will have plenty of reasons to do my best in this field going forward. But a prominent US political figure said something a few years ago that stuck with me. He said, "People don't succeed because they are smart, or wealthy. They succeed because they have passion for what they do. Passion is what really makes all the difference." And as soon as he said this, the first thing that came to my mind was Yu-Suzuki and Shenmue, and I hoped that someday, I could translate my latent passion for Shenmue into results.
I should come clean about one thing. With only a handful of sporadic exceptions, I have not gotten deeply involved in gaming for the past 15 years, and therefore I probably know much less about the ins and outs of the Shenmue universe- and gaming in general- than just about anyone in this community. In fact Shenmue I was one of the very last games that I delved into on any meaningful level, and for reasons I will go into another time, the game changed my life. A couple years after that, my college gaming friends all went their separate ways and I for the most part lost the community with whom I had shared then Shenmue experience in 1999/2000. I was also deeply demoralized by the way Sony and the gaming press dispatched the Dreamcast simply by lying about how much more powerful the PS2 was supposed to be; all Sony had to do was say "55 million polygons per second," and all of the third-party developers flocked to the PS2 like stupid sheep. I was furious at Sony for years, and since Sony had basically remade the entire gaming industry in their own image and I frankly wanted no part of it. Given how much Sony is doing to support Shenmue now, I don't quite hold a grudge against them like I used to, but that's another story. Bottom line, I basically removed myself from the gaming world after the Dreamcast's early demise.
On top of that, Aspect, Sega of Japan's publishing arm, released a book under Yu Suzuki's name that was heavily autobiographical in 2001, entitled "Game Works: Volume I.". Yu Suzuki himself didn't sit down and write the book himself; rather, he was interviewed by a man named Akira Nagae, who in turn compiled a series of interviews with Yu Suzuki with some brief commentary in between. There was never a "Volume II" and I had no idea what plans they had- they might have gone back to Suzuki for more material, or they might have gone to Yuji Naka or someone else at Sega. The book, as it was put together, had a few quirks, the cover was bland as could be, and I might have chosen a different title had it been up to me. From what I can tell, the book sold extremely poorly in Japan, even though it was packed with good information. If Shenmue taught us anything, it is that we cannot necessarily rely on the collective senses of the Japanese gaming masses to know a good thing when they see it, and if the book had have been released in North America and Europe with a few adjustments, I believe it could have easily sold tens of thousands of copies.
With this in mind, shortly after finishing my undergrad in 2002, I translated the entire book into English. Despite Aspect's and my best efforts to find a U.S. publisher, it never happened. At that time, the only gaming-centric publishers (such as Prima) focused only on strategy guides, and mainstream publishers, none of whom knew the first thing about games, all refused to touch it. Efforts took place on-and-off over the years to revive the project, but nothing ever came of it, and after that disappointment, aside from a brief stint teaching Japanese at DigiPen Institute of Technology (which is Nintendo of America's school), my involvement in the gaming industry went back to zero and pretty much stayed there until last year when Shenmue III was announced.
With that announcement, the passion very suddenly began rushing through my veins again, and I made the decision to stretch myself to my financial limits and make the $10,000 contribution on Kickstarter so I would have the chance to thank Yu Suzuki in person. And so here I am in Monaco ready to spend the day with Suzuki-san and my fellow contributors Chao and Amir, both of whom are outstanding people from the UK. Today, I plan to discuss with them what plans they have for voice acting, and I will ask Yu Suzuki- who himself knows much about history, how the end of the Cultural Revolution in China and how the beginning of the economic reform era will manifest itself within Shenmue III's environment. And when the Japanese script for Shenmue III is finalized, we will need people with have not just good language ability, but with a deep and visceral connection to Shenmue in order to do justice to the game's message. Whether I will be one of those people that makes this happen is entirely up to Suzuki-san and his team, but at any rate, I don't feel that we will be well-served if this game's translation is left entirely to contractors with no real connection to Shenmue, as is the case with most games these days.
We all have our own professions, and going forward, I will be the most competent political scientist I can be. But also, going forward, I will go above and beyond whatever is asked of me by Suzuki-san and his team for this game and others that follow; at the end of the day, this isn't about me, but about realizing Yu Suzuki's vision, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will do whatever it takes to make this game the kind of success it can be. Even post-release, our work won't be done. It will especially be up to sites like Shenmue Dojo- and in particular, people like Peter, to make sure the press treats Yu-san fairly and also to make sure we pull out all the stops in spreading awareness of (and providing word-of-mouth publicity for) this magnificent endeavor.
