I've been with contact with Robert Pontow from Deep Silver, who is working on Shenmue 3.
I told him about Eric Kelso, Paul Lucas, and Lisle Wilkerson, and how they want to return to Shenmue 3. This is his reply:

Hi, thanks for contacting me. Would you have any email addresses of the voice actors, their agents or any other means of contacting them? Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to discuss anything over FB, so we would need to take an official way to get in contact with the voice actors. But I am sure that Yu Suzuki would be happy if we can secure the same crew for Shenmue 3. Best regards

This means there is hope yet. I will try to find a way to get in touch with those three, I'll tweet Shenmue AM2 podcast who had been in touch with them recently. If you guys know anything that might help, let me know too


This also confirms my suspicion that they didn't know that the VA's wanted to return

Hello Everyone!

It is now official! Voice actress Haruka Terui will be the voice of Shenhua Ling, the heroine of this story facing the adventures ahead with Ryo.

It has been quite a wait since the confirmation announcement of Masaya Matsukaze as Ryo in the July of 2015, but trust us, it was worth it!

The Main Cast
A word of introduction from our main cast members…

https://abload.de/img/01_masaya_matsukaze_jfcqf7.jpg
Comments from Masaya Matsukaze:

Sequel Excitement
When I heard that the project broke two Guinness World Records, I must say it did not really hit me at the time, but now, I couldn’t be more excited! We are making good headway on the uncommon amount of speaking lines, and as we do so, the faces of my friends who were also in the production of 1 and 2 are there with me in my thoughts.

For the long-time Shenmue fans, I hope they will also share this strikingly peculiar sense of going back in time; and for those new to the series, I hope they will enjoy this wonderful entry that will take them to a whole other world. And with the unimagined miracle announcement for the 1 and 2 remakes, I emphatically wish that everyone will experience all three!

Thoughts on the Series
Even with over 300 people so feverishly working on Shenmue, when production had stopped, I thought there would never be another sequel. Yu-san has watched as the landscape he presented to the world 14 years ago has now become the standard in the gaming industry, and I once again must give my admiration to him for building a concept on such a grand scale.

I also think how fortunate I was to be there back in my twenties. The hardware has since evolved, and now witnessing the improved quality of Shenmue, I get goose bumps all over again thinking if this is what Yu-san had seen all along. This sequel has the might of the fans behind it, and these past few years Yu-san said he has been meeting fans all over the world and would make it for them. Everything is in place, so let the journey continue.

https://abload.de/img/02_haruka_terui_je-10jardo.jpg
Comments from Haruka Terui:

Sequel Excitement
I was both honored and terrified when I heard I had been chosen to play Shenhua. Shenmue has been beloved by so many for so long and fans have been waiting her. As I look Shenhua in the eyes and become her voice, I will remember everyone has their own precious memories and I will do everything I can to keep those memories like they were. The more I learn about her, the more I feel drawn to and taken over by her curious charm. I am incredibly happy to be able to walk alongside her.

Thoughts on the Series
I watched “Shenmue: The Movie” which I borrowed from Matsukaze-san who plays Ryo. I was greatly impressed you could make a movie just from the scenes in a game. It was actually a shock for me to see how much thought had been put into the dialog and action. Now, watching the Shenmue III movie while we record, the picture is all the more beautiful. The world, the forests, the people…they all live there. I can’t wait to play it. I will be acting my heart out for Shenhua and for you!

Masaya Matsukaze is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/matsukazest
Haruka Terui is on her blog: https://ameblo.jp/palblog37/
In cooperation with AONI PRODUCTION: https://www.aoni.co.jp/

From the Recording Studio
The leading parts are cast and the Japanese voice recording is steadily moving ahead. The crew poses for a shot below taking a break from the excitement and emotion of the recording studio session.

https://abload.de/img/alt1l9oye.jpg
From left: Sound Director Nakamura-San, Mr. Matsukaze, Ms. Terui, and Yu-San

https://abload.de/img/alt2xwou3.jpg
Look at that smile! That’s the one, Masaya!

https://abload.de/img/alt3cyqjp.jpg
Leading lady Haruka Terui!

https://abload.de/img/alt42xr7e.jpg
Inside the recording booth…

Hope you enjoyed the report!
Besides our leading couple of Masaya and Haruka, recording for the other Japanese cast members is ongoing daily! When the English voicing is all set, we will be sure to have an update.