Therefore, I hope to become part of this community, even after my long hiatus from the scene.
Thank you.
Rob Scharr
I wish I could post more, but my brain has literally flatland. It did a while ago during the day to be honest. I am going to try and get some sleep, fly home tomorrow, and then sit and try to type out anything I can remember from the past few days. It was so crazy, I haven't been able to do what all of you guys have been doing all day, and actually digesting the new information and images, as well as going nuts about them.
One thing I can remember and can be open about, is that when the "surprise" part of the confrence happened, and Cedric brought Suzuki-san back on stage, and the video of the Shenmue tree as well as the interior of Shenhuas home.... It legitimately almost brought me to tears. It's the best video I have seen yet, and I was unbelievably blown away by how faithfully it had been recreated, down to the last pot and pan. That blew my mind beyond words, and it's the video that has filled me with the most confidence about this game yet.
- Sun Feb 28, 2016 4:24 am
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Re: Monaco Magic 2016 - Official Discussion Topic
Peeping into a bathroom will reveal the true Full Reactive EYES Entertainment power of the Shenmue series. Curious who Ryo's going to peep into; Shenhua most probably. Also those voice recordings didn't go into waste after all; their use was planned from the beginning.
The previous paragraph was rated P ...for Peeping (you Pervert).
The previous paragraph was rated P ...for Peeping (you Pervert).
- Sun Mar 20, 2016 3:08 pm
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Re: Yu Suzuki, part of the New World Order?
:-s
Oh, I see you are confused, I'll explain.
Duck Racing is a special gambling event in Shenmue II which can only be unlocked by following a specific set of side-events. Also, a penguin enters the race on rainy days.
And a transvestite is a person who likes to dress like a person of the opposite sex.
Oh, I see you are confused, I'll explain.
Duck Racing is a special gambling event in Shenmue II which can only be unlocked by following a specific set of side-events. Also, a penguin enters the race on rainy days.
And a transvestite is a person who likes to dress like a person of the opposite sex.
- Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:59 am
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Re: Shenmue III Logo Poll
Awesome Japan Poll:
What font do you prefer? The old font or the new font?
Old Iconic Font - 100% (1 trillion votes)
New Font - 0%
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AJ: - Due to to overwhelming and clear response, we have decided to stick to the NEW FONT. Thanks to all who participated.
- Fri Apr 08, 2016 3:20 pm
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SEGA currently "investigating" making Shenmue 1/2 HD happen
If they're making it they want it to "live up to the quality of the original titles" and want to include the licensed products from the original game.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1217581
- Wed May 11, 2016 3:57 pm
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Re: SEGA currently "investigating" making Shenmue 1/2 HD hap
All the official brands can be replaced by "Jet Colas".
The voice acting is already done, at best you need to give a percentage of the profits back to the voice actors, but they don't hold the rights of their performance.
SEGA is indeed a business, a horrible one. They rather continue shitting out mediocre sonics, than rebuild their other forgotten franchises.
The voice acting is already done, at best you need to give a percentage of the profits back to the voice actors, but they don't hold the rights of their performance.
SEGA is indeed a business, a horrible one. They rather continue shitting out mediocre sonics, than rebuild their other forgotten franchises.
- Sat May 14, 2016 6:58 am
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Re: E3 2016 & Shenmue 3
The Shenmue community in general have done more for Shenmue III than Awesome Japan has. We should be given medals.
Or mirrors...
Or mirrors...
- Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:44 am
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Re: Please stay connected (or reconnect) to reality...
Who the fuck cares?
- Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:24 pm
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Re: E3 2016 & Shenmue 3
Okay, WHO is the member who is now involved in Shenmue 3's development?
WHY did he get the position?
In WHAT capacity is he working on Shenmue 3?
Have we seen the RESULTS yet of his work?
And WHY aren't people happy for him? Did he make a dick-move somewhere down the line? Is his identity Adam Doree?????
I want answers!
WHY did he get the position?
In WHAT capacity is he working on Shenmue 3?
Have we seen the RESULTS yet of his work?
And WHY aren't people happy for him? Did he make a dick-move somewhere down the line? Is his identity Adam Doree?????
I want answers!
- Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:42 pm
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Re: Cédric Biscay interview by Shenmue Master
Dark Souls, Life Is Strange, and more niche are as well. Still have their audiences.
Those games aren't really niche at all. True, Dark Souls relies on "hardcore" gamers for its success, blocking casual audiences out. But that's not niche. It's gaming. It's being sold across various platforms and has spawned two sequels, three even, if you start counting at Demon's Souls. Life is Strange aims for and actually appeals to (at least parts of) the mainstream. It's one of those games your girlfriend might actually try out, even when otherwise not giving a damn about games.
I'm not saying Shenmue III can't achieve one million in sales, I think it's possible. But calling Let's Get Sweaty's estimation of the game facing an uphill struggle "blatant fear mongering" makes you sound quite delusional and, way worse, fanboyish. So does listing all those well-selling franchises who found their largest audiences somewhere mid-series and comparing them to Shenmue. It's just really far-fetched. I can tell you why it worked in each and every of those cases, and why it might just not work for Shenmue. Can't be arsed right now. Might add it later.
Can we just keep things rational for once? Shenmue III might do alright, Shenmue III might also fail commercially. It sure as hell won't "revolutionize" anything. Press coverage is so-so, but then again, there's not that much to cover yet. There's probably no conspiracy against the series going on.
The best thing I took from this interview is Biscay once again confirming the originally targeted release date.
Those games aren't really niche at all. True, Dark Souls relies on "hardcore" gamers for its success, blocking casual audiences out. But that's not niche. It's gaming. It's being sold across various platforms and has spawned two sequels, three even, if you start counting at Demon's Souls. Life is Strange aims for and actually appeals to (at least parts of) the mainstream. It's one of those games your girlfriend might actually try out, even when otherwise not giving a damn about games.
I'm not saying Shenmue III can't achieve one million in sales, I think it's possible. But calling Let's Get Sweaty's estimation of the game facing an uphill struggle "blatant fear mongering" makes you sound quite delusional and, way worse, fanboyish. So does listing all those well-selling franchises who found their largest audiences somewhere mid-series and comparing them to Shenmue. It's just really far-fetched. I can tell you why it worked in each and every of those cases, and why it might just not work for Shenmue. Can't be arsed right now. Might add it later.
Can we just keep things rational for once? Shenmue III might do alright, Shenmue III might also fail commercially. It sure as hell won't "revolutionize" anything. Press coverage is so-so, but then again, there's not that much to cover yet. There's probably no conspiracy against the series going on.
The best thing I took from this interview is Biscay once again confirming the originally targeted release date.
- Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:24 am
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Re: shenmue 3 (dreamcast style) game case
I did this a while back, I am definetly in for a retro-dreamcast game case,
- Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:03 pm
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Re: Random Thoughts
Most people don't even know why they're angry or sad or happy. Voters are largely brainwashed by the ideas of others and don't know how to think critically for themselves. When I see someone bashing the other party indiscriminately, I just assume they're an idiot who are ready to believe anything that adhere's to their already-thought beliefs.
- Fri Nov 11, 2016 6:52 pm
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Re: How long have you been on this forum ?
Does it count if we disappear for years at a time and then return to lurk some more? Been off and on for about 15 years.
- Sat Nov 19, 2016 4:27 pm
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Re: [Poll] Place your bets: What happens at PSX?
What I hope: S3 + I/II HD
What I expect: S3
What we get: >.<
What I expect: S3
What we get: >.<
- Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:29 pm
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Shenmue II: The Movie
https://youtu.be/y1cZhDErMRA
https://youtu.be/zOFvWCCAWSg
It's finally time to break my silence on this matter. I've been working on Shenmue II: The Movie for almost two months now, and recently finished recording disc 2 of the game. I've set Christmas of this year as the deadline, but hopefully I'll be finished much sooner, and will have time to do some kind of promotion. If you have any ideas and or would like to help, feel free to PM me.
Shenmue I and II are much more different on a technical level than I expected, and with changes come new challenges. In some ways, Shenmue II: The Movie will be superior to its prequel, but in other ways I've had to make compromises. I can't go too into depth about this right now, but I will say that despite what's seen in the trailer, fights have to be done in 4:3 since the camera does not work properly in 16:9. That being said, I am once again using the 16:9 Auto Fixer created by Dojo members Esppiral , Masterchan777 , and Sappharad , and for the most part it works wonderfully (naturally, there's glitches that can't be helped).