So, until next time, we thank you for your support!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/2188921


Posted from my phone in haste, so I didn't link the pictures or links properly. Staff may edit them in if they wish.

There is something very familiar looking on that screen in the background in the photo of Haruka at the mic.
Anyone else spotted and recognized that bit from the cave?

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

Anyway, an unexpected update indeed. It's a bit sad another major character can't be voiced by the original actor or actress. I'm sure Haruka will deliver a compelling performance but one wonders if Masaya will be the only one returning for the original cast.

It is cool that the little girl's mouth movements are animated finely enough to lip read what she is saying.
https://i.imgur.com/35ZH8xe.jpg

It's in Japanese, but what she appears to be saying translates to: "Oh, it's you, Ryo!". :)

Details in this post (plus other commentary on the Shenmue-relevant parts of the presentation):
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2018/05/new-shenmue-3-images-in-thq-nordic.html

Credit to mjqjazzbar for finding this out, but the Sound Director in the image is Takayuki Nakamura who has been working in sound on video games for nearly 30 years; including AM2 titles like Virtua Fighter/Virtua Fighter 2, and Daytona USA.

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/takayuki-nakamura/credits/developerId,78235/

http://www.vgmonline.net/wp-content/uploads/takayukinakamura1.jpg

https://abload.de/img/03_recording_offshottmux9.jpg

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has there been any talk on how shenmue4 will be funded? will it be another kickstarter campaign?

I don't suspect there will be a need if Shenmue III sales numbers are strong.

Shenmue I sold 2.4 million copies globally with a Dreamcast user base of 9 million. As of 2018 the PS4 user base is approaching 80 million, meaning that Shenmue III sales have far greater potential.
I think Shenmue 1 sold 1.2 million copies worldwide not 2.4m.

Nah I mean, I don't think a IV Kickstarter will do as well as III in today's climate either. The bad narrative has really damaged crowdfunding games, which is worse overall for the landscape. It might recover one day, but probably not.

Luckily, even back in 2015/2016 it sounded like from Cedric that the plan was to make the series sustainable enough that they wouldn't have to crowdfund another. Like III was getting the engine started on a car or something. If I & II, and III do well enough for SEGA/Deep Silver I could easily see there being no need to go back to Kickstarter to finish the series.

All we need to do as fans is protect, promote, and support Shenmue products the best we can as a community.

I keep thinking about what Yu Suzuki said in a past interview, that he was hoping for some kind of synergy with SEGA.
(If someone finds this interview, it would be great)

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/game-watch-interview-with-yu-suzuki.html

Q: At the moment, there are a lot of revivals of previous or classic games. Do you have any plans for a revival of Shenmue I and II? I think there would be a lot of people who would try them if they were available on PS4.

YS: The Shenmue IP belongs to SEGA, so I'm not in a position to give a direct answer. Personally, I also think it would be good if something could be done in connection with Shenmue III. It would probably also have a synergistic effect.

https://twitter.com/SEGA_Europe/status/1004811152268955648
''Details soon! Hang in there, it'll be worth the wait ;)''

I wonder what the worth the wait could be hinting at. Reminds me when sega was initially hyping the Sega Fes announcement. Maybe the collection is coming much closer than we think? Who knows just speculating of course. Could easily be nothing.

PILMAN wrote:and as much as I hate to say it, I think we need to find ways to introduce the Shenmue series to people who may have never heard of the game or introduce it to those who are into similar games outside the mainstream

Yes, this. Don't hate saying it, say it as often as it takes.

Yu also probably expected to raise only around $2M and make a story-focused non-open world game, late 2017 seemed reasonable.


Exactly, and for those itching to say, "oohh well he clearly knew this would have exceeded 2 million and broke records", well, hindsight is a wonderful thing. This could have bombed. Maybe it should. Maybe it would have if it wasnt for Sony allowing Yu-san to appear on their stage. If you thought the man expected to gain a dollar over 2 million, go watch his tears during the final Twitch stream for the Kickstarter.

The love and support from the entire Shenmue fanbase across the planet will infect every minute he spends working on this game. Yes, its not going to be a 47 million dollar blockbuster, but you can rest assured that the money gained from all of the various sources will be squeezed dry into that game.

Ive said it all the way through this process, but one day, you will be leaving Shenhua's home, walk down the pathway past the river, into Bailu Village, and you will realise... that this is Shenmue 3. Ryo looking and moving just as you would expect. The cinematics pulling you in, and the story gripping you. Just wait and see.

Small snippet of unseen Shenmue HD footage from the PC GAMER show at E3:

Looks great!

16:9 cutscene footage from the original game there, FYI.

Always pays to have a little faith.

Shenmue 500k tweeted this recently.

https://twitter.com/shen500k/status/1006993366180155392

I think its all smoke and mirrors with him though. Just trying to promote his channel.
I believe the SEGA Europe rep themselves has said Adam knows a date. Think it was in the 500K Facebook group.

Whatever you think of Adam, he's still the guy SEGA picked from the community to promote the game in some way. I don't think he'd bullshit about stuff like that knowing a.) SEGA Europe are watching what he says and b.) he's got access to a lot of information we don't currently have so what would be the point in making something up on top of that?

Hello Backers!

We know the backer surveys have been a long time in coming and apologize for the wait. The backer surveys are almost ready and will be going out to everyone soon.

The surveys will begin with a soft open for a few randomly selected backers. Those of you selected will receive an email from Fangamer with a link to your survey. The survey will be sent to the email address you have registered with Kickstarter for Kickstarter backers, or either your PayPal or Shenmue.link registered email for Slacker Backers. Please answer the questions and hit that continue button!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/021/538/636/ec500908d4d429a03daca5378d48a3d9_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1528707373&auto=format&q=92&s=8c93c3105f9e40d69e3333b7937b6e06


The official survey start and end dates will be announced after backer feedback, system tweaks and a thorough FAQ has been compiled. The survey questions address both physical rewards and in-game content rewards.

The dev team will be eagerly awaiting your responses and would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Good to see the surveys are now starting! Be sure to let us know if you have gotten a link from Fangamer!

Just got an email. Woo.

So it looks like it also includes upgrade options!

GamesMaster in the UK lists Shenmue HD as readers' most wanted game, with Shenmue 3 right behind in second.

I hope the people who did the highest pledges get their surveys first. I can't wait for mine but I am a bit worried that I won't be living at the same address by the time the game comes out. Does anyone know if you can change it if that happens?

From what's been said by early recipients, you can edit your address on Fangamer's site at any time, even after submitting the survey.

And anecdotally, those who've received theirs do all appear to be high level donors, though I don't know if it's been everyone above a certain tier or still just a sampling of those. It also may just be a coincidence that these are the recipients I happen to be aware of.

If it's of any use for French & Italian speaking fans, here are the dedicated translations (in addition to the original English version by Peter):

https://i.imgur.com/9OmB4cl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cHg6gyT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zL59mSI.jpg

For the spanish fellas

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

Hopefully when SEGA reveals more info about the collection such as the release date then it would shoot back up to the top 10.

I think it will do better but competing against E3 stuff will be very difficult. I think it has done well enough for Sega to have a little more faith, my half baked estimates suggest this has orders of about 100,000 in the US alone .

As far as I would believe in that estimation, it seems a bit optimistic to me.
Maybe if you explain your reasoning I could be hit by your optimism wave too :mrgreen:

I said these are half baked but, I have been using a tool that estimates sales/orders based on sales ranks for a day. The estimate I posted above was actually generous because people'd think I'm nuts if I posted what the real estimate was. I think it's possible it was performing and sometimes winning against God of War which was selling near 75k units daily at points (based of estimates).

I took one for the team and bought the Xbox magazine. Wish I hadn't.