As a result of that poll I ran in the old thread, and for consistency's sake, the movie will be in English thanks to the fantastic mod created by Sm1th . I've played through Shenmue II a few times in the past using the mod, and initially I was worried that I'd run into a plethora of sync issues during conversations. There have been some, but thankfully it's been very limited so far, and nothing I can't work around.
I don't have an estimate for run time yet, but I think it'll be shorter than the 5 hour marathon that was Shenmue: The Movie Remastered . This time, I'm trying to limit myself on the number of secrets and extras being shown. My ultimate goal is for newcomers to actually play the games themselves, since there's so much they'll never experience simply by watching. However, that doesn't mean the movie will strictly contain story elements. Similarly to the first project, I've made it a point to include a variety of gameplay features and cutscenes.
That's about it for now. If you liked the trailer, please share it, and as always, if you'd like to help out with the project in any way, send me a PM. Thanks!
https://youtu.be/zOFvWCCAWSg
It's finally time to break my silence on this matter. I've been working on Shenmue II: The Movie for almost two months now, and recently finished recording disc 2 of the game. I've set Christmas of this year as the deadline, but hopefully I'll be finished much sooner, and will have time to do some kind of promotion. If you have any ideas and or would like to help, feel free to PM me.
Shenmue I and II are much more different on a technical level than I expected, and with changes come new challenges. In some ways, Shenmue II: The Movie will be superior to its prequel, but in other ways I've had to make compromises. I can't go too into depth about this right now, but I will say that despite what's seen in the trailer, fights have to be done in 4:3 since the camera does not work properly in 16:9. That being said, I am once again using the 16:9 Auto Fixer created by Dojo members Esppiral , Masterchan777 , and Sappharad , and for the most part it works wonderfully (naturally, there's glitches that can't be helped).
As a result of that poll I ran in the old thread, and for consistency's sake, the movie will be in English thanks to the fantastic mod created by Sm1th . I've played through Shenmue II a few times in the past using the mod, and initially I was worried that I'd run into a plethora of sync issues during conversations. There have been some, but thankfully it's been very limited so far, and nothing I can't work around.
I don't have an estimate for run time yet, but I think it'll be shorter than the 5 hour marathon that was Shenmue: The Movie Remastered . This time, I'm trying to limit myself on the number of secrets and extras being shown. My ultimate goal is for newcomers to actually play the games themselves, since there's so much they'll never experience simply by watching. However, that doesn't mean the movie will strictly contain story elements. Similarly to the first project, I've made it a point to include a variety of gameplay features and cutscenes.
That's about it for now. If you liked the trailer, please share it, and as always, if you'd like to help out with the project in any way, send me a PM. Thanks!
- Wed Aug 24, 2016 12:43 pm
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Re: Playstation Experience - December 2016
I think Cedric has good intentions, but his Twitter is being unfairly scrutinized because Awesome Japan/whoever isn't doing their job. He made the mistake of trying to communicate with a pretty hardcore group of fans. I think one great trailer will fix all these months of heartache and dsappointment, so hang in there.
- Sun Dec 04, 2016 5:42 am
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Re: Playstation Experience - December 2016
Hey everyone. I'll keep this quick, still at PSX. I spoke to Gio Corsi in person. Sony was never approached by Suzuki's team about showing at PSX. It was never planned, not cancelled. He believes they'll show backers first. That's about it.
- Sun Dec 04, 2016 8:43 pm
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Re: No Shenmue 3 Until E3 2017!!!
to the lack of actual game updates
You keep saying this even though it isn't true.
It's like the updates are done only for Shenmue fans rather than communicating anything about the game to newcomers. It's like, why should anyone besides Shenmue fans buy the game? According to the updates I'm not seeing any reason at all. I find it all piss poor, being honest.
This. And that sucks hard because there will come the day we have to point out this reason for the poor sales this game will continue to have.
Indeed. There's so much they could be doing to build hype.
For example, I'd make a ten minute video once a month to give non-fans a reason to be invested. Make a ten minute video interview, Iwata Asks style, asking Yu and Oyasu about Shenmue III's themes, what will help it stand out. Or maybe do a ten minute interview with various backers of different levels to see why they're excited for Shenmue III. The next one could be about the history of Shenmue and its origins. They could why China and why Yu has such a deep connection to the country.
I would personally also do a new game item a month feature where they show a new game item each month. A new npc, a new house, a new model of Ryo's jacket. This could give some members of the team something new to strive for once a month and boost morale among the team.