Riddled with errors and childish jabs at Shenmue 3 and the "other" console.

Quick update in here for now, and Mattis ( TheTimeRanger ) now joins Mr.Rod as part of the Designer/Coder group so he will have full permissions across the site, and is part of the team.

Its been 2 months now of sleepless nights, countless design ideas and full site restructuring.... but we are almost there! If we thought we were working hard before, then now is a big step up. Everyday of the week is now dedicated to working on the new site. Id say we are about 70% complete, with quite a few more things to do, but we are getting there. Its crunch time folks, so go visit the current site because its weeks away from going. Whilst its not completely 100% official yet, we are shooting for a release on July 20th . This could change slightly, but we want the new site up and functional by the end of the month, for stress tests and functionality before Gamescom rolls around. The site and forums will be offline for 3 day s, but our social media outlets will still be open, as well as being welcome to visit other community sites such as Shenmue Master, 500K, Team Yu, Shenmue Forever, Phantom Riverstone and others that are out there.

I will try and keep you updated as much as possible as we push towards the end. Now, wheres the coffee....

Just a heads up for anyone that used it, the URL shenmuedojo.com would serve as a redirect to the shenmuedojo.net address where the current site is located. This will now cease to function, and just show a splash placeholder message to anyone who visits it. There will still be links there to the current site, as well as our social media outlets.

The new site has been brought over to the .com URL and we are now constantly working on it. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before we are ready to launch! When we are ready, the forums will also simultaneously be upgraded and revamped. We will keep you guys updated once we are almost there.

Good times ahead, for both Shenmue games, and the Shenmue Dojo. 8)

It's really cool that they're recognizing the 3rd with whatever they're announcing.

https://i.imgur.com/y5zyDMp.jpg

The Shenmue Dojo streams are back! For fans and viewers of the Shenmue Lounge, it's Peter that will be firing up his Dreamcast for one last ride with the original Shenmue before Shenmue I & II hit modern systems!

Tune in weekly - Thursday 26th July @ 9pm BST / 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 5am Japan :)

You can catch the stream on your platform of choice -

Twitch: https://bit.ly/2hLEfFt
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2KkVPuP

See you on Thursday! :king:

The kid is perfect for delivering this kind of thing, because she doesn't have a serious in-game personality to maintain. If they got Shenhua to do this video then she'd either be creating a disconnect by acting out of character, or a fun little clip would become less playful.

Is anybody able to confirm for me whether you can go back and upgrade your pledge after completion of the survey? Or does completing the survey lock that in? Cheers!

I sent the kickstarter team a message asking about upgrading to the 600$ tier, and they told me that it could be an option in the future. I then asked if I should wait to fill out the survey just incase, or if I could fill it out now and then change it later (if the option for $600 becomes available) and Joel replied with the following:

"You can always go back and edit your survey answers until the close in September, so if something is added, it will be easy to go back in and make any changes."

Hope that helps!

https://twitter.com/ShadabOmar/status/1 ... 6824628224

Edit: https://twitter.com/yu_suzuki_jp/status ... 4109270016

A photo of Fenghuang.

Skies right outta Shenmue III.

New images have been added on the steam page.
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_72972e60629931334f3343e806bad5dea65574dd.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_5c72fc3b023665b84ffbba49030aa7cfb7fcae8a.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_acb9711de7fafa0e04a2f298d6c7102ddc2bc3f4.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_95d0538133318057ca300ce59c23a57f60ec8129.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025 https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_e096776cb57f5a7c59f725ac21ac3e49114ba5d2.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025 https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_24df32b2e52233864f36f80cb98f578deabc204d.1920x1080.jpg?t=1530526025

More here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/758330/Shenmue_I__II/

Something interesting that Spaghetti picked up on is the background in this new screenshot of Shenmue HD:
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/758330/ss_95d0538133318057ca300ce59c23a57f60ec8129.1920x1080.jpg

It looks higher quality than usual. I went to check it against Mr357's Shenmue Movie remaster (which was recorded and uploaded in native 1080p) and sure enough, the texture is higher quality:
https://puu.sh/APSH6/224e60f40a.png

Have a zoom in on the images and see for yourself. Even H.264 + YouTube compression wouldn't blur the background that much.
Looks like we may be seeing some improved textures after all!