There's so much they could be doing to keep backers engaged and hopefully spread hype about the game even without any footage to show. But it feels like they're just coasting.
These are things I came up with on the spot by the way. If 8-4 were doing this I promise things would far more active and interesting.
You keep saying this even though it isn't true.
It's like the updates are done only for Shenmue fans rather than communicating anything about the game to newcomers. It's like, why should anyone besides Shenmue fans buy the game? According to the updates I'm not seeing any reason at all. I find it all piss poor, being honest.
This. And that sucks hard because there will come the day we have to point out this reason for the poor sales this game will continue to have.
Indeed. There's so much they could be doing to build hype.
For example, I'd make a ten minute video once a month to give non-fans a reason to be invested. Make a ten minute video interview, Iwata Asks style, asking Yu and Oyasu about Shenmue III's themes, what will help it stand out. Or maybe do a ten minute interview with various backers of different levels to see why they're excited for Shenmue III. The next one could be about the history of Shenmue and its origins. They could why China and why Yu has such a deep connection to the country.
I would personally also do a new game item a month feature where they show a new game item each month. A new npc, a new house, a new model of Ryo's jacket. This could give some members of the team something new to strive for once a month and boost morale among the team.
There's so much they could be doing to keep backers engaged and hopefully spread hype about the game even without any footage to show. But it feels like they're just coasting.
These are things I came up with on the spot by the way. If 8-4 were doing this I promise things would far more active and interesting.
- Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:49 pm
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Re: How long have you been on this forum ?
I joined the old-old forum in late 2001, when I was still in high school. I either had just ordered the PAL import of Shenmue II or was looking for advice on how to import it when I stumbled upon this crew.
My favorite poster in those days was named Shenmue2 (can't remember the exact formatting). He would say the most inane/silly things and people would get really pissed off, which was endlessly entertaining. A personal favorite was the story of how he ordered Shenmue II, and when the box arrived it contained nothing but a dead cockroach. Anybody else remember him?
Anyway, I've been in and out of the forum in the decade and a half since then -- I recall the great schism back in the summer of '03, and various other forum dramas. I've grown up along with the community; now I even have a son. Yes, I am someone's father. To those who remember me that may be a frightening thought, but rest assured that he will join the cult of Shenmue one day. He's a bit young to brainwash just yet, though.
My favorite poster in those days was named Shenmue2 (can't remember the exact formatting). He would say the most inane/silly things and people would get really pissed off, which was endlessly entertaining. A personal favorite was the story of how he ordered Shenmue II, and when the box arrived it contained nothing but a dead cockroach. Anybody else remember him?
Anyway, I've been in and out of the forum in the decade and a half since then -- I recall the great schism back in the summer of '03, and various other forum dramas. I've grown up along with the community; now I even have a son. Yes, I am someone's father. To those who remember me that may be a frightening thought, but rest assured that he will join the cult of Shenmue one day. He's a bit young to brainwash just yet, though.
- Fri Dec 09, 2016 1:19 am
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Re: What ~*May*~ Be Coming in December's Kickstarter Update
sand4fish wrote:Should we give them a little round of applauses?
No. Suzuki is too kind or is definitely clueless about communication.
- Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:48 pm
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Re: Dojo OG Makes Return
I'm a little older now, and as I'm not quite so down with the kids as I once was, I had to use Urban Dictionary in order to establish the meaning of the above post.
As I suspected, it would appear to be a diss. As you have not been much of a gentleman, I don't think I will be either. So screw you, Mitten boy. Screw you. :D
With that said, I'll take what is obviously the dopest colour combination there, black and yellow. Because everything I do, I do it big.
As I suspected, it would appear to be a diss. As you have not been much of a gentleman, I don't think I will be either. So screw you, Mitten boy. Screw you. :D
With that said, I'll take what is obviously the dopest colour combination there, black and yellow. Because everything I do, I do it big.
- Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:12 am
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Re: Securing Shenmue's future
Copies of Shenmue III will be the currency in the post-apocalypse. 
- Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:19 am
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Re: Lets Talk Shenmue HD
Why isn't it out yet? seyga more like segay amiright? haha lol I made myself laugh
- Sun Dec 25, 2016 10:39 pm
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Re: New Shenmue I/I/III images [Dec 26 interview]
Spaghetti wrote: The Google Translate version of Yu's bio is hilarious.The latest work "Champagne III" will be released on PC and PS 4 in December 2017.
Champagne III. Karim was right!
CONFIRMED!
- Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:04 am
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