Answers to the questions we have had for a while now are answered as in depth as Adam can explain, including why the cutscenes are in 4:3, what type of audio is being used, which builds of the game are being used and more. Check it out in the video below, and keep the negativity to a minimum please. Bear in mind these games, along with Shenmue 3 were regarded as a sheer miracle a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUnc1PfTZM0

Wow, saving anywhere in Shenmue 1! Loving this new feature set.

Regarding 4:3 cutscenes, it is unfortunate, but it's also a very small price to pay for having Shenmue on modern hardware with so many new enhancements and features.

I've put together a summary post on Phantom River Stone - no new revelations but just to bring together the main points learned from the new Sega FAQ & Adam Koralik's video plus the trailer & new screenshots in one place.
https://i.imgur.com/y5J7ONGm.jpg
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2018/07/shenmue-i-ii-release-date-latest-details.html

That Ren scene appeared in the trailer that dropped yesterday, FYI. With what looks like basically the same brightness levels "as it should be".

Ok, I was curious and did some analysis using the stream uploaded on youtube, timelines are in the pictures and you can check yourselfs too.

Window in Dojo isn't rendered, it's passable I guess but noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/2r8u8T1.png

Camera inside Ryo's arm, noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/cuIxDZA.png

Camera inside lights, not very noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/a7JqhoP.png

Kid stuck in the back, very noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/NaHs1Ne.png

Camera inside Ryo's head, very noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/ftKwcSu.png

Fisherman stuck in the back, very noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/NLUKtAf.png

Camera inside Hisaka-san arm, noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/v2rK3KE.png

Camera inside Ryo's arm, noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/hPa5Q4L.png

Camera inside Ryo's head, very noticeable:
https://i.imgur.com/AmRSgAS.png

Actually it's kind what I was expecting, keep in mind that this is what I noticed (could be more) and I only did it until reaching the beginning of disc 2, didn't feel like continuing.
As you can see there's a lot of problems just for this portion of the game alone.

As for Shenmue 2 I didn't try looking at it yet but its a mixed bag, one would expect to be the best game to support 16:9 because of the letterbox already implemented but the game just keeps jumping from 19:6 to 4:3 in cut scenes with QTEs. Probably would be very jarring, everything would need to be cropped I guess...

Probably disc 4 would be passable since there's almost no QTEs there. I'm curious what they will do with this game actually...

I'm pretty happy with the HD versions. The mere fact they exist finally is a miracle.

It's getting to the point now where people are actually making up problems about these remasters to be worried about. Give it a rest.

There is no emulation. It's a source code port, being created by a company who literally exist to convert this kind code as faithfully as possible. That's why SEGA aren't doing it themselves. You can throw as many nonsense technological sounding things about SH-4 processors and audio codecs as you like but that doesn't make your baseless accusations any more solid.

Fantastic presentation Kiske! Great job.

https://twitter.com/CedricBiscay/status ... 7515258880

A tweet from Cedric with Suzuki-san; both hard at work on Shenmue 3!

If anyone wants to combine their separate donations into a single, bigger reward tier, that's apparently possible.

https://i.imgur.com/nik42aSm.jpg

The "AI Battling" stretch goal coming up at $7m was highlighted in the last Kickstarter Update. I don't think it's a topic that has come up very much to date, so I wrote a short post if anyone needs a reminder about what it is.

I also clarify in the post the following sentence about AI Battling, taken from the English version of the Kickstarter update:
R&D for this system is based on Yu Suzuki's concept for players who are not used to fighting games or for those who want a full immersion battle experience.
I was a bit puzzled about the intended meaning, so I translated it again from the Japanese version to get the finer nuances:
It's a feature for which basic research has been carried out since early on in the development, based on Yu Suzuki's wish for even players who aren't used to fighting games to experience a feeling of immersion in the battles
Link to blog post:
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2018/07/the-ai-battling-stretch-goal-shenmue-iii.html